Baking with Myhrvold's "Modernist Bread: The Art and Science"

[repiv]

I got snowed in today and made the lavish bread on a whim.  I'm unsure if I did it right.  It puffed up and would fool most people into thinking it was pita bread.  Google results for lavish bread yields many different result and styles.

 

Will post pictures tomorrow.

[Anna N]

 

Sourdough bâtard. Mixed up yesterday and cold proofed in the refrigerator overnight.  Baked in the CSO ( Cuisinart steam oven). Oven was preheated for 30 minutes on convection  450°F and then baked on the steam function at 450°F until done. 

 Because I had had a couple of days of total failures of my breads I decided to cheat just a little and used 1/8 of a teaspoon of instant yeast. Consider it a pre-mental break down prophylactic. 

[Anna N]

 

 This is the sourdough crumb.  I’m just not sure how much I like this bread.  The trouble with being dependent on commercial sourdough is that you develop a taste for it and even if you get something better it’s just not the same. It’s a bit like the kids preferring the blue box (Kraft Dinner) over homemade macaroni and cheese.

[Chris Hennes]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

I’m just not sure how much I like this bread.

Are you looking for more sourness, or just something different?

[Anna N]

46 minutes ago, Chris Hennes said:

Are you looking for more sourness, or just something different?

Perhaps just a different name. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that it is not the sourdough that I am accustomed to. And I will give you that the sourdough I am accustomed to would not meet too many other people’s idea of sourdough. I suspect what I was eating would more properly be called a country-style bread with a sturdy texture and a soft crust. I need to stop comparing apples and oranges I guess. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

26 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Perhaps just a different name. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that it is not the sourdough that I am accustomed to. And I will give you that the sourdough I am accustomed to would not meet too many other people’s idea of sourdough. I suspect what I was eating would more properly be called a country-style bread with a sturdy texture and a soft crust. I need to stop comparing apples and oranges I guess. 

 

Anna I am confused what you mean.  Are you saying the sourdough loaf you just made was "country-style bread with a sturdy texture" or were you saying the sourdough you were accustomed to was "country-style bread with a sturdy texture"?

 

[Kerry Beal]

Cinnamon raisin bread 

 

 

Docked to see if it would prevent delamination 

 

 

 

second loaf - tin foil tent stuck to the crust

 

p

[Chris Hennes]

I've got something like five different breads in progress right now. The first one that was ready is...

 

American Pumpernickel (p. 4•308)

 

Lots going on here. First, this bread includes both levain and osmotolerant yeast (which I finally have and didn't have to substitute). It also calls for caramel color, which I don't have and didn't feel like making. So I used coffee instead. It also has a lot of cocoa powder in it, and a hefty dose of molasses. The upshot is that basically none of the color is "real" here, as is typical for this style of rye. Despite the inclusion of the levain, it's got enough commercial yeast in it that it gets created like a direct dough. It rises very quickly, and only needed to proof for an hour or so. 

 

The recipe calls for baking it in a loaf pan, but I was feeling retro tonight...

 

You can probably guess where this is going...

 

No, there is no soup mix involved in that spinach dip. It's a recipe from a 2002 issue of Cook's Illustrated:

 

 

This is a delicious rye bread, with lots of flavor from the onions and caraway. It's got a nice, soft texture, but we ate it fresh enough that the crust was still crispy. Worlds better than the supermarket equivalent.

[Anna N]

23 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Anna I am confused what you mean.  Are you saying the sourdough loaf you just made was "country-style bread with a sturdy texture" or were you saying the sourdough you were accustomed to was "country-style bread with a sturdy texture"?

 

The latter. 

[rotuts]

@Chris Hennes

 

a 2002 issue of Cook's Illustrated

 

 can you be more specific on the issue ?

 

Id like to look that Rx up.

 

thanks

 

P.S.:  May/June pp  15

 

knew there was a reason I saved so many old CI's

 

back then there was a lot less churn  

 

and some decent stuff.

Edited January 15, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[repiv]

Here is the lavish bread.  Still unsure if I screwed something up along the way.  On a scale of 1-10 I'd give it a 5.  It wasn't bad, but it was just worse pita with a lack of depth of flavor.  The only thing that would push me to make this again is how dead nuts easy it was start to finish.  I haven't tried any of the dough relaxer techniques mentioned in the book, but I feel like this would benefit from it if I tried it again.

 

 

Second thing I made this weekend was the second chance sourdough.  Not out of choice, but because I can't get a levain going or to stay going.  Everything starts fine.  Looks good and healthy after the first 48h and first feeding.  Second feeding it looked alright, but I didn't look at it during full maturity.  Third feeding it was a bit sad looking.  Fourth looked alright, passed the float test and I managed to make a loaf of bread with it but didn't see much rise in the dough while proofing, but seemed to pass the finger test.  Went ahead and baked it... well, lets just say I've learned I need to either check the load in time or run a second timer.  My phone crashed with the timer and I had to 'guess' when it was done.  Turns out I guessed wrong, so I was left with an undercooked loaf that I couldn't really tell would've resulted in success or not.  Large empty cavity, but what was cooked looked good.

 

But on to the second chance sourdough.  Very much enjoyed this bread.   Made my 1kg loaf a bit too big for my cast iron cooker but I don't think it hurt it too much.  Made a couple not pictured baguettes too (still working on my baguette shaping...)

 

 

Third baking project was the reason I bought this book.  I didn't want recipes that told me exactly how to make good bread.  I wanted to know WHAT made bread and how to make bread however I want.  I live in Memphis, TN and my family is from Louisiana so I take poboys pretty seriously.  I wanted to make a poboy french bread loaf like no other.  I based my recipe loosely around the bahn mi and A+ baguette.  Added 30g corn meal, half of it being toasted.  20g sugar, 20g olive oil.  Then the fun part... I wanted to try the gelatin high hydration method. 

This was about 85% hydration, but some was lost due to a poor method of going from the container I heated and cooled the gelatin in to the mixing bowl so maybe a bit less.  Super easy to handle the dough and maybe too easy as it was very stiff and I had to leave it out after the final fold.  Ended up baking it at 375 for 30 minutes.   Ended up better than I ever expected.  I'm not 100% sure what the gelatin / water effect had, but the crumb ended up super soft but not very open at all.  For a first shot as a last minute 'I'm bored and want a poboy' project it was a huge success.  What wasn't a success was actually taking pictures... but I do have this picture of the final poboy.  I froze the other 3 and a half loafs so maybe I can get a shot later if people are interested.

 

[Chris Hennes]

Modernist Ciabatta (p. 4•160)

 

I didn't get as much rise out of mine as their image shows: I suspect I called proof early on this one (it's hard to read because it's so slack). Honestly, I've gotten a bit spoiled by the very long fermentation times of the other loaves I've been working on recently, this one was sort of bland in comparison. I know that's the nature of the beast, but I definitely prefer the longer fermentation times of the French lean bread and the sourdoughs.

 

[Chris Hennes]

Compleat Wheat (p. 4•137)

 

This is a "whole wheat" bread in that it's got white flour, bran, and germ all added in the appropriate proportions. You toast and soak the bran and germ separate from the endosperm, which lets you get a much lighter loaf than is typical of whole wheat flour, particularly naturally leavened. This recipe works very well and gives a terrific flavor and texture. The loaves are also beautiful, which is always nice.

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

Chocolate and Cranberry Sourdough (p. 4•80)

 

Of course, any time I'm making a bunch of sourdoughs this one gets requested. I subbed in cranberries for the cherries this time: it's still delicious. My starter is also much more robust than last time around, so the flavor and texture are both better as well.

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

Nutella Babka (p. 4•225)

 

I had an unopened jar of Nutella in my cupboard that expired something like two years ago (I don't exactly eat a lot of Nutella). Of course, expiration dates for such things are a bit sketchy, and it still tastes and smells fresh, so away we go using the thing up. I used basically the whole thing for this loaf, which is a 25% butter brioche with Nutella swirls (they also have a more homemade filling, but librarians will eat anything so I'm bringing the Nutella into work tomorrow!). The baking time was a bit suspect, but I just kept a careful eye on it and pulled it when I couldn't imagine wanting the crust any darker.

 

 

 

 

 

[KennethT]

Wow @Chris Hennes your stuff looks amazing - all your practice is certainly paying off!

[rotuts]

@Chris Hennes

 

that Babka is impressive !

 

finest one Ive ever seen.

 

congratulations !

[Raamo]

I decided I wanted to make Ciabatta, and I was impatient so I made the direct ciabatta.... and then I said sure lets make the full 1kg at a time...

 

Proofing took forever, and it overflowed my container - making quite the mess.

Anyway it worked and it's tasty, but it made me swore never again to make 1kg "loaf" of ciabatta at once again.

 

[Anna N]

 American Pumpernickel was on my radar but when @Chris Hennes tackled it I moved it up on my list. 

 

 Like Chris I was missing caramel colouring so I subbed a tablespoon of espresso powder dissolved in 30 g of water. I was also missing non-dutched cocoa powder so I subbed in black cocoa powder.  That certainly made for a dramatic looking loaf.

 

The recipe calls for 75 g of caramelized onions and I tried to do the math to reduce  thr given recipe to give me a little over 75 g. Apparently my math failed me again or maybe my caramelizing ability but I definitely ended up with far more onions than I needed. But in which universe are extra caramelized onions a bad thing?

 

I do think the amount of yeast called for is a bit over-the-top and would consider reducing it the next time. This dough ferments at an alarming rate. 

 

I love the taste and it reminds me of a Dempster’s bread (Pumpernickel rye) that I enjoy. 

 

 One nitpick. I found the crust not to my liking. I would’ve preferred it to be very similar to the texture of the crumb.  It’s a bit crispy which I don’t find quite right with this bread. 

 

 

 

 Not sure why it looks wet but it is not. 

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

@Anna N Wow, that color is dramatic. I’m not familiar with “black cocoa powder” — do you have a link handy?

[Smokeydoke]

I don't know if that was a mistake or not, but I love the look of that bread. It's almost Gothic.

[Raamo]

So today I decided to try the second chance sourdough since my starter proved to have little lifting power (I feed once a week in the fridge... after a month of daily feeding)

 

Anyway it's yummy, though not as sourdoughy as the sourdough I made earlier with the same starter.

 

 

 

 

[Raamo]

2 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

@Anna N Wow, that color is dramatic. I’m not familiar with “black cocoa powder” — do you have a link handy?

 

Interesting, never heard of it before myself, from google:

 

Black cocoa is cocoa powder that has been heavily Dutched. If you've ever had an Oreo cookie, the outer cookies are a good example of black cocoa. Because it has a strong, very brusque flavor, it's best used in conjunction with another cocoa powder and is mostly used to boost color.

 

Seems king author sells it.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, Raamo said:

Seems king author sells it.

 

Yes, I have King Arthur's.  Good stuff.

 

Back to bread, I had a fail.  My French lean dough boule came out as if it were a rye bread, dense and chewy.  Not horrible but not French lean bread either.  I know it was not the dough because I baked a perfectly lovely baguette from the same batch.  All I can think of is that the boule was over proofed, but I am not sure.

 

[Anna N]

11 hours ago, Raamo said:

 

Interesting, never heard of it before myself, from google:

 

Black cocoa is cocoa powder that has been heavily Dutched. If you've ever had an Oreo cookie, the outer cookies are a good example of black cocoa. Because it has a strong, very brusque flavor, it's best used in conjunction with another cocoa powder and is mostly used to boost color.

 

Seems king author sells it.

Well Dutched or not it worked just fine.  Mine was a gift and came without any labeling. It was part of a larger batch I believe.