Jump to content

Bread Thread


Lurch

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, DDD Dad said:

84ba56e10a8759103d8aa868af7dfaa0.jpg

 

1 hour ago, CycleTex87 said:

I did ciabatta last week and had the same issue of the top blowing up. Not sure how to prevent that.  @austingirl?

Can you share the recipes? Or can you at least share if you used commercial yeast, starter, or a combo of both, and what kind of flour? (Not brand, but all-purpose, bread, etc). 

There are a few things that could be going on. At a glance, the big air bubbles on top combined with the really tight crumb leads me to think that this loaf was underproofed - how many rises did you give it before baking? Also, how did you shape the loaf? Sometimes poor shaping can manifest by fucking up the rise. The type of flour could also be the culprit - if you're using a sourdough starter and you make a loaf with AP flour, you may not get a great rise because the biological activity going on the starter can do a number on gluten and break down too many of the proteins. This is why most sourdough recipes call for bread flour and not AP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For my ciabatta, I followed the King Arthur flour recipe.  Made a biga the night before, then let it rise for 2 hours with a knock down in the middle, then shape the loaves followed by another 2 hour rise.  I did not flour the top of the loaves however.  Everything else was by the recipe.  Tasted great, though.  So good to have home baked bread for breakfast and lunch all week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, CycleTex87 said:

For my ciabatta, I followed the King Arthur flour recipe.  Made a biga the night before, then let it rise for 2 hours with a knock down in the middle, then shape the loaves followed by another 2 hour rise.  I did not flour the top of the loaves however.  Everything else was by the recipe.  Tasted great, though.  So good to have home baked bread for breakfast and lunch all week.

Did it at least double after the first 2 hour rise? Ciabatta is a tough one because the dough is so wet that it makes it harder to handle without deflating, so for that first rise after kneading, I like it to triple. This gives you a little wiggle room for some of the bubbles you'll inevitably lose while shaping. And speaking of shaping, I know the KAF recipe says to just lay the dough out in a rectangle, but I would gently push the sides together a bit after you've done so - this gives it a bit of structure that'll help the rise. Also, make sure you're adding steam when you first pop it into the oven. The easiest way is to have a baking sheet on the bottom rack while the oven is preheating, and when you open the oven to put the bread in, dump a handful of ice cubes into that baking sheet just before you shut the door. Some people recommend spritzing the bread with water, or spraying the sides of the oven with water when you first open it, but the ice cube method has always worked fine for me.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you share the recipes? Or can you at least share if you used commercial yeast, starter, or a combo of both, and what kind of flour? (Not brand, but all-purpose, bread, etc). 

There are a few things that could be going on. At a glance, the big air bubbles on top combined with the really tight crumb leads me to think that this loaf was underproofed - how many rises did you give it before baking? Also, how did you shape the loaf? Sometimes poor shaping can manifest by fucking up the rise. The type of flour could also be the culprit - if you're using a sourdough starter and you make a loaf with AP flour, you may not get a great rise because the biological activity going on the starter can do a number on gluten and break down too many of the proteins. This is why most sourdough recipes call for bread flour and not AP.

I used Sarah Owens’ table bread recipe. From talking to an experienced baker friend we think the culprit was the starter being on the decline.

 

Mostly bread flour and then a smaller percentage of rye.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/15/2020 at 1:16 PM, CycleTex87 said:

I did ciabatta last week and had the same issue of the top blowing up. Not sure how to prevent that.  @austingirl?

You're putting it in the oven too soon.  While baking is science when it comes to actually knowing when to put it in the oven is the art.  It needed to proof longer. Start feeling the dough gently. Is it cold to the touch? Not ready. Is it firm and not relaxed feeling? Not ready.

Always feel to dough very gently with your finger tips every now and then starting at least an hour before putting it in the oven and remember how those checks on the dough felt to how it came out. You'll learn pretty quick.

When you starting kneading you'll learn to go by how to dough feels for that as well.

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/15/2020 at 8:32 PM, austingirl said:

 After you first knead it, before letting it rise, is the dough smooth or does it look like batter? If you tried to pick up a piece of it, would it come away easily from the rest of the dough, or try to stay in one ball with the rest of the dough? One thing to use when determining if you've kneaded long enough is the windowpane test - you should be able to pick up a small piece of dough and gently stretch it enough so that you can see light through the other side, without the dough tearing. If it tears, it needs more kneading.

This is what we taught new bakery employees to do, until they had the experience to go by feel, when I was baking for Central Market 20 years ago.

Really weird to be relearning a skill, 20 years later, that I let go dormant. I made some ugly loaves that first week.

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Third attempt about to go in the oven. I did great through the initial shaping. After the bench rest the final shaping fell apart. Dough wouldn’t cooperate and just started falling apart into a sticky blob.

Managed to form it into something resembling a ball and dumped into the banneton overnight.

Will see how it turns out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m using Billy Parasi’s no knead recipe.
 

 


2fc55d5f619e076a9fad5e70c5bcbab3.jpg


f81013a4ab48c54491f9124257c0571f.jpg

You can throw a couple ounces of your starter remains in it without issue.

If you read the comments on the recipe video some are holding it overnight in the fridge to develop more sour flavor.

 

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^^

I put my starter remains in after a few folds of the salt and yeast into the dough.

The above loaf has no starter as my starter was thrown out, last week, when I went to check on our mountain cottage that has been vacant for 3 months. Conversion was something like, 

'I can't find my starter.'

'I didn't do anything with it'

'It isn't where I put it in the fridge'

'Why would it be in the fridge? You always keep it the butler's pantry.'

'Because I was going to be gone and not able to feed it.'

'Oops. Sorry.'

 

At least I found 6 bags of bread flour in the small-town grocery store while in the mountains.

 

 

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man I just tried my first pass at making some sourdough.  It's proofing in the fridge at the moment, and will see how it cooks up in the morning.  Mad props to you guys for turning out the products you are making and posting here.  I think mine is going to turn out a disaster.  It was just too sticky for me to create nice ball and looks like a total mess.  We'll see. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doing a pair of country white loaves today.  They're rising in the loaf pans at the moment.  I received, as a gift from work many years ago, the Salt Lick Cookbook.  This bread recipe is the only one I ever have made from it because I'm not trying to recreate their BBQ.  But the bread recipe, which isn't anything mind blowing, turns out well every time.

Edited by dcbc
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, AustinMT said:

Congrats on the MPA

Bread looks good, too

Thank you.  Felt bad for him that his brother and sister couldn't be here.  He really wanted to wear the master's regalia.

3 Longhorns, 4 degrees.  Hook 'em.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, I did some discard crackers tonight.

200 g starter discard
20 g butter
Salt
Rosemary and dried herbs

Mix butter and starter discard with salt and herbs. Spread onto parchment paper.

Put in 325 oven for 10 minutes.
Pull and score to create crackers. Cook another 40 minutes.

Profit.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

So this thread got me to try to bake the first thing I have ever baked in my life. New York Bagels! First I had to order high gluten flour and yeast from nuts.com.

b738ec2b7699520a619769620d6c5d7a.plist

Made the sponge and let it sit 3 hours.



7f0c321f2801499c265406e745c8cda0.plist

Then I kneaded the dough by hand. Watched some videos on how to do this but not sure I did it right. Formed into bagel shapes and let them rest in the fridge overnight.


c8c1ea7818ec92d02cf47f31d6b71d00.plist

This is the bagels after boiling in water and topping them with sesame seeds and everything bagel spice.


559bb0613153e960a9edd468cd4a0ef2.plist

The final product after boiling them you bake them at 425 for 20-25 minutes. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I didn’t measure each bagel correctly so some are bigger and some are flatter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I made a loaf Mon-Tuesday. Kitchen was warm and I was doing folds during work breaks. Dough was a sticky sloppy mess that wouldn’t shape worth a damn. I think it got over proofed during bulk fermentation.

Still tasted good but did not get any significant oven spring and there were tunnels through the crumb.

Didn’t take any pics of it.

Working on a new batch this afternoon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

Just out of the oven, a combination of recipes and techniques from "Flour Water Salt Yeast", Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day, and King Arthur Flour.

IMG_2537[1].JPG

This is a great book (Flour Water Salt Yeast), the basic recipe is pretty foolproof and the bread tastes great

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, DDD Dad said:

I made a loaf Mon-Tuesday. Kitchen was warm and I was doing folds during work breaks. Dough was a sticky sloppy mess that wouldn’t shape worth a damn. I think it got over proofed during bulk fermentation.

Still tasted good but did not get any significant oven spring and there were tunnels through the crumb.

Didn’t take any pics of it.

Working on a new batch this afternoon.

 Dough shaped up much better tonight. Will take some pics tomorrow post bake. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Made sourdough tonight.  It was a learning experience.  Wasn't very sour.  Think I need more starter.  I guess I didn't score it well enough because it didn't peel.  

Anyway crust was good and overall not bad for a start.  Will make some more next weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Made sourdough tonight.  It was a learning experience.  Wasn't very sour.  Think I need more starter.  I guess I didn't score it well enough because it didn't peel.  
Anyway crust was good and overall not bad for a start.  Will make some more next weekend.

If you want it more sour let it retard in the fridge for at least 24 hours after proofing and shaping.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...