The Bread Topic (2016–)

[Ann_T]

Thanks @Smithy and @JoNorvelleWalker.   And thank you @Shelby.  I know what I will be doing on my next day off.

 

[Okanagancook]

Might be worth buying a jug of distilled water for the CSO.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

43 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

Thanks @Smithy and @JoNorvelleWalker.   And thank you @Shelby.  I know what I will be doing on my next day off.

 

 

You have tried vinegar already?

 

[Ann_T]

48 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

You have tried vinegar already?

Yes! But maybe I will try it again first.

[dtremit]

On 1/18/2020 at 8:28 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

You have tried vinegar already?

 

 

On 1/18/2020 at 9:17 PM, Ann_T said:

Yes! But maybe I will try it again first.

 

One potential alternative may be citric acid -- that is what is in most coffee descaling solutions. You can buy it as a powder and mix it a bit stronger than your garden variety vinegar. 

It has the added benefit of having almost no odor -- less of a concern for the CSO, but really useful for coffee machines!

[Ann_T]

When I'm out this afternoon I'll pick up the citric acid and if that doesn't work, I'll take it apart following the instructions from @Shelby.

I don't want to open my back up oven unless I have to.

 

 

[Ann_T]

Six Sourdough baguettes.

 

Fed my starter Saturday morning and made a biga. 

 

Added to a batch of dough Saturday night and was left in the fridge until this morning.

[andiesenji]

Yesterday's loaf.  Three pound Pumpernickel Rye loaf.  30% Bread flour,  40% Dark Rye flour,  15% Pumpernickel flour,  15%  Caraway seeds, Ground Caraway,  Hemp seeds.  Sugar (1 cup),  Salt,  Yeast,  Water.  Plus poolish.    

Poolish was started on Sunday, 24 hours at room temp then into the fridge, refrushed with 1/4 cup of flour yesterday morning. I went off to see cardiologist, home at 2.

Had already measured all dry ingredients into a container, except for the yeast and salt.

Put water, poolish, dry ingredients into bread machine,  turned on and it mixed and kneaded thru first cycle.  Stopped it, reset to start but left it off for 40 minutes  autolyse.  Restarted and added salt, waited a couple of minutes for it to work in and added the yeast.  

After last brief "knock down"  I removed dough from machine and removed paddles, shaped slightly and replaced iin machine and let it finish rise and bake.

 

I'm very pleased with the result.  I doubled the amount of sugar I usually use and note that the moisture is better, the structure of the crumb is more even but it does not taste very sweet and I believe that is due to the flavor of the ground caraway plus the whole caraway which does have a bitter component.

In any event, the flavor is very good, better than other loaves I have made with a higher percentage of pumpernickel.

 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

Back on track.  Tonight I used the Ankarsrum dough hook.

 

[suzilightning]

Portuguese sweet bread tomorrow for John and our plumber friend

[heidih]

Sounds good. When you work with Latin guy they often recall that as their fave. Maybe into Recipe Gullet? Spent years on a recipe and "lost the slip of paper"

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The bread was a little dense.  Not a very open crumb.  Quite tasty though.

 

[Ann_T]

Haven't baked in a few weeks.   Ended up working 15 days out of the last 18.

 

Baked last night. 

Dough had been in the fridge since Wednesday. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Crumb was more open than last week.  Still dense.  The Ankarsrum dough hook is more pleasant to use than the roller but the roller gave better crumb.  I can't say I understand this.

 

[liamsaunt]

Here are two loaves I baked last week: deli rye bread, and pain de campagne.  Both recipes from Bread Illustrated

 

 

[ElsieD]

I made a loaf of sandwich bread this week using this yeast.  Has anyone else used it? The packet contains a bit of rye flour which is why the bread is darker in colour.  Very good bread.

[blue_dolphin]

Two focaccia...focacce? Started out with the foacccia recipe in Ottolenghi, subbed in 50% stone ground whole wheat flour (Sonora/Red Fife blend) and  divided it into two 1/4 sheet pans instead of one 1/2 sheet.

Topped one pan with red onion and goat cheese, one of the 3 topping choices in the Ottolenghi recipe.   Used the other one to make the Fried Kimchi Focaccia from Everyday Korean available online here) in which a heaping cup of chopped kimchi is fried in butter until the edges start to brown, then used to top the focaccia.  I added a sprinkle of mozzarella to that one. 

 

Messy crumb photo

 

The kimchi focaccia is surprisingly good. After being fried in butter than baked, the flavor is still tangy and funky but not harsh at all.  Next time, I'll drop the temp or turn off the convection so it doesn't brown so quickly. 

[Ann_T]

Yesterday's Bake. Inspired by @liamsaunt.

Forgot that I had the Bread Illustrated book.

 

Found the Rye and another loaf that looked good, Cranberry with toasted walnuts.  

Made them both in the KA with a few autolyze rests in between running the machine.  

Staggered the batches so that they wouldn't both be ready to bake at the same time. 

 

 

Sliced both this morning because Moe wanted to try them both.

Recipe called for caraway seeds which I left out. Not a fan. 

This is a really nice light rye.

 

And the Cranberry with the toasted walnuts I think should go well with brie. 

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Ann_T (log)

[blue_dolphin]

A small pile o'pita

Recipe from Shaya with the addition of 50% stone ground, whole grain Sonora/Red Fife. I make them smaller (~75g dough/pita) than the recipe specifies so I get a dozen from one recipe.

 

[Okanagancook]

How do you cook the pita to get the char spots?

[blue_dolphin]

28 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

How do you cook the pita to get the char spots?

 

I put the baking steel on a shelf that's a bit above mid-way in the oven, pre-heat to 500°F, then switch to broil when I start to bake them.  I quickly pull out the shelf, slap the dough on the steel and shut the door.  As they poof up, they get close enough to the broiler that they start to char. 

Edited to add that the Shaya cookbook says to put the steel (baking stone, cast-iron skillet) mid-way in the oven.  I get better results with it a little higher.  Probably depends on the oven. 

 

Edited February 14, 2020 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Okanagancook]

Interesting.  I bake mine on a steel plate also but not with broil.  They come out nice and soft. Yours look soft too but one probably needs to be very attentive otherwise they would get too charred....I need to try this method...now I am wondering if a quick treatment on the open flame on my Wolfe has range would also get some char (I do this with chapati)...next time I see some experimenting...I like to make mine smaller also.

[blue_dolphin]

6 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Interesting.  I bake mine on a steel plate also but not with broil.  They come out nice and soft. Yours look soft too but one probably needs to be very attentive otherwise they would get too charred....I need to try this method...now I am wondering if a quick treatment on the open flame on my Wolfe has range would also get some char (I do this with chapati)...next time I see some experimenting...I like to make mine smaller also.

 

Yes, I do need to keep an eye on them and I was challenged yesterday because the light bulb inside the oven burnt out so I was peering into the window and really couldn't see the char until it was too late, like that one in the front.   New bulbs should be arriving tomorrow. 

I'd bet that a quick pass in the flame would be nice.