The Bread Thread

[Rocky]

What is your gut feeling on why it would harm rather than help? It seems to me that the less oxygen the better.

I agree with Paul and would not recommend vacuum packing the baked loaf. Removing the air from a bag that surrounds the bread is one thing but the vacuum would remove the air inside the loaf.

We make bread in batches and freeze a loaf or two routinely in freezer bags. When doing so, we squeeze out as much of the air in the bag and do not have any issues with this. We also pop the thawed loaf into a warm oven before serving. You might also try making the dough and freezing it and then baking it freshly each day.

 

[ZebraB]

What I have done with Breads, liquids (i.e. home made broth) and chopped veggies is cover in freezer until frozen and then I vacuum seal. It is never as good as fresh bread but last a lot longer. Also the liquids do not get sucked out of the veggies. Just put veggie bag under the faucet and it will defrost in a few minutes. However, I do not mix frozen with fresh in stir fry because the cooking timing is different. Great for soups sauces etc

 

[Kraffty]

@ZebraB that sounds like a plan. Thanks!

 

[ZebraB]

P.S. Make sure you cut open the bag when defrosting. Also another option you might want is to freeze bread dough. See attached link for how to do this. I have not done this for bread only pizza. It likely will taste fresher but still may be more hassle than you want with guests around

6 Easy Steps to Freeze Yeast Bread Dough At least you can do that with Pizza.

 

[Kraffty]

Made a rosemary sourdough and a couple of Ciabatta loaves yesterday. Put in the Freezer overnight and will use the FoodSaver today. Planning on a loaf of buttermilk cinnamon raisin walnut late in the week just to use for French toast breakfasts.

 

[Yooper🍷]

My morning bake. (2) sour dough made with 3 year old starter from Ischia Italy and single rye bread loaf in preparation of my home made pastrami that is done curing and going in oven today.

 

[Boatboy24]

I think I've lost my starter. Opened it up last night to find a gray liquid floating on top.

 

[Yooper🍷]

I think I've lost my starter. Opened it up last night to find a gray liquid floating on top.

I’d try pouring it off and feed it.

 

[Yooper🍷]

I have three starters that I rotate and use one every Monday. Take out of fridge and feed, feed again Tuesday morning, Tuesday afternoon put two loaf bread dough together, Tuesday eve form and put in Banneton then into fridge overnight. Bake Wednesday morning. Starters - (4) year old Saskatchewan originated, (3) year old Ischia Italy originated and 200 year old verified San Francisco starter. Interesting point that I can’t explain - the Saskatchewan and Ischia starter breads I have to eat within 7 or possibly 8 days or mold starts showing up. The SanFrancisco starter bread goes 13 - 14 days and no mold. Strange.

 

[ZebraB]

I think I've lost my starter. Opened it up last night to find a gray liquid floating on top.

You should be able to feed and save it. Once it is saved you might want to dry a starter as back up. I tend to bake more in winter than summer. So you can put it on hold


https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/05/01/putting-sourdough-starter-hold

 

[ZebraB]

A local restaurant has teamed up with a community college for 6 weeks on line classes. It is a cool concept to get money to local restaurants, museum, ballet (aerobic classes) and donations for charity that gives restaurants money to make food for the needy. Last night we watched the bread making class. There wasn't much learning from the class. However, it made me aware of an extension from WSU, called the bread lab. They study growing grains and making bread the most economical and nutritional way.

* Big key takeaway is to try unsifted wheat flour. This cannot be found in local grocery stores, but preserves the grain nutrients which are essential for a diverse gut microbiome and, consequentially, for optimal immune function, metabolic rate, and nutrient absorption. I am a white bread junkie but after looking at the following site, I will pick up some unsifted flour when I get the opportunity. (They suggested looking for local growers).

* Bread at the local grocery store is made and packaged in 2 hours. They add 17 additional ingredients to make this happen. These ingredients are not good for you. This is why home make bread is so much better than store bought.

* Wheat bread requires much more water. This has been more of a recent trend, so a 10 year old recipe handed down might not be the best way to make wheat bread. They have recipes on thier website including a croissant which they raved about

* Wheat bread is better left uncut for a day to let the crust develop.

http://thebreadlab.wsu.edu

 

[Kraffty]

I received a pretty special belated birthday gift from a good friend who has baked bread forever and is a wealth of information, whether asked for or not . He's also a bit of a craftsman so he bought this Lame from breadtopia.com, removed the plastic handle and turned and attached a custom wooden handle and shipped it as a surprise yesterday. Time to get some dough going for a weekend bake!

 

[Breadie]

I think I've lost my starter. Opened it up last night to find a gray liquid floating on top.

That's called "Hooch". Just pour it off. It won't hurt anything. Definitely not "Cocktail" grade alchohol.
It's natural for it to form in your starter.

 

[ibglowin]

Do not try and shave with that! LOL

View attachment 67570
I received a pretty special belated birthday gift from a good friend......

 

[Boatboy24]

View attachment 67570
I received a pretty special belated birthday gift from a good friend who has baked bread forever and is a wealth of information, whether asked for or not . He's also a bit of a craftsman so he bought this Lame from breadtopia.com, removed the plastic handle and turned and attached a custom wooden handle and shipped it as a surprise yesterday. Time to get some dough going for a weekend bake!

I dunno, Mike. Looks kinda Lame to me.

 

[Kraffty]

The instructions that came in the box specifically explained the pronounciation as "Llama" with the "a" being silent.... so I'm thinking... LLM.?...... that can't be easy to say......

 

[Boatboy24]

The instructions that came in the box specifically explained the pronounciation as "Llama" with the "a" being silent.... so I'm thinking... LLM.?...... that can't be easy to say......

Which 'a'?

 

[balatonwine]

The instructions that came in the box specifically explained the pronounciation as "Llama" with the "a" being silent.... so I'm thinking... LLM.?...... that can't be easy to say......

Llama in Spanish is more like "Yawma". Kind of... But not really. Try this:

https://www.howtopronounce.com/spanish/llama

 

[Kraffty]

So the "L"s are silent also, heck we're down to "M" now..... this is getting easier by the minute.

 

[balatonwine]

So the "L"s are silent also, heck we're down to "M" now..... this is getting easier by the minute.

It is easy to simply pronounce a Spanish word in Spanish... And ignore what a "package" says.

Seriously... You lived in So Cal. If a box came and said the "L" in La Jolla were silent, would you start to pronounce it "A Joa" and look more a tourist than the tourists who were pronouncing it La Joylla?

And if you know how to pronounce "La Jolla" correctly, then you know how to pronounce "Llama" as well, as the "lla" in both are pronounced with a "Yah" like sound.