Bread Porn

[Dutto]

Anyone use a tangzhong/roux in their bread? I've just made one and am leaving it to cool before I make a loaf in the morning. I'm curious as to how much "fresher" the loaf feels on the second day using it.

Cheers Tom

I’m in the process of bringing my sourdough starter out a day before I start my loaf …

… but I’ll try anything at least once and have just saved this to my Reading List:

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2018/07/23/how-to-convert-a-bread-recipe-to-tangzhong
I’ll give it a thorough read and have a go at it next week’ish.

Thanks for the heads up - if it works!

 

[soupdragon]

Time to take it out of the fridge and let it warm up........

Cheers Tom

 

[Dutto]

Anyone tried baking bread in the oven from cold. I was a bit sceptical at first but had some amazing results without pre heating the oven.

Tried it today … never again with a fan oven though ‘cos it collapsed!

Only 6 hours, so will give the new method a go next week; mainly ‘cos I love a recipe that uses a “slurry”!

 

[soupdragon]

Time to take it out of the fridge and let it warm up........

Cheers Tom

Ah, well that didn't go to plan......

Should have done a bit more reading on the subject. I just read one article that said the water that you use to make the roux isn't from the water in the recipe but is additional water.

Nope.

To call the resulting dough sloppy doesn't do it justice. Managed to rescue enough of the dough with extra flour to get a loaf out of it. It's first proof went well enough, as did the second rise but got no oven spring during the bake. Didn't collapse, just no spring.
It cooling now so will slice half of it before bedtime and see what we have. It doesn't feel solid. Maybe I rescued it with too much flour? I'm sure it'll get eaten. You should have seen the state of some of my early loaves . They still got eaten.
Will give it another go on my next bake. Never give up, never surrender

Cheers Tom

 

[Dutto]

Just finished modifying a really simple bread recipe as per the instructions contained in the link I left in Post #441.

I have a load of cooking to do tomorrow ‘cos French friend finally got her Passport and gets into Portsmouth on Tuesday evening.

Here’s the recipe I’ll try out:

Tangzhong Bread

Ingredients
Tangzhong (starter)

• 90g water
• 15g plain flour

Dough

• 485g plain flour
• 6g salt
• 4 teaspoon dried yeast
• 3 tablespoon of olive oil
• 285g water

Method
To make Tangzhong

• Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
• Place the saucepan over low heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer the tangzhong to a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and let it cool to room temperature.

To make the dough

• Combine the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients, then mix and knead until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
• Place the dough into a greased loaf-tin and let it rest for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy or has doubled in bulk.
• Preheat the oven to 200*C (fan oven).
• Brush the bread with milk.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top. (A thermometer probe inserted into the center of the bread should read at least 88*C.)
• Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before transferring it to a rack to cool completely.

Here’s hoping!

 

[soupdragon]

Just finished modifying a really simple bread recipe as per the instructions contained in the link I left in Post #441.

I have a load of cooking to do tomorrow ‘cos French friend finally got her Passport and gets into Portsmouth on Tuesday evening.

Here’s the recipe I’ll try out:

Tangzhong Bread

Ingredients
Tangzhong (starter)

• 90g water
• 15g plain flour

Dough

• 485g plain flour
• 6g salt
• 4 teaspoon dried yeast
• 3 tablespoon of olive oil
• 285g water

Method
To make Tangzhong

• Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
• Place the saucepan over low heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer the tangzhong to a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and let it cool to room temperature.

To make the dough

• Combine the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients, then mix and knead until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
• Place the dough into a greased loaf-tin and let it rest for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy or has doubled in bulk.
• Preheat the oven to 200*C (fan oven).
• Brush the bread with milk.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top. (A thermometer probe inserted into the center of the bread should read at least 88*C.)
• Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before transferring it to a rack to cool completely.

Here’s hoping!

Isn't the 90g water a bit high for 15g of flour? Everything I've read says 5 parts water to 1 of flour

Cheers Tom

 

[Dutto]

Isn't the 90g water a bit high for 15g of flour? Everything I've read says 5 parts water to 1 of flour

Cheers Tom

In the link for Japanese Milk Bread they had 43g water and 43g milk with 14g flour; so I used just water and rounded the figures up.

My recipe (for lack of a better word!) has a 75% hydration so we’ll see how it goes!

 

[soupdragon]

Should be ok as they do say you loose some water due to evaporation. Good spot on the 75% hydration too. All the tips I've seen say that if you're converting a recipe that has, say 65%, to increase it to 75 when using tangzhong

Cheers Tom

 

[Dutto]

Should be ok as they do say you loose some water due to evaporation. Good spot on the 75% hydration too. All the tips I've seen say that if you're converting a recipe that has, say 65%, to increase it to 75 when using tangzhong

Cheers Tom

Here’s hoping!

Onward and upwards!

 

[Dutto]

Followed the recipe with one exception. I didn’t bother with “Brush the bread with milk.” ‘cos I’d used olive oil to smooth the top.

As per the recipe I used a saucepan to make the Tangzhong and allowed it to cool before use. However, getting it out took a fair bit of effort so in future I will put it in the Kenwood mixing bowl, whilst it’s still hot and pliable, to allow it to cool.

The photographs speak for themselves!

In the loaf tin.


After 90 minutes rising.

After 30 minutes at 200*C.


Final cool down!

“Squishy” and hopefully long lasting.

A comment from SWMBO was:

“That didn’t take very long. Why don’t you bake bread like that all the time!”

 

[soupdragon]

Nice one

Cheers Tom

 

[soupdragon]

Out of curiosity, roughly how long did it take for the roux stuff to cool before use? Mine took an age to warm when it had been refrigerated

Cheers Tom

 

[Dutto]

Out of curiosity, roughly how long did it take for the roux stuff to cool before use? Mine took an age to warm when it had been refrigerated

Cheers Tom

I honestly don’t know ‘cos I cleaned out a used FV while it cooled.

I only made 77g (from the original start of 105g) which I put down to liquid loss during the making and “stuck to the pan and too lazy to remove”!

The latter being why I will put it into the Kenwood mixing bowl the next time I make it! (This should also speed up the cool-down time.)

I daren’t squeeze the bread too hard but now that it’s cold it still feels “squishy” - so I’m hoping to use it for sandwiches.

 

[soupdragon]

So is this a thing you'll be repeating then?
Will be doing another myself tomorrow, will do the tangzhong as early as possible in the morning then transfer into my mixing pot to cool and proceed from there

Cheers Tom

 

[Dutto]

If it tastes as good as it looks then definitely!

I may also use the same system to make round loaves and rolls!

Everything rests on the taste!

 

[soupdragon]

And if the flavour is maintained along with the perceived freshness

Cheers Tom

 

[Dutto]

And if the flavour is maintained along with the perceived freshness

Cheers Tom

Unfortunately, the longevity of bread isn’t usually of concern in our family!


The mould we had on the loaf baked recently in the hot weather, was the only occurrence after years of baking my own bread. However, it’s a useful addition.

Apart from the roux and the 75% hydration, the only major difference is the relatively high amounts of dried yeast (4tsps) and olive oil (3tbsps)!

I’m too new to the system to change things, but they will be high on my list of changes IF I make bread this way on a regular basis.

 

[soupdragon]

We only get two days out of a loaf, there may be a thin crust and a single slice here and there but they go in the freezer for our toast days.
I shall report back tomorrow, hopefully with some positive comments
Oh and we invested in a bread slicer a few years ago

Works well
Hope the picture displays properly

Cheers Tom

 

[Dutto]

I even forgot what I suggested, but I well remember SWMBO’s comment …

“We’ve got enough
gadgets already!”​

… so I make do with a long knife!

Me? Under the thumb? Or maybe that’s why I drink!

Good luck with the bake!

 

[Crappyfish]

Tried it today … never again with a fan oven though ‘cos it collapsed!

Only 6 hours, so will give the new method a go next week; mainly ‘cos I love a recipe that uses a “slurry”!


View attachment 72946View attachment 72947View attachment 72948View attachment 72949

Made a chilli bread at weekend using the cold oven it worked great