Bread Thread

[itsstillmatt]

Artisan Bread Every Day.

 

[GQgeek]

I just finished reading the non-recipe portion of The Bread Baker's Apprentice. He gives a very good explanation of the different stages of bread making - their purpose and what goes on - and why you do things in a certain way for different types of bread.

Hopefully my flour and baking stone will arrive this week and i'll be able to make some baguettes next weekend. I haven't had a good one in such a long time...

 

[impolyt_one]

Originally Posted by iammatt

Artisan Bread Every Day.

Peter Reinhart's?

 

[henrikc]

Made this today.



Since I'm using 1/4 of oatmeal, 1/4 whole wheat flour and 2/4 of bread flour for the dry stuff, it's simply not possible to achieve the same height (nor the big air bubbles inside) as you do with the regular no-knead dough with just bread flour. Still pleased with the results though, and it's much more filling.

 

[Nosu3]

^ that looks very good

 

[henrikc]

Thanks, and it was. That bread with some nice brie and fig jam made a great breakfast.

I do realize that I have to improve my technique for putting flour on top though.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Henrik- your breads look just fantastic.

 

[henrikc]

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

---

If it's of any interest, I'll share my recipe for this no knead bread variation. Tip of the hat to my father who gave this to me after trying it out and coming close to a perfect recipe.
The great advantage with this dough is that you don't have to measure up carefully. I use an old, plastic IKEA cup in which I have carved a thin line with a knife. It's a medium-sized cup that holds 2.1 dl, or 0.9 US cups.
To start with, I add 0.9 US cups of oatmeal (rolled oats to be more specific, which I guess is called quick oatmeal or something like that). After that I add 0.9 US cups (that's one of my cups, so it's incredibly easy to measure up) of whole weat flour, 1 tablespoon of salt and about 2/5 tbsp. of dry yeast. (I've tried a few times with regular yeast that you mix out with water, but I actually prefer the dry yeast. Gives me much more consistent results).
I mix that together for a second or two, and then I add 1.8 US cups (2 of my cups) of cold water. I stirr that together for 15-30 seconds, and then I add 1.8 US cups of bread flour. Mix that in for a minute or two, place it under gladpack and then I let it rest for 12 hours.
After 12 hours, I place a cast iron pot in the stove set to ~450F. While I do that, I set my timer to 30 minutes, and by now the dough should have increased greatly in size.
The regular no knead bread recipe says that you should then take it out and fold it over a few times and let it rest for two more hours. This is not necessary with this dough, so I use a spatula to loosen it from the sides of the bowl and it'll collapse and return to about the size that you started out with. This is great, so cover it up again and let it rest for 30 minutes while the pot heats up in the oven. By the time your timer goes off the dough should have started increasing in size again, and take out the pot, dump the entire dough in, put the pot back in the oven and let it sit for 30 minutes with the cover on. Take off the cover and wait another 15 minutes, and voila, it's done.

Also, sorry for the wall of text.

 

[minusinc]

Originally Posted by henrikc

Made this today.



Since I'm using 1/4 of oatmeal, 1/4 whole wheat flour and 2/4 of bread flour for the dry stuff, it's simply not possible to achieve the same height (nor the big air bubbles inside) as you do with the regular no-knead dough with just bread flour. Still pleased with the results though, and it's much more filling.


awesome to see min.us links being used

 

[JGP.]

Did my first ever bread-baking attempt today. Nothing but flour, salt, yeast, and some water. Had no clue what I was doing with kneading, and got impatient so only let it rise for one hour. I ended up leaving it in the oven for too long so the crust was overdone and the bottom was burnt. Tasted great though and I'm pretty happy with it for my first time:

 

[Don Carlos]

Originally Posted by henrikc

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

---

If it's of any interest, I'll share my recipe for this no knead bread variation. Tip of the hat to my father who gave this to me after trying it out and coming close to a perfect recipe.
The great advantage with this dough is that you don't have to measure up carefully. I use an old, plastic IKEA cup in which I have carved a thin line with a knife. It's a medium-sized cup that holds 2.1 dl, or 0.9 US cups.
To start with, I add 0.9 US cups of oatmeal (rolled oats to be more specific, which I guess is called quick oatmeal or something like that). After that I add 0.9 US cups (that's one of my cups, so it's incredibly easy to measure up) of whole weat flour, 1 tablespoon of salt and about 2/5 tbsp. of dry yeast. (I've tried a few times with regular yeast that you mix out with water, but I actually prefer the dry yeast. Gives me much more consistent results).
I mix that together for a second or two, and then I add 1.8 US cups (2 of my cups) of cold water. I stirr that together for 15-30 seconds, and then I add 1.8 US cups of bread flour. Mix that in for a minute or two, place it under gladpack and then I let it rest for 12 hours.
After 12 hours, I place a cast iron pot in the stove set to ~450F. While I do that, I set my timer to 30 minutes, and by now the dough should have increased greatly in size.
The regular no knead bread recipe says that you should then take it out and fold it over a few times and let it rest for two more hours. This is not necessary with this dough, so I use a spatula to loosen it from the sides of the bowl and it'll collapse and return to about the size that you started out with. This is great, so cover it up again and let it rest for 30 minutes while the pot heats up in the oven. By the time your timer goes off the dough should have started increasing in size again, and take out the pot, dump the entire dough in, put the pot back in the oven and let it sit for 30 minutes with the cover on. Take off the cover and wait another 15 minutes, and voila, it's done.

Also, sorry for the wall of text.

Nice. Do you think this recipe would work using only whole wheat flour (subbing your 1.8 cups of bread flour for another 1.8 cups of whole wheat)? I imagine it would produce a denser loaf of bread, but I am curious about whether or not the whole recipe would be thrown off, or whether the proportions and timing would still work out.

Reason I ask is that I am no longer eating refined/white flours.

 

[henrikc]

I have no idea at all. I'm guessing you'll have to add some more yeast to compensate, and perhaps let it sit for 15-18 hours instead, but this is just guessing. It's worth a shot, but it might be too dense to work. You can always use a cast iron pot with a regular dough and still get that nice shape and crisp crust.

JGP: Looks great, too bad about burning the bottom

 

[Redwoood]

When I replace white with whole wheat, I usually add 1 tbs of wheat gluten per cup of whole wheat.
No idea if it's strictly necessary but I think it makes for a fluffier bread. However, I usually leave some white flour in there.

 

[Don Carlos]

Originally Posted by Redwoood

When I replace white with whole wheat, I usually add 1 tbs of wheat gluten per cup of whole wheat.
No idea if it's strictly necessary but I think it makes for a fluffier bread. However, I usually leave some white flour in there.

White flour is for fattyfat fat whalefatty fat fats, so I do not eat it. Cannot eat it. Will not eat it. Not one drop.

So I must find a solution that uses only whole grains.

 

[indesertum]

i'm not sure why you say that when the only difference between wheat flour and white flour is like 10 grams of fiber

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...d-pasta/5744/2
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...d-pasta/5745/2

you might argue minerals, but the phytate in whole wheat flour minimizes the difference in mineral content.

its not like whole wheat flour would not make you fat whereas white flour does. they're both fattening if eaten in large amounts although the fiber might help satiety a little