The Bread Thread

[Sailor323]

I usually weigh everything. Sometimes though I just measure an exact amount of water and add most of the flour mixed with the yeast and salt. Then I add more flour until the dough reaches the right consistency. I tend to like high levels of hydration (about 75%) with the dough being still a bit sticky. I do this with both sourdough and regular yeast bread. Also, I always make a sponge (poolish) many hours before (overnight, usually) before finishing the dough.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Shout-out to Mrs Monkey for her wonderful sourdough bread which she makes probably twice a week. I think it can be called a San Francisco sourdough since the starter dates from when we lived there...

 

[sour_grapes]

I have been doing the same thing over and over. I stopped following a recipe months ago. (Hint: question coming!) I have been happy enough with the results, but not sure I am operating optimally. I do things more by feel than by measure. I use usually 1/2 whole wheat flour (Dakota Maid) and 1/2 bread flour (King Arthur), and also salt and yeast, of course. BUT, I just add the water to my sense of how much water I should have.

Well, today, I did exactly the above, as always, but I also measured my water intake. It turned out to be exactly 0.750 hydration. By most accounts, this is quite high, but not outrageous. I would like to ask the collective: Do you strictly measure your hydration? Do you have any feedback on my hydration level or my results?



View attachment 79288

Well, a coupla things to add. I mentioned in the quoted post that my flour is about 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 bread flour. What I did not know was that both of them require higher hydration levels than AP. So, 75% is VERY high for a standard AP dough, but perhaps not unreasonable for mine.

Next bit was that I did another loaf, again with 1/2 WW and 1/2 bread flour. I kept track of hydration, but I used the bare minimum water. At 65%, there was still dry flour in the bowl! I stopped at 68%, which was stiff and tacky, but everything was hydrated. This fermented okay overnight, and folded, etc., just fine. The baked loaf seems nice (but I have not cut into it yet). I speculate that this is comparable to a ~60% hydration with AP flour. So, perhaps I was not as outrageous as I feared at 75%...

 

[MHSKIBUM]

Has anyone tried grinding AP flour to make it finer — target 00? The cost of 00 is nuts so would love a work around. I tried it in my cheap blender at high speed for two series of three minutes. It feels finer but not quite the baby powder texture that 00 is supposed to have.
I read in a blog that it can be done with a VitaMix or other high-priced blender but that sort of defeats the whole saving money idea.

 

[MHSKIBUM]

View attachment 79173

 

[MHSKIBUM]

View attachment 79173View attachment 79174
Sour dough white

Your bread designs are wonderful.
Question: How do you slice the bread for serving so that the slices are a lovely compliment to your creation. Whenever I make a nice sourdough loaf my arthritic hands end up delivering irregular chunks that look like they were hewed by Conan The Barbarian.
I have a pretty good bread knife but my hand to eye coordination isn't what it used to be. I've looked on Amazon for bread cutting aides but none seem to do the job for high crusty loaves.

 

[ibglowin]

I'm back in the saddle (again)!





Baking bread while we can still afford to fire up the gas oven.........

Of course we switch over to a gas oven and NG hits an all time record high......

Hoping we have a mild La Nina Winter in the SW as we have a NG furnace as well. LOL

 

[Kraffty]

Looking Profesh Mike

 

[JohnT]

Glad that this thread was added.

I have been playing with making bread for a number of years and have not been able to get even close to the type of chewy, crusty bread that i get from any high end bakery. The crust is too soft, and the inside doe not have the big "bubbles" that i am looking for.

I have played with changing the amount of sugar and the amount of yeast I add. Nothing seems to work.

I am using just a standard oven and have no desire to purchase any new equipment. Is there any techniques that any of you use to get the results I am looking for? I bake at 375 degrees (until the bread "thumps") and am using bread flour (king aurther).

 

[ibglowin]

I would use a higher cook temp (450) and use AP instead of Bread Flour.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/no-knead-crusty-white-bread-recipe

 

[sour_grapes]

Definitly agree with Mike that a higher temp (450) is desired. I thought that most people dont want larger bubbles, but I find that you get larger bubbles if you use higher hydration levels. (That often happens to me, and we call that "rustico" in the Grapes household!)

 

[Boatboy24]

@JohnT: I agree with the higher temps. I highly, highly recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-...638831712&sprefix=flour,+water,aps,152&sr=8-2

 

[winemaker81]

Mrs WM81 was out of town last weekend, so Saturday afternoon I decided to make bread. I make bread, off-n-on, and wanted to try something a bit different.

I used a bread machine to make the dough -- the plain 'ole white bread recipe printed on the side of the machine. To that I added 1 tsp each oregano, basil, granulated garlic, and dehydrated onion. When the dough was ready, I divided it in 2 and made a pull-apart bread.

I dipped balls of dough in butter and tossed them in greased bread pans, then baked at 425 F for 30 minutes. The results were fairly good.



In hindsight, I used WAY too much butter, so the bread was as much fried as baked. Which wasn't all bad, as the bread didn't need buttering. I also need to make the pieces smaller and more uniform next time.

This wasn't planned out -- I was puttering around the house and simply got the idea to make it. Being lazy, I simply used the handiest recipe. Another time I'll look for a recipe intended for this purpose.

 

[bstnh1]

Mrs WM81 was out of town last weekend, so Saturday afternoon I decided to make bread. I make bread, off-n-on, and wanted to try something a bit different.

I used a bread machine to make the dough -- the plain 'ole white bread recipe printed on the side of the machine. To that I added 1 tsp each oregano, basil, granulated garlic, and dehydrated onion. When the dough was ready, I divided it in 2 and made a pull-apart bread.

I dipped balls of dough in butter and tossed them in greased bread pans, then baked at 425 F for 30 minutes. The results were fairly good.

View attachment 81829

In hindsight, I used WAY too much butter, so the bread was as much fried as baked. Which wasn't all bad, as the bread didn't need buttering. I also need to make the pieces smaller and more uniform next time.

This wasn't planned out -- I was puttering around the house and simply got the idea to make it. Being lazy, I simply used the handiest recipe. Another time I'll look for a recipe intended for this purpose.

Too much butter? I didn't know that was possible.

 

[ibglowin]

8 degrees this morning so firing up the oven was a good idea!

 

[Khristyjeff]

My wife likes baking bread and bakes them in stones. I'm getting her some upgraded enameled cast iron for Christmas. Do any of you like to cook bread this way? BTW, these bread pics look awesome!

 

[Sailor323]

Lime? I have used my enameled cast iron to bake Boules. Works very well. Using the lid for the early part of the bake provides moisture which promotes a good crust. I rarely bake boules, though. I prefer bâtards. I suppose I could use an oblong cast iron pot for that, never tried it

 

[Khristyjeff]

I had to look up Boules. They look good. Thanks for the info, @Sailor323.

 

[ibglowin]

Stones work great for bread especially pizza and baguettes etc. I mostly do sourdough and usually use a CI Dutch Oven to capture and hold the humidity/steam in during the first part of the bake which helps it rise better and make a better crust.

 

[sour_grapes]

Another enameled dutch oven user here.