Bread baking.

[Heym SR20]

Choice of fat very much depends on how you want the end product to both feel and taste. Olive oil is used in a lot of Mediterranean cooking. Margerine is a catch all from say Stork which is pretty good for baking to really cheap stuff which tastes horrible.

Lard, Suet etc are animal fats. Traditional use, tend to give a heavier texture and taste.

 

[Yorkie]

when I moved into our current house 10 years ago, we got a woodturner with an oven (no central heating or radiators in the house)
we had a sourdough starter on the go and made loaves every other day in the stove's oven...... absolutely gorgeous, but did we ever pile some weight on!

still

Hi.
That is the problem with Bread, i cant leave it alone and too many carbs is not a good thing.

 

[Yorkie]

Hi.
This is my first attempt. The loaf on the left is the Allinsons country grain. It tastes better than it looks. I brushed some egg on top thinking it would look nice. I will not do it again . The others are the Morrisons own brand mix.

 

[willie_gunn]

Hi.
This is my first attempt. The loaf on the left is the Allinsons country grain. It tastes better than it looks. I brushed some egg on top thinking it would look nice. I will not do it again . The others are the Morrisons own brand mix.

View attachment 190888

Now that is very impressive - well done

Decided this morning to follow the 5-minute artisan bread recipe posted earlier in this thread.

No photos to follow probably didn’t help, so having negotiated my way through the process I popped the first loaf into the oven with some anticipation.

The result, whilst admittedly not a thing of beauty, tastes remarkably good and has a nice light texture - no soggy bottoms here!

Dare I say it, even Mrs Gunn has been making appreciative noises!

 

[willie_gunn]

A pleasure, I noticed a couple of other people have recommended that book on this thread too. It’s really good and dispelled many myths on the subject that I had been told. After I bought my copy of that book ( secondhand off Amazon for about £10) I bought another two copies, one for my folks and another for my brother. It’s a brilliant book and one that I’d recommend reading from cover to cover rather than just dipping into it. It’s way more than a recipe book, the author is on a bit of a mission to promote high quality healthy and delicious bread being made at home.
when I shoot fallow deer over a field of wheat now, it’s taken on even more meaningfulness to me now as they are eating our bread
Not even a vegan has an option to complain about that, well not unless they also have issues with eating bread that is
I saw a very interesting speech that a German bread enthusiast gave at a university in the US A few years ago. I will try to find the film and will post it on this thread.
Ive actually got some rolls in the oven now so must go !
cheers, Olaf

The book has arrived and looks very interesting indeed, so thank you again for the recommendation.

Showed it to Mrs Gunn, whose comment was “that’s the chap I did the breadmaking course with!”

 

[Yorkie]

Hi Willie-gun.
Thanks for the kind words, i appreciate them. My next try will be a crusty white loaf.

Your effort looks delicious. Very rustic. A hunk of that bread with lurpak, a piece of good cheese and some pickled onions would be great.

 

[willie_gunn]

Hi Willie-gun.
Thanks for the kind words, i appreciate them. My next try will be a crusty white loaf.

Your effort looks delicious. Very rustic. A hunk of that bread with lurpak, a piece of good cheese and some pickled onions would be great.

Thank you.

“Rustic” is a far more generous description than the one I gave it

Had three slices toasted for breakfast, with a spread of Lurpak, and it hit the spot.

We also unintentionally used some of the leftover dough last night as the base for a pizza.

Mrs Gunn opened the larder door, rooted around a bit and then inquired “Have you seen the flour?”.......”You used HOW MUCH!! Well, we’ll have to use your dough for the pizza then!”

It worked remarkably well, the circular base rising so magnificently that we ended up slicing it in half flat-ways and using one half each.

 

[Olaf]

The book has arrived and looks very interesting indeed, so thank you again for the recommendation.

Showed it to Mrs Gunn, whose comment was “that’s the chap I did the breadmaking course with!”

 

[Olaf]

Really interesting thread here. I too have been making sourdough during lockdown with good success, trying various proportions of rye flour to white from none to about 1/5th rye, kids prefer all white. Also have a breadmaker for pizza dough, quick white, wholemeal and rye loaves, some with linseed, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I have yet to make a walnut bread, oddly as it is one of my favourites. Must do that.

A quick plug for Ori Hellerstein who sells fantastic walnut bread, foccaccia, ciabatta and his Nelson bread at Stroud Farmers Market. His book is wide ranging and reliable.

I also use a splash of olive oil in the breadmaker instead of butter. Cannot remember buying margarine, and lard is kept for hot eater pastry for raised pies.

And another vote for Shipton Mill (and the pike fishing on the canal there can be good).

I once had the most amazing bread in Köln and never had anything to rival it. So does anyone have a recipe for a very nutty light springy German rye bread, not one of their more solid ones

Here you go, the baker in this German video shows how he makes the type of loaf that you had in Köln . It’s in the first quarter of the video but the rest of it is also interesting too.
A good German Baker is Never Hard to find in Germany, they have a fantastic selection of breads as well as cakes and pastry’s , ranging from the lightest of white breads through to really heavy , almost black whole grain rye breads , and everything in between.
Germans love their artisans and small Businesses and this, along with various government protections seems to have saved their small businesses from the large corporations. On the high street of our local town they have 4 Independent Family owned bakery shops and two butchers. I’ve never been in one without their being a queue and the bakers are always sold out If you go too late in the day, and that’s in a tiny rural market town.


kindest regards, Olaf

 

[RichardAllen]

Many thanks Olaf, it’s a pity I don’t have a wood fired oven - yet !!
This was today’s sourdough. 60% wheat flour, 40% rye. I think from watching Olaf’s video that my sourdough mixture is too thin. Mine is about the consistency of warm custard. The German Master Baker showed his as a doughy consistency.

 

[Yorkie]

Hi.
I got some Allinsons, extra strong, white bread flour today. It says it's Canadian on the packet. Also got a ready mixed sun dried tomato and cheese one. We will see what happens.

 

[Olaf]

Yes, RichardAllen your sourdough starter culture is supposed to be like that , it’s not too runny at all. The sourdough that the German bakery uses is a sourdough sponge that will have originally been made ( by his great grandfather by the sounds of it ) using a starter culture like the one you have.
try this, in the evening put about 100ml of your sourdough starter culture in 150ml of warmish water in a bowl then add 250gr flour ( flours of your choice, can even just be white wheat) and mix it in and cover it up and leave it at room temperature (15-18deg c) The following evening, put into the bowl another 250gr flour and 150ml water and mix it up then add 8gr salt and kneed it for 10-15 mins. Then form it into a ball and Chuck it into a lightly oiled container and put on a tight fitting lid or use a bowl and cling film as a lid. Pop that into the fridge and leave it there until the next morning or evening. Carefully take it out of the container and gently put one fold into it and then place it into a well floured proving basket and cover it with a towel and let it rise at room temperature for about 9 to 12 hrs. Then carefully flop it out of the proving basket, slash the top with a razor to allow it to rise more in the oven and bake it in a 220deg c oven with a tray of boiling water in it until it’s done.
enjoy it with some venison sausages like these that I made yesterday, they are venison tarragon nutmeg and red wine:

Kindest regards, Olaf

 

[Olaf]

Hi.
I got some Allinsons, extra strong, white bread flour today. It says it's Canadian on the packet. Also got a ready mixed sun dried tomato and cheese one. We will see what happens.

Ha ha ! Your getting slowly addicted to the sport of bread baking. Try to avoid buying those pre mixed things, they are expensive and have lots of junk in them.
try dissolving a couple of teaspoons of yeast in 300ml warm water, Chuck in 500gr of that flour and 8 gr salt and knead it for 10 mins, then shape it and put it into a well oiled container with a lid and leave it in the fridge overnight or for 8 hrs or more, take it out, gently place it into a baking tin or onto a baking tray , glaze it with some milk with a little olive oil in it , maybe sprinkle on some seeds if you feel like it, Chuck it into the oven at 220 deg c and bake it until it’s done,
Which will be about 20-30 minutes depending on what your oven is like.
kindest regards, Olaf

 

[Woodsmoke]

Try to avoid buying those pre mixed things, they are expensive and have lots of junk in them.

Ah, now you tell me

This is just this very moment out of the oven, using one of the very premixed packs you mention. In my defence, I'm not much of a baker. I do love fresh bread though, so there's plenty of inspiration in this thread!

 

[Yorkie]

Ha ha ! Your getting slowly addicted to the sport of bread baking. Try to avoid buying those pre mixed things, they are expensive and have lots of junk in them.
try dissolving a couple of teaspoons of yeast in 300ml warm water, Chuck in 500gr of that flour and 8 gr salt and knead it for 10 mins, then shape it and put it into a well oiled container with a lid and leave it in the fridge overnight or for 8 hrs or more, take it out, gently place it into a baking tin or onto a baking tray , glaze it with some milk with a little olive oil in it , maybe sprinkle on some seeds if you feel like it, Chuck it into the oven at 220 deg c and bake it until it’s done,
Which will be about 20-30 minutes depending on what your oven is like.
kindest regards, Olaf

Hi Olaf.
I am enjoying the Bread making. I know what you mean about the pre mixed ones but i just thought they were an easy place to start.

Forgive my ignorance but will the dough still rise in the fridge?

 

[Olaf]

Hi Olaf.
I am enjoying the Bread making. I know what you mean about the pre mixed ones but i just thought they were an easy place to start.

Forgive my ignorance but will the dough still rise in the fridge?

That’s a very sensible question and one that once bothered me too. Yes, it will rise , only more slowly and this improves flavour and texture. From what I’ve understood, the bacteria will chill out and develop very small but deliberate farts - relaxed farts. Basically, a long fermentation is good, a forceful fermentation is stressing the bacteria out and creates crap bread. During a longer fermentation time the bacteria (yeast) eat lots of stuff up and thus also fart and shite good stuff into your bread , hence it being much more digestible for your gut. In short, they have eaten lots of sugars that are not good for you and have also left Aromas and other good stuff behind .
A short or forced rise is bad for flavour, texture and you. Once I started to make my own bread, that had been properly fermented, I didn’t get those sugar crashes anymore ( associated with eating carbs) and lost lots of lard weight too. Personally, I think that many health problems that people have ( lardyness, diabetes, lardyness, and lardyness as well as low mood and energy levels) come from eating too many crap carbohydrates. I’m no scientist and my opinions are only my own but I’m personally convinced that if you make properly fermented bread from good ingredients you will thrive.
kindest regards, Olaf

 

[Yorkie]

Hi Olaf.
I can't get the image out of my head now of all those bacteria shitting and farting in my bread .

 

[angusb1]

Good thread this. I've been making sourdough since we moved house a year ago as we used to have a local baker that made lovely sourdough and it's too far to go every week especially since lockdown. My mate showed me how he makes his using the stretch and fold method and I made my own starter. I haven't bought a loaf of bread since and the same dough is great for pizzas and garlic bread

I'd like to make rye bread so I'm going to have a look at some of the books mentioned.

Here's one of my loaves

 

[JockStalk]

So when I’ve tried making sourdough it ends up tasting really sour. When I buy sourdough it doesn’t. Ideas? Foolproof recipes?

 

[Yorkie]

Hi Lads.
Did some Baking this morning. Plain white loaf and rolls and the sun dried tomato.

My Mrs said the tomato bread is excellent. I do not like it. I had a white roll with some homemade mushroom soup for lunch. It is superb, my best effort yet. Next time i am going to use the same recipe but do as Olaf suggested and prove it in the fridge.



The sun dried tomato one is on the left.