BREAD baking

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well, I've been very neglectful about baking bread for the past couple of months. But....I've been doing a lot of other cool and positive things in my life, so sometimes I just have to accept the fact that I don't have 48 hours in each day, much as I'd like to!

On the positive side, I've been playing more music, doing more fitness walking, getting involved more with both honeybees and helping wild native bees, and today I began hoeing and planting seed in my big vegetable garden.
Oh...and then there's always actual work.

[smilingcat]

I would recommend Peter Reinhart's book if you are really into baking bread or a foodie.

Several pages are devoted just to the anatomy of the wheat: kernel, bran, the endosperm, starch and protein in the endosperm, the germ. Then he goes to explain hard winter wheat, hard spring red wheat, and hard winter red wheat.

Enzyme activity and how you control the enzyme activity. And if you are interested in other grain, there is a short description of other kinds of wheat, Durum, eikenhorn, Emmer, Kamut and spelt. Other grain used in bread making are described. Amaranth (no glutin) and my experience is its best bought pre-ground. Buckwheat, corn, millets, oats, rye, tricale, wild rice...

There is a chapter on "The Theory and Process of Delayed Fermentation" sounds really technical but its easy to understand.

Lots of photos so you'll know what your dough is supposed to look like and there is even a short description on bakers windowpane test. That will tell you if your dough was kneaded properly and gluten developed correctly.

And more photos and more description on how to bake in your oven to get that hearth baked look and feel.

There are pages showing you how to properly form your dough for the bread pan, how to shape a batard, boule, baugette...

Lastly, there are wealth of recipes.

For some, this book may seem more like a tome than a cookbook. if you want to get to the detail without becoming an apprentice at a artisian bread shop, this book will be for you.

If you are still wondering you could check the reviews at Amazon. I for one, am in love with this book. I want to improve my bread so it becomes WOW!!!

smilingcat

[NoNo]

My mom asked me to bring some breads to Palm Sunday dinner. As my aunt and uncle are doing Weight Watchers, I thought it would be good to make one regular white bread, and one whole wheat. I ran out and picked up the Healthy Bread in 5 book and mixed up the 100% whole wheat with olive oil dough. It was a bit cool in my apartment, and I think I rushed it just a bit (didn't let it rise long enough), but it was pretty good. It was pretty moist, tasty, just didn't have the crumb of the white bread. I'm looking forward to making some more of the breads in that book. Now I don't have to feel so guilty about eating an entire loaf in 2 days!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Finally got back to baking a little bread today.

Using my usual no-knead white recipe, I rolled in some chopped calamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and browned onions with garlic. A simple flour dusting and slash pattern on the crust. It came out well- fluffy, with a nice crispy crust..... mmmmm....just had a big chewy slice with a tall glass of japanese green iced tea. That was my dinner tonight!

[NbyNW]

BSG, those loaves are beautiful!

I've been wondering -- and maybe this is buried in the thread somewhere -- but how do you adjust baking time/temp for larger loaves? Is there a good rule of thumb to follow?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I preheat oven and my two iron dutch oven pots to 500 for a good 25 minutes.

Then i slip the two large loaves in the pots and cover. Bake 20 minutes at 500F, then I take covers off quickly and bake another 20 minutes at 450F.
That's perfect for the two large loaves at once.

[ummbnb]

Love this thread. I can't bake to save my life but my husband is an excellent bread baker, he's excellent at everything in the kitchen which is good since he's a sahd and the house is his domain! Some yummy looking stuff on here!