Make any bread today /ck/?
I used a modified version of Ken Forkish's Overnight Country Blonde. I modified it in regards to my kitchen temp of 77-78 F. So basically bulk ferment for 4 hours at room temp, then put into fridge for another 10-12 hours (watch it). Then just simply let it finish fermenting for another 2-3 hours at room temp.
The proofing stage is basically proofing/shape stage is proofing for 1-2 hours in its baskets on the counter and then placing in the fridge for another 1 or so. After wards let it rest at room temp while waiting for your oven to heat up and then bake.
>>7676625
Crumb shot
Another crumb shot
>>7676649
My bread never gets those big air pockets in the middle. How the fuck.
>>7676673
You might be under proofing or your levain isn't as active. I prefeed mine twice a day, two days before mix day. Then on mix day I up the amount I feed it. So for example I usually feed my yeast 100g flour mix (white,wheat, rye) with 100g filtered water, but on mix day I up it to 150g flour, 150 water. I use about 215g of levain in my bread. A lot of work but the results are great, bread tastes a little milky, with a nice tang.
Complimented my bread with the use of a local butter from a farm nearby.
Looks delicious. Great crust/profile. Good job, op
Maybe you can help me.
Former pro-baker, current hobbyist baker here.
I took a break from baking for about a year because reasons and doing my regular loaf recipe now yields a soft crust rather than a nice crunchy one. The only thing I can imagine that's different is that the flour is old, but that shouldn't matter, should it?
I'm using a 100% hydration pre-ferment and adding enough strong flour to end up with a 70% hydration final dough. It feels the same as it always did in my hands.
I form it, allow it to rise, slash it and shove it in the oven.
It rises beautiful, gets a nice, dark crust and finishes its cook.
I remove it to my rack to cool and I notice that I don't hear the familiar crackling sound of cooling bread.
Once cooled, I cut into it and the crust is soft. The inside is beautifully airy, even moreso than >>7676627 and >>7676649, but the crust is just blech.
Any idea what's doing it?
>>7676769
Do you use a Dutch oven? I use one so I can get amazing spring, the I take the lid off and finish without the lid. Crust comes out perfect everytime
>>7676769
Or your house is humid? I live in California so it's a bit drier, that might be a factor in getting a bad crust post-baking?
I've been working on a "workhorse" loaf. My goal is to bake a loaf everyday for a year.
I like your first crumb shot, but not the second. If I were to guess, they came from two different loaves.
Once I get something that is reliably like the first AND tastes great, I'll likely stop. I don't really have an interest beyond that. I just think it'd be nice to have something you could bet your life on.
These breads with the hard, dark crust are extremely durable. It's pretty impressive what you can put them through once they're out of the oven and cooled.
I like to take a slice, toast it under the broiler, and spread a thick layer of butter and jam. Fuck. Yes. This is the sort of food you want to have during a war or depression or something. It's apocalyptic-tier.
>>7677233
Do you really go through a loaf a day? I plan to bake a lot once I'm off my school's meal plan and cooking for myself (cause corn syrup doesn't belong in bread) but I always figured I'd only need one or two per week. It wouldn't be as fresh obviously, but it'd cut down waste significantly.
>>7677282
Not him (I'm the guy with the shitty crust, though), but perhaps he bakes very small loaves. That's what I do.
When I used to bake more often, I'd go through a loaf every two to three days. Even now, with all my crust problems, I'm still going through a loaf every two to three days. My loaves are small (roughly 300g/10.5oz out of the oven) to avoid them going stale before I finish them.
>>7677233
They're from the same loaf, any troubleshooting tips?
The second loaf I made, (enough dough for two boule) was slightly overproofed, with some tight crumb in different slices.
And best part about dark crusts... Lasts for fucking ever and amazing in a bread pudding
>>7677359
>They're from the same loaf, any troubleshooting tips?
Do you remember where you cut the slice from? One from the edge (nice crumb) and the other from the center (bad crumb), maybe? If that slice was from the center, then I would guess you the final proof didn't have enough time since you clearly scored the bread and did everything else perfectly. Keep in mind, I'm only MAYBE at an Intermediate level here (just) so take what I say with a grain of salt. I'm not trying to flop my dick around here and be a know-it-all.
It's just that by the look of the crumb, I would consider it a personal failure. Definitely a great job overall, though.
>>7677306
why don't you slice them, bag them, and freeze them?
>crust problems?
what do you mean? to eliminate crusty bread, cover it in tinfoil.
>>7676769
I notice a big difference in the crust of my rustic breads when I bake them longer. I usually temp my bread, and one pulled around 200 Fahrenheit goes soft and leathery a lot quicker than one I let go to 210ish
@ OP your bread looks excellent. I love that you let it get dark enough. Lots of people make really pallid loaves. I have a very lively levain that is excellent at leavening, but it's very mild. I'm currently working towards getting a bit of sour flavor and still sufficiently leavening a loaf.
I think I've posted this pic before, but it's the most recent bread I've taken a picture of. Levain mini baguettes with a small amount of rye/whole wheat for flavor.
>>7677381
I actually didn't score at all... All natural cracks. Forkish's doesn't score cause it looks cooler
>>7677580
Shows what I know
>>7677448
My levain is about a year and a half old. Grew it in my apartment during college and when I went back home it mixed with yeast from my hometown.
>mild tang, with a nice milky flavor
>couple light floral notes too
Fucking delicious
>>7677407
Frozen bread tastes like dicks.
>tenting crusty bread
No. I want the crust crunchy. I used to bake more regularly, but I had a spasm and burned my hand as I took a loaf out of the oven about 10 months ago. Started baking bread again last month and all my loaves are now coming out soft and gross.
>>7677448
I know that much, but I'm stilling having problems. Their might be too much moisture in my kitchen now. No clue.
I'm gonna try a lower temperature, longer time on Tuesday to try to dry it out some, then crank the heat for the last bit of it and see how that goes.
I've tried some simple stuff, both with baking powder and yeast, and I always have the same problem: There are small bits of wet dough remaining inside after the baking is done. So most of the bread is OK and the internal temperature is near boiling throughout, but these small bits just don't dry out and turn into bread. What am I doing wrong
how do I enjoy bread without becoming fat
>>7678552
You might have to autolyse which is basically breaking down the flour without adding yeast. Basically it's just mixing water and flour before the actually mixing with yeast, this pre mix technique breaks down the flour and activates enzymes that can aid the yeast in fully breaking down the dough.
>>7678558
you mean fatter?
>>7676625
No. I'd love to but honestly there are two bakeries barely five minutes away from my place on-foot.
>>7678558
>how do I enjoy bread without becoming fat
bread doesn't make you fat. It's the stuff one puts on or between bread, like cheese, beef, mayo, etc that makes one fat.
>>7679492
Or you know, eating bread and not exercising.
>>7679717
Try eating 1000 calories worth of whole wheat bread, which is 10 slices or 430 grams
Then try and eat 1000 calories of peanuts, which is 1 and 1/5 cups or 171 grams
One is easier to do than the other.
>>7679805
>Calories meme
Only the bread is going to be fattening though, due to the insulin response. There are more than enough studies showing that an isocaloric serving of nuts vs. bread or sugar does not lead to weight gain - in fact replacing bread with isocaloric almonds or peanuts leads to weight loss in the overweight. You can eat virtually any amount of nuts without gaining weight, as long as your overall diet is healthy (vegan, unprocessed, low fructose, high fiber and low insulin)
>>7676649
that's a pretty hand
>>7678558
Bread doesn't make you fat. Excess calories do. Monitor your calories and/or exercise.
>>7679852
>You can eat virtually any amount of nuts without gaining weigh
uuuummmm
hope you don't try this
>>7679852
> vegan
> aka political vegetarianism
> healthy
lol
>>7679904
Somebody already did
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sam-feltham/my-5000-calorie-experiment_b_3350869.html
Oh and I eat 3000 calories a day and don't gain fat, a lot of those calories are from nuts. inb4 parasites
Any tips on making your first levain?
>>7679915
t. fat paleo fuck
>>7679970
Always mix in rye as your initia base.... Rye is always unhulled, so a lot of good bacteria and yeast are there. Go with I bleached white flour and whole wheat flour... Makes a quicker and stronger levain. Leave it in a cool place like the top of a fridge, away from sunlight. It'll probably take 5 days but feed it every day, so like start out with 100g of flour (50 white, 25 wheat, 25 rye) or whatever ratio you're comfortable with, and 100g of filtered unchlorinated water (chlorine stunts yeast growth). Leave it on the fridge. Then every day, remove 50g of the levain, and replace with 25 flour mix with 25g water. Do this for the next couple of days until you see bubbles. From there, once it's active, just bulk feed with 100g flour mix with 100g water and leave in fridge. You won't have to feed it everyday from then on. Just make sure your starter is strong. Afterwards whenever you want to bake, just take the starter out of fridge the night before and feed it. Then on bake day, a couple of hours before mixing, just bulk feed and allow it to get active and wake up from the fridge.
>>7680246
Un bleached white my bad
>>7679918
Fatass or athlete detected.
>>7677586
They are baked seam side up to facilitate the cracking
>>7679986
Not even paleo but vegan is the full-retard form of vegetarianism. It's essentially the same thing but with added shit that has nothing to do with food since it's a political thing as much as a diet.
>>7680359
That's a radical oversimplification
Dutch oven gets here tomorrow. Got some dough rising on the counter overnight.
>>7681438
Oh boy... Put the results here! Also mandatory crumb shot.
Let it rest about 1-2 hours after baking
Complete cooking newfag here, I know how to make good scrambled eggs and that's about it. How do I into beginner's bread?
>>7681515
Read. Read. Trial and error. Also mix with your hands, it gives you a feel for your dough so you know if it's gassy enough or not.
Best books imo:
1) Ken Forkish's Flour Salt Water Yeast
2) Tartine
3) The Bread Bible
I highly recommend FWSY because Forkishbreally breaks down the specifics for each dough. To compensate for the temperatures either use colder water or use the fridge, or shorten proofing times.
See my other post about making a starter, >>7680246
Good luck bread bro.
>>7678552
Are you allowing the loaf to fully cool before slicing?
>>7679852
Wow. Literally an retard.
>>7681526
Ya 1-2 hours. Still it was warm... I might let it rest a day next time, like what the French do... I love how it changes taste as it ages
Hi thread.
I'm >>7676769/>>7676982/>>7678514
I discovered the issue: I was rushing the temperatures at which to bake it. The last four loaves I've baked, I put in at 225C/450F and just baked for 25 minutes and called it a day. Today's loaf, I baked as I typically used to back in the day: 200C/400F for 25 minutes and a final 10 minutes at 225C/450F.
I was greeted with the familiar crackly pops of cooling, crusty bread after I removed it from the oven. I'm to cut into it in about an hour or so, when I cook my lunch (chickpea curry), so we'll see how the crust actually came out at that time.
Sadly, I didn't seal the boule well and it split up from the bottom but that's okay.
>>7679173
really?
okay, still haven't figured out why I laughed at this.
>>7680432
It's exactly what veganism is.
not a very experienced baker, made this sandwich bread 2day
>>7683220
What's a good beginner bread that would be fine for sandwiches and toast?
Today's attempt. Goal is to bake a new loaf every day and try new things along the way.
>>7683458
the only breqad worth making is sourdough with some whole wheat flour.
regular bread is tasteless unless you dump lots of salt, sugar and fat into it.
>>7683564
Found it. That post I read once a day and just want to smack the living shit out of whoever wrote it.
If you can't cook a loaf of bread, then you can't cook.
>>7684058
You're an asshole.
I just watched Cooked on Netflix and it's got me wanting to try my hand at sourdough. I've read that I need to make a starter by leaving flour and water out and gradually adding a bit more every day. Any tips you co/ck/s can give me before I start?
>>7684143
Same, I used this and it turned out pretty good:
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337
>>7686096
just make 100% hydration dough and put a little active dry yeast in it. starter done. The wild yeast will take over after a while. but it works like a starter. no need to carefully watch it. just throw it in the fridge and your done.
>>7683560
Hmmm... Try an enclosed pot... You'll get more oven spring. Or have a glass pan with water in the oven to have more spring. Just put it in before the bread and allow the oven to get a bit humid.
Bamp
Does anyone have any good, easy bread recipes for someone who doesn't have a dutch oven to put boules in?
I have only made bread once in my life when I tried to make baguettes a year ago, and they turned out like absolute trash. I was so demoralized I haven't tried since, and I LOVE fresh bread.
I have baking stones, silpat mats, and a kitchenaid mixer to work with, in addition to any ingredients.
>pic related, my face when I failed so hard at cooking baguettes that it ruined my will to make more bread
I'm read to start my life anew, anons.
>>7688023
Baguettes to be honest are insanely hard to do for me... Well a tip for doing a boule without a Dutch oven would be to either leaving a pan of water in your oven while you preheat, and adding more before putting your bread in to bake, which makes the oven a bit more moist to allow for oven spring to occur. Another way would to be able to find a deep dish pan and cover the boule with it.
>>7688023
There's no need for a dutch oven to get a decent boule.
Mix 70% water and flour
sit for 30 min
Mix in 2-3% salt and 1-2% dry yeast
pinch the salt and yeast into the dough
fold
bulk raise for 4 hours, folding twice in the first two hours
shape
sit for an hour to 90 minutes
score
in the oven (preheated to 250 degrees celsius, with two pans in, one on the bottom, one near top middle) you can drop the heat to 225-235 after 15 minutes of baking if you feel like it.
Pour boiling water on the pan on the bottom to steam up the oven
Take out when the top's the color you want and the sound the loaf makes when you tap the bottom resonates clearly rather than being muffled by uncooked dough.
how to fold, pinch and shape
https://www.youtube.com/user/KensArtisan
