"The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Reinhart

[junehl]

Sweet? I don't think it's supposed to be noticeably sweet. I've made it many times trying to perfect it, and it's always tasted the same as any baguette.

I don't remember the recipe, but I don't think it has any sugar in it.

[Okbrewer]

Speaking of sweet... My wife and daughter have been after me to make a sweet bread, so I made the Portuguese/Hawaiian Sweet Bread recipe this weekend! The picture in the book looks so enticing, the dark mahogany crust and the yellow cake-like crumb, I had to try it. The recipe calls for lemon and orange extracts, but I didn't have either so I used almond and anise extracts along with vanilla.

I was doubting whether I would get the same dark colored crust, but it came out perfectly! It was beautiful! My daughter said it looked like a big chestnut! This bread has a hint of sweetness without being cloying, and the crumb is cake-like. It was delicious with just a spread of butter, and I liked the almond and anise aromas. It was even better as French toast!

I also made the Italian bread recipe, but formed it into 9 mini batards, split down the middle. Excellent results! The bread was a hit with my spaghetti and meatball dinner yesterday!

Sorry for not having any pics!

Bob R in OKC

[Mirrorball]

I don't remember the recipe, but I don't think it has any sugar in it.

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It doesn't have sugar, but it tasted sweet. Not very sweet, but noticeably sweet. In his introduction to the recipe, Reinhart explains why this dough is sweeter than the others. Well, I didn't like the taste, but it might be good in a pizza crust.

[dougal]

I made Pain a l'ancienne for the first time today and I'm not sure if I got it right. Should it taste really sweet? As if there was sugar in the dough? I definitely didn't like it.

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No, its far from right if the bread actually tastes sweet.

Though the dough, straight from the fridge well might.

The concept is that the long cool pre-fermentation 'hold' allows more sugars to be liberated from the flour -- AND that these are then bonus food for the yeast, and largely consumed by it. It would be important that the dough be allowed enough time to warm up and then ferment properly after it comes out of the fridge.

Edited March 10, 2008 by dougal (log)

[Mirrorball]

I waited for two or three hours before baking the dough on a warm day, but I will try waiting longer. Thanks!

Edited March 10, 2008 by Mirrorball (log)

[Marlene]

After attending a week long bread baking course in New York recently, I tried the Vienna bread again, using some of the techniques I learned. Apparently I failed at shaping.

Bar none, this is the best result I've obtained. Great oven spring and bloom and a crumb to die for.

[Kerry Beal]

After attending a week long bread baking course in New York recently,  I tried the Vienna bread again, using some of the techniques I learned.  Apparently I failed at shaping.

Bar none, this is the best result I've obtained.  Great oven spring and bloom and a crumb to die for.

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Oh god - that looks gorgeous!!!

[Marlene]

Thanks Kerry. We love this bread.

[Marlene]

Italian Bread from BBA

[CaliPoutine]

Bagels, with sesame and sea salt.  I am not a good baker and I have never made bagels before, yet the recipe and directions were easy to follow, and the bagels were delicious.  Thank you, Mr. Reinhart.

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Hey K,

I didnt realize you made these. I have the dough in the fridge and will boil and bake overnight. One one of my previous trip to S. Fl I got my favorite bagel shop to sell me some high gluten flour. I'm very excited as I've wanted to make this recipe for a long time. ( I bought diatastic malt about 2yrs ago, I hope its still good).

[franktex]

I'm a novice at bread baking, and picked up a copy of The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It has a recipe for Light Wheat bread that calls for Powdered milk. I have also seen one that calls for powdered potatoes. Whay would these ingredients be included in bread?

[Lisa Shock]

I'm a novice at bread baking, and picked up a copy of The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It has a recipe for Light Wheat bread that calls for Powdered milk. I have also seen one that calls for powdered potatoes. Whay would these ingredients be included in bread?

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Potato starch adds a soft gelatinous texture to bread, and helps to prevent staling.

Dry potato flakes are easy to store, measure and use. They also tend to be free of Bacillus Mesentericus, aka 'Rope' an infection of bread which leaves you with loaves with runny centers and a weird cantaloupe smell. Rope spores are not killed by normal cooking temperatures, so they can survive very well in products like home-cooked potatoes.

There are old recipes that call for cooked potatoes, but they are less exact because of moisture content variations. The cooked potatoes may contain the Rope bacilli and ruin your loaves and potentially infect the whole kitchen so that nothing bakes well for you.

Powdered milk is easy to store and measure, and is generally non-fat. (If it has fat the % is regulated.) So, it's a more consistent ingredient. Whey protein can interfere with gluten development, scalding and most processing to powder deactivates the whey. So, powdered milk eliminates the need for scalding, saving the baker time.

Milk adds flavor, improves crumb texture, prevents wild fermentation, adds crust & crumb color (the lactose is not digested by yeast, so it survives into the oven where it browns nicely)

[franktex]

Thanks for the prompt answers and info. I look forward to checking out this section of eG much more as I gain baking experience. (I got biscuits down though!)

[Lisa Shock]

There are some good resources here, both in the forums and in the eG Culinary Institute section.

Have fun baking!

[Chris Hennes]

Does anyone know why Reinhart's recipes call for additional yeast to be added when making a poolish- or other pre-ferment-based bread? There is already plenty of yeast in the pre-ferment, as far as I can tell, so I don't understand why you'd bother adding any more. I haven't even noticed a substantial difference in rise times when omitting the second batch of yeast.

[John DePaula]

I made the Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire yesterday and it was pretty fantastic. The depth of flavor was intense and made me wonder how we ever got away from baking with whole grains in the first place. Nothing matches the flavor you get from fresh whole grains!

[Rico]

Thread revival. I've made a few things in this book, and they've turned out wonderfully - at least I think: I'd never had Anadama bread, so I do know if it tasted like it's supposed to taste, but it tasted good.

But I learned something today: Read all the directions. When he says 6-10 tablespoons of water, he might actually mean that you might need to use all 10, and not just 6. Wasted the day trying to make ciabatta. Ended up with ciabrick.