Rise to me: The Bread Thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Rise to me: The Bread Thread

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Tom Smykowski posted:

Any tips on making bread on the stove? I'm ovenless.

You can make some really good english muffins in a frying pan.

# ¿ Dec 18, 2018 00:13

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 04:23

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

I tried to toast some gluten free "bread" back when the doctor put my girlfriend on a gluten free diet for a while. The bread melted like styrofoam, it was the weirdest think I ever saw.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2019 19:06

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Anything I should know about baking with malt flour? I have to make my own mix of malt and normal flour, so I just assume that I shouldn't go overboard with the malt.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2019 22:30

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Adventures in malt.

I like the smell, taste, and color the malt adds, but I need to use a bit more water next time, since it made the dough a lot drier than I thought it would.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2019 15:34

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Solumin posted:

Hey bread thread. Does anyone have any experience with 100% rye loaves? I've been trying to make sourdough rye bread with my own starter, and my bread keeps turning out without absolutely no holes in it at all -- just a dense block. I swear it even collapses in the oven a little. I'm know I'm not going to get the rise I would see with wheat bread, but I would still expect a little rise! I'm baking it in a bread tin, if that helps -- I'd like to have sandwhich-shaped slices if possible.

I'm using my own starter, so I know I'm not guaranteed to get fast rises like I would with commercial yeast. My starter takes a good 6 - 12 hours to double, mostly because it's a little chilly here for yeast, about 65 - 68 deg. F in my kitchen. When actually using it to make bread, I see a great rise when doing the levain build, but then basically nothing after making the full dough. Any thoughts?

(It turns out I'm allergic to wheat, but I'm not ready to cut bread out of my life, so I'm stuck with 100% rye recipes. I'm not allergic to all gluten. Vital wheat gluten isn't an option.)

Danish rye bread can be made with nothing but rye, but it can be an aquired taste. It's more like pumpernickel, so it's dense and hard, and usually sliced thin.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2019 09:27

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

Does anybody have any recommendations for the thickest, densest, heaviest, blackest Germano-Scandinavian black bread of a gajillion calories? I saw this one and thought it was getting there:

https://www.daringgourmet.com/easy-danish-rye-bread-rugbrod/

That recipe is very close to something you'd find here in Denmark. I'd use dark syrup instead of sugar, and always use buttermilk. I'd personally drop the almonds, since it changes the taste and feel of the bread too much for my liking.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2019 21:34

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

Generally speaking, is it something so dense that you end up having to grunt a little to lift it up off the table? I'm trying to achieve a comic level of heft with this. I'm guessing that having wheat/rye berries and some nuts does a lot to really give it heft.

Generally I agree with the idea of using some kind of dark syrup. Would blackstrap molasses be appropriate? It would contribute a kind of flavor and I don't know if that would be consistent.

Yeah, it usually feels more like a brick than bread, and it can be really hard to cut, especially the homemade stuff.
By the way, you should soak the seeds and rye berries for ~12 hours, or the bread can end up feeling grainy and crunchy.
I don't really know what blackstrap is like, since we don't use it for anything over here. It's probably fine.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2019 17:40

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

I think years back when I last dabbled in this that I didn't soak the aggregates and got that effect so that's good advice.

Regarding blackstrap molasses: Boiled sugarcane juice makes sugar in its first run. It's second run makes molasses. It's third run makes blackstrap molasses. It's sludge at that point and has to be coaxed out of the jar by warming it up and sacrificing a goat. Rich, dark, and hilariously thick.

I read a bit about molasses and such, and it looks like the dark syrup we use over here is closer to normal molasses than blackstrap. I'd go for that if you can.
Read all about it here https://www.thespruceeats.com/light-and-dark-syrup-ljus-sirap-2952908

# ¿ Oct 24, 2019 21:22

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

therattle posted:

I use treacle, which I thought was the same as molasses.

Seems like molasses and treacle are pretty much the same thing. The big difference with dark syrup is that it's made from sugar beets, so the combination of sugars in it is different, and it's has a higher sugar content at 80%
This is all just stuff I read off the internet.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2019 23:11

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Jerry Cotton posted:

Technically off-topic but can I bake something when I only have a bag of wheat flower and basic spices? (And water of course.)

You can make flatbread in a frying pan. Just water, salt and flour, maybe some spices if you want to.
Edit: Make hardtack if you hate yourself.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2019 15:38

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

Paging Electric Hobo:

I was showing some possibilities for dark, dense breads to my mom and Rugbr�d looked a lot like a bread she used to see the nuns making where she grew up in upstate New York so she's on board for messing with that in particular. I saw a few possibilities for this that gave a real spectrum for moisture. What was more common was something like a wet muck that you slop into a baking pan, but some were dry and kneaded. I'm wondering which way to lean in general and what to expect. I think the recipe you posted is going for the wet muck.

The wet muck in a pan is what we usually call rugbr�d. It's the really hard stuff, it doesn't rise much, and have to be baked in a pan because of all the liquid.
The other kind is something like S�nderjysk rugbr�d, which has a mix that you can knead and shape to some extent. It's closer to a normal loaf of bread, but is denser and more chewy. It' also not as hard as the other kind of rugbr�d.

Both are good, but if you're going for something that's as far from what you normally eat as possible, you should make the wet kind.

# ¿ Nov 8, 2019 23:47

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

My first attempt at that rugbr�d will probably be a failure for being too wet. The I soaked the seeds/rye berries beforehand for a recipe that didn't call for that, but then the recipe called for a 24-hour rest after mixing. So I'm pretty sure that was supposed to help saturate them. I added a little more flour but it was a complete guess. It's currently oozing over onto a catch pan under it in the oven. So I'll be mostly going for taste and such this time and disregarding moisture content and everything else.

How much did you fill the pan? It should only be about 2/3 full, or it'll go everywhere.
I can find a good recipe and translate it for you if want, but everything'll be in grams and such.

# ¿ Nov 11, 2019 15:16

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

SymmetryrtemmyS posted:

I would be interested in this!

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

I went all the way. The recipe I had posted wanted me to dump it all in:
https://www.daringgourmet.com/easy-danish-rye-bread-rugbrod/

...but I could have made two loaves with that even without the extra moisture.

My wife considers it to be far too bitter but her mother-in-law would like it. I'm not sure how much of a fan I am either. Do you have a tried-and-true recipe?

I didn't notice that when I looked at it, I just skimmed over the actual recipe

Here's a basic recipe that I translated from https://nogetiovnen.dk/hurtige-rugbrod-uden-surdej-med-sesam-og-graeskarkernedrys/ It's highly rated by a lot of people. This one doesn't use sourdough, but I can find one that does if either of you want. Sourdough is more traditional for this, and it does make a better bread.

You can add in rye berries and seeds by soaking them for 24 hours, but you might need more flour if you do. You can't really overwork it, so just follow the recipe, add the seeds, then more flour if the consistency changes too much.
You can also play around with substituting in some beer instead of some of the water, and you can use other sour milk products instead of buttermilk. And you can throw in some honey or molasses for sweetness.
I find flax seeds to be very bitter, so maybe cut back on those if you don't like that.

3 dl. warm water
7 dl. buttermilk
700g rye flour
300g flour
25g melted butter or other fat
50g yeast (this is the living kind that comes in a block. Something like 12-15g active dry yeast.)
15g salt

Mix water and buttermilk, make sure it's still warm. Mix in the yeast, then the salt, then the fat.
Mix in all the rye flour, then the flour little by little, until you have something like a very thick porridge.
Cover it, and leave for 30 minutes, then squish it into a pan or two. Don't fill the pans more than half- to 2/3 of the way.
Brush with water, and sprinkle with whatever you like, or nothing at all.
Cover the pans and leave for 30 minutes.
Bake for 50 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius. Put a pan with water in the bottom of the oven.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2019 09:46

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

Go to the yospos cat thread and post your kitten.

I'd say that you can throw in 3 or 4 handfuls of seeds and other extras no problem for this amount of dough. You can probably use more if you want to, there are recipes out there that has a ton of seeds in them. I like the plain bread, so I rarely add anything, so I'm not really sure.

I've had rugbr�d with dates, cranberries, and walnuts. It's pretty good, so if that makes it more palateable to you, go for it. I wouldn't use dried citrus and stuff like that, I think it would make a confusing bread.
I'd stick to one kind of fruit/nut to use, but that's could be because I've been eating this stuff all my life, so I can't handle when it's suddenly sweet and fruity.

By the way, you can use your leftovers to make �llebr�d, which is a thin porridge made out of rugbr�d and beer. It's... an experience.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2019 22:19

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 04:23

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; What a view!; Grimey Drawer

MickeyFinn posted:

I'm having trouble getting gluten development in a reasonable amount of time kneading my doughs. Up until today I have been kneading by hand and the total time to knead to get a dough that just passes a window pane test is something on the order of 30-40 minutes (3-4 times longer than given in the recipe). At that point I'm so exhausted from kneading that I just give up. After that, each rise is trash. Instead of 2 hours it takes 4+ hours (I do two as given in the Bread Baker's Apprentice). And when finally baked 14-16 hours after I start, the crumb is dense and (in my opinion) gross and inedible, even as toast.

I had thought it was my technique, but when I watch people kneading on Youtube they are all over the place, from little old ladies gently poking the dough for a few minutes to dudes getting seriously violent with the dough. I finally have space for a Kitchen Aid and they went on sale so I tried that this morning. Still, my dough is taking 2-3 times longer than recommended to pass the test.

I measure my water temperatures and I use a scale, so my ingredients aren't wildly off. I proof my yeast and use starters (not this time, flavor isn't even on the radar anymore). Maybe my doughs aren't wet enough? What exactly is tacky versus sticky? I think I know what that means, but my bread is a raging trash fire, so maybe not. I use gold medal flours (both bread and AP), maybe that is the issue? I live in southern california, is the air too dry or something? What is going on?

It almost sounds like you're over-kneading the dough, even though that's pretty difficult to do by hand. Over kneading will make it not rise much, and result in a hard, gross bread. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go4P4nQF5r8, where some guy shows what dough looks like when you over knead it.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2020 20:40

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Rise to me: The Bread Thread