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

[Chris Hennes]

Jewish Corn Rye (Kornbroyt) (p. 4•372)

 

@Kerry Beal has raved about this one up-topic a few times, and with good reason. This is, for me, the quintessential rye sandwich bread. It's got terrific flavor from a large quantity of rye levain as well as caraway seeds. It also looks great (in my opinion) -- this is the first time I've used the starch slurry technique, and it's like magic. There's no visual evidence of the slurry's use, but those seeds on the top are stuck on perfectly firmly, with no tendency to fall off.

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

English Muffins (p. 4•46)

 

This is one of the more complicated recipes in the book, requiring both a stiff levain and a poolish, plus an overnight cold retardation stage. They are then cooked on a griddle. All that work pays off, however, taking a simple set of ingredients and squeezing every last bit of flavor out of them.

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

About a month ago, give or take, due to some health issues I tossed my levains into the refrigerator. I had no time to make any kind of preparation in terms of feeding them or anything. I just tossed them in there and closed the door. 

 

 Last week my cleaning Angel told me that she would enjoy some rye bread. This morning I took the rye levain out. 

 

 I gave it a quick stir,  poured most of it into a clean container, fed it and this is how it looks this afternoon. 

 

 

 Apparently these things are much more robust then we are led to believe. 

[Chris Hennes]

@Anna N -- near as I can tell the rye levain is invincible. I've stopped feeding it mid-week, I just refrigerate until Thursday evening, take it out, then feed the amount I need Friday night and refrigerate the remainder until the next week. The wheat is a bit more finicky, I feed it mid-week as well, but it's still pretty robust.

 

ETA: As I reread I realize that post was not exactly clear. Here's what I do:

Friday night: feed the levain in two parts, one for maintenance and one for what I'm using to bake the next day. Refrigerate the mainenance portion.

The following Thursday (six days later): take the maintenance portion out of the refrigerator, but don't feed it, just bring it to room temp.

The next day, Friday: Repeat the previous Friday...

Edited February 18, 2018 by Chris Hennes (log)

[Anna N]

 

Jewish Deli Rye using the above mentioned resuscitated levain. 

[Kerry Beal]

Here's the innards of the american pumpernickel.

 

 

 

A little too brown on the top from the CSO but it got snarfed down pretty quickly - lean french. 

[Anna N]

8 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Here's the innards of the american pumpernickel.

 What cocoa powder did you use? Looks as dark as mine. Love, love this bread. 

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 What cocoa powder did you use? Looks as dark as mine. Love, love this bread. 

Don't know the brand - think I got it at the Punjab market - the stuff is like charcoal. And I used the burnt sugar I had from the last time I badly screwed up caramel.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Anna N]

 

 I have made three attempts now at this 100% rye.  I think I will simply strike it off my list. It took me longer to clean up my pans than it did to mix up the batter – – no one can call it a dough!  

[rotuts]

slice then up in strips for Caesar-ish salad or cube them for a similar app.

 

wow.

 

 

[Anna N]

9 minutes ago, rotuts said:

slice then up in strips for Caesar-ish salad or cube them for a similar app.

 

wow.

 

 

 That is not even possible. I literally dug them out of my pans. I am now going to sulk until I have enough rye levain going to try the modernist version of this recipe. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Anna N (log)

[rotuts]

crisp them up in the CSO(B)

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

crisp them up in the CSO(B)

 Not sure I am prepared to dig them out of my kitchen garbage bin. 

[Chris Hennes]

@Anna N, is that the "100% High-Ryes"? I made the Modernist version of it with good success, baked in a loaf pan.

[Chris Hennes]

Tomato Water Sourdough (p. 4•86)

 

In this bread you replace all of the water with the clear liquid that drains off of tomatoes when they've been roughly pureed (or frozen). It's also got a fairly large amount of tomato paste in it, so it's got a pretty strong tomato flavor. It makes great-tasting grilled cheese, and is good dipped in soup.

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

Shock, I made more Chocolate Cherry Sourdough this weekend! This time I replaced the espresso with the same quantity of Young's Double Chocolate Stout. The bread was still excellent, and the cook got a bonus since the recipe only calls for 15g.

 

[KennethT]

52 minutes ago, Chris Hennes said:

Tomato Water Sourdough (p. 4•86)

 

In this bread you replace all of the water with the clear liquid that drains off of tomatoes when they've been roughly pureed (or frozen). It's also got a fairly large amount of tomato paste in it, so it's got a pretty strong tomato flavor. It makes great-tasting grilled cheese, and is good dipped in soup.

Unless you're a tomato farmer, that must be one expensive bread!

[Chris Hennes]

33 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Unless you're a tomato farmer, that must be one expensive bread!

I had a couple pounds of tomatoes from the end of last season in the freezer. Once thawed the liquid that drained off was enough for the bread, and the remaining pulp became pasta sauce. 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Chris Hennes said:

@Anna N, is that the "100% High-Ryes"? I made the Modernist version of it with good success, baked in a loaf pan.

 Yes it is. I am going to try the modernist version but I used up all of my rye levain so it may take a while before I get around to it. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Anna N (log)

[Chris Hennes]

Pain de Mie (p. 4•296)

 

A basic white sandwich bread, baked in a Pullman pan. This recipe differs from the main White Sandwich Bread recipe in that it is not made with milk, has less sugar, but includes a small amount of butter. Mine didn't quite manage to fill out the pan so I don't have those nice crisp corners you're looking for in a Pullman loaf. I probably could have proofed it a bit longer, but it wasn't far under. I think they've also got a typo in their description of the standard pullman pan, which they list as 14"x4"x2.5" -- I've never seen a 4"x2.5" pan, and their photos certainly don't show one.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Chris Hennes
Speaking of typos... (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 3:46 PM, Chris Hennes said:

English Muffins (p. 4•46)

 

This is one of the more complicated recipes in the book, requiring both a stiff levain and a poolish, plus an overnight cold retardation stage. They are then cooked on a griddle. All that work pays off, however, taking a simple set of ingredients and squeezing every last bit of flavor out of them.

 

 

 

 

 

I love English muffins and I really, really want to try these.  My excuse is I don't have the right sized cutter.  The Modernist Bread English muffin recipe is one of the reasons I purchased my dear DeLonghi griddle.

 

Somehow I can't help remembering though, years ago, someone from England telling me English muffins do not exist in England.  Anyhow Chris, you should be banned for pornography with that butter.

 

[Chris Hennes]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

My excuse is I don't have the right sized cutter. 

Ateco 1440 Plain Edge Round Cutters in Graduated Sizes, Stainless Steel, 4 Pc Set (full disclosure, I actually own this set, but it's more expensive, and kind of annoying to use).

[Chris Hennes]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Somehow I can't help remembering though, years ago, someone from England telling me English muffins do not exist in England.

The recipe contains a sidebar about the history of the English muffin: their current incarnation was invented by an English immigrant to the US, modelled after a similar griddled bread product called a muffin in England. I've never seen the US incarnation for sale in England, though I haven't exactly gone looking for them.

[repiv]

10 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I love English muffins and I really, really want to try these.  My excuse is I don't have the right sized cutter.  The Modernist Bread English muffin recipe is one of the reasons I purchased my dear DeLonghi griddle.

 

Somehow I can't help remembering though, years ago, someone from England telling me English muffins do not exist in England.  Anyhow Chris, you should be banned for pornography with that butter.

 

I haven't made these, but my brother did.   He used a wide plastic cup and they came out fairly great considering it was the first thing he made from the book and was operating from the kitchen manual only.  Talk about diving right in.

 

I have a bunch of pictures and stories I need to post when I get a chance... I've made the following the last 2 weeks: Sourdough, espresso sourdough, cherry pie sourdough, complet wheat, 90% and 100% hydration french lean, country bread,  modernist bagel,  brioche, chocolate challah.  My sourdough is thriving finally and I've fallen in love with the country bread and didn't like the complet wheat as much as I thought I would.  What I have fallen in love with is making full size 1kg boules and want to try a miche soon.

[paulraphael]

On 2/18/2018 at 4:01 PM, Anna N said:

About a month ago, give or take, due to some health issues I tossed my levains into the refrigerator. I had no time to make any kind of preparation in terms of feeding them or anything. I just tossed them in there and closed the door. ... Apparently these things are much more robust then we are led to believe. 

 

It may depend on the particular cultures you've got, but mine is very robust. I use an ischia island culture (popular with Neapolitan pizza makers) that's survived 4 months of total neglect in the fridge. I've heard from pizza makers who have neglected it for 9 months with no problems. 

 

I keep mine in the fridge until the night before (or sometimes the hours before) I'm ready to use it. If just a week or two goes by between revivals, it seems to go semi-dormant, and it wakes up quickly. The time I left it on ice for months it took about a day and a half to wake it up all the way. It must have gone fully dormant. It's certainly possible to kill these buggers likely not very easy.