Thread: Who bakes bread?

[GSsixgunner' post on the BRM formula]
Fine basic white & the dutch oven approach works well. If you branch out into the whole grains, you'll get a new avenue of flavors (said the spider to the fly ). Keep the whole grain content to 15% or less & you'll still have a good rise. More, and you'll have issues. The wheat/rye blends can be nasty good. 1:2 Rye:Wheat works well.

Another flavor trick is to substitute coffee for water.

Another is to thin-slice some older slices ('bout 3oz), toast, break into tiny chunks & pour 16oz water over & let soak overnight (Old Bread Soaker). Reduce the water in the final mix by the 16oz used in the soaker - keep the hydration in the ballpark.

Another way to crank flavor is to extend the time the dough spends fermenting - usually by refridgeration. I've not done w/ commercial yeast, but the bio cycle is similar. Colder temp slows the yeast & lets the flavor bacteria propagate.

If you have a good hit on a rich sourdough - we'll stick a fork in ya - you'll be done.

100% whole wheat isn't a trick. You need to make a polish and let it sit for several hours and you need to add some vital gluten. You need to watch your water or liquid and it will come out fine.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

100% whole wheat isn't a trick. You need to make a polish and let it sit for several hours and you need to add some vital gluten. You need to watch your water or liquid and it will come out fine.

A link to what the Hell 'Vital Gluten' is would have been nice but since one wasn't included here's one. If you have a more informative one, please post it.

Vital Wheat Gluten: What Is It and When Should It Be Used? | Kitchn

It's a staple in breadbaking. It's sold from places like pleasant Hill Grain and Honeyville Farms and is comprised of Wheat Gluten. You use around 5% of the flour total. It will increase volume especially in difficult recipes using alot of whole wheat flour and make the dough easier to work with.

I've been using it for years as I do alot of 100% whole Wheat breads.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's a staple in breadbaking. It's sold from places like pleasant Hill Grain and Honeyville Farms and is comprised of Wheat Gluten. You use around 5% of the flour total. It will increase volume especially in difficult recipes using alot of whole wheat flour and make the dough easier to work with.

I've been using it for years as I do alot of 100% whole Wheat breads.

Any chance of giving out some 'Tried and True' recipes? If you do, please post the link to them.

5% is more than I have seen in most recipies.
Levy Beranbaum recommends you do not use more than 4% IIRC.
Maybe I should use more as I use Rotkorn spelt meal that has not been crossed with wheat.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Any chance of giving out some 'Tried and True' recipes? If you do, please post the link to them.

I haven't used any print recipes in years. I have my own. I'll gather a couple together and put them in the forum in a few days when I get the chance.

There is no hard and fast rule for vital gluten. The book says between 3% and 5% but that depends on the kind of wheat you are using, white whole, regular whole or spring wheat based or mixtures of these as well as what you add to the recipe that makes it denser and your altitude where you live too. I'm at 5400 feet.

I grind my own flour so I have the advantage of custom blending my flour and adding all sorts of interesting things in the mix.

Originally Posted by Kees

70% water, 1.5% yeast 2% salt 2% gluten and 1% diastatic malt. I have tried a lot of things , last thing I tried is this recipe from my local miller: mix all ingredients for a few minutes only, let dough rise all night to develop gluten, punch down in the morning and then allow to rise again. Did not work very well.
I found this vid that has a few tips that I am going to try this weekend. Looks like my punch down was too aggressive and I left it too long before baking.
https://youtu.be/3jDCV_WMSQw

After an hour and some normal kneading...
Let it relax in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours.
Let it warm and rise the next day there should be no need to punch it down.
Just bake when your get a nice rise and shape.

I am in the San Francisco area and make a sourdough loaf. Time in the chiller
helps a lot.

Give this a look:
Jacques Pepin's Easy One-Pot Bread
https://onceuponaplaterecipes.blogsp...pot-bread.html

The no knead folk dispense with gluten and diastolic malt and stretch and
fold a couple times an hour... when warm and refrigerate overnight and warm
for a couple hours... shape and bake.

Bread has been baked a very very long time and the methods haven't changed much. Sure, you can use simple ingredients and make bread through alternative methods and you get a product. I'm sure it tastes good. The question is how does it compare to conventional methods? Classical bakers judge the product by:


Shape 5 %
Size 2 %
Crust:
Shade 2 %
Uniformity of Color 2 %
Character 2 %
Depth 2-8 %
Lightness 20 %
Internal Appearance:
Even distribution of gas 10 %
Moisture 5 %
Elasticity 5 %
Color 15 %
Flavor 30 %
Total 100 %

I'll use the old fashioned method thank you.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

100% whole wheat isn't a trick. You need to make a polish and let it sit for several hours and you need to add some vital gluten. You need to watch your water or liquid and it will come out fine.

Tried all that in vain. I do get the impression that the ready to bake stuff uses different wheats, or processed meal or has indeclared additives. I get the stuff from a local tradtional miller, which I know is pure but it gets me much worse results.