|
Got a wild urge to bake something this morning, but we just moved into this new apartment and lack the fun ingredients one acquires over time. Like honey. I just used a honey/butter roll recipe, subbed sugar and made some boring rolls that were dense, soft, and chewy. I would have preferred airy, but my yeast is old and it is 20 degrees outside. Later in the evening I decided I wasn't happy with the rolls, but they tasted really good with cheddar cheese so let's make some cheddar loaf(using the same recipe guidelines hold the sugar)! Guys, I think it might be sentient.  And a better shot of the top.  It is cooling now and I doubt it will be around come tomorrow morning so long as the inside is as tasty as the outside looks.
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2014 06:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 16:33 |
|
|
 Made a chili and garlic bread, and it decided to "explode" on me, taste was great though. This is only my third time trying to make bread so far it's a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2014 00:17
|
|
|
ItalicSquirrels posted: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. Found the problem. Warmer water, let the yeast (which I keep in the freezer) come up to room temperature, and add just a little more water than the recipe calls for. Dunno why, but just a tbsp or two extra along with the above parts gave me great bread.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2014 15:50
|
|
|
I wanna start baking bread and am still in the ingredient phase. Obviously I want to buy in bulk to save money, but I have no idea how I should be storing the flour and yeast. Plastic container? Glass container? Really airtight bag? Please help.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2014 01:34
|
|
|
Flour goes in Cambros, don't forget a matching lid. Yeast (instant, I hope) goes in delis, ask for a couple from the deli counter next time you buy some cold cuts. White flour goes in the pantry. Whole grain flour gets stored in the fridge or freezer, depending on how fast you use it. Yeast can stay in the fridge, too.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2014 02:12
|
|
|
Sure, store your flour in cambros if you are made of money. In which case buy me some. A gallon ziploc bag is fine for a 5 pound sack of flour in the pantry. 5 gallon buckets will hold 25 pounds no problem, and if you are feeling fancy get the twist lock gamma lids for a super airtight seal.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2014 05:18
|
|
|
Happiness Commando posted:Sure, store your flour in cambros if you are made of money. In which case buy me some. A gallon ziploc bag is fine for a 5 pound sack of flour in the pantry. 5 gallon buckets will hold 25 pounds no problem, and if you are feeling fancy get the twist lock gamma lids for a super airtight seal. How long will the flour last in the gallon ziplock bag? How can I improve its storage period?
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2014 05:31
|
|
|
Wait, why do I have to store whole wheat flour in the fridge or freezer? I just bought some.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2014 12:59
|
|
|
guppy posted:Wait, why do I have to store whole wheat flour in the fridge or freezer? I just bought some. Whole wheat flour contains wheat oils left over from processing, which will rancidify if left at room temperature, and rather quickly at that.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2014 13:46
|
|
|
Mad Rancher posted:How long will the flour last in the gallon ziplock bag? How can I improve its storage period? With no science to back me up, I feel like white flour will last forever. If you want to keep it for longer than that, freeze it for a while to kill any mealworms or whatever wriggly insects lay eggs in flour, then put it in mylar airtight bags and replace the air with CO2. And store it in the freezer. But why? How much bulk do you plan on buying? Also, I keep my WW flour in the pantry and even after 3-6 months its fine. I don't think I've ever had flour stick around for longer than that though.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2014 22:05
|
|
|
I have been baking half whole wheat bread for over a year now. These days I tend to go through 10 pounds of flour (2 five-pound bags) in about 2 months or so. I actually keep my regular AP flour in the freezer since I use it so infrequently--I only really bust it out for roux or when I run out of my KA bread flour. I've never had my whole wheat flour go rancid on me--not the Trader Joe's brand, not the King Arthur brand, not the generic bullshit brand, none. I've also never had oil go rancid on me either. The only thing I can remember ever going rancid on me were nuts, and that took over 6 months.
Nicol Bolas fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Dec 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 00:02
|
|
|
Nicol Bolas posted:10 pounds of flour (2 one-pound bags) Tell me more about these one pound bags
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 00:58
|
|
|
Happiness Commando posted:Tell me more about these one pound bags Erp. Fixed, five-pound bags.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 02:02
|
|
|
I have been using this recipe: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-knead-oat-bread-recipe And all of the loaves have been sinking in the middle, the edges rise higher than the center. What am I doing wrong? Does that mean I have too big of a cooking pan? too small? Before I put the dough in the oven, it is a round, normal shaped loaf. When it take it out, the edges have risen, the middle shrunk down. And it is fully cooked, just not as light and airy as I would like. I tried taking the oats out of the recipe and same thing happens. Fozzy The Bear fucked around with this message at 09:49 on Dec 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 09:44
|
|
|
I've been making white sandwich bread the last couple weeks, but I'm looking to start making multigrain bread since that's my favorite when I buy it. (I'm planning to just bake my own bread going forward, but when I was buying it, the Stroehmann Dutch Country Twelve-Grain bread was my go-to. It's also become weirdly hard to find.) Does anyone have a recipe they like? There's some weird stuff in all the ones I'm seeing online, like I've seen one that calls for 7-grain cereal, which seemed weird and I don't know if that's the "right" way to do it or a cheaty shortcut. I also barely know what multigrain means so I don't know if I am just supposed to make wheat bread and add oats and seeds and stuff, I just know I like it and i like that it's a little more substantial and stiff.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 13:53
|
|
|
guppy posted:I've been making white sandwich bread the last couple weeks, but I'm looking to start making multigrain bread since that's my favorite when I buy it. (I'm planning to just bake my own bread going forward, but when I was buying it, the Stroehmann Dutch Country Twelve-Grain bread was my go-to. It's also become weirdly hard to find.) Does anyone have a recipe they like? There's some weird stuff in all the ones I'm seeing online, like I've seen one that calls for 7-grain cereal, which seemed weird and I don't know if that's the "right" way to do it or a cheaty shortcut. I also barely know what multigrain means so I don't know if I am just supposed to make wheat bread and add oats and seeds and stuff, I just know I like it and i like that it's a little more substantial and stiff. I just make a 100% whole wheat with some oil, treacle, and sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds. I tend to knead that one, not use no knead, as it's baked in a tin and I want it quite dense.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 17:10
|
|
|
Fozzy The Bear posted:When it take it out, the edges have risen, the middle shrunk down. And it is fully cooked, just not as light and airy as I would like. I tried taking the oats out of the recipe and same thing happens. Does the middle actually shrink or just look like it compared to the risen sides? How are you doing the final proof?
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2014 17:53
|
|
|
Happiness Commando posted:Does the middle actually shrink or just look like it compared to the risen sides? How are you doing the final proof? I let the dough do its thing for hours, then I move the dough to the ceramic cooking pan. I let it rise for 1-1.5 hours. The edges are about 3/4ths of the way up the pan, and the center is about level with the sides of the pan. I put it in the oven to cook for an hour, take it out, and now the edges are about level with the pan, and the middle has gone down. The middle shrinks about 25% while the sides have risen.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2014 01:25
|
|
|
First bread trip report: I spent a lot of time fussing with my bread. First it was too sticky so I kept working with it on and off. Then I set it to proof, only to find it didn't rise, so I added more yeast and kneaded it again, then set it in a warmer place. It finally did rise, so I set to knock it only to find it was super sticky and basically impossible to work, so I added more flour and greased the bowl, then kneaded it again. I set it to rise again but it collapsed, so I gave it one last knead, discovering that it had turned into a no-stretching mess. Finally I tore it into 3 separate pieces and rolled them into little bread sticks which I said gently caress it to and stuck in the oven without letting proof. They actually came out decent! No weird taste, good variety of holes, etc. I forgot to cut it, so it split funny, but the splits just let me insert some orange marmalade. Yum!
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2014 07:57
|
|
|
Thanks to this thread, I've now decided that I should totally order a live sourdough starter to maintain. In the meantime, I'm gonna work through the rest of this yeast. This is my second attempt, my first loaves yesterday were overproofed, but good. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2014 19:32
|
|
|
If you have a little time a sourdough starter is pretty easy to get going from scratch. I used this guide and mine's been working like a champ for 10 months now. I really like the rye starter as there's very little gluten so it is easy to stir and feed, and it smells amazing. As far as upkeep, I bake every other weekend or so, and feed it as I bake. The rest of the time it lives in the fridge. I let it go close to four weeks once without feeding and it smelled like nail polish remover, but came back to life again after feeding. Really, one of the easiest cooking projects I've tried.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2014 23:14
|
|
|
Fozzy The Bear posted:I let the dough do its thing for hours, then I move the dough to the ceramic cooking pan. I let it rise for 1-1.5 hours. The edges are about 3/4ths of the way up the pan, and the center is about level with the sides of the pan. I put it in the oven to cook for an hour, take it out, and now the edges are about level with the pan, and the middle has gone down. Weird. My first thought was that it had to do with ceramic taking longer to heat up and giving preferential rising to the yeast near the edges, but you would still expect the center to rise, just lag behind the sides. Do you slash the top?
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 00:04
|
|
|
I don't know what the answer to the mystery is, but I had the cheapest breadmaker and it would make bread like that. It baked the edges to a crust while the center would in effect keep rising as raw dough until it popped like a balloon and collapsed.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 03:53
|
|
|
His oven might be slow to heat up. If the ceramic vessel takes to long to heat up, the middle could overproof. The yeast would push to dough past the gluten's ability to hold it and cause some deflation. The hotter edges set first, before it rises too much. The cold oven start in that recipe is odd. Have you tried preheating your oven with this recipe?
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 03:57
|
|
|
WhoIsYou posted:The cold oven start in that recipe is odd. Have you tried preheating your oven with this recipe? I'm just going to ditch that recipe. Happiness Commando posted:Weird. My first thought was that it had to do with ceramic taking longer to heat up and giving preferential rising to the yeast near the edges, but you would still expect the center to rise, just lag behind the sides. Do you slash the top? I don't slash the top. Anyone have a good no-knead recipe for whole wheat with oats?
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 04:15
|
|
|
WhoIsYou posted:His oven might be slow to heat up. If the ceramic vessel takes to long to heat up, the middle could overproof. The yeast would push to dough past the gluten's ability to hold it and cause some deflation. The hotter edges set first, before it rises too much. I had this issue with the outer edges overproofing yesterday, but that's because I waited too long while I was stupidly waiting on the oven to stop cleaning itself (that was my fuckup). PatMarshall posted:If you have a little time a sourdough starter is pretty easy to get going from scratch. I used this guide and mine's been working like a champ for 10 months now. I really like the rye starter as there's very little gluten so it is easy to stir and feed, and it smells amazing. I wish I had read this before I bought the starter. The only good thing from this is that the starter is coming from San Francisco, plus I didn't have any rye flour either, so...
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 04:29
|
|
|
A goon friend gave me a bread recipe I've been using and I am hesitant to move on to other bread then 'plain white bread' until I get it right. My yeast is dry, which I store in the freezer and activate prior to mixing, and it bubbles and rises so its good. Using 3 cups water to 6.5 cups white flour, and adjust to get the dough wet enough. My bread rises initially, which I pound back, then form a loaf which rises as the oven heats up. Baked on a stone heated with the oven, covered lightly with foil, and a pan of water under. The foil is because my top gets too hard and crusty, and the loaf is too dense, not light and airy at all. Making for a very tough bread Not enough rise? Too little water? Too much? I am looking for a good science explanation like that image floating around of cookies with different sugar and ratios. What am I messing up? I want to just get a loaf of bread I am proud to share.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 14:22
|
|
|
Roundboy posted:A goon friend gave me a bread recipe I've been using and I am hesitant to move on to other bread then 'plain white bread' until I get it right. A hard crust and dense loaf would be too high a temp, and not enough water respectively.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 19:35
|
|
|
Shirt and sweet. I was at. 445 which means its probably not that temp at all. More water for the bread gods as well, I'll try a new batch tonight.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2014 00:14
|
|
|
UnhealthyJoe posted:What I am looking for is to make a bread with a crust like a french bread, crisp but not too think with a bread with a great texture in the middle. I have tried to it with a pizza stone but I am thinking my dough was too dry. Thought maybe the dutch oven would keep some more moisture in the "cooking" area so the bread would crisp up and hopefully be better. So, I love making my own bread. I love using the basic: 3 cups unbleached ap flour 1 3/4 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon yeast 1 1/2 cups water For baking, I haven't been able to get a dutch oven so I use a metal cake pan that i heat up with the stone for 30 minutes, place the bread on some parchment paper and let it rest for the 30 mins while the oven heats up. When i put the bread on the stone, i dump about 2 cups worth of ice into the metal cake pan. I have done this in a couple different ovens and cooking times have varied but usually 30 - 40 minutes. I like a "yeastier" bread so I will add 2.5 teaspoons (whole package of yeast) to the bread recipe. I have liked it more than just the 1/2 teaspoon. My favorite modification is doing 2.5 cups ap flour, 0.5 cup wheat flour and adding 1/2 cup sesame seeds. My second favorite is doing the basic recipe with 2.5 teaspoon of yeast and adding 3 jalapenos cleaned and diced into small pieces and 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese. At the end, I put another cup on top. It is drat good. Plan is now to get more adventurous with trying other breads since the stone and the ice seem to keep the oven more humid to give that great crust.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2014 09:28
|
|
|
So, I'm living in Korea, and my apartment doesn't have an oven, though I do have access to one of those tabletop mini-oven things that can only go up to 250f. However, I DO have a slow cooker, and a few minutes of googling tells me that making bread is totally possible. I've been loving around with a few recipes to see how things turn out, and here's what I've made so far. According to a few sites, bread in slow cookers tends to be a bit heavier and doesn't rise as much, so I'll never be able to get anything light and fluffy out of it, but I'm going to keep experimenting and see what I can come up with. Basically to adapt these recipes for a slow cooker, I cook them for about an hour and 15 minutes, then brown the top in the mini-oven for 15 minutes. This is a beer bread recipe I found, and turned out really good. I'd almost hesitate to call it bread though, it's almost more like a heavy cake, but that's largely due to the slow cooker. It's also pretty greasy thanks to the butter, but entirely delicious, also thanks to the butter.  This is apparently Amish whitebread. It's a bit sweet, and the bread is rather crumbly and doughy, but again, still delicious. It'd be tricky to make a sandwich that wouldn't fall apart after a few minutes, but it's perfect alongside some beef stew or fried up as toast for breakfast. 
McKilligan fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Dec 15, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 15, 2014 03:41
|
|
|
I'm super excited that's there's a bread thread. I just started making my own as way to be thrifty and also because it's absurdly delicious. It makes store bought bread seem so wimpy. I also really find the entire process to very cathartic and rewarding. I've been doing whole wheat cause it's awesome, but my loaves are a bit dense. I tried VWG (approx 1tsp/cup flour) and used evaporated milk/water for my second batch of bread versus just water + everything else. It's certainly improved the texture a good deal and my bread seems less prone to crumbling. Would upping my fluid ratio help make my bread more elastic? I did also knead my bread a lot more this time around, probably around 5-10 minutes. I've read that I more kneading can the gluten get around the bran. Would it be beneficial to knead for longer?
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2014 20:30
|
|
|
Are you kneading by hand? My King Arthur book mentions in its whole wheat bread recipe that that produces a denser loaf than kneading with a stand mixer (dough hook) or bread machine.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2014 20:42
|
|
|
Cooks illustrated recommends soaking the wheat in milk prior, allowing the germ to soften and expand I finally got my sourdough starter from breadtopia 2 weeks ago, and while the first dough after revival was a little mild, I'm excited about the loaves I've got going on now. I've been feeding it consistently, and I can't wait to have some of my own tomorrow. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2014 21:03
|
|
|
Alright. Cool. I'll try that next time I make some loaves. In other weird texture issues with my bread, I was making cinnamon rolls, a sweet rich dough with eggs and a lot more sugar and like an entire stick of butter. The other day and after the first rising I realized that I hadn't added enough flour since it was sticking horribly to the sides of my greased bowl. I added more flour and rekneaded it and started the process over again. Unfortunately while they were super delicious, the bread portion was kinda dry and really crumbly. It still held it's shape but would break super easily. I was using whole wheat pastry flour fwiw. Would the process of rekneading my dough have contributed to the texture, is the crumblyness inherent to pastry flour, or did I gently caress something else up? I'm sure pictures would help, but I already ate all my rolls...like a fatty. Edit: it just occurred to me that I prob should've soaked my flour for these as well. dog nougat fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Dec 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2014 00:35
|
|
|
On day two of my whole rye starter, small bubbles are starting to appear, hopefully it will live 
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2014 16:58
|
|
|
Speaking of , I kinda forgot my sourdough starter in the fridge and it's been about 2 1/2 months. Can I just set it on the counter, let it reach room temperature and feed it some flour?
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2014 23:36
|
|
|
Day 3: The starter has nearly doubled in size, it's alive, it's alive!! 
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2014 09:59
|
|
|
I made my first loaf yesterday! I went for a ciabatta and set my sights on that before realizing it was actually a bit complicated as most recipes require a pre-ferment (biga or poolish) and would be difficult to work with right up to baking. But still, it turned out perfect and I wish I had pictures! I also only got enough of my own loaves to make myself a single sandwich, as it didn't last very long after filling the whole house with its wonderful scent. I'm currently using the pre-ferment technique to make a pizza dough for some lunch and I think my next loaf might be foccacia.
|
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2014 11:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 16:33 |
|
|
Nibblet posted:Speaking of Feed it like you normally feed it (discard some, water+flour, room temp until it looks to be awake again). I haven't let mine go months at a time, but it should be fine. It of course will smell like rear end.. some things I've read say discard the hooch, others say just mix it in. I usually mix mine really well, discard, and then feed and haven't had any problems.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2014 16:04
|
|