Split (1)

train · 60.1k rows

instruction stringlengths 2 23k	output stringlengths 3 23.1k ⌀
Crust on Hamelman's Rustic Bread not crunchy/crispy?? On to my 5th Hamelman formula. Tried the Rustic Bread last night and while everything seemed to go according to plan, the crust ended up not crispy/crunchy as I like and expected.Of all the breads I've tried so far (Pain Rustique, Country Bread, Vermont Sourdough, V...	More Information Needed We need more information before we can give an opinion. What was your oven temperature and how long was it in? What was the hydration? Most important, what was the interior temperature of the bread and the bread shape?Ford
Problems baking in clay romertopf Hi folks, I received some help here a while ago re my struggles with getting a loaf to rise in a loaf pan. I mostly solved that problem by upping the hydration on my dough. I recently switched to baking the dough uncovered in its bread pan but inside of a clay romertopf. I've actually ...	Have you tried a bake in the metal pan, on a low positioned rack (top rim level with oven center) without any convection, rōmertopf or covering yet? With such a high hydration dough, the problem might be too much trapped steam. Establish a base line first, then go from there one change at a time.I had similar problem...
ahhhhhhhhh!@!$! That is allI'm sure you've been there.	Ahhhhhhhh Yes, this morning I woke up and and remembered that I forgot to put my starter back in the refrigerator after I refreshed it yesterday and I had placed it on the top of the refrigerator. It was all over the top and down the sides and it was to say the least it was a mess, but hey I know it's healthy.
HELP! Stiff (60%) pre-ferment didn't budge in 12 hours? Hi all, new to the board and new to more serious bread baking (introduction post here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/51354/so-glad-i-found-site). I am hoping all you experts can provide me with some guidance.I made Hamelman's Country Bread last night and while ...	I have made other Hamelman recipes with pre-ferments and the pre-ferment is pretty stiff. Perhaps you yeast isn't up to snuff. I always mix the preferment by hand as it's always a relatively small amount. I scale his recipes to 1750g which makes for two loaves. This is convenient as it is 1/10 of the metric measure...
Help! Hot Cross Bun issues Okay, this is a new one on me. I'm tired, cranky and frustrated, trying to make hot cross buns. I have twelve dozen to make over the next week or two, so this is not a good thing.As background, I made a whole bunch of these last year. They were a bit tricky to shape but worked out very well. ...	shreds of dough What you describe sounds a lot like my attempts to use Peter Reinhart's "epoxy" method. I have a lot of trouble mixing together (by hand) two pieces of dough, especially one is significantly higher hydration than the other. The only way I've made it work is by working the messy shambles much more intens...
resizing recipe to fit bread pan Hi,I enjoy making sandwich breads. I currently have 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 pans which work well. I was given a set of 10x5 pans. How much do I need to increase the recipes (in general) to fill the large pans? Thanks, Jim	You'll need to measure to make sure However, here's an estimate, based on the assumption that each of the pans is 2.5 inches tall. The 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 pans have an approximate volume of 95.6 cubic inches. (Approximate, because loaf pans tend to have slightly sloping sides, rather than sides that are perpendicular to ...
eric's rye dough help I have made Eric's rye bread years ago and loved it. but today my scale may have gone wonky and i may be short 100 grams of clear flour. ugh! the dough is super sticky, but i am not sure if it is normal. will it bake ok? the dough is in my proofer until it doubles....do i let it go or add flour no...	well it does have just enough rye to make it sticky. Try using wet hands. Try to add up the ingredient weight and see if it matches your actual weight if you can. Is it this recipe?http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5076/eric039s-fav-rye
Levain my recipe calls for feeding my leaving and letting it rest for 6-8 hours. Is it okay to let it rest longer before mixing the final dough?	Yes within reason. If it is an extra hour, that's fine. If it is several hours, or a day or do, put it in the fridge until an hour before you need it so you can pull it out and let it warm up. Leaving it in the fridge for a day or more will make your bread more sour.
Help - I broke the bowl my sourdoufgh starter was in and I need help I have a sourdough loaf that is rising and as I was putting it in the fridge, my starter fell out and the glass bowl broke. How can I use my existing loaf to make another starter? Do I just take a small amount of the loaf dough and refresh it? Than...	Is there any way you can get Is there any way you can get a little bit of your starter that fell out and use that to build another one? You can't really use the dough you are about to bake since it's already mixed up with other ingredients I would think. You can give it a try and see what happens I suppose but not su...
Commercial Oven Vs Dutch Oven, Crust doesn't crack, No Ear visible. I like to share my biggest challenge and i think i have hit the wall again. I have invested heavily into a Taiwanese Commercial Deck oven called Sinmag. What upset me the most is that this oven doesn't works the way I was expecting it. After a great...	Hello, can i get some help Hello, can i get some help here? May i know why my bread crust doesn't crack at all. thanks in advance.
Sourdough in hot summer Hi fellow bakers, I am struggling a little bit with few things here and I thought I should consult with you all to overcome the current challenges. Starting a sourdough starter in this hot Weather I recently had a disaster in the kitchen when my refrigerator stopped working all of sudden ...	Gremlins.., Duplicate
Convection oven for tartine-style I am starting a micro-bakery, baking 400g tartine-esque boules in a convection oven, so using a Dutch oven is out of the question. Baking stones are also not feasible right now for various reasons but perhaps you can convince me. Tenting with foil and adding water to the bottom of the ...	Why not Why not use dutch oven?
Light, airy, chewy baguette with very thin crust? Hi,My favorite baguette EVER (outside of France) was from (I'm embarrassed to say) a west coast bakery chain that no longer exists, called "La Petite Boulangerie". The individual stores received their loaves par-baked and frozen (yeah, I know...) and they would thaw an...	deleted because I wrote too deleted because I wrote too soon
Small Bagel Troubleshooting Hi, Short time reader, first time poster here.i have read a lot of bagel troubleshoot regarding overproofing of bagels, this isn't about that. i own a bagel business that makes about 1000 bagels at a time. We mix batches of dough using high gluten flour and commercial yeast, cut them using...	Bulk ferment in bulk. Then Bulk ferment in bulk. Then divide and roll. I can't guarantee this will fix your problem, but it's too easy not to try.
Extreme sourdough frustration - reviving starter from refrigerator Hello all,I am a self-taught home-baker trying to break into the sourdough game. My latest fail is all the more frustrating because of the recent success I had. Here is a picture of a absolutely lovely loaf of honey/spelt/oat sourdough I created with a ...	Funnily enough I'm in the middle of Sarah Owens Honeyed, Spelt and Oat levain. A lovely recipe.That second photo looks amazing! A bit more about your starter feeds. What ratio, how long does it take to peak before the next feed and at what stage do you refrigerate?
Is 1 TBS Enough?? Hi, sporadic Tartine baker here for the past few years, just now getting back into it. I decided to bake a loaf, took out my starter last week and have been feeding it regularly for the past few days; it's rising and falling predictably and seems full of life. Last night, following the Tartine instruc...	If your starter is healthy Then a little will inoculate a lot if given enough time. From the sound of things your starter is fine so the questions are have you waited long enough and how warm is it?Are you sure there are no signs of life? Try taking a spoon and looking underneath the surface.A mature starter will inocu...
Soft bottom bread The previous breads that I have been baking as well as the one today, have soft bottoms. The top crust is brown and the internal temperatures have been within recommendations of 190-210. However, I've heard that if you tap on the bottom it should sound hollow to ensure that the bread is done. Is that...	Opinion This is my OPINION.Such a method is for a standard hydration loaf (65-70%, either yeast or sourdough) cooked in a standard deck oven/hearth baked bread. Soft bottoms are usually from a stone that is not thoroughly heated prior to cooking. Wet doughs behave differently for this diagnostic. I have never used i...
Pregnant loaf Why is my bread pregnant?3 cups white King Arthur bread flour1/2 cup rye flour1tsp salt1tsp dry yeast1 tbsp honey1.5 cups water3 hours proof then form loaves, proof for 30 min in rattan basketbake preheated oven 450degrees for 20 minutes	crumb shot? Most likely premature drying of crust before oven spring and uneven deflation of dough gasses before shaping.Humidity? Cover? Altitude? Steam? Ambient and dough temperature? How many other loaves in the batch looked the same? Is this a scored or a twisted shape?
Bread, AP and Whole Wheat flour Mix I clearly did not read the instructions properly and mixed the above flours in this ratio 5lbs,2 1/2lbs and 2 1/2lbs= 10lbs.Decided to bake some rustic bread and it was great, the crumb was light and holey and the crust was nice and chewy but the bread smells very strong like hops or...	Beer is often called Liquid bread. Does the smell really bother you? Looks great to me and you love the taste. Perhaps that taste and smell is emanating from the same place. Don't have any ideas I can throw out at the moment but you might wish to include a bit more info on starter maintenance, levain build, bread recip...
Inconsistency in crust vs. inside...maybe an altitude thing? I am a pretty new baker so still figuring out many, many things! My most recent challenge is that many things I try are baking noticeably faster on the outside than on the inside, so I end up with burnt crusts and raw dough inside. So far I have run into this...	altitude baking issues i'm sure many people on this site can help you. you can also go to www.kingarthurflour.com or google altitude baking issues. KAF is a great resource also.hope this helpsclaudia
Good taste but many other issues - looking for advice Hello,I've been baking for a bit now, and managed to achieve good and pretty consistent taste and crumb, however I am definitely doing something wrong, since I can't get my bread looking nice. The recipe I use is still measured in cups and spoons, but the dough con...	Practice Shaping is a lot harder than it looks. For an amateur home baker (like me) it is hard to bake enough to get good at shaping. I bake plenty of bread that taste good but looks bad. Are you covering your shaped loaf with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out? Spraying the loaf with oil or butter will also keep ...
Needing help with a bad rise I have been baking "Ezekiel" bread almost every week for about a year. The last 3 or 4 batches have not risen like they should. They are rising about half of what they used to on both rises. The only thing that has changed is my scale. I used to measure my flour using 20 oz, but my new ...	Two questions: isn't Ezekiel Two questions: isn't Ezekiel bread supposed to be cooked over human or cow waste?And the second (which I am actually curious about): is not Ezekiel 4 a curse of judgment on Israel and Judah, and the bread part of that curse (called "defiled bread")? As this is my understanding, I am curiou...
Bread caverns? :( (Also, hi! I'm new) Hi all,I've been lurking to get info for a while as a relatively new sourdough baker, and lately I've been having a problem that I thought you all might be able to help with (since these forums have been a great reference resource so far!).My boules lately have been really hit or m...	high hyrdration is not holy grail If you are getting better, more consistent results with lower hydration why not stick with it.
Oven temp for a Hensperger recipe I enjoy making Beth Hensperger's White Mountain bread from her book, "The Bread Bible." But I would like to use my Dutch oven or Challenger vessel instead of a standard loaf pan.The book recipe for a loaf pan is 375 degrees. Should I stick to that temp with another vessel? I typically ...	White mountain bread, Hensperger Hi Eddie,I bake it in a Dutch oven or in a cast iron frying pan covered with an inverted bowl for 45 min at 350F, the first 15 min covered, aka with steam, then I remove the cover.This is how my round White Mountain bread looksAs you can see the crust is not burned and not too thick. E...
Sourdough starter If a bread recipe calls for a packet of instant dry yeast, about how much starter would be necessary to replace the yeast? I apologize to the community for so many questions. However, I am relatively new to baking and I have a severe learning disability besides. Thanks for being so patient and underst...	Sourdough starter replacing IDY. That can be a little complicated. When you are adding both flour and water (the starter) you are changing the percentages of flour and water to whatever you are baking. Bread baking is all about percentages. You can get a percentage calculator fairly easy on this site. Now back to your ...
Windowpane test What to do if your dough doesn't pass this test?	I don't even check for it since I don't use a mixer to develop the gluten. Time and water is all you need with a few stretch and folds along the way. Kneading the heck out of the dough and checking for window is a really old way of making bread if it isn't an enriched dough with sugar and eggs in it. But if you ar...
Oblong loaf has huge holes and dense in the middle This is my 3rd bread ever. The 1st two were boules and turned out fine, this was the 1st oblong and as you can see the crumb didn't spread out leaving a dense middle and I have two large caves opposite to each other.I use my own starter. I do the initial 30 mins of flo...	Under proofed. Bulk ferment Under proofed. Bulk ferment longer or use a livelier starter.
Sending out a search party... I seem to have lost my ears. Or rather, my breads have. A year ago, at the start of my bread baking adventure, I tried to stick to lower hydration doughs (< 75%) in order to get the hang of things, and I scored pretty much everything, because I wanted to improve my scoring. The results wer...	Boules Traditionally, grigne on a boule is considered a flaw. I work almost exclusively with 82% hydration and getting ears is rather random and almost entirely depends on fermentation being at just the right level (which is on the lesser fermented side of the spectrum). Your loaves look great. Wetter doughs have fa...
Why my loaf not look good I used about 1700g dough split in two and put in 9 by 5 pan Are my pans Stull too big should I have made more dough?	Maybe pan size I would think 850 grams in a 9X5 pan should work, but you can try an 8 X 4 pan instead. However, just looking at these loaves I would say they weren't proofed (risen) enough when you put them in the oven. What is the recipe? And what time and temperature for baking?It's a good general rule to put pan loa...
Had a bad result using citrus zest, any thoughts? I've been baking sourdough for the past 3 months and am learning a lot. I've been experimenting with add-ins; most recently, I tried a mix of dried cherries (soaked) and orange citrus zest (not soaked). It did not taste good. The orange zest took on a completely differe...	I just made a candied orange I just made a candied orange zest sourdough last week, with 4% zest by baker's percentage. It tasted great. I'm not sure what you did, but I know candying my zest was exactly what I was looking for.
Can't get airy crumb in my ciabatta bread ??? Made the starter 12 hours prior. Followed recipe to a tee. Dough was wet like it was suppose to be. I don't have a stand mixer so I used my food processor to mix the dough. Help please...	Don't use a food processor. Probably the worst thing you could have done. No need for a mixer either. WIth a wet dough of 90% -95% hydration or more, all you need is time and few stretch and folds to make the bread perfectly. Happy ciabatta making.
Overdone & Underdone Hi all,I have a recurring pattern that affect most of my bread baking on a few different recipes. At the stated time in the recipe, the crust of my bread is overdone and almost burnt, but the interior is underdone and still gummy. My oven is relatively new and the temperature setting is accurate (c...	Are you certain the bread is Are you certain the bread is not under proofed? If you are certain it's not, then are you using sufficient steam? Steaming delays the maillard reaction and therefore the setting of and coloration of the crust. Most steam for the first 15-20 minutes of bake time.
Levain I don't do much bread baking, therefore, should I use a commercial one or start one? Additionally, I've heard that bread made with levain is much more tasty than yeast breads?	Much more satisfying To make your own starter. A Levain would be an off-shoot from this starter you build to make bread. It takes time and patience but you'll really appreciate the final loaf.If you don't wish to go down that route then look into incorporating a poolish, biga or pate fermentee in your recipes. These ar...
maple syrup Would anyone have a link for using maple syrup to sugar conversion chart? I would like to try using maple syrup in some of my recipes to separate the difference in flavors..	Maple Syrup Conversion I make maple syrup and often use it in recipes although I have not used it in bread. The internet has many references to maple syrup/sugar conversions and the general concensus is that 2/3 to 3/4 cups of syrup equals 1 cup of sugar.In my training I have always been taught to treat sugar as a liqu...
Help needed to create a process for fatayer dough I make Lebanese hand pies, called fatayer, and am trying to incorporate some organic, freshly ground flour into the dough for flavor (http://www.farmergroundflour.com/). My new combination of flours is causing my dough to overproof in the fridge overnight and I’d love i...	I think if it's overproofing, I think if it's overproofing, try reducing the yeast?..
My yeast free bread is uncooked in the middle! Hi everyone! I just recently bought a Tower bread maker machine and have been trying to make yeast free bread in it. However every time it comes out cooked on the outside but uncooked in the middle (especially at the bottom of the middle). I've tried many different setting...	What are you using to raise your dough? Can you give us more details such as what is your recipe?
wet doughs I have been baking bread for about a year now and just received the book "Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast" , I have tried a couple of the recipes and find that they are so wet that I can not make them do anything remotely like I have been used to doing breads. The dough relaxes so bad I just plunk the mess into ...	Are you using bread flour? I responded in your introductory post and mentioned that using bread flour might be better because of the protein content. As well feel free to reduce the amount of water if you find that the dough is too sticky and it won't hold when you shape it. Keep trying and you will get there.
Help! Bread is OK- could be better I have been experimenting with bread baking for about 2 years. My breads are pretty good and well received by hungry friends. I just feel the bread could be better. My bread is not overly dense, but every time I try a bread from one of our local artisan bakers, it is lighter in weight...	Two possible factors, MickeyD The first is technique, particularly in shaping the loaves. The bakers, who make hundreds of loaves for every one that you make, probably retain more of the gas and achieve a tighter sheath for each loaf. They have the advantage of extensive practice.The second is managing fermentation; ...
refrigeration effect on dough strength? I've been enjoying this site as a super helpful resource for the past months as I've been trying to improve my technique, and recently started to get quite pleased with reasonably consistent results. My goal is always a tasty sourdough bread French style, my basic method is about...	Starter to flour ratio 360g starter to 500g flour is an awful lot of preferment.You make up the dough in the morning and then bake one half in the evening and put the other half in the fridge. If I understand you correctly.That is an awful long time for a lot of starter.Your timings need a bit of a rethink. Either that...
fresh sweet bread for breakfast HiHaven't posted in a while but I'm back with another question (or maybe it's the same question, in which case my apologies) for all of you who so generously share your knowledge.I'd like to have fresh sweet bread (pulla right now but sometimes cinnamon buns etc) for breakfast. The reci...	Lazy Man's Brioche Use the search box on this site. That is a recipe from Floyd (our wonderful host). I mix it at about 8-9PM, put it into a large,oiled,covered container and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Mine has usually risen completely by am so I can shape,proof and bake. Have any ingredients ready togo for ...
Bread has a huge split at the side - is it the flying top? I have been consistently getting a hug slit at the side of the bread. I have been following the recipe from:http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-sandwich-bread-recipeI am baking in a convection oven at 150C for 33 - 35.I am doing the first rise for 1 ...	One or more things could be going on Hasn't been scored.Crusted over too quickly so gas escaped from weakest point which will be the side.Perhaps a tad under proofed (but more likely the first two).1. Score the dough2. Introduce some steam into your oven.
No Oven Challenge - pressure cooker?! Ok.. I'm not going to try this.. but you have to admit this is pretty funny! http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-bread-less-energy-less-time-real-bread/	Wow! I guess this is one way to go about getting bread without an oven! LOL!!
Poolish AND autolyse - possible? Hello,I am new to this site, and love it! I've been baking bread in a machine on and off for a while, experimenting with my own recipes, and now moved to making bread by hand in the oven. This site is really helpful! Attached is the photo of my first "from scratch and by hand" loaf, ...	First things first Poolish is of equal parts flour and water by weight, not by cups. So if you have a recipe of 500g flour + 300g water and you wish to do a 50% poolish then you'd preferment 250g flour + 250g water. Get used to weighing as it makes much more sense.It would not be possible to do an autolyse as you'd onl...
Trying to perfect bread. Pls help Hi all,I am a home baker who has been baking free form yeast bread for a while. The results are generally good but I have been trying to perfect it without much joy. The issuesThe crumb is a little on the dense side and although I get oven spring I don't get that much. I have made the ...	I'm still learning myself, I'm still learning myself, but perhaps a recipe and maybe some pictures would be helpful for those who can assist you? Good luck, the members here have helped me get through all my problems so far and I'm sure they will be able to do the same for you.
Local Bread Pain de Campagne mixing trouble Hi All - So I have made a lot of bread, maybe 50 batches of sourdough and straight doughs, most all successful. But this threw me. I was making the Pain de Campagne recipe from Local Bread. The recipe is typical, building a liquid levain (high hydration) overnight, then in th...	I've had the same problem It takes a lot of squishing and squeezing to get the two things to mix together! I would maybe adjust the two (the hydration of both the autolyse and the levain) so they match up a bit more. Either that or, as you say, just mix them all together at the same time. That is what I usually do - di...
Best way to travel with my starter Hi all. I’m looking for suggestions/experiences for the best way(s) to travel w a starter on a long flight (20 hours total travel time)? Am thinking to take a tablespoon full in a well-sealed small glass jar tucked inside my toilet kit so as not to exceed the 100ml liquid limit. Also ...	I would have thought Cold temps would be better. Like storing it in a fridge. You could dry some and reconstitute it when you get to your destination. Take a bit of your starter and feed it so it's high hydration and resembles thin paint. When active take a brush and paste it on a tray that has been wrapped in clingfil...
Issue with pure levain loaf Hello,This summer I started working with sourdough and have been very happy with the results. The Pain De Campagne from FWSY is a favorite (levain with some commercial yeast), and I've been trying to move to a 100% levain loaf (overnight country blond with 12% levain). I've tried making th...	Too long in bulk fermentation I think the problem is that you are letting the dough rise TOO much in bulk fermentation. With commercial yeast, it's normal that the dough will blow up to 2-3 X the original volume, but with pure levain, you are playing a slightly more dangerous game. The yeasts will keep working and keep...
help with pan de mie! I know this is going to sound like a really stupid question, but I'll ask it anyway. I've made yeast breads before, but unfortunately I am good at making a loaf of sandwich bread (the ones that are square/rectangular in shape).I know many recipes for a loaf-type of bread (again the square/rectang...	Pain de Mie Hi Kitteh,Perhaps not as scary as you imagine. Here's how I do it: Gently dump the bulk-risen dough on a lightly floured surface then gently pat it into a rough square about the width of your pan. Using the sides of both hands lift the back edge of the dough and begin rolling it towards you. Roll tightly en...
Keeping bread in grocery stores Hello, I run a small bakery out of my home and service 16 stores. I have had some feedback that the bread is dry. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to keep it fresh. thankstheresa	Commercial bakeries put all kinds of stuff in bread to keep it fresh. WIthout these chemicals the bread, stales quickly and a few days less quickly if sourdough. Most home bakers or natural commercial bakers don't put them in bread. Yeast bread lasts about a day.My Dad worked for Wonderbread, bread that stays fresh ...
What causes bread to sink on top as it cools? Using a really simple whole wheat recipe (all whole wheat, no other flour or gluten added) and was just wondering what causes the top to sink and deflate as it cools down once out of the oven? Thanks	Normally a gap in the upper crust Which may result from either...1. a shaping issue, be it trapping a large bubble or introducing too much flour.2. Not covering the dough while final proofing so the crust dries out causing the inside to pull away from the outer crust.3. Over proofing.How much are we talking about? Is t...
Sticky banneton! Hello,As you will see, I'm not very experienced... but here's the thing. I've been working on this bread for over 24 hours (well, if rising time, etc counts) and have just finished proofing it in the banneton basket, which, as best I can tell, I have prepared correctly (rubbing lots of flour into it)...	I have used parchment paper, I have used parchment paper, and lift if from the proofing basket to the DO that way. Now, I'm not accomplished at all! I'm struggling to turn out a decent loaf, but the parchment does keep things from sticking.
No Loft/No Oven Spring Well, no oven spring to speak of. I usually let my dough ferment over night in the refrigerator after my 4 turn and folds. I never seem to get the rise that I see in the videos and I have never gotten a gluten window even when I double the time under the dough hook. I get almost no rise when I pr...	Yeast I'd be very surprised if a bulk package of yeast from Costco was 'dead'. That's really unusual. However, it is worth a try to make your recipe with yeast from a different source.What formula / recipe are you using? Can you provide a bit more information about it?
Sourdough Ciabatta 80% hydration using double hydration method Hello. This is the 2nd time I worked on this ciabatta recipe. The first time it was totally under-proofed. I am not sure if I got it right this time. I can see that the crumb is more open but I suspect that it might be able to go a bit further. Because the ...	Let it set overnight in the fridge? Did you try forming the loaf and letting it set overnight in the refridgerator, and then bringing it back to room temperature before baking. Also are you doing a preferment?
Newbie** pizza stone: can I bake pumpkin bread in loaf pans on stone?? hi there! New baker here and I have an oven that cant keep up with the amount I need to bake. I bake pumpkin bread in loaf pans and when i bake more than two at a time (and sometimes just two at a time) they come out different every time.... underc...	Oven powers... I have a standard, cheap domestic oven - 68 liter capacity, 2.2Kw heaters. It's a fairly standard UK fan oven - the heating element is round the fan which sucks air in from the oven and expels it over the heater through vents back into the oven.I can bake 6 x large (950g dough) tin loaves in it without a...
A Challenge For Everyone On TFL I thought it might be a nice idea for everyone to have a challenge, should you choose to accept it (very Mission Impossible like).Here is a recipe from 1699 for "Wiggs".These are little "cakes" leavened with barm, or ale yeast, enriched with butter and eggs, flavoured with caraway and co...	Can't do I misplaced my halfe peniworth measuring spoon last winter and cannot find it anywhere. Thus, I cannot make this recipe.
Troubleshooting the failed 75% whole wheat bread Hi all, So this is the second recipe I followed from FWSY. And it failed :(So, I need your help and experience to understand why and perform the root cause analysis(RCA) , just like what we use in our office. Observations: 1. When I autolysed the flour it was bit stiff ...	How much yeast? How much flour? Heck, just give us the recipe or a link. please. And tell us how this loaf is a failure. ...Taste, crumb, aroma, etc.Oh, and was the loaf warm when it was cut for the picture?Is the loaf in the background part of the same loaf?
Struggle with tight crumb I have been baking a seeded sourdough rye loaf for a number of years and only once did I ever get a nice crumb like the pictures on the Fresh Loaf site. The recipe is 300g white flour, 400g starter (50/50 white and rye flour and 100% hydration), 500g dark rye, 500g water, 20g salt, and 1/3 cup...	Sounds delicious.But that's a Sounds delicious.But that's a 60% rye bread you're making.Perhaps you can give an indication of the kind of crumb you're seeking -- because 60% rye is generally not going to be super open.Rob
Baking Soudough on a Pizza stone Hi Sourdough lovers.....I have baked my sourdough on a pizza stone like about 4 times and each time it is a little challenging, but, I have been pretty successful. This time tho, doing the same thing as before, I scored my bread after it was in the fridge proofing overnight and baked i...	Opening the oven as well as Opening the oven as well as spraying it is going to lose a lot of heat, esp. if done multiple times. An option is to spray the loaf thoroughly before putting it in your oven then don't open it again.
First Time Posting, troubleshooting sourdough boule Hello, everyone! Novice baker here (one month) introducing myself by way of seeking guidance about the recipeI've been working on. Recipe is based on the Tartine processThe challenges I'm facing right now are in dough strength (quite loose after coming out of the bann...	Tartine Difficult bread to begin with. Very unforgiving. Most people have problems with the high hydration even if not a novice. The gluten formation has to be spot on and your flour should be able to take such high hydration for that you need a flour with high protein. So that's the first thing to check. Not all wheat...
Young baker in charge, but never had a mentor... Hello bread people! I am a twenty something "head" baker at a bakery in Canada, and with only books for resources Im looking for some more help. My bread is pretty decent I believe, my consistency and level of understanding is lacking for sure. Im very militant about tem...	Tearing dough is a sign of Tearing dough is a sign of over fermented dough. My suggestion is to do the final proof in the fridge instead of the bulk ferment. Or, depending on your fridge and fridge temp and the size of your bulk bins, adjust the time you leave at room temp. I have ruined some of my dough by leaving ...
Tartine bread I am a novice and have started making tartine bread and use a wood fired oven for baking. Even though I have followed the recipe exactly, the dough seems to have no structure and will not hold its shape once removed from the proving basket. I end up with a flat disc in the oven. Could it be that the dough...	I sympathise Can I ask you what is the hydration of the River Cottage loaf? My problem with high hydration dough was handling and they always turned out gummy. However I think I've found the answer and just baked a close to 80% hydration loaf with 2% olive oil to-boot. My problem was following the recipe exactly. And e...
Proofing baskets Hi all, I am following Flour water salt yeast and now at a stage where I am searching and collecting equipments to get going. I am really struggling to find a proofing basket as i am based in india. Ones on Amazon are expensive as they are from US. Is there any other workaround for using them? Can ...	any suitably sized bowl or basket will work it doesn't have to be expensive. line a bowl with rice flour dusted teatowell - it works well and I did this for quite a while. you could try ebay - I bought some from there (for batards) - shipped from China and I am happy with them.
Need help with marquis wheat I am asking for my Mother in law who doesn't use a computer. She has been grinding her own whole grain flour and baking her whole life using highly hybridized wheat. Recently she switched to a heritage marquis wheat but can't get her loaves to rise. She uses yeast, not sour dough, and uses ...	Here is some additional information on Marquis. I have'lt had any to bake with but would assume since the hybrids that are grown in Canad today trace their roots to this grain that is a fine heritage grain that should make some fine bread, perhaps with a bit less water and handled more gentlyhttp://www.thecanadianency...
70% Whole Wheat with Flax & Sunflower Seeds First time making 70% whole wheat bread. The crumb looked pretty closed but the mouth feel was not dense (forgot to take a photo of the crumb). But the loaf definitely didn't have much oven spring. I followed Tartine Bread's formula, added 2 cups of boiling water to soak 1 cu...	My pennies worth 1. After soaking them, drain them. If you drain the liquid after doing the Soaker it won't effect the hydration of everything else. 2. If you're just adding them then follow the second pointer in the general baking information here http://www.ameriflax.com/default.cfm?page=mntech3. Something tells me i...
how to get bloom without baking in a DO? help needed hey everyone, I have a question i really need to get answered.while i get good results when baking in a dutch oven, i do want to bake bigger breads like a miche, and not just round boules. another problem i have with the dutch oven is the lose of gas when putting it ...	Bigger loaves have more mass and proof faster if already warm so with that in mind, try proofing them shorter getting them into the oven sooner.Hot water on hot rocks gives more steam. Remember, steam is actually invisible, it's the cooling steam that we can see as it turns into fine water droplets. That's why when ...
Containers for Dough Hi all, I am from India and I have never baked bread before. I decided to get a copy of Ken Forkish's Flour water salt yeast. I am happy with the content and thr instructions.My only issue is that I am from India and I am unable to get any equipments he mentioned in the book. I am ordering the Dut...	Hi, I'm pretty new too but Hi, I'm pretty new too but any large bowl with a lid or plastic over the top will work just fine. The clear container makes it rather easy to see how much rise and I have one but often do not use it--I have a large glazed ceramic bowl that works fine. I use a thermometer from Thermoworks but ...
Poolish Volume? I made my first attempt at poolish this week using the Ken Forkish recipe for White bread with poolish. I used 500g water, 500g flour and 1/8t instant yeast. After 14 hours it was very bubbly and smelled alcoholic but it didn't increase in volume. The recipe said it should have tripled. It wasn't de...	Check the recipe again I believe you have doubled up the recipe but didn't double up the yeast in the poolish. Salt was slightly more than double but negligible. So that's fine.When it comes to how wet your dough is, it could be the flour you are using and/or how you're handling it.
Challenge: Honey This weekend's bake will have honey in it.I've been looking at the Honeyed Spelt and Oats loaf from Dani3ll3 that's featured on the front page. One of Mrs. Murphy's friends at work gave her a jar of honey from her backyard hive in appreciation of the loaves Mrs. Murphy has been sharing.This weekend, I'...	Oh thank you for the challenge! It will be nice to come up with something. I haven't been baking lately due to the heat although what I call hot, I know that most of you would consider it downright cool.
Trouble with whole grain "lazy" sourdough After gaining some confidence after baking some nice loaves with bread flour or bread flour mixed with whole wheat flour, I've been trying to master a mostly hands-off sourdough bread made with 100% whole grains milled in my new Mockmill. I have been trying to follow the metho...	Freshly milled flour will Freshly milled flour will likely have more enzymatic action which can break down the gluten network in your dough. Reihnart discusses this at length in "Whole Grain Breads". If you really want to stick with whole grains you might consider picking up a copy as he also uses some different method...
Please help me nail this panettone receipe before Christmas! Dear TFL bakersHaving been baking bread for about a year I've recently moved into sourdough with mixed success, but it is improving.I've been working mainly with James Morton's 'Brilliant Bread' and I want to make panettone for my friends as Christmas gifts. ...	I use susan's (wildyeast) recipe from her web site or one of Michael's (mwilson) recipes from his blog here, This recipe looks perfectly good to me though. Panettone is struggle of unrequited love, It just takes practice, getting the gluten developed and the dough shaped properly Don't give up - just keep at it - ...
Second rise is failing - need help! Hello all -I'm using an old recipe, which I've used dozens of times, for cracked wheat bread. All is well until I get to the second proof, or rise. The dough is just not rising. The first rise is fine - double in size in about an hour. After knocking down and dividing into three ...	Don't let the bulk double. With warmer water (in summer) and room temps, fermenting can go faster than expected. What exactly is the recipe? Not unusual to cut back on the yeast in the summer months or used ice water to make the dough or chill the ingredients before combining. I tend to cut back on the yeast. See...
Delicious but still a bit gummy A few days ago I decided to try the Pane Integrale from the Della Fattoria Bread book. The formula is: Whole wheat flour 60%, bread flour 20%, pumpernickel flour 10%, cracked wheat 10%, water 84%, firm starter 14%, salt 3.3%, honey 7%.I made a few modifications: not having pumpernickel ...	Recipe changes I don't think the rye played a big role here. The very ripe starter took care of any rye problems.The important ingredient is the whole wheat. How did you handle the dough from mixing to baking. Did you incorporate any folding into this high hydration dough? If so, when and more details please. Tip:...
My baguettes and sandwich rolls are cracking from bottom Hi dear,I am writing from New Jersey. I just trying to open a small bakery and started to make some breads. I have a cracking problem that I can't finalize. I change water and other ingredients percentage and the type many times but they are still cracking like t...	You've done a good job eliminating so many... ...variable already, so the answer's probably quite straight-forward. It looks like over-proofing (at least that's the cause when I get the same fault with my baguettes). Try checking the proofing much earlier than you have been. In high mid-summer temperatures it can take ...
Challenge: Scald Taste Test This weekend's bake will be two loaves: one with, the other without a scald. The goal is to taste the difference and see if the result is worth the effort. Beginner Baker II students like me will struggle to search for instructions here. Entering "scald" into the search box will quickly show...	There certainly is a difference between a baked scald where you don't want the temperature to get over 140 F so the enzymes stay active and a stove top scald at a higher temperature. Sometimes I don't get a mahogany color with a baked scald at 2 hours and I don;t know why - sometimes it takes 4 hours ith less stirring...
Can't get high hydration loaves to keep their shape in the oven! I'm a home baker who has been making sourdough for about 5 years. I've had success making all types of bread... except high hydration sourdough baked on a pizza stone. When I put a loaf on my pizza stone, it immediately 'pancakes' into a flat mess. I l...	Try a round loaf Maybe bulk ferment less and try to shape a round loaf. Finally instead of room temperature proof put it in the refrigerator and bake directly from fridge.
Combo Cooker vs. Cloche - advice please. Ever since the bottom of my cloche broke I've been baking dual loaves side by side, one in a combo cooker and the other directly on my baking stone covered (initially) with a cloche. The loaf baked in the CC consistently comes out better looking than the other one. In the pict...	A matter of placement It looks to me like the cloche was simply placed a bit too close to the edge of the loaf. As the loaf spread out and rose up in the oven it likely bumped the edge of the cloche and followed its contours during the ovenspring.
Disappointing Final Rise Have been using my Nancy Silverton starter for 15 years but since I moved into a new apartment I can't get the final rise in the oven I used to.Not sure if it's the oven (too hot?) or my new fridge (too cold for the over night rise?) One clue: when I score the bread right before popping in oven...	I am no expert but it sounds like you are overproofing the boules. Have you checked your fridge temp? I found that I was overproofing overnight when my fridge was at 42 or so but things have been much better since I dropped it down to 37-38F.
Hiding vegetables in bread Slightly tongue in cheek putting this in the challenges section but maybe it is apt.I have a five year old, a three year old and a one year old. It seems like I've been saying 'C'mon, it tastes good, just try it' in a number of different ways for the past three years and I suspect that I'll ...	Most vegetables have Most vegetables have approximately 85% - 90% water, and, if pureed whole, can be added and slightly substituted for a portion of the water. I often will do a puree that looks something like:100% vegetable, raw or roasted5% onion, raw2.5% garlic, raw.75% salt.1% aromats, dryThis sort of formula can...
Nelson Mandela Celebration Challenge Bake With America's Independence Day and Canada Day out of the way there is another man who was instrumental in the independence for so many in his country; Nelson Mandela The South African holiday in his name comes up July 18th - a little over a week away. So Lucy thought a Nelso...	Thanks....... But I think I'll pass.
Sticky dough What am I doing wrong, I measure everything properly, with my kitchen scale, and my dough comes out sticky. Very frustrating	More info What recipe are you using?It’s entirely possible that you aren’t doing anything wrong. Many doughs, especially higher hydration doughs, are supposed to be sticky. I find that a bench scraper is a massive help. It allows you to shape the dough without touching it much.
Bread dough will not rise, stays dense. Help plz Hello there, I enjoy doing some baking on occasion,but I cannot even get a basic bread recipe right. I will proof the yeast, add the required flour and then knead ,let rise but the dough never sticks together or becomes elastic enough. Kneading is a nightmare and half th...	A Few Tips If you are willing to do a bit of research on this site I can assure you that you will be baking great loaves of bread in short order. Here are a couple of things to get you started.Along the header in this forum you will find "Recipes". Basic bread is flour, water, salt and yeast. The flour does not need to...
Troubleshooting; New to the baking with own sourdough starter Hello everyone! Please excuse my ignorance with this new delicious hobby that I just started about a month ago (after watching "Cooked" on Netflix). I have always loved sourdough bread without knowing why or how it was made. My taste buds were my only gui...	Here's one to try Well, there are about as many techniques and recipes out there as there are bakers, so you might get quite a flood of advice! I'm going to suggest you try the techniques and recipe here on Bread Magazine, which helped me get started with sourdough. You can then start to change things up and see what h...
Bagel internal temperature problems I'm on a mission to learn to bake New York style bagels at home. I'm not a bread baker so this has been a great learning experience so far. I've tried to be methodical in learning and I'm getting close to my goal after many failed attempts and corrective actions. Once I discovered ...	Test Test your thermometer. Put it in boiling water. Then check it in ice water.Test your oven temperature.If all checks out, then bake even longer.Ford
Trouble Shaping Sourdough Loaf Hello all,I have been baking out of Forkish's FWSY for a couple months with mostly good results. Recently though, I can't seem to shape any of my boules. I don't know what's changed!For example, last night I did five folds on the "Overnight Country Blonde," but when I went to divide and p...	What might have changed aside from the dough? My first thought is that if you're proofing the dough overnight at room temp, if the room temp is higher now than it was in the past, the dough might be over-proofing.
Not much oven rise Hi everyone,New here and new to breadmaking which my wife and I began to do in the sleepless days following the birth of our son 6 weeks ago! I tried to bake Ken Forkish's overnight country blonde using my levain and got mixed results. First the dough was quite wet and difficult to handle. I ended u...	Only guessing I believe you need to practice the technique of handling high hydration dough. I lightly dust my hands and the dough with flour when I work it and I try not to tear the dough as I knead it. I believe your proofing times are a long, overnight at 25°C and the dough tripled in size. Doubling is enough an...
spelt sourdough levain waiting in fridge--so nervous I am following a recipe from dabrownman with milled high extraction spelt and some rye. Last night I put my levain im fridge after 3 hrs after the last feed, oother feeds had been 4 hrs apart. It had doubled and I was tired. I am trying so hard to make bread , resear...	I'm sure it'll not only be edible but delicious too :)Can you post the link to the recipe you're following?
Sourdough HelloI need help please. I am new to baking bread. This is my third attempt at sour dough bread. It taste great, but I don't understand why my loaf is splitting like this. Any tips or recommendations would be much appreciated.Many thanks Zuzu	The dough will always seek the easiest way out to expand. This is a classic shaping error and where the scoring wasn't deep enough to force the expansion at the slashes.Yoi will get the hanfing of it.
MUFFINS that don't have to be toasted Hi folksDoes anybody have a recipe for muffins such that they can be allowed to cool and then eaten without toasting (I know you can do this with all muffins, but I'm after airy/moist/tasty)...In other words, what's the breadiest you can bake a muffin and still call it a muffin...W...	Never toasted a muffin sure we're talking about the same thing? Perhaps English Muffins, they get toasted, you want a no toasting English Muffin recipe? Are you interested in Muffin tops?The Breadiest? Hmmm Muffins are quick breads.
It's not flour, water, salt and yeast anymore...... Guess this famous bread	No idea, but Yuck! No idea, but Yuck!
"heavy" bread although the crumb looks airy, it is quite "heavy" and gooey... it a "double hydration ciabatta" (http://www.breadcetera.com/?p=162) that is supposed to be be light. can anyone figure out (I know it's little info) what could have gone wrong ? I've done this a few times with more or less same disastrous r...	Internal Temperature? What was the internal temperature of the loaf when you removed it from the oven? It should about 195°F.Ford
Help with Argentine flour: wet doughs I've gotten a lot of useful advice from TFL over the past years but finally after a year and a half of breadmaking failure I am reaching out for help.I've been a bread baker for about three years. For the past year and a half I have been living in Buenos Aires, Argentina and have b...	I've never used harina I've never used harina aglutinada, so I'm not sure what it's properties are. You are correct, that U.S. bread flours are typically around 12% protein. IMHO, your problem is in the starter and not the flour. The same thing happened to my starter when it got underfed and became proteolytic (i.e. st...
Switching from DO to baking stone Hello! Amateur artisan baker who sells for farmers market.Trying to increase my capacity and so purchased a customer stone from californiapizzastones.com (highly recommend) ...The stone is on the lower rack of my convection oven and I have two DOs on the top rack. On the bottom rack is...	Stones and steam I have two slabs of granite in my oven, with a pan on the lowest shelf for steam. The stones are about an inch smaller all around than the oven and the steam seems to get to the loaves on both upper shelves without too much problem. Sometimes I also spray the loaves and the stones with a spray bottle j...
Sourdough kamut pasta falling apart I made sourdough pasta last night using 100% Kamut flour. Approximate ingredient amounts were 3 cups whole grain Kamut, 3 eggs, 1 cups sourdough culture. Mixed together and allowed it to rise for 8 hours. I then used a pasta machine to "knead" the dough and roll it out to appropriate...	I am no expert but I did take a cooking class in Tuscany where we made pasta a couple of times. So that being said, I have never seen a recipe for pasta where the dough is allowed to rise nor is any leavening ever used. The basic recipe from my cooking class included type 00 flour, durum semolina flour, eggs and olive ...
A challenge If anyone has opinions on this challenge, I love to hear it! I need to make 1 well structured loaf of bread with the following ingredients and time restraint:3 Cups white or bread flour1 1/2 Cups Water3/4 tsp. Yeast1 1/2 tsp. SaltFour hours start to finish. I realize this is a "bake in a covered pot" kind...	3 x 130g 3 x 130g = 390g flour1.5 x 240g = 360g H2O360 / 390 x 100 = 92% hydration that will be soup..... sure you want this recipe? it is also rather salty.If you are stuck with this recipe... Then dry out your flour ahead of time in a 30°C oven so it can absorb lots of water and keep it sealed up. Make a Wat...
tiny bubbles I have been using a good baguette recipe from Daniel Stevens' River Cottage Bread Handbook. It seems similar to most basic baguette recipes. Nice taste, good shape, color... BUT no matter what I try the texture of the crumb is cakey tiny bubbles. How do I get that light airy physical texture of big rollin...	Baguette texture I'm not familiar with that recipe, but if you've tried changing everything and still aren't happy with the bread, perhaps it's time for a new recipe! I've had great success with this one from Bread magazine (online) > https://bread-magazine.com/sourdough-bread-recipe/. He shapes his into boules, but I ...
Trouble with New England Hot Dog pan and sourdough Hi everyone! Thanks in advance for your advice.I got this nifty New England hot dog roll pan and am trying to make hot dog rolls. I am using KAF's Best Burger Buns recipe and switch out some flour/water for sourdough starter and omit the yeast (which I use successfully...	Hot dog rolls Looks to me that the surface of the dough wasn't smooth. How about forming each roll separately so you can form a nice smooth surface? Light, shiny pans tend to give you a lighter brown color. For the hard, crusty part I would let the rolls cool and then put them in a plastic bag. The crust will then soft...
Soft crumb & Soggy Bottoms hello bakers,it looks like my breads tend to have a very thin crust that softens when the breads cool down.They sometimes also have a soggy (wet, soft, super fragile) bottom just after coming out of the oven. the breads are 2kg sourdough (no yeast) loaves at 71% hydration baked on a stone dec...	Doesn't sound like enough Doesn't sound like enough leaven. About the same time table I use but I use 20% leaven. Underproofing makes for a very dense bread. Also changes the crust a bit. And assuming you're baking hot, like 450-500.
Bread Baking Day Here is the the link to the next one. #83, due June 21,2016. Special flour is the topic - some flour has to be something other than wheat, rye or spelt. Scroll down to get the English versionhttp://www.kochtopf.me/bbd-83-brot-spezialmehl-bread-special-flourLucy's will be a whole 10 grain, half sprout...	First time to hear this! I am interested to join. If you fail to submit for a number of times, you will be banned from joining again? Will a link like what you posted do when I join? Sorry, I'm a total noob when it comes to something like this. Is a recipe required when you post it? You know my situation. What should I...
Doubling I need a lesson in doubling recipes. I doubled by weight (Reinharts whole grain sandwhich bread from his Whole Grain book) and ended up with a dough that was too hydrated, and once baked, tastes delicious, but breaks apart easily and has dense and light pockets. maybe I need a lesson in bakers percentages...	No trick to doubling and No trick to doubling and works with weight or volume. You might just have miscalculated. And then proceeded to undermix the dough.
Help with Coccodrillo Ciabatta Bread I tried making this last night and subbed out some "discard" sourdough starter to use it up. I have 100% hydration starter so for 200g I figured sub out 100g of flour 100g of water. Then followed the recipe, at first it climbed the paddle then switched to bread dough (on KA) and kep...	Building a better crocodile trap? Hi CocoZ,I don't have much experience with this formula, and can't help on the subbing out IDY for levain/sourdough front. But I ran three quick "experiments" with it and came to some detail and conclusions that I documented here on TFL last October. Even if it doesn't help with the ...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.