Bread baking.

[Olaf]

I got a bread making kit for my birthday a few weeks ago with the ingredients for various breads which I will have a crack at - but not sourdough which I quite fancied. To save me wading through all the posts can some explain how to make the initial starter yeast liquid and then keep it fed etc

Thanks

S

Just take a clean jar , put in a couple of tablespoons of water in it and a couple of spoons of flour in it and stir it and then pop the lid back on. leave the lid loose enough to let gasses escape and put it to one side on the counter. Then just do the same every day for a week or two and it’s finished, when you use it just dump the lot into your poolish or sponge and there will be enough left suck to the jar to make a new batch. This time though, simply half fill the jar with flour and then mix in some water to make a sort of porridge like consistency and leave it to ferment away, it will be ready in 24 hrs. If you don’t want to use it more than once or twice a week then just keep it in the fridge. It’s that simple.
get your a copy of Andrew whitelys book called bread matters it goes into more depth.
If you you look at a post I put on this thread I’ve written a really easy sourdough recipe that you can use that starter culture in. Don’t put it off, get one on the go today and post pictures
kindest regards, Olaf

 

[Olaf]

Elizabeth David's Bread and Yeast Cookery is excellent, as is Andrew Whitely Bread Matters (if techy) Paul Hollywoods Bread is OK. You can't go wrong with Delia

Simple Foccacia - 500g strong white, 1/2 pint hand-hot water (yes you read that right) sachet dried yeast, half teaspoon salt. Mix all dry together, add water mix and knead. It should be a slightly wet mix - don't be tempted to add more flour as a wet dough rises better. Knead until it feels elastic. Into bowl cover with damp towel, et rise - about 40min. Knead again then spread into a flat oblong, push your finger tips in to make slight indentations, cover with olive oil and large flakes of salt and big ground pepper. Prove 40min Bake at 200C 20 mins

Or how about this ! It’s the original version of focaccia bread and doesn’t even have yeast in it. I only just saw this and I was amazed by how different it is to the British and American interpretation of it.

It looks absolutely delicious, I’m going to have to attempt it.
Kindest regards, Olaf

 

[Buchan]

Fascinating. Try the "Fat" episode of Salt Fat Acid Heat on Netflix for another "true" focaccia, but one a bit easier to make

 

[Sharpie]

Don't disregard none-yeast methods using bicarb or baking powder, or self-raising flour (same thing). My sister in law, being irish, bakes a wicked soda bread. Then there are the Aussie damper breads developed where yeast was simply not available in the outback. Or by jolly swagmen. Like baking a sponge cake, or scones (yummy).

Used to do it in the Scouts, dough twisted over a stick and held over the open fire, happy days.

 

[Bosbuck]

Happy with my Spelt sourdough this morning. Lunch is going to be sweet.

 

[shooter]

Don't use lard or margarine. Do use salt.

This recipe is foolproof :-

View attachment 189729

Dear Nol deer, can you please providee me the name and author of the book.

 

[sh1kar]

Sultana, cinnamon and walnut loaf. Just out of the oven. First attempt at baking

 

[Alan Rhone]

I see some of the comments say don't add salt or minimum if you must. Believe me that bread without salt is tasteless and bland, it is simply awful. You need only flour, water and salt to make superb bread. Salt should be no less than 2% of the flour weight and up to 2.3% is fine. The absolute minimum would be 1.5% but even that is a bit bland. The majority of bread I bake is sourdough and I find that actually easier and less time demanding than using yeast. It also tastes better.

 

[angusb1]

I use 2% salt. Works well for me

 

[sh1kar]

Sultana, cinnamon and walnut loaf. Just out of the oven. First attempt at baking

View attachment 192929

Hmm. Well a rather tight interior and a bit dry and crumbly in the mouth. Marginally better than sawdust
Where did I go wrong?
S

 

[NoIDeer]

Dear Nol deer, can you please providee me the name and author of the book.

Hi shooter, no author as such, got this recipe on a fish cookery course in 2006. The company, "the Cooking Experience", appear to still be going.
The recipe is a bog standard 65% hydration bread that works, a bit more salt doesn't do any harm.

If you want a good book, Paul Hollywood's Bread is quite good.

Did you try the recipe?

Cheers, NoIDeer.

 

[shooter]

Hi shooter, no author as such, got this recipe on a fish cookery course in 2006. The company, "the Cooking Experience", appear to still be going.
The recipe is a bog standard 65% hydration bread that works, a bit more salt doesn't do any harm.

If you want a good book, Paul Hollywood's Bread is quite good.

Did you try the recipe?

Cheers, NoIDeer.

thanks noldeer,
no didnt try it, not much of a baker but interested in cooking food.
Infact my question had prompted me to put up a new thread re: recipe books but am searching the forum to make sure there isnt a pre existing thread already.

 

[Frank Homes]

Hmm. Well a rather tight interior and a bit dry and crumbly in the mouth. Marginally better than sawdust
Where did I go wrong?
S

Keep it simple to start with, just use a recipe for a standard loaf and work up from there. I tried Macfarlane's recipe (can't find it now) but used less wholemeal flour and it was fine.

 

[Stalker62]

Well a rather tight interior and a bit dry and crumbly in the mouth.

Sounds very much like a script from the next "Carry On" film...

 

[sh1kar]

Hmm. And something to do with mummies

 

[Olaf]

I see some of the comments say don't add salt or minimum if you must. Believe me that bread without salt is tasteless and bland, it is simply awful. You need only flour, water and salt to make superb bread. Salt should be no less than 2% of the flour weight and up to 2.3% is fine. The absolute minimum would be 1.5% but even that is a bit bland. The majority of bread I bake is sourdough and I find that actually easier and less time demanding than using yeast. It also tastes better.

Very true, I once forgot to add the salt and instantly noticed it when I took a bite. Salt also plays an important role in the texture of the bread too. I really don’t understand these Salt fascists, as part of a balanced diet it’s good for you.
also, I agree on the sourdough, it’s so little work as you just let time and bacteria do the work for you. The most labour Intensive bread I make is when I make burger buns ( using organic bakers yeast) as whilst they only take a few hrs from start to finish you have to pretty much mother them the whole time.
kindest regards, Olaf
Ps, thanks for the excellent service that you folks at Alan Rhone provided last year. The swing off mounts for my Mauser 66 fitted a treat

 

[Bosbuck]

Sunday bake. Polish sourdough Rye with plenty of caraway.

 

[sh1kar]

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. View attachment 191962
enjoy it with some venison sausages like these that I made yesterday, they are venison tarragon nutmeg and red wine:
View attachment 191964
Kindest regards, Olaf

Started the sourdough just now What can I use in lieu of a proving basket?

S

 

[ChrisJB]

I have used an old oval oven proof low sided steel dish in the past (and baked it in that) or prooved in a large glass Pyrex bowl lined with well floured piece of linen and then tipped it onto a oiled baking sheet before slashing top and mist spaying before baking in v hot oven

 

[angusb1]

Started the sourdough just now What can I use in lieu of a proving basket?

S

I prove mine in a colander lined with a tea towel. When I bake it I put a piece of nonstick baking paper over the top, put a chopping board over that, then flip it upside down and remove the colander and towel. Then you've got the dough on the baking paper and you can slash the top of the dough, fold the corners of the paper together and pick it up by the corners and put it it a cast iron pot to go in the oven.

The colander having holes in allows moisture to get out like a basket does, when I used a bowl, the towel would stick to the dough sometimes.

I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do this, but mine works for me