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I sometimes just leave the microwave door open enough for the light to come on and warm it up in there, and use that as my fermentation area when it's cooler in the house. I don't know how much it really helps but it does seem warmer. You can do the same thing with the light in your oven, just remember to take your stuff out when you go to preheat 
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Oct 14, 2014 17:25
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dedian posted:I sometimes just leave the microwave door open enough for the light to come on and warm it up in there, and use that as my fermentation area when it's cooler in the house. I don't know how much it really helps but it does seem warmer. You can do the same thing with the light in your oven, just remember to take your stuff out when you go to preheat My usual method is to just put the dough/starter in the area of a space heater/heat register, because I'm going to have it on anyway, might as well use it for my baking. Anyway, I made another couple loaves, that did not turn out as well as I'd like. Most of the problems I know what I did wrong; the recipe I used was too small for the loaf pans I used, I didn't oil one loaf pan correctly, I didn't give them quite enough time at any step of the operation, and I didn't quite shape things properly. This, however, does kinda baffle me.  Both loaves have major tears across the bottom seam, where the side of the bread meets the bottom of the pan. The best explanation I have is that the bread rose in the oven, expanding more than the crust could support, tearing it open. The best solution, then, would be to give it more time to rise outside the oven. ETA: Alternate possibility, there's an obvious seam/split in the loaf that I've started cutting on. It might be a leftover from how I formed the loaf, in which case that's what I need to work on. Two other pics of one loaf. The other one was in a pan that didn't get properly oiled, so I had to spend a few minutes chiseling it out with a butter knife, and left an ounce or two of bread behind. They taste fine, adequate crumb, tender crust. All in all, they're pretty good except for that tear.  
darthbob88 fucked around with this message at 05:25 on Oct 15, 2014 |
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Oct 15, 2014 04:58
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darthbob88 posted:My usual method is to just put the dough/starter in the area of a space heater/heat register, because I'm going to have it on anyway, might as well use it for my baking. Your guess about the side split is right; it's really under-proofed.
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Oct 15, 2014 08:38
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Newbie question: How long are you supposed to proof your bread?
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Oct 15, 2014 09:33
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LoonShia posted:Newbie question: How long are you supposed to proof your bread? Varies widely on a number of variables, including: amount of yeast, temperature of the room, hydration of the bread, ect. Need more information, first.
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Oct 15, 2014 16:29
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NightConqueror posted:Varies widely on a number of variables, including: amount of yeast, temperature of the room, hydration of the bread, ect. The unhelpful answer: until it's done. Usually doubled in size, plus the poke test: poke the dough, if it springs back it needs more. I usually give slightly more than I think is needed as I've had under far more than over-proofing.
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Oct 15, 2014 16:43
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Is there any benefit, taste difference, etc. to ordering a sourdough starter over starting one from scratch? I see some every now and then, but have never bothered to try them.
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Oct 15, 2014 21:34
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I made my own sourdough starter from scratch but it never really got sour. It made lovely bread but didn't have the twang I wanted. I ordered a starter and it is SOUR and awesome. Worth the $6.
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Oct 16, 2014 01:06
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CorelDRAW McGraw posted:Is there any benefit, taste difference, etc. to ordering a sourdough starter over starting one from scratch? I see some every now and then, but have never bothered to try them. I grew my own starter once... As it turns out, San Francisco sourdough is famous, because the relevant wild yeasts happen to make favors that we find appealing. The wild yeasts in south Florida make bread that tastes like a loving swamp. Go figure. 
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Oct 16, 2014 03:50
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Awesome, I'll give one a shot. I can never get mine sour enough, either.
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Oct 16, 2014 04:24
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MrYenko posted:I grew my own starter once... The other side to this is that within a few weeks, your starter will taste like your local yeast regardless, so it's really only worth it as a quick way to get started. Since it's so easy to make a starter anyway, I don't see much point in buying one.
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Oct 16, 2014 04:36
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Sourness is partly how you treat your starter, not just the yeasts composition. I believe that stressed starters are more sour. Additionally, a refrigerated starter allows more sourness to develop (I think), as the sour yeasts can develop more readily than others. Google for answers.
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Oct 16, 2014 07:07
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MrYenko posted:I grew my own starter once... SymmetryrtemmyS posted:The other side to this is that within a few weeks, your starter will taste like your local yeast regardless, so it's really only worth it as a quick way to get started. Since it's so easy to make a starter anyway, I don't see much point in buying one. I actually read an article awhile ago that said the yeasts we grow in our starters come from the flour that we use. That's why using a stone milled flour is best or something like that. SO you might want to just change what flour you use.
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Oct 16, 2014 12:38
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This may also be because of under-proofing, but I would have made that top score a lot deeper. When I've not gone deep enough, sometimes the sides/bottom will blow out (could also well have been because of under-proofing in my own case ).
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Oct 16, 2014 13:53
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Rurutia posted:I actually read an article awhile ago that said the yeasts we grow in our starters come from the flour that we use. That's why using a stone milled flour is best or something like that. SO you might want to just change what flour you use. Unbleached. Rye is often recommended; I guess it has high yeast content. Mmm... Yeasty as a baker's gusset.
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Oct 16, 2014 17:38
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I know it's been mentioned before but if anyone is wanting to start a sourdough and not having any success doing it from scratch (like me), this is a great resource and it only costs the price of one stamp. http://carlsfriends.net/source.html They send you some dehydrated sourdough yeast and great instructions on how to revive it. I've had great success with this yeast and after about 2 months of caring, it's got a really great sourdough tang to it.
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Oct 16, 2014 20:42
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I have a rye starter living in the fridge and I love it. I think the reason rye is recommended is that its very low gluten so it is very easy to stir and feed. It also has a nice fruity aroma. If you want a sourer bread allow for a much longer refrigerated bulk rise and proof.
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Oct 17, 2014 01:08
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Rurutia posted:I actually read an article awhile ago that said the yeasts we grow in our starters come from the flour that we use. That's why using a stone milled flour is best or something like that. SO you might want to just change what flour you use. Yeah yeast is just a fungus that grows on organic poo poo. I actually used the yeast-water method to jumpstart my own starter. If you put raisins in water and soak them for like a week, shaking the jar every so often every day, you will eventually end up with something that is fizzy and smells like juicy juice. If you add that to some flour, you have "sourdough" starter and you can just use the rest of the yeast-water to feed it, then wean it off into just regular water. I've kept a starter going for a couple of years from that, and made other types of starters, using it as a "mother starter". Also I'm not dead yet so it probably isn't killing me. The downside to that is that my starter can smell sour, but I don't really get that much of a sour tang to it -- which is fine since I'm not the biggest fan of super "sour" sourdough. therattle posted:Unbleached. Rye is often recommended; I guess it has high yeast content. Mmm... Yeasty as a baker's gusset. I think they suggest wheat or rye because it has more of the bran and germ mixed into the flour (the outer "skin" of the kernel, which is what the yeast would grow on), while "white" flour has most of that sifted out. Devoyniche fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Oct 17, 2014 |
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Oct 17, 2014 17:25
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Devoyniche posted:Yeah yeast is just a fungus that grows on organic poo poo. I actually used the yeast-water method to jumpstart my own starter. If you put raisins in water and soak them for like a week, shaking the jar every so often every day, you will eventually end up with something that is fizzy and smells like juicy juice. If you add that to some flour, you have "sourdough" starter and you can just use the rest of the yeast-water to feed it, then wean it off into just regular water. I've kept a starter going for a couple of years from that, and made other types of starters, using it as a "mother starter". Also I'm not dead yet so it probably isn't killing me. Yeah, that makes sense. I've never heard of your yeast juice method but it sounds intriguing.
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Oct 17, 2014 19:26
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Wanting to make a cottage loaf and debating between plain water, milk/water, and potato water. Leaning toward the potato water, but would milk be worth a shot to tenderize the crumb for sandwiches? Or stop overthinking, make on with potato water first and then try the others to find a preference?
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Oct 20, 2014 15:42
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Butch Cassidy posted:Wanting to make a cottage loaf and debating between plain water, milk/water, and potato water. Leaning toward the potato water, but would milk be worth a shot to tenderize the crumb for sandwiches? Or stop overthinking, make on with potato water first and then try the others to find a preference? There is no wrong answer here!
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Oct 20, 2014 18:31
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So I've officially gotten to the point where I'm going through like 5 pounds of flour a month for me and my partner, and I had to go to the store and pick up more. But I found "Hungarian High Altitude" flour in the flour aisle and decided it might be neat. I picked up the whole wheat, which is apparently stone ground. The white bag claimed that it used harder local (Colorado, for me) wheat and thus was milled more finely than regular flour, which makes it better for high altitude baking. Googling turns up some stuff about it (the white is apparently on par with bread flour in terms of protein content, and the milling more finely apparently is not marketing bullshit) but I'm curious if breadgoons have any thoughts on how a more finely-milled high-altitude-grown wheat flour might act?
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Oct 21, 2014 23:43
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My cottage loaf was a comedy of errors:  The final rise went well until it blew out and flattened in the last 20 minutes. Would deeper slits have prevented that? I just put some decorative notches in the thing that stretched to unnoticeable. And then I got distracted by some Dresden Files and over-baked it. The crust is shatteringly crisp and thick with the egg wash but the bottom is scorchy around the edges. The crumb is a nice, tender sandwich bread and I fully plan to try again. And maybe give while wheat a go in the future. Recipe used for reference but. I used honey in place of sugar: http://www.food.com/recipe/traditional-cottage-loaf-old-fashioned-rustic-english-bread-303955
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Oct 22, 2014 17:59
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I think it looks pretty 
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Oct 22, 2014 22:41
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The other side is where the bottom round blew out and started to slough the top.
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Oct 22, 2014 22:46
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E: Reading some more cottage loaf recipes, some warn against over-proofing on the second rise. If my rise was going fine until the last bit - and I gave it a little extra time for New England autumn - could it have risen too much for the structure to support the top round and toppled? I'm thinking of just shortening my second rise and baking time on my next attempt to see how it works out. It is a neat shape I want to play with. Real Edit: Quote is not edit 
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Oct 23, 2014 15:38
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I needed a heftier mixer for making large quantities of pizza dough, so I got an Ankarsrum. I've not had much time recently for breadmaking but here's two batches I remembered to photograph. 75/25 Wholemeal/White, super highly seeded (poppy, seseme, golden linseed, pumpkin, sunflower)   50/50 with Muesli (using Milk instead of water, had lots to use up).    
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Nov 2, 2014 15:30
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quote:75/25 Wholemeal/White, super highly seeded (poppy, seseme, golden linseed, pumpkin, sunflower) That's a really nice crumb for such a high proportion of wholemeal. What's your secret? Edit: or are those seeds?
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Nov 3, 2014 00:28
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twoot posted:75/25 Wholemeal/White, super highly seeded (poppy, seseme, golden linseed, pumpkin, sunflower) This looks sooooo good!
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Nov 3, 2014 02:38
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Happiness Commando posted:That's a really nice crumb for such a high proportion of wholemeal. What's your secret? You can see the crumb there, it was pretty good despite the heaviness from the sheer quantity of seeds. That was a UK brand of Very Strong Wholemeal bread flour (ie high gluten), which will have helped with the crumb. I've also found that upping the hydration of wholemeal can improve it a lot (within the bounds of workability).
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Nov 3, 2014 12:28
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Got a bread machine for a wedding present since I no longer have the time or space to knead my dough by hand. Of the two recipes I've made (plain white and beer bread), they've both come out a little flatter than I had hoped. I've been using the generic flour that we use to make everything else (Giant brand all-purpose). Is this the likely culprit or should I be looking somewhere else? I'm wondering because when I made other recipes by hand (like my grandmother's 100 year old farmhouse recipe) with that flour I didn't have any problems at all.
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Nov 3, 2014 15:15
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Unfortunately bread makers just don't make great bread. It can't bake the bread the way an oven does, it may also be fermenting the dough at a higher temperature which speeds up the process but time allows more flavors to develop out of the flour. Use your bread machine to mix and knead your dough but then take the dough out and continue the fermentation, shaping, proofing, and baking process as if you had kneaded by hand.
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Nov 4, 2014 16:17
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Used to do a little bit of baking back in the day, but I want to get back into baking bread. Thread's been a great help. Had a pizza stone kicking around that I'd never used before too. 2nd loaf since getting back into it, really happy with how it turned out:  
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Nov 5, 2014 07:44
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Pointsman posted:Used to do a little bit of baking back in the day, but I want to get back into baking bread. Thread's been a great help. Had a pizza stone kicking around that I'd never used before too. Would shatter my teeth on that crust.
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Nov 5, 2014 21:33
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I was in the bakery section of Wal-Mart the other day and saw they had "high protein" bread featuring lots of quinoa and wheat germ. It seems like a good idea and tastes alright, but I like me some pumpernickel and so I got to thinking: Can I get away with pulling white flour from any given recipe and substituting for a mix of wheat germ and gluten? I want to make some high-protein pumpernickel but can't find any recipes. Everywhere I look talks about how to remove gluten.
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Nov 8, 2014 22:22
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DreadLlama posted:I was in the bakery section of Wal-Mart the other day and saw they had "high protein" bread featuring lots of quinoa and wheat germ. It seems like a good idea and tastes alright, but I like me some pumpernickel and so I got to thinking: More protein doesn't necessarily mean more gluten. There are two specific proteins that result in gluten. You're probably better off adding nuts and seeds if you want high protein bread, or even wheat germ or some other form of non-glutinous protein. Traditionally, pumpernickel contains very little gluten, since it's made with rye flour.
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Nov 8, 2014 23:43
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I know. That's why I figured it'd be good for gluten addition. Get regular bread texture with delicious pumpernickel taste. I figured it would as easy as pulling the recipe-mandated white flour for something more nutritious.
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Nov 9, 2014 05:57
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This time I soaked the whole wheat flour for 2 days because I had a busy day at work. Loaf ended up somewhere between 50% and 75% WW, probably in the region of 60% hydration. I made some burger buns with the same soaked flour (whats that called? Not a soaker...) that were closer to 70% hydration and they had a gorgeous crumb that I didn't take any pictures of 
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Nov 9, 2014 17:31
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DreadLlama posted:I know. That's why I figured it'd be good for gluten addition. Get regular bread texture with delicious pumpernickel taste. I figured it would as easy as pulling the recipe-mandated white flour for something more nutritious. Oh, I misunderstood your question. Stiffer bread with many nuts and seeds is a very tasty thing, too. You could simply make the recipe as normal, adding some vital wheat gluten until you have the gluten % you want. For your calculations, VWG is 73% glutinous proteins. Don't go overboard, though, it can easily make bread gummy. It also necessitates a longer autolyse/knead period, so give that bread a workout. There's a lot of weight to hold up, and a good windowpane is absolutely necessary. Happiness Commando posted:This time I soaked the whole wheat flour for 2 days because I had a busy day at work. Loaf ended up somewhere between 50% and 75% WW, probably in the region of 60% hydration. I made some burger buns with the same soaked flour (whats that called? Not a soaker...) that were closer to 70% hydration and they had a gorgeous crumb that I didn't take any pictures of That's a preferment - it might be a poolish or a biga, depending on how wet it was. It's a really good technique to enhance your doughs. I recommend using a preferment of some sort in every loaf - it always adds flavor and improves texture, and it's not exactly inconvenient. SymmetryrtemmyS fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Nov 9, 2014 |
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Nov 9, 2014 21:29
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I'm looking for a potato bread recipe that will work with sweet potatoes. Everything I'm coming up with is a sweet quickbread; I'm looking for a savory (regular?) bread. Anyone got one? (Will a regular potato bread recipe work?) Explanation: I'm going from cooking Thanksgiving volume (25+ for dinner, partial potluck but mostly us handling the essentials, including turkey) to cooking Thanksgiving fancy (4 for dinner, 5 courses). One of the courses is going to be a savory sweet potato bread pudding with gruyere and caramelized onions, topped with unsweetened dried cranberries and spicy candied pecans. But I want to bake the bread myself, because I can't think of a place that makes sweet potato bread. (Not potato bread that is sweet, regular bread made with sweet potato.) Help?
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Nov 24, 2014 21:28
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