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For our final dinner party we are hosting down here in Florida I wanted to make pulled pork sandwiches so I needed to have a large enough bun that while soft would hold up to the sauce, pulled pork and roasted pineapple.  So I decided that increasing the whole wheat would make the bun a bit firmer while the addition of the sweet potato would enhance the flavour.  I unfortunately didn’t get photos of the sandwiches, however, I do have some pulled pork and buns leftover so I’ll try to remember to take some photos of the assembled sandwiches.

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For 8 buns

egg wash: 1 yolk, 1 tbsp milk and a pinch of salt, beaten…

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this stiff  sweet levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour, I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 15 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium.  Add the mashed potatoes gradually.  Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Line a large cookie tray with parchment paper.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 8 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place on a parchment lined cookie tray.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

After about 30 mins of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.  Top with sesame seeds.

Bake the buns uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

Remove the buns from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

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These buns were a success, they definitely stood up well to the saucy pulled pork while still being soft and flavourful.

My index of bakes.

hello i want to open a bakery i have experience making bread> does anyone know of a quick and easy way  how to price bread or is there a formula on estimating all costs i would appreciate comments> i resent this not sure if !st message went thru

Lately, I haven't been in the mood to update my blog, as all my energy and spare time are being consumed by gardening. Nevertheless, I wanted to create a quick post to show you something that might interest you: me using my electric sieve shaker... to sift soil. 

The primary function of the sieve shaker is to shake and sift, and it performs this task as expected. By default, it sifts using a single 30cm-diameter, 10cm-high sieve. However, I "hacked" it by stacking two such sieves and anchoring them with a 6.5-inch throttled return spring I purchased from ACE Hardware. Hacking the shaker with two sieves produces a clanking noise when it shakes, which could suggest that the spring isn't tight enough. 

I couldn't find a throttled return spring long enough to secure three sieves. It would be cool if I could run three sieves simultaneously.

While fully automating the sifting process with triple sieves is impossible until I find the right spring, I did figure out a "semi-automatic" way to sift with three sieves - by rocking them with a 14-inch stainless steel Ikea serving bowl.

P.S. 20230420

After using and comparing the two methods multiple times, I find that the semi-automatic method is less of a hassle because there's no need to hook up to electricity outdoors and the sieves can withstand a heavier load without straining the motor of the sieve shaker. Since I'm referring to sifting dirt/soil, home-milled flour probably wouldn't put as much strain on the motor.

I lugged these three custom-made sieves back from Hong Kong!

6.5-inch throttled return spring

the "semi-automatic" shaker

A close friend is having a dinner party today down here in Fort Lauderdale so I offered to bring rolls.  I’m almost out of bread flour to in order to ensure that I have enough for one last bake I’ve been adding some whole wheat to my bakes, even for company.  I switched Alan’s starter to whole wheat and it seems fine with it.  Instead of a bread flour tangzhong I used whole wheat.  Another change I made is that I added the butter to the tangzhong while cooking it.  Although the tangzhong’s consistency obviously changes, by adding the butter to the tangzhong I have so far found that I am able to reduce the number of slap and folds while developing the dough by hand in half.  That is a big savings in work and time.  This may be what I do going forward, at least when hand developing enriched doughs that use a tangzhong.

For this bake I decided to add the dried herbs, rosemary and thyme directly to the dough rather than just from melted butter infused with herbs.  I hope that there will be more herb flavour this way.

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For four by six rolls in a 7.5 x 11.5” pan

Dried Herbs 0.5% each 

Rosemary 1.8 g

Thyme 1.8 g

egg wash: 1 yolk and 1 tbsp milk, beaten…

Prepare the stiff sweet levain overnight or the day before and refrigerate when ready.

Cook Tangzhong mixing flour and milk constantly until it becomes a thick roux.  Let cool before adding to final dough.  Or add to cold milk and egg to cool it down.  Add the levain and break it up into small pieces with your spatula.

Whisk together dry ingredients flour sugar salt herbs and yeast (optional). 

To mix by hand, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (milk, tangzhong and egg) to dissolve.  Next add the flour and mix with a silicone spatula until no dry flour remains.  Rest 10-20 mins.  Next perform French folds until the dough is well developed.  Smear the butter onto the dough and then fold to incorporate and then perform further French folds until well developed.  Gradually add the mashed potato and knead to incorporate it well into the dough.  Form into a tight ball and place in a bowl covered with plastic or a damp cloth @ 82°F for 2-3 hours, some rise will be visible. Alternatively, you could mix the mashed potato and butter and then add the mixture to the developed dough until well incorporated.

Butter a large baking pan or line the pan with parchment.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 24 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place in the buttered baking pan seem side down.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

About 30 mins before the end of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.

Bake the rolls uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

Remove the bread from the oven but not the pans, brush the tops with the melted butter while hot, and then let cool for 10 minutes before pulling the bread from the pans. You may need to slide a butter knife down the sides of the pan to loosen the bread, but I have found parchment paper to be unnecessary.  Sprinkle with fleur de sel if you wish after brushing with butter. 

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My index of bakes.