Bread Porn

[foxy]

When I bought my flour the other day I also picked up some Besan flour to make some onion bhaji's, looking at a few recipes came across this!
Not bread but looks interesting.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/onion-bhaji-yorkshire-puddings

 

[Drunkula]

picked up some Besan flour to make some onion bhaji's

Have a look at Latif - he's great. He's giving away all the takeaway ways like Khoan Vong and Chin and Choo.

 

[foxy]

Have a look at Latif - he's great. He's giving away all the takeaway ways like Khoan Vong and Chin and Choo.

Following. Great that I can understand what he's saying and he gives an explanation of each step. Plenty of recipes to try here.

 

[Skippi]

Attempt No. 4 - A simple recipe with half wholemeal and half strong white. Significantly lighter than a 100% wholemeal I tried last weekend !!
Used fresh yeast this time instead of dried.

 

[Drunkula]

Everything I've read says never use more than 50% wholemeal so maybe why the first loaf was bad.

I've really learnt when the hydration is right. I thought that moving towards 80% was the right thing, and for a basic white loaf it's really not. The flavour is worse and the gluten weakened as you go higher. Wholemeal flour helps but I hate that filth.

 

[Skippi]

Everything I've read says never use more than 50% wholemeal so maybe why the first loaf was bad.

You are not wrong, last weekend I baked a brick !!!

 

[foxy]

I usually go 20% of whole meal flour, but I put other things in like seeds and grain.
Took me a while to get everything right, I was reading yesterday a 1/4 of a teaspoon of dried ginger helps strengthen the gluten. Apparently it is what they used to do in bygone days, not tried it yet but will try it on my next loaves I am assuming that it was for 500 gram as it didn't say.

 

[Skippi]

I usually go 20% of whole meal flour, but I put other things in like seeds and grain.

Think I will definitely play with the % of wholemeal, 100% is not the way to go.
Wholemeal maybe the marmite of the bread world. Personally I love the taste and texture, but each to their own.

 

[Drunkula]

Double experiment - using plain flour and creating a crust that won't go soft and making a smaller loaf.
300g plain flour : Pantry brand from Lidl 9.1% protein compared to the 12 of bread flour.
65% hydration, salt, scoop of that fake butter for cakes.

It took all of the water straight away and stayed as a sausage in the mixer I had a touch and it was a tacky and I knew I didn't need to change it.

After the first mix it window-pained easily without any lumps but the window teared if you pulled it wide. You could tell the gluten was different. Stretching and window pain testing was much easier than bread flour which got me worried that it was too weak. When I did some stretch and folds it really toughened up. Left it, stretch and folded again, made a boule, then got a pyrex bowl to used as a banneton aaaaaand no clean cloth so I used a pair of knickers from the clean washing pile.

Preheated the dutch oven (hate that term, it's a bloody stew pot!) turned the dough out onto a silicone liner thing from the Poundland that are fantastic. Screw that parchment malarky. Cross slash with a razor blade, dropped in the pot, lid on, bosh.

20 minutes full with lid on, 10 minutes with the loaf on the shelf on 75% power, then 10 minutes FULL POWAH!

There it is on the right next to a 400g bread flour loaf. When I first opened the lid I thought rah! And later when I picked it up it felt light and that's when you know it's not going to be a stodge bomb.

Aaaand the crumb. I'm not comfortable with that term either but hey-ho.

Left mine - right - a tiger loaf from Asda I managed to snatch out of the hands of an old woman and hail-mary to my friend who was waiting at the self-service checkout. A 46 metre throw, a personal best. I also took silver in the baguette javelin.

Mine's a bit more open. Wooohooo. So you can use plain flour if you have to.

It's still early doors for me and bread but what I've learned is knead more, rest and do it again. Learn to know when it's hydrated enough by getting enough water for the hydration you want and leaving a little bit back. Get a feel for when it's risen enough. I more than often let it go too far so it would fall back. Less will mean it'll grow in the oven anyway. And the shaping, the tension - that loaf would have been a puddle with promise if I hadn't learned that

But - I still have to use the stew pot to get a good loaf. My tinned loaves are still crap! Yes, I've got a huge steel bakestone, do the water tray, spray, ice cubes and I'm still rubbbbbish at it. Got something left to learn, though, innit boss. Which is nice.

Look for Bake With Jack on youtube. He refuses to use cups as a measurement which means already I would give a few of my spare kidneys to him if he 'kneaded' them and he's the one that showed me adding flour while kneading is bad. I hate having sticky hands so if you stir things together with a spoon and leave it as a 'shaggy mass' for 15 minutes it immediately like you've kneaded it for a bit and got the horrible bit already done.

And I'm shutting up - this is just a loaf of pigging bread after all.

 

[foxy]

Double experiment - using plain flour and creating a crust that won't go soft and making a smaller loaf.
300g plain flour : Pantry brand from Lidl 9.1% protein compared to the 12 of bread flour.
65% hydration, salt, scoop of that fake butter for cakes.

It took all of the water straight away and stayed as a sausage in the mixer I had a touch and it was a tacky and I knew I didn't need to change it.

After the first mix it window-pained easily without any lumps but the window teared if you pulled it wide. You could tell the gluten was different. Stretching and window pain testing was much easier than bread flour which got me worried that it was too weak. When I did some stretch and folds it really toughened up. Left it, stretch and folded again, made a boule, then got a pyrex bowl to used as a banneton aaaaaand no clean cloth so I used a pair of knickers from the clean washing pile.

Preheated the dutch oven (hate that term, it's a bloody stew pot!) turned the dough out onto a silicone liner thing from the Poundland that are fantastic. Screw that parchment malarky. Cross slash with a razor blade, dropped in the pot, lid on, bosh.

20 minutes full with lid on, 10 minutes with the loaf on the shelf on 75% power, then 10 minutes FULL POWAH!

There it is on the right next to a 400g bread flour loaf. When I first opened the lid I thought rah! And later when I picked it up it felt light and that's when you know it's not going to be a stodge bomb.

View attachment 23566
Aaaand the crumb. I'm not comfortable with that term either but hey-ho.

Left mine - right - a tiger loaf from Asda I managed to snatch out of the hands of an old woman and hail-mary to my friend who was waiting at the self-service checkout. A 46 metre throw, a personal best. I also took silver in the baguette javelin.

View attachment 23568
Mine's a bit more open. Wooohooo. So you can use plain flour if you have to.

It's still early doors for me and bread but what I've learned is knead more, rest and do it again. Learn to know when it's hydrated enough by getting enough water for the hydration you want and leaving a little bit back. Get a feel for when it's risen enough. I more than often let it go too far so it would fall back. Less will mean it'll grow in the oven anyway. And the shaping, the tension - that loaf would have been a puddle with promise if I hadn't learned that

But - I still have to use the stew pot to get a good loaf. My tinned loaves are still crap! Yes, I've got a huge steel bakestone, do the water tray, spray, ice cubes and I'm still rubbbbbish at it. Got something left to learn, though, innit boss. Which is nice.

Look for Bake With Jack on youtube. He refuses to use cups as a measurement which means already I would give a few of my spare kidneys to him if he 'kneaded' them and he's the one that showed me adding flour while kneading is bad. I hate having sticky hands so if you stir things together with a spoon and leave it as a 'shaggy mass' for 15 minutes it immediately like you've kneaded it for a bit and got the horrible bit already done.

And I'm shutting up - this is just a loaf of pigging bread after all.

If your making good bread with the Dutch oven keep up with that, bread pans had me stumped for quite a while. My mistake was letting them rise to high, soon as I took the tea towel off they would collapse. Putting them in the oven when they are not to high makes a huge difference, almost as soon as you shut the door you can see them finish rising in the oven.

 

[nige]

I usually go 20% of whole meal flour, but I put other things in like seeds and grain.
Took me a while to get everything right, I was reading yesterday a 1/4 of a teaspoon of dried ginger helps strengthen the gluten. Apparently it is what they used to do in bygone days, not tried it yet but will try it on my next loaves I am assuming that it was for 500 gram as it didn't say.

It's funny you've not made ginger bread, I've made loads of it.
Sorry guys, nice loafs

 

[Rodcx500z]

It's called oven spring Foxy, if you prove to long the yeast becomes spent and the loaf will fall back don't prove enough ( under prove ) you will get a flying top were it rips on one side, you want a nice even break all round the loaf, also dough temp for a tinned loaf should be around 27c and your yeast will be happy

 

[foxy]

It's called oven spring Foxy, if you prove to long the yeast becomes spent and the loaf will fall back don't prove enough ( under prove ) you will get a flying top were it rips on one side, you want a nice even break all round the loaf, also dough temp for a tinned loaf should be around 27c and your yeast will be happy

You may be able to help me with this then, I want to make two large Coburgs, after I have split the dough evenly can I put the other half in the fridge or freezer, which would be the better option while I bake the first one. I have a large oven outside which baked my last two in one go but the crusts didn't darken very much.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Yes you can freeze one, mold it first, we use to use retarders which is basically a freezer and proover , make your bread in the morning freeze it then when the night shift walks in its proved and ready for the oven, continental Europe are masters at this, ours were monitored from Holland 24 7

 

[Rodcx500z]

By the way whats a coburg

 

[foxy]

By the way whats a coburg

A Cob loaf, Cob was shortened from Coburg, might have been something to do with the war (German Shepherd, Alsatian)

 

[Rodcx500z]

I get it now you want retard one for say the baking time of the other, bung it the fridge but make sure you give it time to back round to temp

 

[Rodcx500z]

I would love to know how many of those we hand moulded over 30 years

 

[foxy]

I would love to know how many of those we hand moulded over 30 years

That's how I did my last two, watched Paul Hollywood's video making the Cob loaf .

 

[Rodcx500z]

I have met him a great bloke, you may find this useful I know you like research https://www.theperfectloaf.com/build-your-own-dough-retarder/ baking is very close to brewing, Paul Hollywood worked in his dads bakery as a kid in Wallasey on the wirrel the other side of the river Mersey from Liverpool