The Bread Thread

[citoyen]

Ideally you want something with a bit of thermal mass, hence the suggestion of a cast iron pan.

Careful if you use a pizza stone - ours cracked when I put it on the barbecue.

I was quite impressed that our Ikea barbecue got up to 450° - until I realised I was reading the Fahrenheit side of the scale...

[Jakob W]

And I wouldn't use any kind of non-stick on a barbecue - plain steel/aluminium would be best.

[Mrs Pingu]

This was yesterday's results of the hydration reduction experiment
2020-06-09_04-07-09 by The Pingus, on Flickr

2020-06-09_04-07-24 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[Hot Flatus]

Taste nice?


This.....


host image online

....was a cock-up from start to finish. Starter was 100% rye, which doesnt take water so well, and because I'd forgotten the starter was rye the dough was super wet. Then I'd left it too late and it hadn't risen, so I just left it in the mixing bowl overnight at room temp.

Shaping was a nightmare because of the long prove and the wet dough, hence flour lump you can see in loaf.  Proved it in basket and it stuck to basket and ripped skin when it inverted it onto peel.  I literally poured it into the casserole, and the only reason I baked it was that the oven had preheated, and I thought cleaning the wet dough out would be harder than if I went ahead and baked it and at least ended up drying it out. Bin job because it was a disaster, but an easier clean up.

Anyway.....I think you've probably guessed that it turned out to be the most delicious bread I have ever eaten in my life.

Currently trying to reproduce all of yesterday's mistakes because the loaf got eaten within an hour.

[Mrs Pingu]

For today's experiment I'm sticking with the lower hydration but rather than whipping out the silicon sheet after 15 mins I'm going to leave it there for the whole baking time. My reasoning being that it would dry the bread out a bit when it was made on a stone, but now I'm using a steel it shouldn't make any difference.
It will also make less mess (I usually end up with rye flour flying everywhere when I wheech the sheet out) and keep the oven temperature more stable.

[Mrs Pingu]

I did indeed make less mess. The bottom of the loaf seems a bit harder to cut through than the rest, maybe a bit chewier, but not inedible.
2020-06-14_01-32-20 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[citoyen]

On Friday, we had some burgers that needed eating up, so I quickly rustled up some buns to put them in...


Really good. Got the recipe from BBC Good Food. Highly recommended. Soft and light, yet sturdy enough to not disintegrate when soaked in burger juices. The dough is enriched but not the full-on brioche nonsense, which I've yet to be convinced is a good match for a burger.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/soft-burger-buns

Topped the burgers with a bit of cheese and token greenery, and knocked up some chips to go on the side.


It was probably quicker to make from scratch than it would have been to queue at McDonald's.

[nicknack]

Agreed. Brioches are totally crap for burgers. I completely fail to understand why they've caught on. I can only guess that they're cheaper.

[pcolbeck]

Agreed. Brioches are totally crap for burgers. I completely fail to understand why they've caught on. I can only guess that they're cheaper.

Because USA.

They like to pour melted butter on the cut side as well.

[Mrs Pingu]

Mmm. Hungry now. Already had a burger this week tho.

[citoyen]

Agreed. Brioches are totally crap for burgers. I completely fail to understand why they've caught on. I can only guess that they're cheaper.

I suspect it's just because they're a bit fancy, and people like bling. Can't imagine they're cheaper with all the butter and eggs.

A quick bit of googling turned up this, which I think is on the money:
https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/putting-your-burger-brioche-bun-terrible-idea

[Ham]

No way were those hipster sour dough, careful you are on a slippery slope (but you probably don't need two hands to drink water)

[citoyen]

No way were those hipster sour dough, careful you are on a slippery slope (but you probably don't need two hands to drink water)

Well spotted. I did contemplate the sourdough option but it was a last minute decision to make them and I just wanted them done quick. Might try a sourdough version some other time.

[ian]

Really, not even served on a slate with a small metal plant pot for the chips.

Some US places take the brioche concept further, you can burgers in croissants and, for bonus points, inserted into sliced donuts. It's a deviant practice. If they swore and fornicated more, it truly wouldn't be necessary.

[citoyen]

Really, not even served on a slate with a small metal plant pot for the chips.

Why do you think I’m posting the pics here rather than on Instagram? I don’t want the hipster police after me.

Some US places take the brioche concept further, you can burgers in croissants and, for bonus points, inserted into sliced donuts. It's a deviant practice. If they swore and fornicated more, it truly wouldn't be necessary.

I’ve seen the doughnut thing and you’re right - you’d have to be seriously repressed to come up with that as a means of catharsis. No wonder they’re all in therapy.

Mind you, today I worked on a feature that included a vegan recipe for sweet potato cooked in Coca Cola and the author was British.

[ian]

If you go to Atlanta they cook everything in Coca Cola (as a homage to the local brew, I suppose). By the standards of southern marinades, it's relatively healthy.

[Hot Flatus]

Yeah saw they wanky chips

[Davef]

Agreed. Brioches are totally crap for burgers. I completely fail to understand why they've caught on. I can only guess that they're cheaper.

I suspect it's just because they're a bit fancy, and people like bling. Can't imagine they're cheaper with all the butter and eggs.

A quick bit of googling turned up this, which I think is on the money:
https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/putting-your-burger-brioche-bun-terrible-idea

Reading thru the linked article it says “no Frenchman would use brioche for a sandwich”, but most pre packaged filled baguettes in France are made using baguette viennoise as normal French bread goes stale too quickly.


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[citoyen]

Reading thru the linked article it says “no Frenchman would use brioche for a sandwich”, but most pre packaged filled baguettes in France are made using baguette viennoise as normal French bread goes stale too quickly.

Baguette viennoise is not the same thing as brioche.

There are a few details I would quibble with in the piece. I wouldn't claim to know whether or not it's true that "no Frenchman would use brioche for a sandwich". That seems a bit too definitive a statement. But it's generally sound on the reasons for not using brioche buns for burgers.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Can anyone point me to a reliable recipe for bread made from spelt flour with no yeast? I do have some normal plain flour that could be included but not enough for a loaf.

[Ham]

f
l
o
u
r

Or, Foxtrot Lima Oscar Uniform Romeo

Does that go some way to helping?

[Sergeant Pluck]

f
l
o
u
r

Or, Foxtrot Lima Oscar Uniform Romeo

Does that go some way to helping?

Not in the slightest. Did you think it would? Spelt is not the same as bread flour, and the lack of yeast introduces other differences.

Hence my request in case someone else has a recipe they have used and is known to work, and I’ll also google it. Thanks a lot though.

[Jakob W]

When you say without yeast, do you mean a quickbread or a sourdough? And is it wholemeal or white spelt? Spelt tends to make for a more active sourdough culture, so you may have to adjust amounts or proofing times, but (as for any other wholemeal) a pure wholemeal spelt loaf is likely to be quite dense.

[Ham]

f
l
o
u
r

Or, Foxtrot Lima Oscar Uniform Romeo

Does that go some way to helping?

Not in the slightest. Did you think it would?

It would have been of inestimable assistance had you been wondering how flour was spelt.

As far as it goes, I cant see it being much different in whatever non-yeast recipe than normal (hard wheat) flour, except it probably won't hold shape as well. (although final texture will be different)

[pcolbeck]

An experiment this afternoon. Just put some 50% rye 50% white in the bread maker but using cheap Lidl strong white flour. Lets see how it comes out.