2 loafs w/inclusions
I’m still new to this and have struggled a bit doing inclusions. These are ok and taste good but I think the crust is a bit tight. At least I feel that I have improved on my spacing and spring/rise. I watched a video that Leavenly did and liked the way she spaced out her inclusions so I have to give her credit with helping me make a better loaf.
One is a bacon/cheddar/jalapeño and the other is cinnamon/raisin/honey. I was kinda winging it and didn’t plan on using honey but even though I hydrated 70 grams of raisins I ran short so I added some of my honey to help keep the hydration in line. I cure and smoke my own bacon so I’m happy with that. Our jalapeño’s up here in the PNW tend to taste like bell peppers to me so I added 15 grams of Serrano’s to my bacon cook to bring up the heat. I added thin slices of jalapeño more for eye candy rather than heat.I tossed in a couple ice cubes between my parchment paper and the Dutch oven and that seemed to do ok.
As I removed them from the refrigerator this I was scared that these would suck because they weighted like bricks so I thought I’d get some heavy flat pancake’s with this bake. Over all I’m happy with the bake. It’s like bake #6 or 7 for me and they’re improving.
I’m trying to learn so I’d appreciate any advice or critique
Thanks all.
Andy
This is the other loaf.
Edited to add I meant to say that the crum was a tight not the crust and I think the crust could be more crunchy
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You are definitely, heading in a good direction. Keep searching, and studying. You will achieve bread that even your own critical eye will approve of.
Kind regards,
Will F.
They look pretty good. Maybe they could have risen higher, but they'll be very good to eat this way! Shaping technique or proofing time could contribute to the height, perhaps.
I've made bacon bread myself, but not with the other inclusions, so my dough wasn't as filled. I included the bacon fat from cooking the bacon - it adds to the yumminess! I've only ever mixed in the bacon with the flour when I mixed the dough, and it all worked out fine. With more inclusions, though, I would probably want to add them during shaping as you have done.
TomP
Very nice indeed! Love a seeded and/or raisin loaf. Understand where you're coming from about add-ins. When adding them to the dough try and distribute evenly but after that, my way of dealing with it is to, ignore them. When shaping don't over tighten the dough. The more you do this the more they rise to the surface and end up unevenly distributed. One of my favourites is... Toasted Pine Nuts, Golden Raisins and Fennel Seeds with some Olive Oil. Here is a recipe courtesy of Alan.