Author Topic: The Bread Thread (Read 112671 times)

Ham · « **Reply #850 on:** 20 May, 2023, 10:11:00 pm »

Looks good, I'm impressed you got the stick even-ness right, I found that quite challenging to start (although there was normally one that looked pretty good

)

Looks like you've got authentic taste and texture there, too, congrats (interpolated from the cross section).

Feanor · « **Reply #851 on:** 21 May, 2023, 08:44:41 pm »

I watched some YouTube videos demonstrating the pre-shape and final shaping of the dough.
That was the main purpose of my first effort, the dough was a quick-n-dirty effort per the video linked below, but I wanted to practice the technique.

This is the video I based my first effort on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m08i8oXpFB0

This shows how to pre-shape then shape the things, and also shows how to use the couche and planchette.
Once you've learned the technique, then you can start to play with fancier doughs.

Dawghouse also has a recipe based on the Ken Forkish Poolish dough, (pretty much what I use for Pizza dough) which I may try next:
https://dawghousebakery.com/2021/11/05/baguettes-using-ken-forkish-white-bread-with-poolish-recipe/

I'm having a lot of fun with this!

Feanor · « **Reply #852 on:** 13 June, 2023, 01:48:56 pm »

My final post on the subject of baguettes, I promise!
(Unless I do some sourdough ones, which is a whole different thing!)

This is my third attempt, and the best yet. Same recipe as last time, an overnight slow-ferment in the fridge "Pointage En Bac".
But I was a bit bolder and let them fire a bit longer, and they do benefit from that.

Moar baguettes by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

Feanor · « **Reply #853 on:** 19 June, 2023, 07:29:44 pm »

Ok, this is really really the last post I'll make about baguettes! Promise!

Today's attempt is a sourdough recipe, again from the Dawghouse Bakery. This is a hybrid dough, using a small amount of yeast as well as the levain. 25% of the flour is coming from the levain. I opted for the 12 hour overnight ferment, so the yeast quantity was 1g!

Bit of a schoolboy error where I forgot to turn down the oven temp between the steaming phase and the dry-bake phase, so they are a little well-fired, but none the worse for it.

The sourdough gives a rather more chewy bread, but still with the proper baguette crispy crust. The long ferment and levain content gives a bit more flavour than the plain white, but not so much as to overpower your sammich. Happy with this recipe, and will do it again.

Sourdough_baguettes by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

Sourdough baguettes by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

citoyen · « **Reply #854 on:** 19 June, 2023, 10:08:26 pm »

They look amazing!

Tim Hall · « **Reply #855 on:** 05 August, 2023, 04:32:40 pm »

Just back from Scout camp, where I managed to have a go at sourdough bread in Dutch oven over a fire. Being a fire, the temperature was much harder to control, but overall the results were on the winning side.

(click to show/hide)

SteveC · « **Reply #856 on:** 05 August, 2023, 05:24:07 pm »

We made some bread on a fire at one of our re-enactments a few years ago.
The bread was in a small cauldron, which was placed inside a larger one, supported so as not to touch the larger one directly. I can't remember what we used as a 'trivet'.
I was worried that I'd not be able to get the bread out of the cauldron, but it was fine. Not bad bread either.

Feanor · « **Reply #857 on:** 05 August, 2023, 06:08:20 pm »

That's a pretty decent effort for something so temperature-uncontrolled!

citoyen · « **Reply #858 on:** 18 August, 2023, 07:25:13 pm »

After killing off my sourdough starter earlier this year, I finally got round to kicking off a new one this week. Used the Paul Hollywood method, with grated apple mixed in at the start - picked straight from the garden. To say it has been a success is an understatement - within a couple of days it was bubbling away merrily.

I fed it again this morning and this is what it looked like just a couple of hours later, the hyperactive little bastard - the elastic band is the level it was at post-feed:

Sourdough starter by citoyen, on Flickr

It's not even a particularly warm day today!

Made a sponge earlier with the intention of making the dough in the morning but it's already at the point where it needs using before it goes over, so I'll have to move to the next stage this evening - might be an idea to put it in the fridge overnight.

citoyen · « **Reply #859 on:** 14 September, 2023, 10:30:33 am »

I tried an experiment this morning. Some sourdough influencer I follow on socials is always banging on about baking from a cold start, ie not preheating the oven. I know Ham otp does the same, as he has mentioned here before, but that's with standard yeasted loaves. I thought I'd give it a go and I think the evidence is that it's a resounding success...

Sourdough by citoyen, on Flickr

I baked it Dutch oven style in my Lodge cast iron pan for 50 minutes (total oven time), taking the top off for the last 10 minutes. Looks like it has baked pretty well but I haven't cut into it yet. Certainly no issues with rising.

I think next time I might give it another 10 minutes but I'm convinced of the merits of cold-start baking - it meant I could shove it in the oven when I woke up at 5.30 and go back to bed for a bit while it did its thing, no hanging around waiting for the oven to get up to temperature.

Ham · « **Reply #860 on:** 03 November, 2023, 06:34:38 pm »

That ^^ looks like a win to me. I'm convinced there's shedloads of stuff we do because we do it that way, for no good reason: "Don't eat before going swimming" I seem to remember was drummed into me as a child, same sort of thing.

Anyhow, I habitually put malt into standard white loaves for flavour, and sometimes into wholemeal, because, why not? The strength of flavour of the flour (and, OK, the rye and caraway I add) demote it to a more insignificant role. Actually, the "you must put sugar into bread" is another of those things some people do for no good reason. Today I thought, "what if I used molasses in wholemeal?" I have to tell you the result is excellent, slightly darker but improved flavour and consistency, I recommend it to the house. It helps if you have molasses hanging around, molasses sugar might work, too. I used about 40g in an 800g flour loaf (at 65% hydration)

Basil · « **Reply #861 on:** 03 November, 2023, 06:59:01 pm »

I don't have a bread maker. Just a good machine with a BFO dough hook.
I'm now using, almost exclusively, spelt flour.
Soooooo tasty.

citoyen · « **Reply #862 on:** 06 November, 2023, 09:53:23 pm »

Quote from: Ham on 03 November, 2023, 06:34:38 pm

Actually, the "you must put sugar into bread" is another of those things some people do for no good reason. Today I thought, "what if I used molasses in wholemeal?" I have to tell you the result is excellent, slightly darker but improved flavour and consistency, I recommend it to the house. It helps if you have molasses hanging around, molasses sugar might work, too. I used about 40g in an 800g flour loaf (at 65% hydration)

I remember a recipe from BBC Good Food magazine that I first made in the late 90s for a Russian-style dark rye bread that was made with molasses. Also had orange juice in it IIRC. And caraway seeds. It was bloody lovely. Wish I'd kept that recipe. I've just done a bit of googling and come up with several similar things (eg Borodinsky bread) but nothing quite the same as that recipe. Like most rye breads it packed a punch on the flavour front, but unlike most rye breads it had a soft, open texture.

In other bread news, I had a hankering at the weekend to recreate a breakfast recipe I once tried in a restaurant - lightly toasted split muffins filled with bacon and egg. So I made some muffins. They were OK but a couple of things weren't quite right - the recipe said to dust them with semolina before putting them on the griddle but I didn't have semolina so used polenta instead. Bad idea. It was too coarse and gave the muffins an unpleasantly gritty crunchiness on the outside. The other problem, a rather odd one, was that they came out cooked in the middle but underbaked and doughy round the edges. I need to work on the timings and temperature. The recipe said to put the griddle on a "very low" heat, but I think perhaps it was too low.

They were still better than anything you'd get in a shop though. Or that restaurant. Will definitely be trying them again.

citoyen · « **Reply #863 on:** 06 November, 2023, 09:57:09 pm »

Quote from: Ham on 03 November, 2023, 06:34:38 pm

That ^^ looks like a win to me. I'm convinced there's shedloads of stuff we do because we do it that way, for no good reason: "Don't eat before going swimming" I seem to remember was drummed into me as a child, same sort of thing.

"Don't drive on the railroad track"

I'm definitely a convert to cold-start baking. Several subsequent attempts have had similar positive results.

Ham · « **Reply #864 on:** 25 November, 2023, 01:10:53 pm »

Riffing a little more on the theme, I added marmite to the mix (white shown for colour balance), which further improves a rather tasty loaf. My everyday bake used to be 10% rye and 20% spelt, these days it's just bog standard wholemeal.

citoyen · « **Reply #865 on:** 28 November, 2023, 03:03:23 pm »

What do people recommend flour-wise these days, particularly for sourdough baking? I'm going to order in a big sack so I don't have to keep topping up with small bags from the supermarket.

I've ordered from Shipton Mill before and it was fine so could go to them again but interested to know what others are using.

Just after plain white for now but any other recommendations also welcome.

Flite · « **Reply #866 on:** 28 November, 2023, 04:27:37 pm »

We buy white and wholemeal from our local wholefood shop (Alston).
They buy bulk from Shipton Mill and bag it up into 1.5 kg bags.
50:50 for everyday bread (plus a bit of Orkney beremeal for nostalgia)

SteveC · « **Reply #867 on:** 28 November, 2023, 05:46:21 pm »

I use Shipton Mill sometimes.
I've also had success with Dove's Farm and with Stoats.

Tim Hall · « **Reply #868 on:** 29 November, 2023, 01:13:27 pm »

I had good experience (loadsa protien!) with Marriage's Very Strong White Bread flour, which I used to get in 16kg bags. More recently I've been using whatever catches my eye at Mr Tesco's Emporium of Toothy Comestibles, such as Matthews Cotswold Strong White, which was quite good and Allinson Strong White, which doesn't seem to work quite as well. Or I need to tweak my recipe as the loaves seem to be a bit less structured, spreading out when I bake and harder to form.

What do people use for stoneground flour?

citoyen · « **Reply #869 on:** 29 November, 2023, 02:25:39 pm »

Quote from: Tim Hall on 29 November, 2023, 01:13:27 pm

More recently I've been using whatever catches my eye at Mr Tesco's Emporium of Toothy Comestibles, such as Matthews Cotswold Strong White, which was quite good and Allinson Strong White, which doesn't seem to work quite as well.

It's Mr Cohen's Emporium, shurely?

Anyway, ordinary Allinson's is defnitely not strong enough for long ferments but the V.Strong stuff seems OKish. Haven't tried Matthews but did spot it on the shelf. Might give it a go.

Messrs Marks and Sparks stock an own-brand* V.Strong flour in their emporium, which is decent enough, but I'm mainly after getting a big sack for the convenience factor.

*I'm still disappointed that they dropped the St Michael label.

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #870 on:** 29 November, 2023, 03:47:09 pm »

Quote from: citoyen on 29 November, 2023, 02:25:39 pm

*I'm still disappointed that they dropped the St Michael label.

Typical UK retail problems. They squeezed St Michael till it just wasn't worth his while supplying them, and Gabriel was too busy blowing his own trumpet, so they had to make their own.

Ham · « **Reply #871 on:** 29 November, 2023, 11:17:15 pm »

If you don't mind using flour out of date (I have done without too much issue) Bakery Bits sale stuff can be an excellent source https://www.bakerybits.co.uk/sale - theirs tends to be top notch and well described IME.

I quite like Marriages strong white, their Canadian is almost 15%, as it the Waitrose branded (prolly the same?). Wholemeal, my go to these days out of sheer laziness is again the Waitrose Canadian, it's OK, good value but i wouldn't go as far as to recommend it, not much character. Adding caraway seeds and molasses fixes that

citoyen · « **Reply #872 on:** 11 December, 2023, 11:37:09 pm »

As mentioned in t'other thread...

St Lucy’s Day saffron buns by citoyen, on Flickr

They're made with the standard sweet dough that's used as the base for countless other Nordic bakes (cinnamon buns etc) but with the addition of a whole flipping gram of saffron - which is steeped in vodka for 24 hours to really bring out the colour. And I put loads of cardamom in, because I like cardamom.

This is what the raw dough looked like - love that warm golden saffron colour:

St Lucy’s Day saffron buns by citoyen, on Flickr

They come in a whole range of shapes. The traditional one is called lussekatt (Lucy's cat) but this S shape (called julgalt) is apparently the one that is most common in Sweden. Once you've shaped them, you pop a raisin into each tail end of the S (I didn't have raisins so used sultanas):

St Lucy’s Day saffron buns by citoyen, on Flickr

I made them to take into the office tomorrow but couldn't resist trying one, of course. They're really good, if I say so myself. Light and fluffy with a nice chewy texture, and not excessively sweet (although there's a variant filled with vanilla sugar paste, which I might try next time).

St Lucy’s Day saffron buns by citoyen, on Flickr

JonBuoy · « **Reply #873 on:** 12 December, 2023, 07:59:59 pm »

This should probably be in the muppet thread but...I set the breadmaker going earlier this evening to make some pizza dough while I was 'enjoying' myself on the turbo-trainer. Unfortunately I somehow managed to forget to add the water

I didn't discover this until it went beep to tell me that my dough was ready. At that point I wrote off the idea of pizza for tea, added the water, and set it going again.

An hour later I had a quick peep to see how it was doing. I found a circular pool of extremely sloppy wallpaper paste surrounded by a large amount of caked flour. I have mixed it all together and restarted the dough program. I hope it works out OK but really don't want it to be too good as I don't want to feel obliged to go through the same rigmarole to recreate it in the future.

T42 · « **Reply #874 on:** 13 December, 2023, 09:59:53 am »

Quote from: citoyen on 11 December, 2023, 11:37:09 pm

As mentioned in t'other thread...

St Lucy’s Day saffron buns by citoyen, on Flickr

Just looked her up on Wiki. Apparently she was blinded before being executed and was frequently represented in paintings with her eyes on a plate. I reckon that's why your receipt calls for raisins in the swirls.