The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Most bookmarked

Pster's picture
Pster

Can someone explain what a "soaker" is?

I've read about people using "soakers" - what exactly is that?

How do I incorporate that into making the bread?  When do I add it?

 

and also....

*why* would I use a "soaker" or that method?

 


If you could tell me all about it - I'd appreciate it! 

Thanks

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

Why should a levain be used at the peak of ripeness?

There has been some discussion lately about how to tell when a levain is ripe, but why is it important that a levain be used when it if ripe? Why not use it when it is half-way ripe or 3/4rds ripe?

--Pamela

MarkS's picture
MarkS

Buttermilk rolls

I've been working on this recipe for a while now, and I think I've got it right. I use this as a hamburger bun recipe, but it makes equally good dinner rolls.

1000 g bread flour + about 50 g for kneading

1 1/2 cups milk, scalded to 190°F and cooled to no more than 70°F

1 cup buttermilk, cold

18 g yeast

18 g salt

90 g sugar

90 g oil

2 eggs, cold

2 Tbsp homemade dough enhancer (diastatic malt, ascorbic acid, gelatin, pectin and ginger) *optional*

1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp of water and 1 Tsp of sugar

Mix the dry ingredients in a stand mixer and then add the eggs and milks. Mix thoroughly with the paddle mixer, then remove the paddle. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let autolyse for 30 minutes. Attach the dough hook and mix in the oil just until well blended (This will take a while). Place dough on floured board and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Place in an oiled rising bucket and let rise for one hour at room temperature, punch down and allow to rise for one more hour. The dough will be quadrupled in volume. Divide into 18 pieces for 4" buns or 12 pieces for 6" buns. Shape and place on a parchment paper covered sheet pan, spray the rolls with water and allow to rise for one more hour. Brush the rolls with the egg wash and bake at 300°F for about 30 minutes or until a thermometer read an internal temp of 200°F, turning the pan half way through baking. For a deeper brown crust, brush again with the egg wash after turning the pan. Remove from oven, brush with melted butter and serve warm.

I was using both milk and buttermilk powder, but the results were not that great. I switched to real milk and buttermilk and it made a big difference in softness and volume. The recipe is simple and I've made it with 40% whole wheat flour with equal success. It does seem odd since I use weights for most of the ingredients, but not the milk and buttermilk. However, this was done through experimentation when determining how much of each to use to replace the powders. I'm not sure if there is a need to convert them to weights. The dough enhancer is not necessary, but simple to make and recipes abound all over the internet. It does make a difference though.

MommaT's picture
MommaT

loving Hamelman's pain au levain with whole wheat!

Hi,

Having been on the great quest for that perfect daily bread for my family, I think I'm getting closer.

I've been baking Hamelman's Pain au Levain now and again with mixed reviews from the family.  I recently tried the pain au levain with whole wheat and it has been a massive hit!  The flours here are split between 75% bread flour, 20% whole wheat flour and 5% medium rye.     My starter seems to really love the warmer weather of spring and this dough bursts to life.  I wish I had photos to show you!

One day, due to a cat who needed to be rushed to the vet, the dough sat in the fridge over night and was super!  It seems to be a very forgiving recipe.

I would encourage you to try it if you haven't already!

Cheers,

Tania

PS:  Hope to send pics next time!

jleung's picture
jleung

Sausage Buns

Full post here.

Sausage Buns

Ever seen something like this in a Hong Kong style bakery?

The breads I loved as a child were not peanut butter and jam Wonder Bread sandwiches, but the assortment of breads made from Hong Kong style bakeries: cocktail buns (雞尾飽) , raisin twists (提子條), plain sweet bread (排飽) and pineapple buns (菠蘿飽), just to name a few. Baking yeast bread was a complete mystery to me until recently, but it always seems so magical - and comforting - to walk into a bakery and inhale the wonderful aromas of freshly baked, still-warm bread. Hong Kong style buns are often variations on the theme of a basic plain [semi-] sweet dough that is twisted, stretched, stuffed or topped with a number of different fillings.

Sausage Buns - 腸仔飽, or pigs in a blanket (?)

Dough recipe from Food For Tots - Sausage Rolls

Ingredients

-300 g bread flour (I used unbleached all-purpose flour and had to add a bit more to get the right feel to the dough)
- 5 g instant dried yeast
- 10 g white granulated sugar
- 6 g salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten, plus enough lukewarm milk to weigh 220 - 230 g

- 30 g unsalted butter, softened

- 8 pieces of sausages (think hot dogs)

- egg wash: 1 egg, lightly beaten
- sesame seeds, for topping

Directions

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add in the egg and milk, and combine, stirring until it comes together in a rough dough.

2. Knead with lightly floured hands for 3-5 minutes until you start to feel the dough coming together.

3. Add the softened butter and continue to knead until it is thoroughly incorporated into the dough.

4.Place the dough back into the mixing bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise at room temperature for around 1.5 hours, or until roughly doubled in size.

5. Gently deflate the dough and divide into 8 pieces, one for each of your sausages. You'll want to roll these out into little logs, and then let them rest for 5 minutes or so to relax the gluten.

6. Roll out each log again and gently stretch them into thinner, longer logs. They'll need to be long enough to wrap around your sausage.

7. If you want the middle bulge of your bun to be bigger, you could also at this point taper the ends of your dough log by rolling the very ends a bit thinner until they form a point at each end. Wrap the log around the sausage and try to leave both ends on the bottom. That way, you can easily form a better seal by pressing the dough-wrapped sausage down on the ends. You'll want to place the shaped buns on a greased baking sheet, parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

8. Cover the buns with a damp cloth and let them rise until roughly doubled again. When they start to look puffy, brush them lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

9. Bake on the middle rack of a preheated 200C (~400F) oven for 8 minutes, and then 180C (~350F) for 5 minutes or until they're golden brown.

bobku's picture
bobku

Freezing Bagel dough

Does anyone know if I can freeze Bagel dough that is shaped and ready to go into boiling water. Can i just thaw them out then boil or do they need to rise again. Can this be done at all without greatly affecting the taste. I want to end up with frozen bagels that I can just thaw boil and bake

sharonk's picture
sharonk

Gluten Free Brown Rice Starter Success

 

 

 

Why Boosted Brown Rice Starter?

 

When I first had to give up gluten I had successfully been making seven-day sourdough rye bread (unfortunately full of gluten) using 100% dark rye flour. This goopy no-knead bread had an easy starter routine: once a day for seven days. The starter bubbled quickly and was quite beautiful to watch grow. I thought I could transfer my rye bread sourdough baking knowledge to gluten free baking but after many failures (that ended up in the compost pile) I realized I had to experiment. A plain brown rice flour and water starter took almost 6 days to start showing signs of activity and often by that time it was molding. The heaviness of the rice flour causes the starter solids to sink leaving the liquid on top. It seems hard for the bacteria to make their way through the heavy solids. I consulted with a knowledgeable gluten free sourdough baker who suggested I feed the starter every 8 hours and use a fermented drink called "Water Kefir" right in the starter on the first day.  Water Kefir is a culture that is used to make a dairy free drink much like lemon soda. I purchased my grains and made the water kefir using water, sugar, raisins and lemon. It fermented in less than 48 hours and I put a few tablespoons of it into brown rice flour and water. I built the starter gradually feeding it every 8 hours until I had the amount I needed. I was happy to see activity beginning shortly after 48 hours. Each subsequent feeding created increasing activity with large and small bubbles and hissing sounds when I stirred it down. This very live starter easily leavened the bread recipe without the use of eggs, commercial yeast, baking soda, or baking powder which was of prime importance to me being allergic to eggs and sensitive to the other ingredients.

 

 I call this starter "Boosted Brown Rice Starter" because I have boosted its activity with Water Kefir.  I find I can get a dependable starter every time when I use water kefir as a booster.

 

Here are very succinct directions for making Water Kefir:

Nearly fill a wide mouth quart jar with water.

Add 2 tablespoons sugar, stirring to dissolve, 20 raisins and a slice of lemon or lime.

Add the contents of your bottle of water kefir grains into the quart jar.

Cover with a paper towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band. 

When raisins float to the top, scoop them and the lemon slice out and discard.

Ferment the water kefir for 6 more hours on the counter with the paper towel.

Then store in fridge and use as needed.

When you have used the liquid down to about an inch in the jar start a new batch in a new jar and pour the water kefir grains plus the liquid their in right into the new jar, cover and ferment.

 

Water Kefir is a good tonic that strengthens the digestive system. Drink in small amounts before meals.

2 tablespoons is enough for bread starter. Water kefir gets fizzy with time and reminds me of super healthy 7-Up! It's a good tonic being full of probiotics and enzymes.

 

Water Kefir grains are available at Cultures for Health.

 

Good Luck,

Sharon

http://glutenfreesourdough.com

 

 

LindyD's picture
LindyD

To toast or not to toast? That is the question.

I plan to start Hamelman’s five grain sourdough rye tonight, now that my KAF order arrived and I have high gluten flour.

While the recipe doesn’t call for it, have any of you who have  baked this bread toasted the sunflower seeds before making the soaker?  

Any reason not to?

RFMonaco's picture
RFMonaco

Whole grain breads

Some really great looking and tempting bread shown here:

http://www.farine-mc.com/

sallam's picture
sallam

my no knead super quick loaf experiment

Greetings

I'm relatively new in baking. But doing things the fast and easy way always fascinates me. So I decided to try something new to me.

I've made 3 loaves of bread, using 1kg AP white flour, 2 cups wheat bran, and 1kg water (is that 100% hydration? or do I take the bran into account?).

I thought I try a super quick no knead method, and see how that turns to. I let it rise only once, 4 teaspoons took it 40min. to double in volume. I then poured the sticky dough into 3 loaf tins (oiled and dusted with wheat bran), covered the tins all over with foil, then put them in oven for 1h at 425f (no pre-heating). No second rise, no keading and no resting. The result was a nice bread, open crumb, soft and tender all around. I used to do second and third rises, before and after shaping, plus resting periods. But, trying this super lazy method, I think I found no difference in taste and feel, if not better, due to the softening effect of steam captured by the foil, plus the high hydration ratio which gave open crumbs. The use of foil under and at top of the tins seemed to have spared me the harsh rims that my kids hate and always dispose of, and gave us the soft and tender texture that we were hoping for. My kids loved it so much, they like to eat it with a molass and tahini dip. My wife also liked it, but hinted that its a little bit moist. Do you think I should increase the baking time an extra 10min or so? or should I bake in higher temp.? I would love to hear your comments and advices.. which I learn from a lot.

Recipe:

1kg AP white flour
2cups wheat bran
4T sugar
4t instant dry yeast
3t salt

mix all the dry ingredients, then add:
1kg semi hot water

mix well, then cover in a warm spot (2min preheated oven) for 40min, or until double in size. spoon the dough into 3 loaf tins, coated with a few oil and dusted all over with wheat bran. Cover tins all over with foil, and bake in oven for 1h at 425f. No pre-heating.

Pages