The Fresh Loaf

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audieg's picture
audieg

Help guys…

I am failing to to finish baking, my par-baked baguettes. I can’t seem to get the crumb  on the inside to be dry. It’s usually wet and squishy. It’s like it’s not yet been cooked enough but when I par-bake the baguettes, I get the internal temperature to be around 98 to 99°C, so it is already cooked. I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. Please anyone out there help me. 
I cannot seem to understand where I’m going wrong.

Rafe's picture
Rafe

 

  • Selecting rather than typing. preload drop-downs for recipes, bakers and bakeware. A-Z sorting of additional entries beyond preloads.

Creating dropdowns for selections since the “pick a row, any row” was sorted, was the simplest step, considering the recipe and baker names existed. Although it restricted the choice when it came to using alternative bakeware. A combination of preloaded and add & update was a better arrangement.

Shifting the drop-down selection lists to a new tab, combining recipe names, bakers, dry/soaker/wet and bakeware unified the use of volumes for alternative bakeware and adding dry ingredients or wet/dry soaker ingredients to an already portioned recipe. This might have started as a bit overkill, but filling the volume of a lidded pullman with different ingredients was worth the effort.

This didn’t stop the add & update function for bakers or recipes, added in either location, they update and auto-sort alphabetically as planned.  

Bakers Percent Re-Imagined Part 8 - The final part to follow  

Rafe's picture
Rafe

Now onto a not-too-difficult stage.

  • Viewing multiple recipes on one sheet, to add new, update old & compare numerous simultaneously.

Generating a recipe card with all the ingredients listed along with notes, times, rating links and the bunch of percentages generated quite a few rows to work with. Using these as the location for a multitude of recipes was the obvious way to go. 
Excel's grouping limitations didn’t agree and mangled the whole list initially, but another set of formulas, got it sorted.  Which led to a “pick a row, any row” layout. With a couple of simple search functions & active filters, managing, reworking and comparing one recipe with several different outcomes fell into place.

Picture 1 is a condensed view of included ingredients.
Picture 2 is the actual row & columns (part) arrangement

Bakers Percent Re-Imagined Part 7 to follow

Benito's picture
Benito

For the dinner party last night we had one guest who won’t eat cooked vegetables!  What to prepare that he will eat?  Pulled pork sandwiches as the main, along with coleslaw.  For appetizers I served pork, shiitake mushroom and Napa gyoza that I made a while ago and froze.  These are great to have frozen so you can save prep when having a dinner party.  The pulled pork was made using my Instant Pot.

So for the buns I had previously purchased a few nice purple sweet potatoes, then cooked and mashed them, portioning them out into small ziplock bags and put them in the freezer for future use to save time for baking.  

For 8 buns

egg wash: 1 yolk, 1 tbsp milk and a pinch of salt, beaten…

 

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this stiff  sweet levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

 

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

 

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour, I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 15 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add soft room temperature butter one pat at a time.  Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium.  Add the mashed potatoes gradually.  Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

 

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

 

Line a large cookie tray with parchment paper.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 8 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place on a parchment lined cookie tray.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

 

After about 30 mins of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

 

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.  Top with sesame seeds.

 

Bake the buns uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

 

 

Remove the buns from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

These buns were so soft with a hint of sweetness and pretty colour from the purple sweet potatoes.  They will stay fresh for quite a while in a sealed plastic bag because of the tangzhong.  For a hardy sandwich or burger the 110 g dough weight per burger was perfect.

My index of bakes.

Benito's picture
Benito

We had guests over last night for dinner so wanted to make a pie for dessert.  As you might know I love sour cherries and love rhubarb so decided to make a pie with both but this time with a streusel topping.  For pate brisée recipe look at this previous post.

Ingredients for the filling

450 g pitted sour cherries

480 g rhubarb cut in 0.5-1 inch pieces

175 g sugar

2 tbsp or 40 g cornstarch 

A pinch of salt

1 tsp of almond extract

Juice of ½  lemon 

 

Tossed frozen cherries and rhubarb in a pot with the sugar and salt until the fruit defrosted and started to give up some juices.  Then added cornstarch and mixed to dissolve.  Cooked over medium heat until just barely starting to thicken, no need to fully thicken as it will do that while baking.  Once cooled refrigerated overnight.  Tip, you can test the filling to see if there is enough thickener by removing a bit and microwaving it for 30 secs.

 

Streusel Topping for Pies

1⅔ cups streusel, to top Makes 1⅔ cups streusel, enough for one 9- or 10-inch pie topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

4 teaspoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, at room temperature

Stir together the flour, brown and granulated sugars, and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle in the butter pieces and toss to coat. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the butter is incorporated and the mixture is chunky but not homogenous.

Chill for at least 15 minutes before using.

 

The streusel will keep refrigerated for 5 days or frozen for 1 month.

 

Once the bottom pastry is rolled out and transferred to the pie plate cover and place in fridge for at least 30 mins and up to 3 hours allowing the butter to firm up and the gluten to relax before adding the filling and topping with the streusel.

 

When ready to bake pre-heat oven to 425°F baking at this temperature for 30 mins on the lowest rack on a baking stone or steel.  Watch the edge and protect it from over browning.  

 

 

After 20 mins shielded the edge and continued to bake at 425°F for another 10 or so mins then shielded the whole pie with a cookie tray and decreased temperature to 350°F and baked until the bottom crust was nicely browned and the filling bubbling. Up to 30-60 mins more.

My index of bakes.

mwilson's picture
mwilson

Admittedly, I am aware and I have spoken emphatically about the importance of calibrating pH meters. My training in the wine lab has instilled the habit of calibration each and every time prior to use, in that environment.

Why then have I been so lax with my bread and dough meter! Perhaps it is the domestic setting that gives rise to such a laid back approach. Then again, even in the work place I have been deemed as a 'laid back' kind of guy!

The other day I was drinking some deliciously well-crafted Pinot Grigio made in the mountainous terrain of Veneto, Italy. Since my dough pH meter is always to hand, curiously I decided to measure the pH of my wine.

It very quickly settled on pH 3.70.

Being very familiar with the pH ranges of a vast array of foods and beverages, and in particular different types of wine, I was immediately aware that this reading was not at all close to what it should be!

I therefore calibrated my meter and measured the Pinot Grigio again. Hey presto; it came up as pH 3.26. That's much more like it for this type of wine!

Long story short, all the while I thought my Lievito Madre starter was not reaching the target pH, while in fact with the new calibration it measures as expected, circa 4.1 for the end of a refresh and between 3.8-3.9 after the overnight phase.

No point measuring pH if the readings are not accurate!

Calibrate! Calibrate! Calibrate!

 

LM rinfresco and LM after overnight phase.

Rafe's picture
Rafe

A variable section for each recipe, nothing too intricate needed as mainly guidelines.

  • Adding details, real times, rating, extra notes, methods, links,

No real need for the full recipe method, just the highlights are enough to be getting started and nudges as the day progresses. Extra baking notes for the actual bake sitting with timings, for those final stages.

Real-time duration is better than decimal in my humble opinion. Having each “phase” timed helps with the bake. It’s not “dough” time. It’s a clue as to how much time will or has elapsed. Completed as the bake progresses or as a guesstimate for how it will be, even added after the event for the next time.

A complete rating system for a crumb, crust, taste, texture and colour, was abandoned for a simple 1–5-star rating. Links to original recipes and methods got included in case there is a favourite place to glean everything from was also added.

Nope, the picture isn’t different from the one in Part 3 or Part 3a, It’s the same with the method, time, links and ratings neatly slotted in. Active filters are used to “hide” Part 3a percentages and items not in recipe.

Bakers Percent Re-Imagined Part 6 to follow

Rafe's picture
Rafe

Conversions to save searching for them each time, initially started off as a set of links. But rather than adding a link to elsewhere (although quite a few have been included) for some basic information. Thoughts dictated that it should be more of a one-stop shop for:

  • Yeast, Temperatures, Customary to Metric, Volumes, Bakeware, Recipe Ratios, Ingredient Water Content. Preferment Ratios. 

Yeast was easy enough, customary to metric too. Tables for customary, decimals and customary decimals are included. The latter was converted to fractions i.e., 2.4 is not 2lbs 4oz, but 2 1/4 and 2.25 both are.

Concluded that bakeware volumes include the baked rise not just the bakeware height. Considered everything a “Pullman” and put a lid on it metaphorically speaking. As a 5cm high loaf pan with a 3 cm rise over the lip of the pan, Is an 8cm “Pullman” style loaf. This in return provided a dough-to-pan ratio. From there the alternative bakeware tables were created.

The water content table was already completed in part 2.  The simple preferment table and ratio generator were just pulled in from an earlier project.

Bakers Percent Re-Imagined Part 5 to follow 

yozzause's picture
yozzause

Still doing some test baking of the Sweet Lupin product kindly supplied by David from The Lupin Co here in Western Australia,

 During the 1960’s a very clever man named Dr John Gladstone from University of Western Australia (UWA), developed one of the first commercial lupin varieties especially for the Australian environment.

This breakthrough changed the agricultural landscape in Western Australia by allowing infertile sandy soils to be farmed in a brand new sustainable way. Lupins act as a natural fertiliser, introducing nitrogen into the soil, therefore reducing the need for chemical fertilisers.

This is why the lupins are one of Australia’s most important crops. Western Australia now grows 85% of the entire world’s entire sweet lupin supply, making them a truly iconic Aussie legume!

 

Lupin Plantation Australia

i have been playing around with ratios of the LUPIN Flour and LUPIN Flakes in the dough  initially i was using  a higher percentage of flour to flakes  as some work had already been done for David by a baker in South Australia and so i emulated that work to get a feel for the LUPIN inclusion into the dough as well as to taste the end product. Since then i have been trying quite a few combinations each time getting pleasing results . i enlisted a couple of bread taste testers, and also asked fellow Aussie Gavin in Victoria if he would like to come and play  and also enlisted Debra Wink to have a go too.

With LUPIN being 40% protein ( not in the form of gluten) as it is gluten free, 3 times more protein than Quinoa, 37% Dietary Fibre,  3 times more than oats ,  3 times more potassium than bananas and 3 times more iron than Kale . 4% Carbs and Fructose free, 

Why wouldn't you want to include it in your diet!

i have used the flakes and flour at 12.5% each inclusion into the dough and managed to get a good looking and tasting loaf i have found that scalding the Lupin with all the water at boiling point  which after a quick stir and set aside to cool resembles cous cous . i weigh up the rest of my ingredients at this time and keep watching the temperature coming down and add the lupin when it reaches the required temp for the mix to achieve its Desired Dough Temp at the completion of the mix. The water component is 80%.  

 i mix pretty much to the same degree as i do for a normal dough  and have been doing a short bulk fermentation of 1 hour   as determined by the amount of yeast . i also add an Australian Bread improver @ 0.5%  which is the recommended amount for a timed dough. The dough has no trouble doubling in size  and handles quite well after degassing and handing up  it is given a 10 minute bench rest and then its shaped to the desired shape. The dough does feel a bit different in that its not quite as stretchy or extensible and i have been aware that it does want to unravel at the seam if proofing in a Bannetton  not a huge problem as the dough gets rolled out onto the flap if its become undone. the alternative is to proof seam down  either in a bannetton or on a couch.

The dough holds it shape well and doubles  i have been cornflour washing and applying seeds and scoring at 3/4 proof , and then by the time i've placed my steaming towel into the bottom of the oven  and got it ready its time to pop it in the oven The bake times are on par with a normal dough  and does have a different baking aroma still very pleasant but different.

My last few bakes i've actually gone big on the L flakes and small on the L flour  being 20% and 5% which is the other way round from my starting point. and really pleased with the results

One of my testers has said that she feels far more satisfied  from eating this bread and another said she would have trouble going back to her everyday bread..

 i will add more and the pictures to this post in the next 24 hours as i need to be somewhere else right now.

regards Derek

Yippee's picture
Yippee

 

Remember when I said not to use stainless steel for baking bread in the air fryer? Well, on second thought, I decided to take advantage of its relatively lower thermal conductivity to improve my bakes. By adding a tiny step, the dough now has more time to rise and bloom in the air fryer. The result? Bread that develops a grigne similar to what you would get from a conventional oven!👏👏👏

 

As usual, mix the dough in the Zo 

 

bulk ferment in the Zo

 

 

 

shaped, put into the cake barrel, and covered with the pizza pan

 

Remove the rack from the air fryer, as the pans will be too tall to fit inside otherwise.

Prove in the air fryer, using the dehydrating feature.

 

 

proved

 

 

scored

 

Time to bake!

 

 

Here's the tiny extra step!

 

No preheat 

400F x 15-20 mins

then remove the stainless steel dish(18cm dia., often sold in the kitchenware section of an Asian supermarket), which I normally use to steam 🐠🐠🐠😄😄😄

400F x 25 mins

flip

400F x 15 mins

 

✌✌✌

 

 

 

the bottom

 

 

the crumb (click to enlarge)

(P.S.

Upon a close review of the crumb in the picture, it appears that the area immediately beneath the crust might benefit from a few more minutes of baking before flipping to bake the bottom.)

To compare apples to apples, this is the same bread I made in my previous air fryer bread post. It's a simple, yet delicious white bread with the following ingredients:

 

97% AP

3% whole rye CLAS

61% water

2% salt

0.7% dry yeast

Total dough weight ~ 1lb

 

🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

 

Air-fried Hong Kong-style French Toast

 

Ingredients:

- Two big, fat slices of bread (sliced on my meat slicer set at #20), with the crust removed and reserved👇👇👇

- Two eggs, whisked with some heavy cream and a tiny pinch of salt

- Butter for greasing parchment paper

- Peanut butter and condensed milk (mixed at a ratio of 2:1) 

- Cold butter for topping

 - Maple syrup or condensed milk for drizzling 

 

1. Whisk two eggs with some heavy cream and a tiny pinch of salt

2. Soak the bread in the egg-cream mixture until saturated

3. Preheat the air fryer @ 400°F x 1 min

4. Place the soaked slices on parchment paper greased with butter

P.S.

4a. Brush with melted butter if desired.

5. Air fry at 350°F x 6 mins, until slightly golden brown

6. Flip the slices

P.S.

6a. Brush with melted butter if desired.

7. Air fry at 350°F x 4 mins, until golden brown

8. In the meantime, mix peanut butter with condensed milk at a ratio of 2:1 by weight

9. Slather the toast with the peanut butter mixture.

 

P.S.

If the peanut butter-condensed milk mixture is too thick, thin it with some water and stir. If it's not homogeneous, microwave it in 10-second increments, stirring in between, until the desired consistency is achieved.

This consistency is more like it:

10. Fold one slice on top of the other.

11. Halve the slices

12. Top with cold butter. Drizzle with maple syrup or condensed milk if desired.

13. Enjoy!

 

🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

 

Air-fried Garlic Croutons

 

It's actually easier to trim the crust with a pair of scissors than with a bread knife. 

 

Spread the trimmed crust, ~ 75g, onto a pan in a single layer. 

Drizzle 15g or ~1.5 TBS of olive oil over the crust. 

Mince 2 garlic cloves. 

Sprinkle ~1/8 teaspoon of salt. 

Cover the pan with an inverted pan. 

Shake, shake, shake.

 

Air Fried

350F x 15mins

check, shake

350F x 10mins

check, shake

350F x 5mins

 

Let cool before serving (click to enlarge)

 

🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

 

😋😋😋

Serve with Kabocha soup.

 

I rarely cook without fat or sugar, but using either in this soup would ruin its natural sweetness and creaminess. Therefore, the only seasonings I use are fresh herbs from my garden to complement the natural flavors.

 

 

Ingredients:

- 1 kabocha

- 6 large Roma tomatoes

- 2 medium sweet onions (with skin on)

- Fresh rosemary and oregano

 

Place the ingredients in the inner pot of the Instant Pot, like so👇👇👇

+ 200 ml water

 

Cook under high pressure x 60 mins.

 

 

 

1.

Once cooled, set the kabocha aside and remove the stem stub. 

 

 

2.

Remove the stems from the herbs and squeeze the onions from their skin. Discard the onion skins. Transfer all the remaining ingredients from the Instant Pot into the Vitamix. Blend the mixture until it becomes homogeneous.

 

 

3.

Set the tomato-onion mixture aside.

 

4.

+500g of kabocha (including skin and seeds) to the Vitamix

+500g of the tomato-onion mixture

+200-300g of water (add more if needed to run the Vitamix, but do not exceed 400g to avoid straining the motor).

Blend until the mixture is homogenous. 

Pour the blended mixture into a large container.

 

 

5.

Repeat 4. until all ingredients are blended. Mix everything well.

 

Makes about 4 quarts. Serve cold or warm; either way, it is delicious.

 

 

 

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