long-time reader first-time bread-maker

I’ve done a lot from the river cottage bread book so I’d reckon their focaccia recipe would work welL

https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/focaccia

i made rosemary garlic rolls with my dinner. i made bread! (ralph wiggum voice)

today i am making EASY PLAIN-FLOUR LOAF using this as my fast-action dried yeast:

https://i.imgur.com/AlEEJa8.jpg

(it does say instant dry yeast in little letters so nothing can go wrong in this non-turkish-speaking household)

my v supportive pal P has texted me to say "remember yr making BREAD not ROCK CAKES" in ref the picture up thread, along with multiple laughing-crying emojis so im stoked for this tbh

A good baking week. Big delivery of Shipton Mill flour finally came (ordered on the cusp of the crisis after a couple of weeks umming and ahhing about whether I would ever that much flour), inc 25kg of their basic white (number 4).
Couple of soda bread loaves for instant gratification earlier in the week, then a bit more time on a basic sourdough boule yesterday. I've been going at that one over and over; getting there. New flour good, timed and controlled the proofing better and getting better at the slap-and-fold knead after watching Richard Bertinet videos. Bit more confident handling dough.

ok now double in size you blobby pos

Coincidentally i also wound up with some Shipton No. 4, after biking to E5 bakehouse. Only 3kg for me though!

mark are you keeping it warm? 20C probably not enough - you want it more like 25 or so

you mean the dough when it's proving?

it's in the oven now and my main issue rn is it's not really browning very much

giving it a final 3-min blast at a higher temp to de-pale-ify it a bit then it's out (it smells good)

https://files.slack.com/files-pri/TV20059EW-F010Z8QA1NC/2020-03-28_16.45.51.jpg

terrible photo of pleasing subject

i was using plain flour not strong flour (much more kneading required) plus also the instructions for the turkish yeast are in turkish (i imagine they are standard but who knows). but it's recognisably what it purports to be (visually and tastewise) so yeah

https://files.slack.com/files-pri/TV20059EW-F010P8G6BPB/2020-03-28_17.13.24-2.jpg

it's p dense so probably could have risen a bit more -- will follow tracer's advice next time re ambient temp (cold brisk late winter's day in hackney today)

yeah when proving it should be warm. also you’ll get a better rise and less dense loaf if you use bread flour i.e. higher protein, at least 11%

but that looks great! next time you can try cranking your oven as hot as it will go for an hour before putting it in. then after 20 minutes on full temp you can lower to about 230C for another 30-ish. you’ll get that colour you want :)

wait this is an hour pre-bake consisting of 20 mins plus 30 mins ?

(i don't have any strong flour current so the experiment was "what happens if you use plain flour and knead twice as long" as per a recipe i found online)

this is a safe space for bread nerds and noobs alike, no worry too pernickety, no question too dumb :)

― mark s, Sunday, 22 March 2020 12:09 (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

What are some other good ideas for proofing dough at home (keeping it at ~80-90 F / ~26-32 C while also staying humid)?

Can you do it in a slow cooker on low, with a cup of water next to the dough?

Can you do it on a low stovetop burner somehow?

mark:

pre-heat oven on max for an hour
put in dough
lower to 230C after about 20 minutes and bake for about 30 minutes more

ah interesting: that's less heat *and* less time than my recipe said -- except i think it did originally say something closer to yours but various punters reported overbaking and even burning so they reduced both

well adjust if you need to - everybody’s ovens are slightly different! but that ought to be pretty close to what you want

ok i have a question abt fan ovens then: do i change the numbers when the fan is on (i always put the fan on bcz why wouldn't i)

don’t put on the fan - the fan will extract all the nice moisture that helps the bread push upwards in that first 20 minutes

in fact, slightly next-level is to put a pan of boiling water in bottom of your oven for that first 20 minutes to maximise steam situation. take out out when you reduce the heat.

blimey these are the tippiest tips :)

I've struggled with proofing, but 2 methods I've tried lately -
Oven off (or just 2-3 minutes of warm-up to take the chill off), then a pan of boiling water sitting in the bottom with your dough on a shelf above it. (this made black flakes fall from the top of my oven, so that was shameful and I stopped trying it after the first go).
Boil water, and put the water in a normal saucepan with lid upside-down on top. Put your bowl/banneton of dough on the lid. Cover the dough. Refresh water if it needs more time/heat. This seems to work for me.

those sound like good tricks. above the fridge is usually a warm spot too. or you could go the other way and prove overnight in the fridge, in a plastic bag, works v well for me.

Yeasted breads prove quicker and at a lower temp though - i am less familz with them. from what i understand the yeast is more powerful so the fermentation goes quicker. hence the whole “punching it back” thing - ya gotta tame it!

ok this is a level of lore way over my head

If you want to make panettone you have to let it rise then punch it back 4 times in 24 hrs.

what if i dont though

then the yeasty beast is too unleashed

Tartine country white from sourdough starter.

http://imgur.com/gallery/e0YFyXv

Beautiful!

(update on loaf 2: it stales p quickly but was good fired for breakfast on day three and toast with soup for supper)

(loaf 3: saturday if i am spared)

We made a gargantuan boule of no-knead sourdough following the King Arthur recipe and it’s GREBT

I’d post pictures but it’s half eaten already. Can’t wait to make some open faced cheese sandwiches with it. 24 hour first rise and dutch oven is definitely the way to go. And kosher salt is better than sea salt imo.

Save y’all the googlin

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-knead-sourdough-bread-recipe

Makes a big one. We’re halving the recipe next time.

I think I've had good flavour and low strength - ie tends to go a bit pancakey - when i've tried a long proof. Probably needed more stretch & fold. Definitely game for trying again.

busy and a little low on starter so I tried my first yeasted bread, a nice simple white loaf. Just a completely different game - the dough behaves itself quickly, and the fucker swells fast.

I'm starting this BA focaccia today: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/easy-no-knead-focaccia

the first three recipes i googled for making a wholemeal loaf mention a loaf tin but obviously i can do it without a tin

(can't i)

hmmmmm it may be quite.... low and flat. the nice thing about a tin is that no matter what happens it’ll have a nice shape. you could use a round cake tin maybe?

i do have cake tins yes, but no way of working out what the volume equivalent is

(i realised* my wholemeal flour is in fact strong)
*(by reading the outside of the packaging)

opinions vary on the loaf-tins, acc.to the platform i quiz abt it

Well you can definitely try a free-standing loaf. You might try reducing the water a few percent to get a stronger, stiffer loaf that won’t go flat in the oven. (Though it might be fine anyway)

Definitely don’t succumb to the temptation of adding flour in the last stages of shaping your loaf, either because you have sticky hands, or because you want it stiffer, or what have you. Any flour you add after your various stages of rising etc will be UNFERMENTED and won’t taste good and will interfere with the action of the rest of the dough. Nothing wrong with a little dusting flour on your work surface or your hands when you’re shaping your loaf at the end, but don’t try to genuinely incorporate more flour at that stage.

so is part of the science here that a wholemeal loaf actually needs the heat to closer to the middle, via reduced distance (width is less) and also via conduction?

closer i.e. than a free-standing would-be spherical loaf (like the second one i made = a plain four loaf)

hmm I don’t know. I don’t think it matters. You want a really hot oven when you put it in, and reduce a bit after 20 minutes, regardless of what kind of loaf you’re making.

Freestanding, but shape it as a batard rather than a boule?