BREAD baking

[lauraelmore1033]

Oh my that looks good!

[Tuckervill]

Yep, I use kosher salt. I'm going to cut it back more next time.

That olive bread looks yummy.

I'm trying the pita recipe next.

Karen

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yep, I use kosher salt. I'm going to cut it back more next time.

That olive bread looks yummy.

I'm trying the pita recipe next.

Karen

Karen, which recipes from the book have you used so far?
Can you post pictures if stuff comes out nicely?

I want to make focaccia, too!

[Jolt]

That olive bread looked good! I'm thinking that I would like to try making sourdough and would like to use whole wheat flour--does that starter from King Arthur work for whole wheat? I tried a while back to make my own starter and it was a flop, so maybe it would be better to just get one from somewhere.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

That olive bread looked good! I'm thinking that I would like to try making sourdough and would like to use whole wheat flour--does that starter from King Arthur work for whole wheat? I tried a while back to make my own starter and it was a flop, so maybe it would be better to just get one from somewhere.

I made a mild sourdough bread last week using the KingArthur sourdough starter and their flours as well.
The Starter seems fine- but I used it before letting it get 'too' strong since my DH is not a big fan of strong sourdough bread. I myself like a strong sourdough bread.
I used 1/3 King Arthur 'white' whole wheat flour and 2/3 KA regular flour. I followed the recipe on the KA sourdough instructions.
I think the content of whole wheat flour makes it harder to get fluffy. elastic, or puffy bread. It tasted fine, if mild, but the inside did not get airy or light.
This is something I remember having problems with 20 years ago when making whole wheat breads.
I am planning to experiment with the Artisan Bread book's whole wheat type recipes later on to see if their breads come out just as nice with ww flour as they are with white flour. But first I want to try some other types from their book- like semolina bread, white sourdough bread, focaccia, etc.

I do notice that the Artisan basic white boule dough mix does get a nice flavor after a few days ion the fridge, a flavor that reminds me of sourdough bread. Their bread texture is just what I like, so I might just keep using that book to make various breads for a while. I think aging the dough in the fridge gives it a nicer flavor and texture- like the traditional 'sponge' or 'old dough starter' methods produce. The book also says that this helps produce a bread that stays fresh longer. Makes sense if it has a lot of enzymes in it.

[Tuckervill]

Karen, which recipes from the book have you used so far?
Can you post pictures if stuff comes out nicely?

I want to make focaccia, too!

I've been mixing it up with other breads not from the book, so I haven't tried any but the basic (I think). Oh wait, looking at my cell phone pictures, I see I made a French loaf.

You can see it at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...9&id=600142943

I made a batch on Friday because we had friends for the weekend. But they had an inconvenience which resulted in them going home a day early. So, I baked up all the loaves and sent some home with them.

I'm not really good at shaping the loaves. After seeing yours, I worked harder at, and the ones I made this weekend looked better.

I just sliced the loaf I had left, drizzled some olive oil and vinegar dressing over the slices, then layered on some sundried tomatoes, ham, and mozzarella, and broiled them in the oven. They were delicioso!

Karen

[grey]

Wow, Bleeker. Every time I try to make a fancy bread, it's a flop. I make 3 loaves of honey-whole wheat with flour I grind myself every week, and I sometimes make a white bread, or French bread... and that's as fancy as I get with yeast breads.

What is this book you are talking about? Does it help flop-artists like me?

[GLC1968]

Grey - yes, it's almost fool-proof...and I can attest to that (being a bread making fool myself)! It's this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-...538133&sr=8-1#

Besides the basic boule, I have made the whole wheat (that was supposed to be cooked in a pan - it didn't turn out), the herb bread variation on the boule, and the rosemary onion focaccia. Both of the last two were amazing!

[Christopher]

this should be re-titled the Yummy Bread Thread!

I make sourdough from a home-made starter that's about 18 months old and lives in the fidge in an old mayo jar. I had authentic San Francisco Sourdough starter but found it a bit fragile (it died!) and not as sour as my starter. My loaves take about 36 hours to make, and I find the dough very stiff to work so only make one loaf at a time. The resulting bread isn't as good as SF sourdough but it is far better than anything I can buy around here. I use ~1/3 rye and 2/3 hard Canadian flour and bake the loaf in a cast iron pot.

That 'Artisan Loaf' book sounds great, I am still using 'Beard on Bread'. I want to try German Rye Bread, uses 100% rye and hardly rises. Sometimes I make challah and very oily Italian bread, and make my own pizza bases (very satisfying). Sometimes I use molasses instead of sugar to proof the yeast and a bit of walnut oil to add interest to the taste. Oh, and chopping up and adding fresh chilies to white bread works great.

[moderncyclista]

Re: Bread pic

Om nom nom nom.

[sgtiger]

NbyNW, your pizza looks so good. I think I'll give that a try next time.


Here's a pic of a loaf of challah that I baked a couple of days ago with the dough that I had left over. It's not as pretty or as tasty as the one I baked on Christmas but still good. I think I should have given it time to rise more since my kitchen was really cold that morning.