The Bread Thread

[wdfifteen]

I posted a photo of a loaf of our bread in the "What's for Dinner" thread and there were several requests for how to make it. Here it is:



You need:

500 grams high protein bread flour
380 grams of warm water, 105-110 degrees
1 teaspoon of yeast, fast acting or regular both work (it comes in small packets, we buy the 1 lb bag because we use a lot)
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar




This is the equipment - two 2-cup measuring cups, one 1-cup measuring cup, measuring spoons, a large bowl, a food scale, and a combo griddle/dutch oven.



Start by weighing out 380 grams of the warm water. Put the sugar and yeast in the one cup measuring cup. Add a 1/4 cup of the water. The yeast will begin to grow and form foam on the top (proofs). While the yeast proofs, measure 500 grams of flour and mix in the salt. When the yeast has about doubled in volume, put it in the flour, rinse the yeast cup out with the rest of the water and pour into the flour. Mix it all together.



The dough on the left has 380 grams of water, and it is a little too dry. I added one tablespoon of warm water to get the slightly sticky consistency shown on the right.

[wdfifteen]

Cover the bowl with a towel and put it in a warm place until it doubles in volume. How long this takes depends on the temperature of the room. It will take about an hour at 70 degrees.



When the volume has doubled, work your fingers between the dough and the bowl. It will stick to your fingers. Pull the dough up and over the top, spin the bowl a few degrees and pull again. You should get about 6 pulls from each revolution of the bowl. DO NOT push on the center of the dough.
This is an important step. What you are doing is developing the gluten in the surface of the dough, making a tough skin on the dough ball. You are making dough balloon. The more you stretch it, the stronger the surface gets.
Keep going for about six revolutions, cover the bowl, and set it aside to double in volume again. When it has doubled, do the surface stretching process again, and set it aside again.



Coat the griddle side of the dutch oven with olive oil, put it in the oven, and set the oven to 450 degrees. When the dough has risen the last time, pull it loose from the sides of the bowl, turn the bowl upside down over the dutch oven griddle, and let it plop out. take a sharp knife and score the top of the dough, either with a straight cut or an X. Put the other part of the dutch oven on top and bake for 30 minutes. Take the cover off and let it brown for about another 5 minutes - keep an eye on it until it looks nice and brown.

[wdfifteen]

Scoring it makes the surface crack predictably - like saw cutting a concrete slab.



I'll be honest, we do this so often I'm not real concerned about how the bread looks anymore, sometimes I score it, sometimes I don't.




It all tastes good whether you make it look nice or not.



You can make a really beautiful boule if you want. This one had a little more stretching of the surface to help it keep it's round shape and I scored the top.

[greglepore]

Excellent. I do more or less the same but use homegrown sourdough culture, and usually do a long overnight rise in the fridge.
I start with a 500 oven and after putting the lid on immediately reduce to 450, and then uncover after 20 minutes, usually going another 20 to get a darker crust.

Its awesome to add some diced kalamatas, and rosemary.

[stevej37]

Would the same recipe work in an electric breadmaker? The price of those are down to under $50 now and have been thinking of getting one.

[wdfifteen]

^
I doubt if it would work. I see bread machines for $5 - $20 at thrift stores all the time. I bought one for $5 and made a few loaves (using the recipe that came with the machine). I took it back after a few months. It is easier for sure, but I didn't like the results.

[id10t]

Basic biscuit recipe can do either breakfast, fancier dinner bread, or even donuts depending on what fat is used and any other additives.

Basic biscuits -

2 cups AP flour
Not quite 1 cup milk w/ 1 tbl spoon of apple cider vinegar added
1 stick butter
1 tblsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Mix dry stuff in large bowl. Fork in the butter. Add most of the milk and mix in. Depending on humidity, etc. could use anywhere from 3/4 cup to 1 1/4 cup to get a dough ball of right consistency. Break off biscuit sized pieces, form a ball, squash it a little, put on baking tray. Bake at 450 until golden brown - anywhere from 12 to 17 minutes, again depending on humidity, etc.

To mix it up.... for donuts, add some sugar (2tlbsp or so) and cinnamon and/or some ground ginger or nutmeg, and fry up.

For herbed dinner bread, replace butter with 1/2 cup olive oil, still mix it in, etc. but also throw in some rosemary, thyme, or other similar herbs. Some parm cheese, garlic powder, etc. all work as well.

[vash]

^^wtf?

Biscuits? That’s like talking meatloaf in a standing rib roast thread. Both delicious; both meat...but really really different.

[TimT]

Thats basically the way I make bread, except I usually let it ferment for 24 hours to develop some more flavor..

When I'm making pizza dough the best pizzas are usually made from dough with a three day fermentation.


NT Time no knead bread

[SiberianDVM]

Looks great! I love making French bread in my breadmaker, but it doesn't do sourdough so well.

Unfortunately, I'm dieting and trying to cut out as much bread as possible. 50th year high school reunion is in 5 months and I don't want to be the fattest one there.

[cabmandone]

One of these days after a brew session I'm gonna have to make some spent grain bread. Fresh homemade bread reminds me of Grandma's house.

[porsche4life]

Ill have to try this. I love bread, but so far my baking ability is limited to Trader Joe’s take and bake! 🤣

[beatnavy]

Ok, gave it a shot tonight. This method intrigued me, as I used to try to make good, authentic sourdough for years using the bread machine to mix the dough and then shaping it by hand for baking. Was never satisfied with the results - couldn't get the crust crusty enough nor get the air pockets you want.

So, here's my first attempt. I was very pleasantly surprised, particularly with how it looked given it wasn't rising as much I had hoped. I think the dough was slightly too sticky and heavy, even though I tried to add a tablespoon or more of flour. But it still turned out pretty well, and it exceeded my and my wife's expectations.

Thanks for posting . Next step, get back into the sourdough game. Need to make some starter...

[Arizona_928]

Almost like you're proofing it in the cast iron. Cool!

[greglepore]

Not proofing. Real bakeries have steam in their ovens to help with spring. That's what the lid does-as dough heats and steams it contains it and uses it as a moisture source. Dutch ovens work too...

[beatnavy]

Yeah, I used a clay pot we have that has a lid on it. We've used it to make paella previously, but it otherwise goes unused. In the past, I've tried misting water into the oven as I baked a loaf, but again, it was never particularly satisfying. Using this clay pot (or cast iron as does the OP) seemed to help a lot!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by beatnavy

Nice. I'll bet it tastes great.

I wanted to get a more oval shaped loaf - boule shape has its limitations. I have a large oval dutch oven that I used to try to make bread in. It didn't work well because I put the lid on the top. It didn't seal well and the steam leaked out. The upside down dutch oven I've been using lately keeps the steam in.
I used a pizza stone for the base. and the bottom of the big oval dutch oven for the top. Threw them both in the oven at 450 to heat up. Then I formed the loaf more or less the shape I wanted it on a piece of parchment paper, used a pizza peel to move it onto the hot stone, and covered it with the upside-down bottom of the big oval dutch oven. It worked like a charm! I gotta work on shaping the loaf better though

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by beatnavy

So, here's my first attempt. I was very pleasantly surprised, particularly with how it looked given it wasn't rising as much I had hoped. I think the dough was slightly too sticky and heavy, even though I tried to add a tablespoon or more of flour. But it still turned out pretty well, and it exceeded my and my wife's expectations.

Was not rising in general or expanding out and not up? If the loaf expands sideways more than it rises the envelope isn’t developed enough. You need to do the stretching routine more. It should be able to hold a ball shape in the bowl after the second round of stretching.

[rusnak]

I can make basic biscuits and basic bread, but my goodness, that looks amazing to me.

Try some Kerrygold pure Irish butter on toast with it. I think you might like it.

[beatnavy]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Was not rising in general or expanding out and not up? If the loaf expands sideways more than it rises the envelope isn’t developed enough. You need to do the stretching routine more. It should be able to hold a ball shape in the bowl after the second round of stretching.

Yes, it was probably going sideways more than up. It was also probably related to the "time factor:" my oldest daughter was hoping she could eat dinner by a certain hour to get back on the road to her place in Richmond. If that wasn't the case, I would have worked it more and given it more time. Probably a good rule on bread making: you can't rush it!