The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

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November 12, 2006 - 11:24am
beanfromex's picture
beanfromex

"Times" bread in southern mexico..stage one

In preperation  of the "times loaf experiment tomorrow,
we went to "el centro" (downtown) to a store known for its selection of enamel pots. I bought a wonderful 4 qt. baby blue one with lid and a handle for the equivalent of $7 US.  There were larger ones that may have been 20qt pots for 17 US dollars.

I thought this store had a great selection of enamel and cast iron, but I saw no cast iron. The other material was some sort of incredibly lightweight aluminum pot.  There was also a 8 qt heavy weight type of steel pot for $37. but it was quite heavy and without knowing if this is a technique  worked, I dcided against it.

We then went to the "home depot" store. I was looking for natural flowerpots that I could use as a cloche. I did not find any plain ones, they were all painted. Most with enamel. The other selection was plastic. Plastic is quite popular here as the terra cotta ones tend to mold in an unpleasant way, not the lovely green that I have seen in canada and the USA. Here it is a murky browny black and quite thick. This is quite noticable in the rainy season.

As I write this my "times" dough is in the fridge until tomorrow afternoon. I followed the direction as the video said. It felt strange not to oil a clean bowl.... 

Tomorrow I am planing on continuing with the "times" bread and making the cottage loaf again but using a third WW . I also want to play with the shape...

 Hasta luego

November 11, 2006 - 7:09pm
Floydm's picture
Floydm

Trying the NY Times technique

So I set out today to try the new technique that we've been discussing from the New York Times article. I created a dough like what he described the night before and gave it an 18 hour rise.

This morning, I dusted off a Le Creuset pot I got as a gift a few years ago but have rarely used.

pot

18 hours later, the dough was extremely bubbly. Personally, I thought it smelled a little overfermented. Slightly alcoholic.

bubbly dough

Around 80% hydration, folding it was a pain.

folding

folding

folding

folding

folding

folded dough

floured bowl

Despite flouring the bowl like crazy, it stuck.

sticky mess

I baked it anyway. It came out ugly, but with pretty nice crumb.

both loaves


crumb

The pretty loaf was a sourdough I baked the same way (in the pot covered for 25 minutes, in the pot uncovered for about 20 or so at 450). It was a damp dough, but not *that* wet. More like 65-70% hydration. Much easier to handle.

sourdough loaf

I may try it again, but I'm not overwhelmed by the results. They are good and it is a little simpler, technique-wise, but I enjoy a more traditional approach too.

 

November 11, 2006 - 6:40pm
Floydm's picture
Floydm

Multigrain

I made a multigrain bread a weekend or two ago:

Multigrain bread

I made a porridge of grains the night before. Oats, millet, quinoa, polenta, and anything else I could find.

multigrain bread

I added all of that to a simple dough. Slightly sweetened with honey, softened with some milk and oil

multigrain loaf

Oh yeah, and buckwheat. Mental note:I really detest buckwheat. At least in a loaf like this. Much too strong a flavor.

 

 

November 10, 2006 - 1:43pm
Floydm's picture
Floydm

Furnace malfunction again

The furnace is acting up again. No heat this weekend. Thank goodness it won't be that cold, but you can bet I'm going to be baking a lot.

November 9, 2006 - 1:17pm
beanfromex's picture
beanfromex

Wretched sourdough in the tropics...

I used the starter than I have been carefully feeding since last thursday night. All indications were right, smell, bubbles etc..and baked somethng that looked great, and felt like a doorstop. It was a VERY dense loaf, not what I would choose to have again. So I fed the starter and popped it into the fridge...perhaps I will try again next week.

However, today I taught Ramona how to do the cottage loaf from last weekend. Again, excellent colour and crust and a reasonable crumb.  I sprinkled cornmeal onto a greased baking sheet and the bottom crust is wonderful. And used poppy seeds over the egg waah.

Ramona did not get the wash evenly around the lower loaf, so you can see where it dripped and where she missed. ...but she will see this tomorrow and learn from it...

Perhaps I should get her to have a try at the sourdough....

I am going to play with this recipe and introduce whole wheat and seeds into the loaf ..

stay tuned... 

November 7, 2006 - 12:14pm
beanfromex's picture
beanfromex

Sourdough in the tropcis??

Well the sourdough is now into the fridge for the next phase of folding every hour for the next four or five hours. I will then leave it overnight on the lower shelf inthe fridge.

It seems like a surprisingly small loaf given all of the work on the starter..which began last Thursday. I have put the remainder into the fridge after feeding and will use it again next week, should this loaf work....if not, I am going back to tried and true recipes...and the trusty cottage loaf from the weekend.

For the most part, I have followed egullets sourdough directions. Sourdough seems to be one of the more complicated, many version type of baking out there. I have read about concorde grapes, pineapple juice and so many things wtih regards to this bread that I am a bit confused. I am buying a book in Canada in december, and am leaning towards the BBA.

I took some pictures of my starter, but do not think you can see anything due to the flash...I will have to work on that.

November 6, 2006 - 12:07pm
beanfromex's picture
beanfromex

Sourdough starter in southern mexico

I started this starter on thursday evening, and this morning I noticed a subtle change in the smell, for the better. The harsh sour smell had gone .

I poured off all the top forming houch and have been feeding it faithfully every 8 hours. Today I think I finally have enough bubbles to make the dough tomorrow and bake the bread on wednesday morning.

Ramona also tried making two loaves at her families home over the weekend. Only one of the two loaves rose and one of her children touched a loaf on its final rise and probably punctured the surface. 

The last thing I baked was the cottage loaf, recipe given in previous blog entry.  We have now eaten all of that loaf and I want my husband to concentrate on the oatmeal raison in the freezer before I bake anymore...other than the sourdough that is...

 Hasta luego...

 

November 5, 2006 - 1:53am
tomsbread's picture
tomsbread

Weekend Baking Explosion

It was a bread making marathon for me this weekend as I experimented with Jeffrey Hamelman's 70% Rye sourdough using the Detmolder 3 stage method and tried shaping some of Richard Bertinets Fougasse and Epis. Pictures in

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/tomsbread/index.htm

I have tried posting pictures into this site but it still eludes me :(

Tomsbread

November 4, 2006 - 1:58pm
KNEADLESS's picture
KNEADLESS

New Approaches

Well we just made our annual trek from the Chicago area down to Fort Myers where we will ride out the winter until May. I am into day 5 of a pineapple juice/whole wheat flour sourdough system and so far, so good. Today I made Floyd's rustic bread recipe again and it turned out very good. What I really want to talk about is a new tool, which I haven't seen mentioned by anyone else. That is, an electric knife.

 

Like most of the people participating on this excellent site, I have periodic problems slashing. I have had my best success with serrated knives, but for very wet doughs they are too grabby. Today I tried an electric knife and it was like cutting butter. The tops of the loaves were stationary as the blades sunk in.

 

I would be interested to hear if anyone else has tried this approach.

 

George

November 4, 2006 - 1:39pm
beanfromex's picture
beanfromex

Baking in southern mexico

Today I have tried a new recipe. It is from the "great british kitchen" website and is called cottage loaf: recipeand photo as follows:

Cottage Loaf
Bread-making is soothing and enjoyable, although you do need a lot of time to allow for the rising process. This loaf can be made with wholemeal or plain flour, and as it is baked in the traditional cottage loaf shape, you will not need a loaf tin but just a baking sheet.

Ingredients

15 Gram Fresh yeast, or 2 level tsp dried (1/2 oz)
300 ml Warm milk (not low fat) (1/2 pint)
450 Gram Malted brown flour, strong wholemeal flour (1 lb)
1 Teaspoon Salt
Beaten egg to glaze
Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling

Method

Makes 1 large loaf
Dissolve the fresh yeast in the milk. If using dried yeast, sprinkle it into the milk and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes, until frothy. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the yeast liquid. Beat well together until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in a clean bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly. Cut off one-third of the dough and shape into a round. Shape the remaining dough into a round. Place the larger round on to a greased baking sheet and brush with a little water. Place the smaller round on top. Push the lightly floured handle of a wooden spoon down through the centre of the loaf right to the bottom. Using a sharp knife slash the dough at 5 cm (2 inch) intervals around the top and bottom edges to make a decorative pattern. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

Brush with a little beaten egg to glaze and sprinkle with poppy seeds, if liked. Bake at 230 °C / 450 °F / Gas 8 for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 200 °C / 400 °F / Gas 6 and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 

I found this dough wonderful to work with, quicker due to onloy two risings and very tasty. The crumb is dense without being heavy and would make a great addition to a food like stew or chili, I image toasted this bread would be excellent. The bottom crust was crusty and chewy. The egg wash helped with the colour of my loaves.

I did everything as suggested in the above recipe, including the poppy seeds. The only difference was sprinkling cornmeal on the greased baking sheet.

I took pictures and will try to get them uploaded.

I will definately make this loaf again.

Other than that, it has been a slow baking week. I started a sourdough starter on thursday night, feeding every 8 hours and so far I am happy with the results. It was 1:1 AP flour and water with a .5 cup flour and water feeding. I HOPE to have this ready come monday or Tuesday....but that really isn't up to me is it???

Be well everyone.

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