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Is water necessary in pizza crust?
I was watching a pizza-centric episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives the other day (I know, I know!). In one place, they were dumping the ingredients into the mixer for a batch of dough and the gentleman said Flour, Yeast, Oil, Sugar, and Salt. I rewound it to be sure I heard it r... | I think yeast won't
survive without the right moisture level, so if you leave out water the little beasties won't be multiplying.Gerhard |
English Traditions - Yorkshire Puddings Perfect Every Time!
My husband is British born and my Mother-In-Law loves cooking traditional meals even though they have lived on Australia for many years. Here in the states, it's fun to experiment with different things British and one of my favorite dishes is Yorkshire Puddin... | Beautiful for sure!
I almost passed this one by but I am sure glad I did not - they are beautiful and sound tasty too. If I had it would have been out of ignorance - I did not know what Yorkshire Pudding was - so now I know and I am sure I will try them very soon. Thank you for sharing your family secrets with us all... |
Banh Mi Recipe with 3 fermentation steps
I found a recipe for Banh Mi baguettes that uses a somewhat different method. In particular, it has 3 fermentation / proofing stages with the first stage being very high hydration (about consistency of pancake batter). I'm wondering what the purpose of this method is -- ie wha... | Living Organism
To my understanding you are creating a very active poolish with added sugar for acceleration, then letting the yeast eat the flour, water and sugar for flavor and gas development. You then integrate another feeding of flour, with salt for flavor enhancement, and let the yeast continue to develop.The end... |
Diastatic malt and large preferments
If I make a large preferment (e.g. 40% PFF) and want to use diastatic malt in the recipe, would it be beneficial to add it to the preferment from the beginning (and then base the quantity on the flour in the preferment or in the final dough?), or should it be added to the final doug... | diastatic malt in preferments
Hi Ilya, 40% flour prefermented is not really large, closer to the small preferment (25-35% is small). Large is when 2/3 of all flour to 100% of all flour is prefermented before mixing bread dough and beginning bulk fermentation or shaping/proofing. Diastatic malt is part of bread flour it... |
Ear Problem
My new oven is quite big and because of my new baking stone that slightly bigger my oven door cannot closed almost as tight as it was (but not very open either) this is where I noticed that suddenly it became very hard for me to get an ear even though I have a great oven spring. Recipe:- Bread Flour (13%) 5... | Sounds like you have a oven
Sounds like you have a oven problem which should be resolved first as you would loose heat and steam without the oven door completely shut. |
Hello and Help "troubleshooting" a loaf
Hello Everyone. I'm a new home baker from Brazil. So far I'd say I have baked about 10 batches of a white sourdough (74%) using this recipe:https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/sourdough-pain-naturel/I had 2 big failures, but the rest of the batches were a success. I'm addicted! (... | I vote for # 4
try shortening the proofing times to see if that helps. Recipes are only guides and often warm rooms temps will speed up the process faster than one realises. What are the temps of the room and dough? Generally whole flours will ferment faster than "white" flours. I tend to mix my sourdough a little ... |
Today's Bake
The baguettes are pretty straightforward, very traditional soudough sponge, but fermented in 2 stages prior to final dough in order to make leavening as robust as possible. The Austrian Crusty Rye (Bauernkrustenbrot) comes from my favorite Austrian bread book, Der Duft von frischem Brot (The Aroma of Fresh... | Looks tasty Stan.How did your
Looks tasty Stan.How did your crumb come out with the baguettes?Look forward to your post on the rye.Regards,Ian |
3-Stage Sponge 100% Rye from Poland
Lublin Rye is a moist, close-crumbed Polish bread that showcases the subtle flavors of white rye, set against the mild, balanced sour of a 3-stage spongeRecipe here. | That looks good, Stan
Bread and sandwich, both.Paul |
Using up leftovers
A couple weeks ago, I made a bunch of loaves of Hamelman's Three-Stage 90% Sourdough Rye. I made a lot more than I usually bake in one go, so the last of the loaves went stale. I was actually pretty pleased about this, though, because I'd been wanting to try making kvass for forever.To make the kvass... | Save all my stale bread ...
... so I can soak it in water for a few hours, drain & save the water and use the old bread and water in the next batch of dough. |
hamburger buns
Does anyone know what the ingredients are and how to make like this hamburger buns? | Many doughs will work.
Many different types of dough will work for hamburger (and hot dog) buns. I mostly use two – the first is white sandwich loaf dough – that I make that uses, bread flour, milk, some potato flour, salt, yeast, sugar and butter. This is what I would call a rich dough and because of the sugar you b... |
best way to add vital gluten to a dough
hi,is anyone knows what is the best way to add vital gluten in dough containing wheat flour and no bread flour ? as corn and chesnut for exemple.should we have to ad vital gluten to the all mixed flours or should we have to add vital gluten to chesnut flour, add water and make a ... | lost in translation?
Hello Danni'm not completly clear on what you are asking or trying to accomplish, but first off what is commonly referred to as "bread flour" is a wheat based flour, it typically looks a little darker than all purpose flour.If you are considering using corn or chestnut flour, I would advise using t... |
French pastries suppliers in the Uk
Hello,My husband and I, we've been living in France for ten years and we moved in the UK 2 weeks ago, we are not yet familiar with the places but I wish we will at the end of this month. Changes are somehow hard but the most difficult is changes in lifestyle, as far as foods are conc... | French delices
Hi James Grant,Of course, there are: Belle epoque in Newton, for example, but it depends on the place you’re living. You can also ask your neighborhood, British people are friendly but if you are still shy you’d better to make researches. I’ve been living in the UK for several months now and I often orde... |
Is there an optimal temperature for the final rise?
I've been putting the shaped loaf in the oven with about a cup of boiling water in a pan on the bottom shelf for the final rise with generally good results. I generally turn the oven on for a few minutes to warm it up to what seems about right, whatever that means - ... | Your goal isn't to make the
Your goal isn't to make the yeast happy, it's to make good bread. Optimal temperatures for that are in the 75-80 degree range. The warmer the temperature, the more likely it is that yeast activity will generate off flavors. |
Who knew! Pizza (and other breads) stone help needed BADLY!
Short version. I had a low-end Weber gas grill that could only get my old stone to around 400f. Pizza was "ok".Got a new grill that can get near 700f... and let's just say I'm addicted. I want to do nothing but think about my next bread or pizza on the stone... | I have a Baking Steel...
and it is indestructible. Gets up to temperature quickly and holds the heat quite well. However, I use it in a conventional oven and not a gas grill. I bake pizza and bread on it and it generally just stays in the oven unless I need to move the shelves around. |
Blasphemous question re: bagel crust
I actually love the crust on crappy chain store California bagels like Einstein Bros. Bagels. Go figure, eh?Question is, how can I duplicate their leathery crust w/ my own sourdough recipe?Any ideas or suggestions? | May have just found partial answer
Been making micro batches i.e. single bagel size and experimenting. Just finishing one that I put in tiny loaf pan and covered w/ tin foil tent to keep water out and pressure cooked it on "High" for 20 minutes, quick released the pressure and found water had pooled inside the loaf pan... |
Liquor in Bread
I replaced some (about 10%/31 grams) of the water in my white bread recipe with rye whiskey this weekend. It went ok, but I was hoping for a little more flavor, so I'll probably bump it to 20-25% next time I make it.I'm wondering if I also need to adjust the sugar or any other part of the recipe? I didn... | Just don't kill the yeast! I
Just don't kill the yeast! I think you will be venturing into the dangerous zone which might slow them down (probably not kill...) |
Best bagel recipe
Do people have a go-to bagel recipe that can be accessed? I'd love to start making them and want to know I'm using a solid recipe. | There is a recipe
Right here with the other recipes:http://www.thefreshloaf.com//recipes/bagels |
Hey guys question about bagels and diastatic/non-diastatic powder,
what's the deal here, which one should you use? There is also barley malt syrup in recipes what are the various schools of thought on this? | Most of my bagel recipes have either non diastatic
red malt or BMS (which is also non diastatic) or both in them. Most of the flour already has diastatic malt added to it at the mill. |
Curious directions on Fleischmann's Instant Dry Yeast
I picked up a new brick pack of Fleischmann's Instant Dry Yeast recently and, for some reason, decided to read the directions on the package. It included something very curious:For Household Use:"[...]In recipes calling for 2 rises, replace the first rise with a 10... | my first thought….
is that Fleischmann inc. assumes folks buying "instant" yeast are in a hurry so they have given an alternative process to cut 60-90 minutes off the bread making process. As you pointed out, with this method, you can start in the morning and have fresh-baked bread ready for lunch. Just another appr... |
English Tea Cakes
Hi,I've tried to make English Tea cakes but am having a problem with the rise/softness.......!!I've tried Paul Hollywood's recipe with the spices and candied fruits but they came out flat!!!the second time I made without the spices and candied peel, made it a bit slacker dough - looked quite good unt... | Yeast
From your description, my guess is you have a problem with your yeast. Try the recipe with new yeast. |
Is there some significance to 'doubling' on the first rise?
Most recipes and, indeed, most bread makers I know, follow what seems to be the standard practice of allowing the dough to double in size for the first rise. Not one to be satisfied doing something simply because that's how everybody does it, I feel compelled... | Nothing magical about
Nothing magical about doubling; if a dough doubles in two hours, you can accomplish the same thing by punching down after an hour, and then again an hour later. It's not about getting the yeast active enough, it's about developing flavors and generating lots of bubbles in the dough.If you allow th... |
Does transferring the dough to an oiled bowl serve a purpose?
I've usually followed the instructions and transferred the dough to an oiled bowl after kneading for the first rise. Lately, I've simply been pulling out the dough hook and covering the bowl with plastic wrap secured by a rubber band, then scraping it out l... | it's right.
If it works for you, it's right. The oiled bowl is for people who are having problems transferring the risen dough (especially high hydration dough) back to the bench for sizing and shaping.Ford |
Pumpkin Seed Bread Recipe please
I hope this is the right part of the TFL forum to post to on this topic!I've been asked to bake a loaf that includes pumpkin seed and would be grateful for any suggestions. To be inclusive, I'm not going to discriminate against the inclusion of other seeds but the pumpkin seed ingredie... | I've only ever
baked on loaf with pumpkins seeds, it was a 70% rye loaf. What type of loaf are you looking for?This is the one i'm hoping to try this weekend....http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/34729/polenta-pepita-sourdoughIf you want to try a loaf ...http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/45632/something-bit-different (the... |
Stuffed bagels
Recently my wife brought home an assortment of handmade bagels from a cafe in Taibei (Taiwan) which each had a generous chunk of something (e.g. soft farmer's cheese in one, sweetened sesame paste in another) stuffed inside the ring. I'd never heard of stuffed bagels before, although I suppose it was ine... | What a great idea.
Will have to give this a shot during the next bagel bake.Happy baking |
Is it cheating to use a dough conditioner?
I struggled with bread for years. Generally speaking, I enjoyed what I was making, but it seemed every loaf was a crap shoot. While I had far more successes than failures, many of the successes had, for lack of a better term, a 'novice' quality. The flavors were there, the ... | if "store bread" texture is your goal….
If "store bread" texture is your goal, then you have found what you need to achieve it. You sound happy as a lark with your results. Most home bakers do not like that "wonder bread mouth-feel", so we use unbleached flour, whole grains, avoid chemical additives, and let time bu... |
Baguettes as hard as a brick
Hi guys,I am not sure if I am posting this into the right category, but I didn't see baguettes labeled anywhere.First, a little introduction. I have been successfully baking breads with my own sourdough starter for a year now and I am fairly advanced. Yet, when a few weeks ago I bought a ba... | Perhaps
Perhaps they were overdone?? What were the temperatures and the timing. The baguettes will not take as long to bake as loaves in a loaf pan, nor as long as a boule. The greater surface area relative to the volume of the loaf makes for quicker heat transfer and thus faster baking. Or is this too simple an ex... |
Baguette Burnt on the Underside
Hello there,Thanks to this site, my baguettes are getting better and better ( with a long way to go yet).My problem now: The baguettes are pretty nice, but the underside is definitely too dark.the dough is 70% to 73% water. Baked on a un-glazed quarry-tile surface, at the top third of ... | BBB (burned baguette bottoms)
A photo of your problem loaves would help. Here are some questions to answer, so you get an appropriate solution:1. How much do your baguettes weigh, and how long are they?2. Besides the bottoms, do you feel the rest of the crust's coloration is just right?3. What kind of oven do you have ... |
Hickery Flour in Rye bread
Hi EveryoneYesterday I bought price-discounted day old rye in town. Toasted it's probably the best rye I've had in a long while by a long mile! I looked up the recipe with the thought of recreating it and came up with this ingredient list. But what's "hickery" flour? Google doesn't help expla... | It's a name
HERE is a reference. "Hickory flour" is ADM's name for a flour product they sell in Canada to commercial bakeries. It is listed under "hard spring wheat " products. After a few searches I still could not find additional info. So Mabel's Rye has whole wheat flour in it. |
Making soft bread baps
I like to make soft 'baps' using a bread maker for the dough. I would like them to be broad and fairly flat, what are usually called baps. After dividing the initial dough from the bread machine into 9 pieces weighing about 100gms, i then flatten each one with the palm of my hand to create the ... | Sounds like you may want to
Sounds like you may want to try docking your dough. You can use a fork to pierce the dough in multiple places, primarily toward the center but also out toward the edges. It should keep the dough from rising much in the oven.Dave |
Success with Brioche, finally! Some questions though
Hi all,After countless attempts, I was finally successful!The only problem is, I'm not sure exactly what I did that made it work! My process was:1. Mix all ingredients except butter2. Room temp autolyse 30 mins3. Knead until incorporated4. Gradually work in cool (qui... | Recipe:1.75 cups bread flour4
Recipe:1.75 cups bread flour4 yolks2 Tb sugar1 tsp dry yeast1 tsp salt1/2 cup milk125g butter |
Doubling Bertinet Doughs
hello, im new to this forum but ive been reading for about a year now and its really helped me and answered lots of questions.i enjoy making breads and pastries so much that i have recently thought about doubling and tripling certain doughs so i can make a variety of baked goods instead of just... | Doubling recipes
I've used several of Bertinet's recipes as well as others, and almost always bake much larger batches than the original recipe is for (I bake for customers). I haven't noticed any problems caused specifically by scaling up the recipe. Different doughs perform in different ways on different days. Even e... |
lucky clover trading company baskets
We're looking to buy some new baskets at work and lucky clover trading co came up as the cheapest option. Right now we have a few different types of baskets at work and some are certainly made with a higher quality wood than others. I know people have mentioned this company and ha... | Lucky Clover cant be beat!
Cant prove it, but i suspect the amazon (among others) bannetons are wholesaled from lucky clover and then sold at a huge mark up. I have purchased 4 9" round cane bannetons directly from them and it's an identical match to the significantly more expensive ones i bought from amazon.Great qual... |
How much could oil affect dough feel?
I've been making my pizza dough with the following formula for a while now and I've noticed something odd about the texture of the dough after the initial mix but before the bulk rise. According to the baking percentage formula, the dough is at 68.7%---not very high, not very low i... | 555g bread flour100g semolina flour10g salt10g sugar15g fresh yeast25g olive oil450g water (90-95F)Add the flours, salt, sugar and yeast to the bowl of a food processor with a plastic dough blade. Pulse to mix. Weigh out oil and water and add through the feeder spout while blending on the 'dough' setting. Once all wate... |
Resources on steamed breads?
I've recently become interested in making steamed breads like Chinese buns, Boston brown bread and idli, but I've mostly just been finding isolated recipes on the Internet or cobbling attempts at breads based on vague Wikipedia articles. Does anyone know any resources on steamed breads, com... | Polish steamed buns
I don't know of any resources but one steamed bun I'm very fond of making, is pyzy from Poland.This recipe I got from google is as good as any.http://www.secretsofmykitchen.com/steamed-buns---pyzy.htmlGood luck with your research |
Getting started - helpful hints and book/website recommendations?
I've just had a go at my first bread baking and found it a strange mix of reward and failure! I picked the Hugh Fernley Whittingstall sourdough recipe for my first efforts and had to put two things resembling house bricks into the food recycling! The s... | Getting started - helpful hints and book/website recommendations
I've just had a go at my first bread baking and found it a strange mix of reward and failure! I picked the Hugh Fernley Whittingstall sourdough recipe for my first efforts and had to put two things resembling house bricks into the food recycling! The st... |
Over-rising of bread?
So I just got an electric proofing box and I find even at 75 degrees my dough rose right out of the banneton. It had a very quick bulk rise. Should I just do bulk rise + fridge and not bother with a warm banneton rise?I shoved it back down into the bread proofing basket and it's baking fine now bu... | How long?
Maybe the banneton is too small? If it is rising too fast for you, maybe cut back on the yeast (or starter if you're doing sourdough). |
Is it wrong to divide dough before it rises?
This might be a dumb question, but I figure that when dough is mixed properly everything is distributed evenly. So, would it be wrong to divide the dough into balls before the first rise?I'm trying to see what can be done to speed up the process of making bread. Basically,... | You can divide the dough before the first rise
or any time. It just takes more containers or bench space to let the dough rise. :) |
Corn Bread
I've just made some great nann breads, now I want to try corn bread and have looked at the The Fresh Loaf recipe.I'm missing something I'm sure but what is 1/4 sugar and 1/3 veg. oil? 1/4 what? Lb. oz. gm. pint?Please help a dud!dud-dud | Cup
Cup |
Apple yeast water loaf
Hi guys here is the first loaf I have made using my Apple yeast water as the sole raising agent. I started it off yesterday as per the recipe which I think I got here, retarded it over night and baked it today. It was a very wet but lively dough which took some time to prove. I added some garlic... | Looks good
Yeast water is an interesting alternative or addition to sourdough especially for those of us that don't like overly sour bread. Just started to work with it myself, as a matter of fact got a loaf proofing now. Wish you luck in the exploration.Stu |
Bakery Bits UK
I recently stumbled across the UK Bakery Bits website. This site has many flours and malts that I have not seen for sale in the US. For example, there are flaked and kibbled malted wheat, three different roasted barley malt flours (light, medium, and dark), several malt-flour blends, and unusual heritage... | Sure
Everything that you see there, you can get in the USTheir malt flours or kibbles are simply finely or coarsely ground malt, this one, for examplehttps://www.homebrewohio.com/muntons-wheat-malt/Muntons barley maltshttps://www.homebrewohio.com/beer/grain/muntons/Flakedhttps://www.homebrewohio.com/briess-flaked-bar... |
stretch and fold magic
Hisomething different Two Glues and a FoamThe general descriptions of what happens when a stretch and fold is carried out are usually misleading or wrong. It is nothing short of magic to explain dough strengthening in terms of gluten ... | Very interesting!
Thanks for posting. |
Troubleshooting : scoring bread
As a novice baker, I still haven't come to terms with scoring. Sometimes it goes alright, other times I fail. My last two loaves have been miserable with scoring. The slash turns out to be unporous (spelling ?), like a flat smooth impermeable surface. Could anyone help me figure out ... | I don't think it's the scoring...
There looks to be something else at play, rather than just the scoring/slashing. The loaves don't look fully cooked to me simply based on color, and it may be that you're not getting enough steam on them during the first 15-25 minutes. Aside from that, something about the bulk and fi... |
Converting Babka Recipe to Sourdough...
I'd imagine something along these lines has been covered before, but either way, just wondering if I could pick your brains, especially with Easter just around the corner...I have a really old family recipe (pre-WW2) for a traditional Polish babka, but it's always left something ... | Correct you are. I'm thinking you can easily use
25 g of starter too with 100 g of flour and 100 g of milk too for a single stage levain of 8-12 hours depending on how strong your rye starter is.This is the perfect recipe for Yeast Water by the way. It cures the crumbly crumb but keeps it sweet and lovely.B…..B….B…. B... |
dough acting strange in mixer
I have been making bread for about a year and a half now and they have gradually got better. I treated myself to a KitchenAid mixer at Christmas and i am vert happy with it.My last two makes though the dough has climbed above the hook and got into the spring on top. Bit fiddly cleaning out... | Dough climbing hook
Yes, my dough sometimes climbs the hook on the KA mixer as well. Depends a lot on the type of dough and the volume. When that starts to happen (before it gets to the spring or over the edge of the hook base) I stop the mixer and scrape all the dough completely off the hook, sort of 'pile' the dough ... |
Baguette Failures
Hi all,While I feel comfortable with boules and batards, the baguette shape and finish always elude me.Here is last night's failed attempt.The dough looked nice while proofing on the cloche, they got really deformed when I transferred them to the baguette baking pan.I have a large oven and can't seem ... | review this post, top to bottom
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/45495/loading-baguettes-ovenIf you have a gas oven venting will likely be an issue. The towels must already be at the steaming level by the time that you load the dough, with enough water to maintain their steam. You also should have a husky and suffici... |
Blueberry bagels
My kids (ok ok ok, it's me...) really love blueberry bagels. We often get them at Panera or other bakeries but I figured I might as well try them out since I have made bagels in the past and they always turned out pleasantly well.These were fun to make and were really good while still slightly warm fr... | They look great!
Love the dough color! I read excess acidity from blueberries can break down the dough but I guess the amount you put was not enough to cause that. i'm sure they're really tasty! |
Deconstructed Saison Rye
My friend Jim, owner and brewmaster of a local craft brewery, decided to have a beer bread contest. Instead of using a bottled beer, I used 3 kinds of beer malt, hops and coriander to create this complex 60% rye that offers a balance of sweet, sour, bitter and astringent, all wrapped in the mel... | I'm guessing the only thing that some folks didn't
like about this bread - the part that made it not for everyone, was the hops. The added sweetness due to the malts, a normal ingredient in rye beads, helps to cut the bitterness in the whole grains that some don't like - making an assertive tasting bread like a 60% r... |
Riffed on Reinhart hoagie roll recipe
The recipe in Artisan Bread Every Day. I used 40% WW flour rather than all unbleached white bread flour, used coconut oil as my oil, and added a few spoonfuls of sourdough starter to the instant yeast mixture. Retarded, shaped, rose, baked and ... YUM! Soft and flavorful without be... | You can freeze bread too
It often takes a few days for my wife and me to consume an entire loaf, so I regularly freeze half right after cooling, some sliced first, others not. |
High Hydration and Poor Oven Spring
I find the higher the hydration the less oven spring I get. At 60% I find the dough won't rise at all in the oven but at 40% it rises about 2cm.I'm making just a basic loaf with bread flour, yeast, water and salt. Should this be the case or is there something wrong? | wow, at 40% hydration
I am surprised you can get dough at 40% hydration, which is low, very low. Most find the opposite, the more hydration the more the dough stretches in the oven and expands. Something wrong here. First hydration is the weight of water divided by the weight of flour and then multiply by 100 to ge... |
Shaping high hydration without commapse
I have been slowly upping the hydration on my breads and until around 75% all is good, but post 75% I am struggling to the the loaf to not spread out dramatically as I put it in the oven. I do get oven spring, but recently I can shape the dough into a nice ball/loaf, but as soon ... | post pics and more info for help
It could be a number of things...gluten development, shaping, fermentation, how the loaves are handled in transport to the oven, slashing... If you post pics and give more details of your process, you'll get more informative responses. It will also help you become a better student of ... |
Latest Post on theryebaker.com: Swiss Rye Ring/Brasciadela
This bread, from the cold, mountainous Swiss Canton of Graubünden, is a smooth, tight crumbed 69% rye ring that offers a pleasing combination of tangy sourdough, spicy rye, and the mellowness of a well-matured wheat poolish. Get the recipe here. | That looks so pretty!
Hi, Stan, the link does not work .... |
Do I need to toast/soak malts?
I am experimenting with whole dried malt in my sourdoughs.Previously, I've made Borodinsky, which required me to toast then grind red rye malt and a Paul Barker recipe that required baking crushed malt grain with water into a 'porridge'.I like simplicity and don't want to do more steps th... | Malted Grains contain Enzymes
Malted Grains contain enzymes that can break your flour starches down into simple sugars. Without having specific experience or info on the recipes you are following (e.g. if the malted grain is just for flavor), my guess is that these recipes are calling for the grain to be heated to ensu... |
Your Opinion Please!
The Bread is made from Ken Forkish book. The recipe is called "Field Blend #2" I followed the recipe step by step, except I fermented the bread for 36 hours at 38 degrees F, and baked in a Romertopf clay baker (I'm questioning if this clay baker leaks steam). Vic | My opinion
My opinion, Vic, is that you are an amazing baker! Your bread looks fantastic, yummy, great. Good for you! |
First bagel attempt
I have been baking for over 3 years now. I have been making my own bread, pizza dough, burger buns and tortillas for a while. There was one item I never tried my hands on until today: Bagels.I like the Montreal style, or else it's juste a donut-shaped bread :PI am quite happy with the results. They ... | Nothing like a good bagel. I'm with you on
getting rid of the sugar, replacing it with BMS and using SD instead of yeast. Well dine and happy baking. |
New baker need advice
Hey bakers i am looking for a new oven for all kinds of breads I am a home bread maker I need a oven what I can put in my garage and it's good in size to put the 3 loafs pan trays and good for steaming/ spray and oven tray for steam what does everyone recommended I can't spend lots of money 350... | And all so need this aswell
And all so need this aswell forgot to add to my post Hey guys it's me again I probably all ready said this before I need a loaf tin the best you can buy i don't care about the money what do you guys recommended I am in uk like i said I need a deep loaf tin so I can make white tin bread and ... |
Suggestions for making time to learn
Hello, Ever since I started baking, I have really enjoyed it and I like to think I make a pretty decent loaf of bread. As time goes by, more and more I have come to realize that I would love to make a career out of baking. I make our sandwich loaves and I've made some OK rye boules... | Well . . .
The best way to make a career out of baking is to make baking your career. But I know that's not very helpful. Unless you have the luxury of just switching jobs (and baking is not typically a high paying job) it's going to be difficult to put in those hours. Now, if you have the ability to start your own bus... |
Sourdough sandwich loaf Weizenkastenbrot
Flavourful sourdough sandwich loaf, Weizenkastenbrot, not very rich in sugar and fat, and with the pinch of sourness of the typical german breads. Good to eat just some slices alone, or to make sandwiches.Day 1: prepare 250 grams of whole wheat sourdough (Mix with a spoon 120 gr... | Nicely done...
Your loaf looks great!
Can I ask why you prepare almost double the amount of starter than what you need? |
Croissant collapsing
This is my last croissants batch with poolish(txfarmer recipe).But i have problem they collapsing during baking.The lamination seems good.Maybe problem is in too high temp in first 10 min of baking within 10 min they reach the maximum oven spring then i low temperature and they collapse.Maybe they... | The crumb is beautiful
Let me just say that again: the crumb is very good, so it seems strange that this would have anything to do with a weak dough ('weak' meaning overproofed or having too little strength). Take this idea with a grain of salt, because my croissant are not as good as yours, but could it have to do wit... |
Farm house loaf
Hi guys I need a no fail recipe for 2 Farm house loafs and 12 very soft large baps any one have any i would love to see it and your picture I realy need them for tomorrow thanks bakers | Hm
You will have to be a little bit more specific . . . what exactly is a "Farm house loaf"? And a "bap"? |
Split top sandwich bread "deflating".
Hi folks.I'm an accomplished cook with very little baking experience.I'm working with the The Bread Baker's Apprentice book.My first mission is to find a soft white sandwich bread for my family.One problem that I'm having is when I score the surface to make split top, it deflates q... | Ahh I see.I proof until the
Ahh I see.I proof until the dough doubles, punch down, shape and then proof again until I have a good dome on the loaf.Sometimes my first rise goes a little long because I get busy with something else.I'll pay more attention to that. |
Stone deck oven loaf capacity
Hi, anyone use stone deck oven for baking loaves and if so how many can you bake in one? | they come in all kinds of
they come in all kinds of sizes, ours fits 15 medium loaves per deck at once comfortably. but I have seen them meters long and wide and also smaller ones |
Skolebrød Custard Problems
Hi I'm new here and not a massively experienced baker, particularly of bread. Today was a miserable rainy day so I decided to have a go at making Norwegian Skolebrød. But i have had some difficulty with the Custard filling. The first issue is the well that I made was too small and on some of... | The custard is Creme Patissiere
It has cornflour (cornstarch) added into it. (did you forget? It's in the recipe) This will stop it splitting (turning into scrambled egg!) when baked. However you need to cook it through - So whisk the eggs, sugar and cornflour, add the boiling milk, & vanilla mix, whisk, then strain ba... |
Malt in Hamelman's recipes, take two
This is a follow up to a loaf I presented earlier. Since I ran out of spelt flour and didn't get around to getting more, I baked the other Danish rye from Hamelman's book. This one is 100% rye and also calls for "barley malt" but this time, as suggested, I used barley malt syrup ins... | Round the Horne...
[Walks into a wild west bar...]"Give me two fingers" "OF RYE! I want a drink, not an opinion". Your post, don't know why, reminded me of this comedy radio sketch show called Round the Horne. This joke in particular. Rye Ale aged in whiskey barrels. Must lend great flavour. Loaf looks delicious. |
Central Milling Product and Packaging Name Change at Costco
If you've been using Central Milling's Organic AP flour from Costco You most likely may have noticed that it is no longer available - well sort of, let me explain . Costco is not in the habit of communicating changes in their product offering especially in sta... | Have you, by any chance, noticed...
Dear Wild,...a spicy smell (i think of it as cinnamon, my wife says nutmeg) in the Kirkland flour? It's kind of nice, but I just started noticing it around the time when the Central Milling flour was replaced with the Kirkland brand. I wonder if the smell could be from the malt that'... |
Struggling with croissants
Hey folks! I’ve been working on a croissant recipe for a few months, and I think that I’ve achieved an okay result so we could start selling those in our bakery, but I still feel that we’re not quite there yet. I used a formula for poolish croissants from Michael Suas' Advanced Bread and Pas... | A few random thoughts…
Your pre-bake and exterior post-bake look awfully nice. But the crumb you show seems to have lost definition of the layers which could possibly be caused by letting your butter layers get too warm. Do you refrigerate your butter slab after prepping it to size? After creating my slab I’d always gi... |
Central Milling/Whole Foods?
I've been baking with KA BF and AP as my whites (and using local WW). I want to find a go-to organic flour. I've read that Central Milling sources Whole Foods brand flours. Is this true across the country? I'd prefer not to have to order KA organic, and avoid shipping costs. I live in MN. ... | Go-To Organic
Hello Laura, Can't answer about Central, but the Whole Foods here in Milwaukee carries a superb organic milled by Great River, just across from your state in Fountain City, WI. Their bread flour is even higher in protein than KAF. |
That time of year again!
Hot cross buns - what else? Recipe from my bloghttps://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67502/my-hot-cross-bun-recipe increased by 50% to make 12 buns.Lance | They look delightful!
They look delightful! |
Worth trying to save it/carry on
I've been away for the bank holiday and decided to get some bread in for the week. I ran through making the sourdough sponge this morning with my usual recipe and then added the rest of the mix in around 5 hours later. We then decided to go to the cinema on the spur of the moment and he... | Bake it
You never know what you're gonna get until it goes in the oven. Even if it comes out flat and ugly it'll still probably be nice and tasty. Or you can just intentionally flatten it out and make a flatbread or pizza out of it. Load it up with some nice toppings and pretend that's what you were planning to do all ... |
A Little Slice of Heaven...
Carrying on from my blog - which includes the recipe - and prior post (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/45353/sourdough-easter-babka-babka-wielkanocna-na-zakwasie)...This was soooooooooo worth trying. Just delicious... Soft, light, sweet, fruity - everything a babka should be. To be honest, ... | There you go. The SD will make it keep longer
too - not that it will last long enogh to worry about. Looks yummy. Now you will have to do a yeast water one to compare:-)Happy Easter Reynard |
Latest Bake -- Easy Wholegrain Buttermilk Rye
Of all the different kinds of rye breads I’ve made and tasted, the coarse dark ones have always been among my favorites for their rustic mouthfeel and intense rye flavors. This buttermilk rye, which comes from northern Germany, has the added attraction of very short prep ti... | Looks fantastic!
That's a great method for making quick rye. I'll have to give it a shot sometime.Cheers!Trevor |
Dough deterioration when kefir used
I have noticed that when I use kefir as a liquid in my doughs, the dough tends to deteriorate quickly as if an enzyme reaction is occuring. By the time the dough has finished its bulk fermentation (2-3 hours for this batch), it is fragile feeling and as I shape it, it tears easily. ... | CAn anybody explain what is happening
I would like to try and understand what is happening when I use kefir, lately. I used to use kefir in my bread with no problems whatsoever. Now, every time I use it I experience the problem described above. What is actually happening? |
New Baker with some minor issues :)
Hi, I am seeking some advice on the below recipe and the resultsMy bread recipe250g strong white 250g wholemeal flour340 ml water40ml olive oil7g dried yeast pack8g SaltI have made quite a few loaves with the above recipe, they are all tasty with decent crusts but fairly dense. and w... | I think you might like this one better in a tin.
hate to say you need more water with the UK flours you are using which are much less thirsty then in the USA where I would be at 78% hydration instead of 68% to open the crumb. The bottom looks pale to me. What are you baking on. Otherwise it looks pretty good to me f... |
Kitchenaid Classic jumping around
I recently bought a Kitchenaid Classic. It seems to be working ok but I have just tried mixing bread dough and the top of the mixer is jumping about and making a knocking noise. I've checked to see if the dough hook is hitting the bowl and it clears ok. Is this normal??Here is a videoh... | mixer juming
Hi Ron. I've had this happen too. I think that once the dough comes together, it gloms onto the dough hook and just keeps going round and round. If you are using the mixer to knead, try a lower setting. Another alternative is to finish kneading by hand. Large amounts of dough can be the problem too. ... |
Forkish method - OK to use mixer instead of hands?
Just got Ken Forkish's Flour, Water... am an advanced beginner. Currently I can't do all the mixing by hand due to a new neck problem causing arm/hand weakness & pain. To prevent withdrawal, am tying to bake & cook to some degree while I do rehab (hoping to avoid su... | Try using your other hand
I am and was going through the same thing, herniated disk between C5andC6. Physio worked wonders and no surgery so far in my future so I hope the same for you. I am seeing a physiotherapist with osteopathic training so if you can find someone like that, it would be awesome as I know it has mad... |
New KitchenAid Mixer --- Not the right model for bread or did I do something wrong?
Hi,My lovely wife bought me a KitchenAid Mixer for Chrismas this year. Today was the first time I had a chance to bake since the holidays and I decided to break it in with a fairly wet dough (about 60% hydration, 550 g flour, 330 g wat... | How much dough?
You didn't say how big a batch of bread you made. If you made MORE than the machine could handle, yes, you'd have problems.Also, it seems that you weren't using the dough hook. I use the dough hook even for mixing. |
This Week's Bake: Lithuanian Black Rye Bread
http://theryebaker.com/black-rye-breadjuoda-rugine-duona-lithuania/ | That is one beautiful rye and a very low hydrtion
too. A couple of things, maybe 3 I don't understand. Why the long soak for the malt scald? Everything in the malt is either dead or denatured due to the high heat in drying . All you have to do is get it wet I would think. If you were scalding caraway seeds in it t... |
List of common terms?
As I become more dependent on this forum for baking knowledge, I want to be familiar with the common usages of baking terms as used here.The terms associated with dough development are what I want to be sure that I'm on the same page as you all.Bench rest, bulk fermentation, first rise and second ... | There is a glossary attached to this site
under the handbook tab above - then go to the glossaryYou can also google bread baking terms |
King Arthur "French Style" Flour - nice results
Just a quick post to add to the internets. Over the winter, I ordered some "French Style" flour from KA. I decided to finally get around to trying it this week - and of course, I checked with what folks from TFL had to say.All I found were 3 posts, very decidedly negative... | Thanks for the report.
Good job. This establishes a data-point for future users who research that flour.Did you get the 3 pound bag or the 50 pound bag? Can you give a link so people know the exact flour?I went looking, and one web page title says "Artisan flour", while "French style" is in the descriptive text. Or..... |
Hokkaido milk bread - unreal!
Hi all, Just made this Hokkaido milk bread.Floyd, thank you for the inspiration, your words sank into my mind "the silkiest and softest"... yes, it is! I used a mix of these flours in the final dough: 2 parts of KA AP four and 1part of 00 Antimo Caputo flour.I utilized the Tangzhong method... | So pretty!
It just has to taste as good as it looks, with all of the work that you put in to the preparation. Thanks for sharing! |
Lvl 1 baker needs help
Guys what's everyones go to recipea sites/books and the best videos on how to make bread from YouTube to Internet | What about right here?
Search this site - plenty of tried & tested recipes right here before you go anywhere else.It might also be an idea to say where you are, so people can recommend books available locally too.-Gordon |
Shaping Cold Retarded Dough
I am sure this topic has come up many times (as I have read many posts on the subject).I am wondering if anyone has any updates or new information to share regarding shaping cold, freshly retarded dough from fridge.In particular, I am baking a San Francisco type sourdough. Last night I reta... | With cold dough or any dough for that matter
you don't want much of any flour on your work surface to speak of. But, the dough is so cold coming out of the fridge you can't get much surface tension on it anyway without tearing the dough. It is best to let it warm up for an hour before shaping and getting the surface ... |
How does folding over the no knead bread during first rise effect second rise?
Let's say I am making a no knead bread. It calls for a long period of rising, then you fold it over a couple times and let it second rise for a couple hours and bake. Then there's another no knead recipe that calls for folding over the dough... | Out of curiosity ...
... to the O.P., what hydration are you using? I've seen no-knead recipes with hydrations ranging from about 75% all the way up to 90+ %. For my own baking I've settled on 75% as the dough is much more manageable. I can shape and slash it fairly easily and let it rest on linen (flax) prior to bakin... |
Pain a l'ancienne (Reinhart)
Just started a batch of dough for this recipe from The Baker's Apprentice and realized just a bit too late that it is for a larger batch (6 baguettes) than many from the book. I had a batch of 3 in my mind. Has anyone had any experience delaying baking this dough for a day or two? Give... | Reinhart gives instructions in the recipe...
"Meanwhile, dust the other pan of strips with flour, mist with spray oil and slip into a food-grade plastic bag...If you don't plan to bake these strips within an hour, refrigerate the pan and bake later or the next day."In the section on using the pain a la ancienne dough f... |
Francois Brunet / Epicerie Boulud defined layer Croissants??
Hello Everyone, I am new to this forum and was wondering if perhaps you could share your opinion.I came across these stunning photos, http://ny.eater.com/2015/9/17/9345675/boulud-chocolate-raspberry-croissant.Do you have any tips for achieving such layers? I ... | Start simple.
Ignore the coloured layer and just make croissants. Make many. Keep making them until you're happy. This will take several iterations. Quick diagnostics: If they come out of the oven soggy and swimming in butter then they're under proved. If they come out overly "bready" then overproofed and/or worked whi... |
Is it possible to shape no knead bread?
My gosh, no matter what I do, I cant get my no knead bread to resemble any sort of shape. It just turns out to be a blob of dough. The only thing i can think to do is to punch it down and then reshape it immediately before putting it in the dutch oven after the second rise. Thank... | Don't ever punch down bread. Just gently degass
it after the first rise and then gently but firmly shape it and let it proof in a rice floured basket until ready for the heat. I like to let mine final proof in the fridge overnight - but it is a SD. It might over proof if yeast. |
Sourdough rye bread stages
Hi!My bread adventure started just few months ago. I gained some experience in wheat breads but rye bread is still a bit of a mystery to me. I'm trying to perfect Hamelman's 65% sourdough rye bread and I'm wondering what, in case of rye breads, should be the signs of finishing bulk fermentati... | Use your eyes and nose
Rye is really mercurial stuff and timelines are only a rough guide at best. For sourdough sponges, look for lots of bubbles and a sharp, pleasing sour smell. Doubling is a pretty easy determination for sponges and bulk fermentation of final doughs; for proofing, I look for the first signs of crac... |
Please help me identify this bread from 1973 (CT)
The other day I was looking through some old photos, and came across one of my sister, feeding the ducks, in November of 1973. At first I thought it was wondering bread that she was holding, because of the colors, but if you look closer, you can see that the bag is deco... | Hmmmmm
I can't seem to find any reference to this bread anywhere online! It might be some kind of off-brand of wonder bread. |
Seedsation
I have moved to rural Oklahoma from Dallas and therefore, no longer have access to my fav CM bread, Seedsation. I understand their recipe is a well-guarded secret, but is there a copycat recipe that would get me close?? | Do you have an ingredient list
Hard to recommend a recipe unless we know what was in the original bread |
New colomba pasquale video
For those that enjoy and appreciate such videos...http://vimeo.com/155940826 | Thank you for the video….
very nice video indeed. Easter is not far away! |
bread flour
I live in Southern Ontario and am finding it almost impossible to purchase a really high protein grown in Manitoba bread flour. I have written to 3 mills with no response back, and they all mill flour that has up to 15% protein. My daughter lives in the UK and she buys a Manitoba bread flour there and says ... | Not sure if this helps but i
Not sure if this helps but i got this reply from robin hood canada. In response to your inquiry, the gluten percentage of the Robin Hood® All Purpose Flour Unbleached is approximately 12% and the Best for Bread Flour Homestyle White is approximately 13%. There's a local mill in BC called An... |
Baking times & temperatures
Hi folksIs there any kind of guide as to what temperatures & baking times to use depending on the size of the loaf? For my standard loaf (500gm flour, 320gm water etc) I bake for 25 minutes at 220c followed by 15 minutes at 200c but what if I bake half that ingredients? Obviously not half th... | Color is a good indicator.
Color is a good indicator. If you are experienced with a recipe and your ingredients, kitchen and oven, you can confidently bake by color. Which means to say increase or decrease the baking time compared with the recipe with which you are familiar, using color as the judge of doneness. And... |
Honey Orange Prune Bread
This weekend I baked an Orange Prune Bread from Beth Hensberger's Bread Bible. Despite some quirks about the book that annoy me, all of the recipes I've baked from it have turned out very good. This recipe was no exception: I enjoyed it and my kids loved it. Honey Orange Prune BreadMakes 2 loav... | Really?
Every time I come across this recipe, the honey orange part engages me and the prune part cuts me loose. Do they really work? The photo shows a very inviting-looking loaf, and the whole wheat touch is nice. One does cling to one's biases, but I'm preparing to abandon this one. |
Crusty Crust - Certainly Confused
Hello all.In the early 1970s we sometimes bought bread from a small bakery. It was just plain white, square, unsliced bread - very light and soft inside - but outside the crust was HARD, yet thin. It took some chewing - the rest of the sandwich was often long-gone but you were still ... | /nhuman: Is possible to achieve
/nhuman: Is possible to achieve in a bread machine, and if so, how?Have you tried or is it possible to open the lid of the machine after the oven spring (bake cycle) and let out the steam inside the machine? Site search: making steam in a home oven.I think what you want to do is ha... |
The new rye book
It's official!!! Details/preorders here. | That's great, Stan!
Congratulations! I'm looking forward to seeing it this fall. 8^) |
Does anyone have a good 'rustic' bread recipe that can be made in one day?
I've seen no knead recipes, and I love them, but I want to try my hand at a recipe that involves kneading. Is there such thing as a rustic bread recipe that I can do in one day that doesnt require overnight proofing or anything? Thank you, you a... | Try a TFL favorite
Floyd's Rustic Bread recipe can be done in a single day or with an overnight proofing.http://www.thefreshloaf.com//recipes/rusticbread |
Help! Clarification on where I've gone wrong?
Hi everyone! Quite new to bread-making and would really appreciate some pointers. I'm trying to develop a recipe for an easy no-knead granary sandwich loaf that my mum can make but my latest attempt was a disaster. Although it tasted great, there was barely any oven-spring ... | To make it easy...
just buy a granary flour. I use Shipton Mill light malthouse and their Three malts & sunflower mixes.Just one thing to note with these - the added "bits" in the flour affect what you might think is the right hydration - so use less water than you might calculate. I have found that these flours don't ... |
My first English Muffins
Hi everybody :)I am new to this forum, though I've been lurking for a little while. I have made English Muffins for the first time today. Actually I've never had an EM, since they don't exist in our shops.I used this recipe http://www.savorysimple.net/whole-wheat-english-muffins/ but ran into a... | Lovely!
Those look delicious! I like how puffy they turned out!!In Mary Berry's recipe she leaves hers to prove for an hour. I'm not sure if this is traditional, but she does seem to do things in quite a classical manner!You've inspired me to try and make some!!!Nicki |
2 Newbie Questions
Hey there! Been making my way through a book called "Josey Baker Bread." Fun stuff! Just did my first sourdough with a starter I started a few weeks back!!! Two questions...1) When I get the bread out of the proofing basket it really flattens out2) Oftentimes the bread is a little underdone on the w... | Thanks!!!
Thanks!!! |
Lye dipped homemade pretzels
Hi all,This was my latest attempt at homemade pretzels. I've recently become a lye convert and am really enjoying the results. I still need to work on the pretzel twisting and for next time I'll add a little butter to the dough, but they were good!!The little 'bites' were stuffed with pea... | a suggestion...
if I may make a suggestion or 2...Please emphasize that when mixing caustic soda that you add the dry power into the water and not the other way round. Pouring water onto dry caustic can create instant boiling and splatter you with hot caustic. Not a wise move. I'd also suggest a full face visor too. Yo... |
An outstanding Russian rye bread -- Moskovskiy Rzhannoye Khleb
I'm a great fan of Russian rye breads: I love their dark color, intensity and the complexity of their flavor profiles. This one is one of the best I've baked so far -- a tender, open 100% rye crumb, the spiciness of rye and cumin, chocolate notes from the r... | I have a few questions
I have a few questions/comments.1. Why medium rye? This is supposed to be a whole rye bread.2. Why on earth cumin? It's never cumin, always caraway.3. Why there is yeast in the sponge? And so much too?4. The formula is wrong. It's based on a calculation for 500 g. of flour (including mal... |
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