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Baker's scale. Am I getting this right?
This is an example. Trying to wrap my head around this.Let's say there is a recipe that makes one 15 inch loaf. Calls for 5 cups of flour. 20 oz water.I would like to make this recipe fit two nine inch pans. Estimate seven cups of flour.reference,1 cup of flour = 5.5 oz1 oz water... | Ratio
You just have to multiply everything by the flour ratio: 7 cups/ 5 cups = 1.4. So the water becomes 1.4 x 20 oz = 28 oz, to keep the same hydration of about 73%. |
Stretch and Fold Questions - French Bread from Bread Baker's Apprentice (BBA)
I have been making baguettes using a new-to-me recipe, the French Bread recipe in Peter Reinhart's book The Bread Baker's Apprentice (15th Anniversary Edition). This is my second attempt at this recipe. The first bake turned out reasonably we... | The dough will eventually resist
The dough will resist stretching at a certain point, especially as you finish a set of S&Fs. At that point, just let it finish bulk. If you find it inelastic in the first set, that would be odd (though I've never done that recipe). Did you knead it before putting it in bulk? |
Help, moldy starter on day 9
My starter is on day 9 now, and the 2 last mornings it's had a thin layer of white mold on top. Yesterday I fed it twice after the first night with mold, and all was good, it smelled fine and little bobbles came all over. This morning the mold is back, it's thin but with lots of bobbles on ... | Plug "mouldy starter" into the search box ...
... and several useful links will reveal a few useful suggestions. This one in particular may offer guidance:http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/43737/mouldy-starter-should-i-just-give |
Overnight Whole Wheat
Hello all, new to posting in this forum. I've been having difficulty with an overnight whole wheat sandwich bread recipe from Peter Reinhart's "Artisan Breads Every Day". I've had success with bigas/soakers, sponges, or other methods for whole wheat. However, whenever I try the overnight method, d... | Shaping
When shaping one needs to knock the large bubbles out but keep the smaller ones. What's your method at the moment? |
Poolish
I've been having good luck with Ken Forkish bread recipes but today I forgot to add the yeast to my final dough. My poolish was lovely and active, when the final dough didn't rise much in 3 hr I realized I'd forgotten the yeast. I just added it, after waking it up in a couple Tblsp warm water. I pinched and ... | That extra yeast in the final dough
Is added for an extra boost. The bread would have still worked albeit with a longer bulk ferment. There was no need to add the extra yeast as long as you watch the dough and not the clock. But you have done well and I'm sure it'll be just fine. It's very forgiving. Happy Holidays. |
Bread Newbie - - where to start?
i have just started my bread baking journey. I have been making my way through Beth Hensperger’s The Bread Bible. I have two consistent problems. The bread browns much too quickly even though oven temp is correct(calibrated to be right on). More troubling is the bread texture. It’s eit... | What recipe are you following?
And which four are you using? |
Dough never reaching window pain.
I've been making my own bread now for 5 weeks. I've used a large food processor, stand mixer, stand mixer/by hand and by hand kneading. Never reaching the window pain stage. Used both KA and Pillsbury bread flour. Same results. Bread turns out great. Well risen, even sized and spaced s... | Gluten should be fully
Gluten should be fully developed by the time the bread is baked, not straight out of the mixer. So forget window pane. It's a concept most likely associated with the style of commerical baking that allows for very little time between mixing and baking. At home that time is measured in hours, s... |
Where to buy whole grain/alternative flours?
Hello all! I see a lot of recipes on here including flours such as red fife, buckwheat, spelt, etc. I also recently purchased Tartine Book No.3, which focuses on whole grains. I used to live in Austin, Texas and had a great relationship with a miller there (Barton Springs Mi... | You might consider making your own
In addition to being a home baker you might also consider becoming a home miller. All the grains you mention are available from a wide variety of retailers online in the form of raw berries, that is 'kernels, the same as your friend the miller processes. In that form they require no r... |
Quicker leaven?
My current leaven build for a single loaf (double for two loaves) is: 20g starter119g water96g APFI leave this out overnight to ferment; by the morning it's ready.I'm interested in exploring a quicker leaven recipe, though; maybe one that can be ready to go in a few hours. Would this just be a matter of... | Strength of Your Starter
These are my thoughts.Water and flour mix which activates the amylase enzymes. The amylase convert the starch in the flour to sugars (maltose and fructose). The bacteria and yeast in your starter now have food and they respond by digesting the sugars, leaving behind various byproducts (acids, f... |
Disastrous overlarge holes
Trying to figure out what's going on here. Maybe someone can help me out. RECIPE:Leaven: 39g stater (starter = 1:1 water/flour); 237g water; 191 flour; overnight. (NOTE: It seemed to me like this particular leaven didn't show as much activity as I'm used to seeing when I inspect it in the mor... | Most likely underproofing.
Most likely underproofing. Could possibly be overproofing, but not in this case since you say your starter was barely ready. dropping a baked and still warm loaf right out of the oven can exacerbate the problem (I just did That today).I have learned over time to not use a starter if it’s not... |
Uncooked Cavern in Brioche
I thought I'd share this to humble myself a bit. I'm obsessive about 18th century brioche, so I mill my own soft white wheat, laboriously sieve it (using boar bristles and #70 mesh) into "white" flour, shun the use of milk, only use ale yeast to leaven, etc. But I recently started experimenti... | Just thought I would let you know
that your picture doesn't show up. |
Bagel Experiment: Proof in Fridge with Parchment Paper and Without / Sticking Problem Still Continues
Hello. Based on the suggestions I got from the thread I posted about the massive-sticking problem with my bagel production lately, I did a little experiment with my next batch of bagels.Prologue: I'm using Peter Reinha... | Bake them
You can solve the sticking problem by using the same sheet of parchment paper you used to proof in the fridge to bake those bagels. |
Large holes and stodgy bottom
The last two loaves I baked were a bit disappointing. I am satisfied with the texture overall, and the flavor too. I am disappointed they were riddled with huge holes, and a stodgy bit near the center.I made a dough from a recipe of 20% wholemeal 80% white wheat. I had reserved 50ml water,... | Top / bottom photos please?
Welcome to TFL!There are a couple Aussie regulars here, who will hopefully chime in. www.thefreshloaf.com/user/gavincand: www.thefreshloaf.com/user/yozzauseAU white flour is a peculiar animal in that (as I understand) it is not generally malted (or have added amylase), like most North... |
Open Crumb Rich Dough Panettone.
I am trying to have super open crumb with rich dough(butter and egg enriched).I follow classic open crumb techniques. I have a biga(first dough). I mix biga with my final dough(by hand). But hold back salt and additional yeast and a bit of water, butter and candied fruit. I autolyse fo... | Using the Search tool in the upper right-hand corner
of this page, type in "panettone mwilson" (minus the quotation marks) and stand back. You'll get a wealth of posts to read about Michael's experimentation with and mastery of panettone.Paul |
Cinnamon swirl bread side burst in oven
I'm guessing this has something to do with the second proofing, but I keep testing readiness with finger pokes at different times and it keeps happening. Am I still overproofing on the second rise? Or is this too much yeast? Trying to post pics but having trouble | No problem
It's just the oven spring finding a weak spot. The loaf looks wonderful! If you don't want it to split at a random spot like that, try scoring the top of the loaf down the middle before baking. |
Best Way to Achieve Holes - Open Crumb Structure
If you are routinely successful in achieving a crumb with well distribute, good sized holes, I am interested in hearing your methodology. In the past, I have explored this topic from the negative, as in "what am I doing wrong." Responses are easily confusing so I though... | Oh boy
There have been a lot of open crumb questions recently. I dont think there is one correct way to achieve an open crumb especially since there are so many bread types, flour types etc but there are some things i have noticed that might help. First off gluten needs to be well developed so you want to be confiden... |
Milling Granite for a Mill
This isn't really a challenge, just in the sense that I don't know what the heck I'm doing. So maybe it's just a challenge for you, then.I have 6 months to a year to have this done and I don't want to mess it up. I'm growing about 100 feet of wheat starting in spring and need a stone mill, an... | Try Here:
Try here;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMaitNOnLa0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYx4UocjWQ8(A little further editing)As of 2011 Germany had only one person left to tend to millstones a one Wolfgang Strakosch of Zusamaltheim in Bavaria. "Strakosch says that the basalt's porosity is also vital. "Air locked ... |
Starter trouble
Just built a sour dough starter and used a cup of it in my bread recipe. I usually let it rise for 15 or so hours. However I noticed that after those 15hrs it really hasn't changed much. Only a couple of bubbles on the surface. What am I doing wrong here? | More about your starter
Please tell us more. We need a complete and utter history of your starter to comment :)You've 'just' built one but 'usually' leave it for 15 hours. |
Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Chacons.
With Thanksgiving coming in a week, Lucy thought that it would be a fine challenge to have folks make a centerpiece Chacon for the table and post it here. We extend it to Christmas and New Years too! So give it you best shot and lets see all the cool designs! Happy ba... | Thanksgiving
Hmmmm, our Thanksgiving has come and gone already. However, a friend of mine with Ukrainian roots usually hosts a Christmas dinner in January, and if she does that again and I am able to go, I'll offer to make the kolach again. Will that count? :)Wendy |
Problem with dough sticking to liner / basket
So, I've recently bumped up the hydration on my loaves a bit. And the resulting crumb and crust are excellent. But the dough is sticking to the cotton liners of my banneton baskets; it also sticks to the banneton baskets themselves, without liner. I am only able to detach t... | what type of flour did you use
to dust the baskets? a 50:50 mix of AP and rice flour usually releases dough without problem. so wonder what you usedLeslie |
Dan Lepard kneading method - stodgy bread!
Hello,I'm a fairly inexperienced bread baker and I have been experimenting with recipes from the book Short & Sweet by Dan Lepard. The kneading method in this book is to do light kneading at intervals. However I'm not having much success! I tried making this black pepper and c... | Who's flour are you using?
Could you let us know the flour brand and type and the full recipe if possible? Same for your wholemeal flour too. |
Leningrad Rye
An old friend seeks loaves of "Leningrad Rye" such as she had in Leningrad circa 1955. The loaves were cob shaped, dense, firm, very dark, and damp inside. And, fragrant! Oh, and loaves would start being sold about 4 hours after the truck load of flour arrived at the bakery. (People would be in line for... | Check "The Rye Baker"
Your friend should check Stanley Ginsberg's book, "The Rye Baker," and his website theryebaker.com. Most of the ryes in the book are classics from Eastern and Northern Europe. Maybe the book has the loaf you're looking for, or something close to it.jaywillie |
Question re: Proofing Following Overnight Refrigeration
I am a big fan of Peter Reinhart's Crust and Crumb except that many of his foundation breads require overnight retardation in the refrigerator followed by next-day warming and proofing before baking. I am finding that when I pull the dough out of the refer it tak... | Proofing after refrigeration
Greg,It's unclear to me whether you are refrigerating shaped loaves that have fermented, or bulk refrigerating dough that must then be shaped and proofed prior to baking.If it's the former, you can bake those loaves right out of the refrigerator once your oven/stone has preheated. If the l... |
Large Bubbles, Just Underneath the Crust
One of my longstanding challenges with bread machine bread is the formation of very large bubbles just underneath the crust as the dough goes through long rise cycles. It happens by far the most on my sourdough bread, which is leavened with wild yeast only. The bread machine imp... | The root cause - too much water
Too much water -> excessive yeast (and bacterial) activity and excessive activity of flour ferments (flour amylase and protease) -> excessive amounts of gas in the dough and changed dough composition (due to ferments) -> large pores break down under gas pressure and coalesce into large h... |
Too much S&F?
My loaves have been coming out too dense lately, especially for the hydration. I'm thinking that I'm overdoing the stretching and folding, maybe seriously overdoing it. See photo below and the recipe I followed for it. Can anyone tell me if I'm overdoing the stretching and folding? RECIPE: LEAVEN: 20g sta... | Odd crumb shot
I believe that's the first time I've seen crumb bubbles looking like they're tunnelling up from the bottom to the top.Makes me want to ask about the shaping. |
How long can you let dough set?
After experiment with some of the things suggested in a previous thread, I have found I like my bread better if I just only mix the dough in my bread machine and bake it separately in the oven. I can get a more uniform loaf shape that I prefer.My still limited skills in bread making hav... | Delayed Baking
When you make a loaf of bread you start with ingredients, add leavening, manage time and temperature through the fermentation stages, then bake the bread in a hot oven. Large commercial bakeries use additives and processes that produce bread in the shortest amount of time so they can produce the most bre... |
Tartine Attempt - Some Spring, but Air Pockets and Dense Areas
I followed the NYT Tartine country loaf recipe with the only modification being using 55g of leaven vs. a tablespoon. Proof was 12 hours. I'm not sure what to tweak to get a better crumb structure and spring. Am I overproofing?Also, the dough was pretty che... | Yup, yup and yes..
Hi Nicola.. I looked up the NYT recipe for Tartine you mentioned to see if the described the recipe differently than the book. Generally it's on point, but yes you're over-proofed / fermented if I'm saying that correctly.A few thoughts. First the levain: yes stick with a table spoon of starter as it... |
Bagel Crust not Quite There
Hey all,So I'm out of the States for a year living abroad, and I was craving bagels so I decided to try my hand at making them. I am, however encountering a problem with the crust. Everything else about the bagel is good: chewy and dense, but the crust is just super soft. When I take them... | Overnight retard?
I wonder if shaping the bagels, then putting them in the fridge overnight would affect the crust? I boil mine in a large electric skillet so I can do eight at a time; that really helps the timing! |
Sticky dough after change of location and flour
i have been maki bread with the tartine recipe for years in San Francisco. At 85% hydration, I never had trouble folding/shaping/baking the dough.We recently moved to Spain. I have been trying to make the same bread here but the dough has been turning into a sticky mess e... | Another issue
is the change of flour. The flour you're using might not perform so well with such high hydration. Tartine Country loaf is mostly white flour and you might have to drop the hydration to 65-70% before you can handle it. What is the protein % of the flour? |
Dan Leader's "Local Breads" typos and other errors. HELP!
Hello all,Like many of us using "Local Breads" I have run into my share of issues due to typos all over the place. Some are real proofreading typos (for example, on page 128 where it tells you to score the dough, it offers an illustration on page 000. Oh well...... | Corrections
A one pager of corrections that you can print out is available here: http://www.breadalone.com/PDF/local-breads-corrections.pdf |
Loaf changing while cooling
Thanks in advance for any advise you can give. This loaf was made with a overnight poolish then mixed, kneaded and proofed in a Zojirushi bread machine. Then shaped for a second rise and baked in a Dutch oven. If comes out smooth with a firm crisp crust. As it cools the crust softens which i... | I think it would benefit from
a thicker crust, maybe squirt some what on it during the first few minutes of baking.Gerhard |
Tacky loaves
Hello all,I am not new as such to bread baking but am having trouble. I live in Indonesia so it's hot and humid although I'm not sure if this is the cause of my trouble. The last 2 loaves have come out tacky when I cut them. The recipe I'm using is from the book How to Bake Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreo an... | I think you should first
try reducing the hydration. Roughly stir up the flour with the water making sure there are no pockets of dry flour. Cover and let rest 30 minutes. Then sprinkle the yeast and salt over the rough dough and knead until blended. The bread shape (photo) implies the dough amount was a little sm... |
Cinnamon Rolls taste....raw
I have tried several different enriched bread recipes for cinnamon rolls. They taste raw or doughy. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? | to help us help you
please give us your recipe and how you bake it, ie steam or not, and for how long it is baked. lots of folks here to help but we need some more information first.Leslie |
Newbie with a ? about altitude....
We live in Colorado Springs, Colorado and our elevation is at almost 6000 feet. When I water bath/pressure can there is a adjustment chart for processing time (for altitude). My simple no knead bread is coming out like a pound cake LOL I am seeing no adjustment for altitude in bread r... | Hello and welcome!
There really don't seem to be any good charts for bread making, but I've found that this article includes most of the best tips: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.htmlYou'll notice that their very first recommendation is to contact the Colorado State U for more detailed info!... |
Rolled Italian hearth bread
This is a pick up on several posts made several years ago by another. A few upstate NY bakeries make a wonderful Italian hearth bread which is great oven spring; a great braid-like spring in he middle which close up is very flaky, almost like a pastry. The dough is rolled serpentine like (... | Looks Amazing!
Thanks for sharing the photo of your project! I’m a lil confused though. After the dough is rolled serpentine like, squeezed, it’s rolled like a loaf? Is it scored before baking?I’ve seen pictures of this bread but can’t figure out how they’re made. |
Undercooked or just dense? (Photos)
Hi folks,Trying to figure out if my bread is undercooked or just dense. It tastes great and it doesn't seem to be undercooked. But not sure. For reference: around 75% hydration (of note: today was a very humid day, so maybe that upped the hydration a bit). Bulk fermented a little ove... | To add to this...
I forgot to add: 1) I did slap-and-fold kneading for about seven minutes. 2) I did stretch-and-folds from there on out: one round of S&F every twenty minutes for about an hour and forty minutes, then one round of S&F every thirty minutes for another hour. |
Shaping boules by rolling?
I'm working with around 75% hydration dough and I'm getting better at it, but I'm having trouble with generating enough surface tension on my boules. I'm interested in learning how to shape boules by "rolling" them, as seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmTPL2J8OZkI'm having ... | Lightly floured
Hands works for me. Check out King Arthur videos on You Tube. Or anything by Ciril Hintz. Practice makes a nice boule. |
Vollkornbrot problems
Using several methods and recipes my Vollkornbrot bread, crust is almost hard as a rock. Always using rye berries, chops, meal, whatever is listed. Oven several different ways. No luck, yet. Help! | Difficult to say
without seeing the recipe.I mist my Vollkornbrote with water right after baking. You can, also, cover them with a towel to keep the moisture in while they are cooling.Karin |
Help Making My Wheat Bread Rise
Hey Everyone,So I am new to baking bread, just took a day class on how to do it. Ive been trying to perfect the honey wheat sandwich loaf and I am running into a few problems. The biggest issue is I cant get the bread to rise fully, so my loaves are smaller then I would like. I cant figu... | Recipe?
Well, none of the tweaks you mention should affect the rise too much, but I can't really tell without knowing the recipe and all the ingredients, as well as the technique (particularly how long you bulk ferment the dough versus how long the final, shaped proof is).Your house temperature sounds fine really, but ... |
Shaping pain l'ancienne
Hi, I'm looking for some hints on how to shapemthese loaves better. I follow Reinhart's recipe exactly. I start my shaping with a rectangle of dough roughly 3" x 8" and then try and stretch that into a 14"-16" long loaf on the baking tray. Instead of a pleasing looking loaf, I usually end up ... | baguette shaping videos
My only experience with the Reinhart pain l'ancienne was years ago but as I recall it was high hydration and somewhat hard for me to handle and it was really just a matter of stretching/pulling it into shape. The following baguette shaping videos give you an idea of baguette dough consistency.... |
Higher-Hydration Sourdough Problems
Hi folks,I've been wanting to try higher-hydration doughs, so I recently upped the hydration in my go-to recipe by 15%. My recipe is as follows: Leaven: 39g starter, 237g water, 191g flour (note: I did not up the hydration in my leaven; that remains the same). Dough: 1178g flour, 738... | When you say "dough"
Does this include the leaven? Have you broken everything down, including the leaven, to flour, water and salt? |
Help - bread pulls from BOTTOM crust?
Has anyone ever encountered this issue?I was following Robertson's Tartine Basic Country Bread. When I cut into my first loaf, found I had flying crust - but from the bottom side of the loaf! See video attached.I know that flying top crust usually indicates that the bread was under... | Can you please post a still photo
closer up to the bottom even though it is missing most of it? Also want to know temp of baking surface and more detail about folds and surfaces.Thanx :) |
What am I doing wrong?
Hi everyone, Firstly I have to apologise for opening yet another topic, I just couldn't see one where everyone can go an moan about their failures :) It’s the first time I am trying to make sourdough and I already know I have made at least 2 mistakes:I have mixed the salt from the beginningI left... | Hi Hollie
Welcome. Never be sorry for asking a question. All been there and done that. Your question won't be the last either. So ask away! Mixing the salt in the beginning is not the end of the world. True it won't be an autolyse but won't be the failure of a bread even if it does benefit from an autolyse. Without you... |
Problems with Ovenspring (No ovenspring)
Hello!I'm having some trouble when trying to bake a simple 1, 2, 3 sourdough bread recipe. Here's my recipe:Starter 100% Hydration Manitoba Flour/Rye Flour120g of mature active sourdough starter240g of water300g of Manitoba flour (12% protein)60g Rye Flour2% saltI mix the flour ... | First thing that jumps out
Oven light on should be warm and provide good proving temps. You have 33% starter and 6 hours bulk ferment before a further all night fridge bulk ferment. I'm thinking too much bulk ferment and an over fermenting dough. |
Over-proofed?
Seems like my bread is regularly over-proofed; it doesn't spring up as much as I'd like and it's pretty dense.The flavor is generally good. It's just not as airy as I'd like. See picture. Deets: Overnight leaven: 20g starter, 119g water, 96g flour. Floats fine in the morning. Dough: leaven + 589g flour, 3... | That looks great
If you want an airier crumb perhaps experiment with a slightly higher hydration and seek out some videos on breads that achieve this. Following your recipe I personally think you're doing a great job! |
Ugly Loaves!
Good morning! I am hoping someone can help me with this. I am sure hundreds or thousands of people, if not everyone, at some point, has experienced this. I had this all working perfectly in my home, gas(weak convection) oven, turning the dough every hour for 8 hours.. I switched to a couple of powerful... | Answers in...
the comments on these posts: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/search/node/bottom+blowout--And welcome to The Fresh Loaf. I hope you enjoy your participation here. |
SOS! New to deck oven baking
HELP! I got a Nero 400 last month after waiting what felt like an eternity. I very quickly realized that I would have to relearn how to bake bread (ugh), but I can't figure out how to get a quality loaf of sourdough to bake in my new oven. I get very little oven spring, absolutely zero ear,... | If you spray down the oven,
If you spray down the oven, you cool it off = no oven spring. |
How to tell when a starter has the 'right' yeast/bacteria?
Hi all! New to the sourdough community and The Fresh Loaf! I was inspired to begin my own sourdough starter and have been doing so for the past week, but at this point, I can't really tell if the starter is going well, or not.To begin the starter, I used rye fl... | Welcome
Your Starter sounds fine and as you have said the orange juice was to kick start the starter creating a good environment for the yeasts and good bacteria to grow. You have a starter that has gone from strength to strength without the typical slowing down many experience and it has no issue doubling. If a starte... |
Nutrimill Plus Problems
My new Nutrimill Plus has an electrical smell, makes a loud grinding sound and sparks (where the grinders are) when there is no grain. Am I doing it wrong or is something wrong? | I would return it!
I would return it! |
Hurricane Irma recovery: Baking well-proved then refrigerated sourdough loaves.
Hurricane Irma interrupted my bake.I had two sourdough loaves reaching the end of final proofing, had just turned the oven on to preheat, when the power went out. The power went out much earlier (7:00 pm, when the worst of the hurricane did... | I would do this
be ready to put both cold loaves immediately into a hot oven. That would be the A plan.If by out-turning the loaves a good deal of collapse is observed, I would reshape the loaves and be prepared for a very short final proof.If a good deal of alcohol aroma is observed, perhaps mix up one loaf of dough ... |
Trouble getting ears on my bread
I have been having trouble getting a really good ear on my breads. Sometimes, like with my sourdoughs, they are big and beautiful. However with breads such as my baguettes and multi grains, they just don't open up and create the look I want. My boss has been challenging me for 2 years n... | Scoring Tutorial
David Snyder posted a tutorial that might be helpful. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/scoring |
Starter just up and died
My loyal starter, which has been churning good and reliably for three or so months now, has apparently conked out. Any advice?Specs: I've been using APF with tap water 1:1 in grams. Items of interest:- I spent last week at the beach and brought the starter with me. I baked five or six loaves wh... | Heat in the car
can get hot, hot enough to kill a good portion or all of the yeast. It happens fast enough. I'm guessing you weren't in TX. The other thing that did it in might have been overfeeding when "... after a few unsuccessful feedings..." there was no activity. Discarding and feeding repeatedly would have... |
Eclipse Bread Challenge
Friends, Loafers, Home Bakers and Enthusiasts! Lend me your Ears! What do you think of baking up a special commemorative Eclipse Bread for the US Nationwide Solar Eclipse happening on August 21st? Don't ask me what it is, decide for yourselves, get creative and post a picture of your interpr... | Interesting challenge
Now to get my thinking cap on! |
Copying my favorite sub sandwhich roll?
I really like DiBella's Sub sandwiches (also know as hoagie rolls in some parts of the country). They have the perfect bread which I like the most about them. I have become quite good at making something similar at home but I can not seem to match the bread in the sub itself. I h... | Ingredients
That's why most home bakers have difficulty matching commercial breads. No one would want to put all that weird stuff in their bread!That said, there are things to know. One, bleached wheat flour is simply bleached white regular flour. Most commercial white flours have some proportion of malt or amylase in ... |
Converting granola recipe to Sugar-Free
Hello fellow Fresh-Loafers,I like the following granola recipe, but want to make it sugar-free: - 4 Cups of Oats - 3 Cups of Seeds/Nuts - 1 Cup of Desiccated Coconut - 1/2 Cup of Oil - 3/4 Cup of Honey or Maple Syrup - 1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar - 1-1/2 Teaspoon of SaltMethod: Combi... | Well first of all
A good (but rather more expensive) substitute for sugar is Xylitol. It's good for your teeth too. Eating too much of it can cause a laxative effect because it's not digested by the body but it's only half a cup for the whole recipe. So eaten in normal amounts should be ok. |
Making the switch to organic flour - need advice
Hello, I am new and this is my first post. I have making this white bread recipe for about a year now with great success using Gold Medal unbleached AP flour. It always turns out beautiful.http://www.rockrecipes.com/homemade-white-bread/I recently bought 2 bags of Arro... | Changing Flours
I don't think it is so much a problem with the organic flour but more an issue with changing flours.Being off a few points on protein content and ash can create a learning curve for the end user. I think this is where you are finding yourself, in an experimental stage with a new flour. I looked up the p... |
Making quick bread without kneading and with few ingredients as possible?
I was wondering would you get a fluffy bread(size irrelevant) with this combo of ingredients:- 60g corn flour, gluten free- 30g sunflower oil- 2 large eggs- 1 tsp baking powder- 1/4 tsp salt- 50g milkMixed mass would be poured into silicon molds ... | Not sure how fluffy it'd be
But what would probably help is a little bit of acid (like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar) mixed into the milk which is often used as a substitute for buttermilk. Will help with the chemical reaction and it'll froth more. |
Working with fresh milled flour
I just recently switched from King Arthur AP flour to Maine Grains 86% extracting AP flour. The Maine Grains flour is milled to order, and therefor very fresh. I knew it would be more reactive than the KA flour, but oh boy, it moved fast. My sourdoughs were massively over proofed, despit... | Extraction
Extraction is key. AP is usually about 72%. |
Slashing technique for sourdough batards and baguettes
My sourdough baguettes and batards rise well, and have a good moist crumb, but I can't seem to get the slashes to "open" or "bloom" and have ears. (Images from today's typical batch are below.)I know this is mostly asthetics, but it's the one challenge I can't se... | Lovely loaves
Those are really beautiful, actually, but I understand what it is you are trying to achieve. Question - have you ever baked bread in a covered Dutch oven or other pre-heated covered cast iron thing like that? And if you have, did you get good ears on the bread? The reason I'm asking is that there might be... |
Ciabatta dense crumb. Why??
I baked ciabatta today using Peter Reinhart's poolish recipe from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice". It produced nice bread. Good crust. Great taste. However, the crumb which should be open was pretty tight. Any ideas what I could do to get an open crust? I handled the dough as gently as I coul... | Hi Jack
I don't have that book, although I'm well aware that I should..anyway if you could let me know your method/timings/temps etc I'd be glad to try and help |
Sourdough starter
So I have been making my own sourdough for about 2 years now. I use rye flour for my mother starter and then bread flour for building when I want to make a loaf. My mother starter is super healthy, active and doubles great but for some reason I can't get my starter to double when I want to make bread.... | Tell us how you build your
Tell us how you build your levain. |
Just to say thanks
Hi I'm sure I'm probably supposed to post this in the introductions area but.. I wanted to aim this at people who post in the challenges forum, just to say thanks as I've been shadowing this forum on and off for a couple of months now. People's questions and answers have really brought me a long way ... | Wow, you start off great
And improve rapidly. Very fine loaves you've got there. Now it's time for you to help those in need. |
Good crust, crumb with lots of holes but too moist
Hi,I have just started baking straight white bread from Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast.I have been halving his recipes (1000g flour to 500g) and am having some variable results.All my breads have had an excellent crust because of the pre-heated dutch oven method,... | Too moist
I've seen some posts re problems using US recipes and British flour, due to differences in protein content and water absorption. Dont know if that may be relevant. |
Dense crumb
Did a bake today, two loaves' worth. Both came out tasting quite good, and the rise was among the best I've had yet. But the crumb was quite dense, enough so that it almost felt undercooked to eat (with a little butter on it, the taste was excellent). See photos. Recipe: Leaven: 33g starter, 205g water, 165... | Do you take the temperature
of your loaves when they come out of the oven? I bake all my loaves to at least 205 F. You may have also cut your loaf a bit too soon which would seem like the loaf wasn't baked long enough. You need to cool your loaf a couple of hours which allows the moisture within the loaf to redistribu... |
Timing for a clean score
Hi, Sorry if this has been addressed in a previous post, I am a new userNote: I use a razor blade to score, proof in a cloth lined basket, and bake in a cast iron combo cookerOn several occasions, with several different bread recipes, and various points on the proofing spectrum, I have attempte... | It's easier to score a slightly dry loaf surface
I'm just surprised your loaf surface isn't a bit dry, if you are proofing in a lined basket. Now, I'm assuming the lining is linen or cotton, not polyester. And I'm assuming you are dusting the liner with flour (AP/Rice mix, ideally).I score loafs just before putting the... |
Summer Problems
Hello everyone, I have been baking sourdough for four years, and this past year had finally hit a kind of stride where my bread was turning out consistently how I liked. I was even having some success pushing the envelope at 80-85% hydration, doing weird recipes with sticky grains, etc...This summer, ho... | Change of season - same challenge
This is not much different than dealing with change of season where all winter long you get used to slow rises and then suddenly your kitchen is 5 degrees warmer and you risk over proofing. At the end of the day I think its all boils down to time adjustments so in your case the yeast i... |
New Deck oven power alternatives?
Hello, everyone. We are looking to add a deck oven to our new bakery location, HOWEVER...We are purchasing an existing bakery /cafe that has LOW bread and pastry production [in a double-deck electric convection oven!]. There is no natural gas available to this location, and Propane is ... | BBGA
This is really a question for the Bread Baker's Guild of America forum...it does require a membership to participate, but my experience as so far been well worth the $85/yr... |
Loaf cake
I just started to work at Hometown Foods in Miami as a VP of Operations, they have no clue on how to make a cake, neither I do. I need some help with oven temperature, can someone help me?the company is having a lot of trouble and if I don't fix the problem the company will close soonplease help | Information, please, Denis
What kinds of cakes? From scratch (if so, formulae please) or from mixes? A description of the present cake-making process would be most helpful.What kind of equipment, particularly mixers and oven(s) are in use (names and models, please)? Please describe the oven temperature problem you a... |
Problem: Dark Crust but Moist Crumb
Hi all, I have a recurring problem with almost all the loaves I bake (ciabatta to pain de campagne to baguettes) with different mixtures of flour, different hydration levels, and different oven temps. My crust turns out thick and dark but the crumb of the bread will still be moist an... | Less steam?
From what I believe, I think more steam creates a darker caramelization. Maybe try less or even no spray once and see if that helps? |
Baking in the desert
Our climate (Arizona) is almost always very dry, and sometimes it is much drier than normal. I always try to compensate for the dryness by having a pan of water in the oven while the bread is rising and baking, but sometimes even that doesn't work (even when the dough seems perfect as I shape the ... | Use Mega Steam in the oven. When the oven hits pre heat temo
place a pan half full of water ant the bottom covered in lava rocks in the oven. Set the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off load the dough a steam for 18 minutes.If your dough is drying out while it is on the counter for gluten development and bi... |
Fermentation too fast
It would seem that we have an issue with the bulk fermentation and need some advice. We are fairly new to the bread baking culture, but our early successes are making us eager to get it right. We are using the Ken Forkish method for his 40% wheat overnight method. We seem to be getting too much ri... | You are in good company!
Many, if not most, of us have also found Forkish's times to be way off, except in cold climes. I think your question about your ambient temperature is very much to the point. One of Forkish's formulas is my current favorite non-rye, but I totally ignore his times. Well, I have also altered his ... |
Bread Not Rising - Fermentation Too Short?
I'm using this recipe: http://www.homecookingadventure.com/recipes/easy-sourdough-bread-vermont-bread ...and it makes a nice, tasty loaf, but it's hardly rising at all. My question is this: do you think the bulk fermentation time (2.5 hrs) and proofing time (2.5 hr) are too s... | Watch the dough and not the clock
As always one should watch the dough and not the clock however with the levain amount and even when allowing for some variables the times given should be producing a risen loaf.Perhaps its all in your starter maintenance and levain build. So how do you maintain/prep your starter and ho... |
Challenge - Eating 90 loaves in 90 days..
Hi Everyone..I recently came across this site: http://www.eatbread90.com/ This lady (founder of a site called bakerpedia - Dr. Lin Carson, with a phd in grain biology?) has decided to eat 90 loaves of bread in 90 days to dispel the myth that eating bread is bad for you.. she's ... | Memory being the unreliable thing that it is,
I'm not sure that the number I read for per capita bread consumption in some regions and eras was 1 kg / day. That is what I seem to recall but take it with a grain of salt.Also, the people eating those copious amounts of bread had laborious, physically demanding work and ... |
Cast Iron Casserole - Sticking?
I have a nice cast iron casserole that I'd love to bake the bread in---it's the perfect shape for a boule. When I tried using it the first time, the bread stuck to the bottom and sides. Getting it off was a friggin nightmare. How does one cook in a cast iron casserole without the bread s... | I don't use one myself but..
The easiest way would be to transfer the dough onto baking parchment first then drop the whole thing into the pot.Otherwise I think these pots have to be broken in http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/how-to-buy-season-clean-maintain-cast-iron-pans.html |
TBF (First Time Baker)
Hi folks, I baked my first batch of bread today---following Michael Pollan's recipe out of Cooked, a modified Tartine loaf---and it was quite the failure. I'll give as much info as possible here to see if anyone can help me out. Recipe (very slightly modified from Pollan's): Starter: 50g white fl... | Start at the beginning
It's your first sourdough bread so tell us a bit about your starter. How did you make it? When did it mature and become viable?You say that your starter behaved well but then after that it began to go downhill. You also put all the leaven into the dough and said..."Note: Pollan's recipe calls for... |
Hydration varies per batch of flour - how to deal with this?
So, I can imagine a professional baker buying flour in very large quantities knows exactly how the flour of a particular batch will behave, and maybe does a test bake to see what hydration is needed, et cetera.Me however, I buy 50kg of flour every two weeks a... | Changing Hydration
This subject came up on the Bread Bakers Guild of America forum a few days ago and the responses were consistent.Larger bakeries purchase flour by the ton and they pay particular attention to the lot identification. If the flour is from the same lot they are not too concerned about any real changes i... |
Flaxseed query.
I understand that it is necessary to grind or soak this seed to release its full potential for digestion. If soaking actually does this how come the water in the stomach does not do this job as it passes through?I have also tried putting the seed in a food processor (with the sharp blades) hoping the fa... | Yes, Presoak the Flaxseed
or any other seeds you might use in breadmaking. The seeds are going to absorb water in any event and you are better off doing a presoak than have the seeds absorb water from the dough, which will tend to dry it out if not carefully calibrated. I make a three seed whole wheat bread with flax... |
Sourdough won't rise
Hi, I wonder if anyone can help with khorasan sourdough that won't rise! I have been trying the retard, but it does not work. I make the sourdough starter. It is dead sour and bubbly. I make up the bread in the eve - leave it till the next morning at a temperature of about 16C. And it sits there fl... | What's the recipe?
Khorasan ferments quickly and the long bulk ferment might be the issue. But will need the recipe. |
Strange Texture on top of white loaf
Hi, I have started to get results like the picture shows, and I wonder what I am doing wrong? Previously for years my loafs turned out perfectly smooth but the last 7 or 8 have been like this. They come out of the oven seemingly fine, but as they cool down this happens.It's like the... | hmmm
i've never seen this before! the only thing I can think of is maybe the bread is over proofed and when bread comes out of the oven in general into a cooler environement, the insides contract pulling the crust in with it. A lot of over proofed loaves develop flying crusts (a gap under the crust layer) as they cool.... |
Loaf in loaf pan struggles to rise after overnight proof in fridge
I do a 50% whole grain sourdough loaf in a medium-sized bread pan (full recipe below), bulk fermenting around 5hr, shaping and then rising overnight in the fridge. When I bake this sucker up in the morning, it really struggles to rise. A lot of times I'... | Can't comment
Till we see a photo of the bread. Everything would be ok if the ferment was done properly and the pan was filled enough. But until we see a photo we can only throw out guesses. |
Bread with rough surface? I'm experimenting, please help!
I'm doing some pretty unorthodox baking. Complete experimentation. I decided to put this in "Challenges" rather than the "Baking for Special Needs" section because I thought "Challenges" would be more fitting. I have a bit of a long explanation ahead, so bear wi... | GF bread
I make gluten-free bread fairly regularly for one particular customer of mine. I started with recipes from "Health Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" and "Gluten-free Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". They have some good recipes, actually. I prefer whole-grain flours to the pure starches and try to use very little of potato s... |
moisture content in wheat berries - hydration formulas
I've posted about this before - mainly wondering why, when I use the hydration formulas they say my dough is rather dry (65% or so) but my dough still seems very wet to me. But I have some new data to add to my puzzle.I mill my own flour from hard white wheat be... | Did you temper the wheat
before grinding? |
Do nothing sourdough bread
I've been into sourdough baking just recently and made my first perfect loaf just two days ago. I've finally gotten the sourdough recipe right! Although I'm quite worried that I wouldn't be able to bake sourdough bread once summer's done. And so, I've planned to take the challenge and try thi... | Do nothing bread typical recipe
Flour 100% (60% whole wheat, 40% bread)Water 90%Salt 2%Starter 1%This is the given recipe used by Yohann Ferrant. However the flour and hydration is flexible but should be of no need consistency. So for intance a 75% hydration bread flour will also work. There is a range and if 90% hydra... |
Bulk fermentation and proofing in fridge (7°C)
I've seen a lot of forums about bulk fermentation being done in the fridge and proofing in the fridge (my recipe uses the latter technique), but I want to take it a step further and do both in the fridge.I've seen recipes online that asks to be fermented in the fridge with... | Experiments Have Been Done...
and reported on this website about lengthy retardations of sourdough in the refrigerator. As I recall some went as long a 36 hours but there was no apparent increase in flavor (which is why you do it in the first place). You can repeat this experiments with your own recipe. I've pretty ... |
Flat and Dense
Hello, This has happened twice, and I feel I've been following the recipe exactly with ingredients, weights and timing: The loaves, when baked, are flat and very dense. Is this caused by the first rise being too long? My recipe calls for 3 - 4 hours. How short should I cut it by if this is the issue? | Details?
Best to give us a bit more information if we are to help. What exactly is the recipe? And where are you (so, what flour do you use and what is your climate)? Sourdough or yeast bread? Etc. |
Third attempt at baguette ... BETTER, but my tools/equipment are failing me!
This is my third, and so far, best attempt at Hamelman's Baguette with Poolish. First two were failures for various reasons, including forming, scoring and underproofing. With this batch, flavor is out of this world, and I'm very pleased with ... | Nice baguettes!
I'd suggest making mini-baguettes for the meantime while you don't have a proper stone for your oven yet. |
Please help me troubleshoot blowout
This is my first attempt at Hamelman's Whole Wheat with Multigrain Soaker (levain). Everything went splendidly, all along the dough behaved as expected, and given it was my first time with this formula I followed it exactly. Formed into rounds and final ferment for about an hour in b... | Proofing
My guess is underproofed, and possibly under-steamed, also. Internal pressure rose as the baking began, and had to be released somewhere, in this case, each loaf took out its weakest score line. They look toasty brown and wonderful, though, so great work!Cathy |
Hole issues
Hi, I'm having trouble with my bread. I'm using Tartine's country white formula. As you can see from the picture, the loaf is dense at the bottom and has very large holes on top. Does anybody have any suggestions To fix this issue? It's happened to me a few times. Thanks, baker.becker | Check this link
this issue is addressed at http://artisanbreadbaking.com/problems/ I'll past the section relevant to your post below:"I’ve Got a Tunnel Between the Crust and the Crumb.This is also called a “flying crust.” Some very good professional bakeries turn out breads with this fault and get praised for it. Go fi... |
Shiny Crumb
Hi all,I've been experimenting with home baking for a while now, but I have one recurring issue that I just can't resolve. My bread almost always turns out with a crumb that has a shiny, slightly gummy texture. You can see a bit of the glisten in the holes of the crumb below. I'd like a much drier crumb wit... | shiny crumb is considered correct
Actually, a shiny, glossy crumb is a sign that you've done things correctly. In terms of gumminess, if you don't wait for it to cool for at least an hour, you could run into that problem.Hamelman talks about glossiness in this video.http://www.kingarthurflour.com/videos/techniques-for... |
Sourdough Newb
This is my first post here. I am a home cook with very little baking experience. I've gotten the sourdough bug and have a few questions.I made my starter about 5 months ago. Most days I do 2 feedings and very recently started trying to do 3 a day. For feedings I discard all but 40g and add 40g of flou... | Also, doesnt the bread seem
Also, doesnt the bread seem dark for the amount of whole wheat flour I used? |
Broken Oven
I'm so bummed out. My oven is broken and because of the pandemic there is an appliance shortage at the stores and I probably won't be getting a new range until spring. I haven't baked sourdough bread or bagels in months. . We have the instant pot omni plus which is basically a toaster oven/air fryer appl... | Air "baking" has its
Air "baking" has its downfalls. Definitely use a do, you don't really want the air part, just the heat part. Good luck! Enjoy! |
Am I committing a cardinal sin by putting my poolish in the refrigerator?
I started my poolish for my second attempt at Hamelman's baguettes last night at around 11pm, right before bed. When I checked on it at 8:30am it was pretty much ready to go - may be that since it was cold last night the heat came on in the house... | No problem
I've put poolish in the fridge overnight or longer with no problems. Also, I have a couple of recipes where they say to make a poolish then let it sit at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours, so I don't think that would be a problem either! |
Bread decoding
Hi, im new here and have been making bread for about 2 years now. I was hired as a grill cook and our sous chef showed me how he made our house bread. He had been fired for reasons and I was left with his bread starter, and basic knowledge of only knowing how to do this one bread. Practice practice, etc ... | Your bread is at 63.5% hydration, each loaf weighs 1,754g
Bread decoding g starter - flour= 48522.72% sponge - flour= 65030.44% final dough - flour= 1,00046.84% Total flour 2,135100.00%100% starter - H2O= 48522.72% sponge - H2O= 87040.75% Total liquid= 1,3556... |
Rising bread only in the fridge?
Hello everyone, I'm a first time poster, and a rather incompetent bread baker! I've probably made dozens of loaves with my bread machine over the years, but I've never been happy with them. Most of my problems are due to the bread machine itself, but one isn't -- I can't keep the doug... | Why?
I noticed that there had been no replies to your question so I thought I'd give it a go. My first thought was, why do you want to do this? Using the fridge slows things down and that is often used to add flavour. However, my understanding is also that things can go on too long and gluten can start to degrade.I don... |
Convert fruited yeast bread to no-knead
i recently tried a recipe from the Britain's Best Bakery cookbook: Crags Bread on p. 39. The dough was much stiffer than I anticipated, even though I held the fruit back until the end. It was way beyond the capacity of my old Brain Kitchen Machine, even dividing the dough into ... | Here is a fruit bread recipe
From the Panasonic breadmaker manual. It makes a lovely loaf in the machine and perhaps you can try it by hand. No knead it is not but with the butter and eggs it'll be easier to handle then that seemingly off recipe. Take a look and see what you think. |
Hot Cross Buns - aced!
I finally fixed all the problems I was having with early batches of HCBs this year. They started off with ho-hum taste, then I had problems kneading the fruit and spices into the dough, and then they didn't rise. But the last nine dozen turned out wonderful! Here are the main things I settled on,... | They sure look great and have to be tasty too!
Sad we donlt eat them all year round though. Well done andHappy baking LL |
Tartine Olive Sourdough
Hello, it's my first time posting, pleasure to be among you all! Thanks for all the helpful posts I've enjoyed!I've been baking the "Tartine-style" country sourdough for quite sometime with success and have been experimenting with adding olives. Almost every olive loaf I've made has come out w... | salt %
My first impression is that the salt % should be lowered to accommodate for the salt introduced by the olives. If you are currently adding ~2% salt now, lower that to ~1.5%. When you mention olive brine, I'l take it that you are not adding that to the dough as part of the hydration. |
Help with Hamelman
I recently made Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough. Flavor was great. I got wide open/and irregular holes top to bottom. However, where there weren't biggish holes, it was quite dense. The rise was terrible, maybe 2.5 inches.I'm struggling with Hamelman's rising times. They are so much shorter than Forkish... | My rye starter would never be
happy with such low feeds except under cool conditions. Try a !:5:5 feeding or more. I should ask the temperature first to be on the safe side. But... wait .... 25% more salt? Please don't do that to my grey matter. What do you mean, you raise the salt to 2.5%? Anything between 1% ... |
Help emergency! Can I save this levain or do I have to start over?
I built a levain yesterday for a pain de lavain (Hamelman) I wanted to bake today (for houseguests!). I knew it would have to sit for about 6 hours longer than it should so I did what Hamelman said and added 2% salt to slow the process - but I added the... | No sourdough today
The whole 2% salt in just the Levain?The yeast is probably caput. Only way to proceed now is to carry on as a yeasted loaf. And don't add anymore salt! |
Crusty film on my proofed bread
Hello, I'm about a month new to sourdough bread. I've had pretty decent success so far, however, I have run into the same crusty film each time. This film forms over the top of the levain, and I just stir it back in. No biggie. It then forms on the top of my loafs during their final proo... | Are you covering your levain
with a lid and your loaves in the fridge with a plastic bag? Your words "crusty film" makes me think that the surfaces are drying out. You might want to try to dust your loaves with a bit of flour before slashing them. It might help form a skin that is easier to score. |
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