The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

BreadBabies's blog

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BreadBabies

I haven't baked bread in awhile. When I do, we eat way too much and I have a beach wedding coming up that I need to prepare for. So, why am I posting here? Because I have interior musings that nobody on any other site would be interested to hear. I'm here to gather with other bread nerds about something that has been occupying my mind for the past several weeks.

Here it is...I love my Brod & Taylor proofer. No, this is not a commercial. Yes, I paid full price for it. No, nobody at that company has ever heard of me and I have no social clout such that they would even care what I have to say about this.

Why bother mentioning this here?  (Other than my personal need to belt a power ballad of love from the rooftops) I frequently see people discussing the engineering considerations of making a homemade proofer. Yes, you could do that. For some people -- the tinkering kind -- the joy is in the process itself. I congratulate you, you are a dying breed. But if you're considering that just to save a few bucks, let me tell you, the B&T is the most useful appliance I've bought in...maybe ever.  Its elegant simplicity is poetic. It takes up no space and its uses are many. Here's a short list of the things I have done with it, which barely scratch the surface of possibilities.

1. Making black garlic.

2. Pasturizing eggs in the shell at home

3. Keeping things warm for a party (a 200 degree oven is way too hot and dries out food)

4. Sous vide cooking

5. Defrosting (though this probably isn't safe with meat, but I recently did this with a frozen dough ball and it worked like a charm)

A few things I haven't yet done simply because I already have other dedicated appliances for this include making yogurt and using it as a slow cooker.

What have I not mentioned? Actual proofing or giving your sourdough culture a boost. Of course, it works beautifully for that, too. But the whole point here is that even though I haven't baked bread in ages, I regularly use this proofer. When I first bought it, I really hesitated. It seemed too pricey for what it was -- a very simple machine. I still kinda feel that way. But it has been so useful that I'm really glad I did it. I've wasted a lot more money on much less useful kitchen junk.

Okay...it feels good to share my obsession with someone. Thanks for listening.

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BreadBabies

My husband and I are taking our first trip anywhere since we were married 3 years ago. We didn't have the funds for a honeymoon and the kiddo was created just one month after we said our vows.  This year, for my birthday, I asked him to arrange a long weekend and surprise me with the destination. I wanted somewhere close enough that we could be back in a flash if necessary, but far enough that we had to take a plane. He chose Portland. 

Naturally, I hear Portland and I think Ken Forkish. We're only going to be there for a couple days, but trips to his bakery and pizzeria are a top priority. Thus in preparation, I ordered Elements of Pizza.

I've only been at bread baking for just over a year. But I've been at pizza for over a decade. I spent 10 years working in the industry and I have a husband who loses his  $&*^! at the mention of a Neopolitan pizza. Together, we spent years in pursuit of delicious pizza -- at restaurants and at home.

A few months ago, we made a trip to Central Milling. Much to our surprise and delight, we encountered Tony Gemignani's 00 flour. I've always understood that 00 requires north of 900 degrees, so I generally don't bother with it. But it's Tony. Tony of legend...Tony of some of the most delicious pizza I've ever had...Tony whose restaurant we never pass up even if it means we have to get in line half an hour early and eat our pizza standing up on the side of the road. So, yeah...we bought the flour with no real plans to use it.

In his 24-48 hour dough, Forkish calls for 00. I was skeptical for the reasons I mentioned. I also didn't think it could match the flavor of my usual 3 day cold fermented dough. But I followed the recipe. Anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to try this special edition 00 flour from The Legend.

I used my baking method. I developed it across much trial and error and it's the closest I can get to foolproof and repeatable results in the home oven. It solves two critical problems a). messy pizza transfers. b) the bottom being done before the top or vice versa. (I have never been able to get good results with the stone at the top rack under the broiler. My oven just isn't good enough and has too many hot spots. So, treating the bottom and top separately in this manner was a revelation.)

Amy's Pizza Baking Method

1. Place two oven racks in the oven. One at the lowest position and one at the highest position. Place steel or pizza stone on lowest rack.

2. Pre-heat oven at 550F for an hour.

3. Shape dough into disk. Transfer to parchment paper and top pizza as desired.

4. Use a peel to place the pizza with parchment paper on the lower rack's pizza stone.

5. After 2 minutes, your dough should be set enough to allow you to easily remove the parchment paper. Using tongs and pizza peel, remove the parchment paper.

6. Continue cooking until your pizza's bottom has reached your desired level of doneness.

7. Transfer pizza directly to the top rack. (It should have no problem being supported by the rack as the crust is well set at this point) and turn on the broiler.

8. Broil for 1-2 minutes until the top of your pizza has reached your desired level of doneness. Don't walk away. Watch it through your window so you know exactly when to pull it.

Forkish calls for a 7 minute bake time. I did 6 minutes on the bottom rack and 1 minute on the top. This pizza turned out a little too crispy. I did the second pizza for 5 minutes on the bottom rack and 90 seconds on the top rack. This was absolutely perfect. It had a thin crisp layer on the outside but a soft, air center. It was full of flavor. The difference in those 30 seconds from the first pizza to the second is transformative. It's not a matter of heat loss as the oven remained on and re-heated for half an hour between pies.

My pictures are not plentiful or super revealing, but this was really a great dough. Before bake the dough was more supple than any dough I've ever worked with, even without oil. This is some really good flour and it made a great pie.

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BreadBabies

They say it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village - a village of Fresh Loafers - to raise my bread.

Things were going swimmingly until one day, my starter had an identity crisis. But it wasn't that simple, because it was a secret identity crisis. My starter culture, which consisted of purely rye, was rising beautifully after each refreshing...3.5x in 10 hours. It was so airy that beyond the water float test, it looked like it might fly.

My bread on the other hand was flat -- and not in a flat is beautiful kind of way. I wasn't making rye breads either. Sure, they had a few grams of rye for flavor, but these were primarily white sourdoughs. Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough was more like a Vermont pancake. And this was the sourdough people started with...the easy, introductory sourdough people recommended to first-time bakers because it's yummy and straight-forward. But I wasn't getting it.  I tried 3 times. Same story. I tried other recipes. No luck. My loaves looked nothing like the loaves other community members were making, even beginners baking their very first breads were putting me to shame. Frustrated, I considered giving up the whole thing. I have about 10 bread baking books and I've read every inch of them, but clearly, this just wasn't my particular talent. So the choice was to give in or double down.

The Fresh Loaf is the only reason I even had that choice. This community rescued me, troubleshot with me, advised and encouraged me.

I re-educated myself on shaping, benching, fermenting, everything I could think of that might compromise my rise. But in the end, this community helped me figure out that my problem was that my rye starter had become a picky eater, refusing to respond to any other variety of flour. And this community advised me on how to transition to a starter that would have more umph.

I'm still figuring out the perfect way to maintain my starter; it's a work-in-progress. But after about 2 weeks of working with it, I tried a loaf today. And as I have this community to thank for keeping me in the game, I wanted to make a TFL classic. Pictured is David's San Joaquin Sourdough.  It rose beautifully and tasted great. The crumb was as good as any I had baked, even before the identity crisis. It's not perfect...I'm still pretty new at this...but it's light years beyond where I came from.

So, this is a Fresh Loaf Loaf because without this community, it never would have happened.

Special thanks to Mini Oven, Trevor Wilson, and the patron saint of sourdough starters, Debra Wink.  And of course, to the good doctor for his great recipe and many others who offered advice.

I'm still working on it and the questions will still be coming...but a big THANK YOU for getting me here.

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BreadBabies

I recently posted looking for ideas on solving my problem of not having a solid surface counter top. This is not normally an issue except when working with high hydration doughs. Then, it's such a big issue that I find it very difficult to make a decent loaf.

What didn't work:

A pastry mat: I have a pastry mat but it can get damaged by the corners of the bench knife and since it's not on a solid surface to begin with, it tends to slide around. Also, they're difficult to clean.

Plastic cutting board: Big disaster. They are a bit porous (especially after being used and getting some knife cuts)  and not large enough to accommodate my dough.

Butcher block: If you've got $100+ to throw at a butcher block large enough to accommodate dough, then you probably have a solid surface counter top to begin with. Since I'm short and they are high, they also make the work space a little too tall for me.

What did work:

I went to my local granite store (like a indie shop that specializes in counter tops, not a big box store). I purchased a leftover cut piece 20 x 26" for $20. That's less than I paid for the pastry mat on Amazon. Now all is right with the world. Exhale.....

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BreadBabies

Making bread, great bread, takes some planning ahead and some dough babysitting. It's work worth doing, but sometimes you need bread fast. That's why I'm seeking the "minimum effective dose" for success. I heard this term coined in The 4 Hour Chef by Timothy Ferriss. It's not a groundbreaking concept, but he revolves much of his life around its pursuit, which is intriguing. He wants to find the balance of the best you can do with the least amount of work.

So, that's my question for the bread veterans out there. What is the minimum effective dose for great artisan/hearth bread? There will be times when I am able to plan 2 days ahead and get a great loaf full of complexity and flavor. But sometimes I realize around lunch that I'd like to have bread by dinner. So, let's say 5 hours from concept to a loaf emerging from the oven. On those days, I also don't want to wait around and fold the bread 4 times every 20 minutes. So, I need it to be pretty hands off.

Pictured is my first attempt. I used commercial yeast (of course) but also added unfed starter to the dough, not for the rising properties, but for flavor. I kept the hydration pretty high, since I wanted that hearth, open-crumb bread just not the long autolyse that goes with it. I also used AP flour because I wanted the yeast to be able to blow it up quickly. Those choices plus my desire not to clean a mixer, meant I didn't quite get the gluten development I was after by just hand kneading. Since I was going for speed, I proofed warm, which made it a bit hard to work with but not impossible with an assertive bench scraper.  I think I can tweak those variables. It had good texture and decent crumb, and while not flavorless, I feel I can do better.

I'm considering America's Test Kitchen alternatives to Jim Lahey's bread. They add 1 tbl of distilled vinegar (for acetic acid) and replace 6 tbl of water with lager (for complexity). They do the long autolyse with a small amount of yeast. But I'm thinking to myself, if I'm adding the flavor in those forms, why not just use commercial yeast and save time? Wondering if anybody has tried this or has other tips on getting a loaf out quick.

I know there are folks who have already tread this path with wisdom to share!

(Not sure how to include an additional shot of the interior without separately hosting the image.)

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BreadBabies

So, you've seen some sexy artisan bread pics...maybe on Instagram or Pinterest and you realize the loaves were all made by ordinary folks. You think, "Hey, that looks good. I want to make some bread, too." Here's my perspective on how you can get started with the least amount of pain. I'll tell you right now, it's not how I got started, which is why I know exactly what I'm talking about. I flew too close to the sun too fast, and it cost me quite a bit of angst, flour, and sanity. Here's the easier way for those interested in the hearth-style/artisan breads.

1. Make Jim Lahey's bread.  Method and recipe found here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

Start with this recipe because it requires very little knowledge, no buying of cookbooks, zero dough babysitting, and pretty much no specialty equipment (unless you don't have a Dutch oven). As simple as that is, it's still better than 99% of bread you can buy at a store.

Once you've made this bread, one of two things will happen. 1) Your bread-making soul will be fulfilled and you'll be happy to continue making this very easy and decent recipe for the rest of your days. Your friends will coo and bask in your baking glory, and you'll enjoy a life of lovely bread without the indentured servitude that comes with more involved methods. You will live happily ever after. Amen. 2) This will create an itch. You'll start to get curious about bread. Although this bread is tasty, you'll wonder how you can make it more complex, how you can add and alter things. You'll decide this is a hobby you want to dive into a little bit further and invest some time and research.

2. Read Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast by Ken Forkish. (You can get this from some libraries. I got mine at a discount used on Amazon.) I have consumed many bread books, but this is the one I recommend for taking the next step. That's because Forkish is writing for the home baker and he gives you a lot of fundamental information that will help you with your baking without going into too much detail.  (You probably aren't interested on reading a treatise about the 20 different styles of commercial dough mixers at this point.) There are many other fine books out there (I didn't start with this one though I wish I had). But this one has the right level of detail and his recipes are charted beautifully. If you don't yet have one, get a digital scale that weighs in grams. You're also ready for your first bread-equipment investment (it's a small one): get a bench scraper.

You might ask yourself, do I need a book at all? I have the vast knowledge of the internet. To that, I would answer a resounding yes. Blogs and community information is great and I use it all the time (I mean, look where I am writing this)! But in the beginning, the authority of a professional baker writing for the home baker is helpful and more efficient/effective than searching the internet for nuggets of information. Can it be done without books? Absolutely. But this book helped me sift through the information and develop a systematic understanding.

3. (optional). If you're getting into this thing, now's the time you may want to invest in some additional equipment, which is all very cost effective. This includes a lame and a banneton.  These items are really nice, particularly for beautifying your loaves. Just be sure your banneton size fits your cooking vessel. Neither the lame nor banneton is absolutely necessary. You can use a bowl instead of a banneton (which you've probably been doing up to now) and a sharp knife or razor in lieu of a lame. Or you can continue to go au natural as suggested by both Lahey and Forkish and just let the bread split however it wants. The only absolutely necessary tool is a bench scraper.

4. Here is where things get interesting. If you've made it this far and you're interested in more knowledge, consider picking up Hamelman's Bread: A Baker's Book of Te ecchniques and Recipes. He will take you into even further detail about the bread baking process and offer lots of recipes for classic breads, like brioche. He also gives you some really great information on how to work with other flours like rye. If you're willing to read this one, you've graduated from hobbyist to enthusiast. Congratulations! Another book that you might consider because it goes more broadly than artisan breads and because it offers you some good information about transforming recipes and making them modular is Barenbaum's Bread Bible. I have that one, but I have to admit, I've yet to use it. I do enjoy that she helps you categorize the different types of bread, which my analytical nature really enjoys. However, I've yet to put information from that book into practice.

There are many other great texts that get mentioned on this site a lot. I'd be very interested to hear what other books folks have found useful. Reinhart's Artisan Bread Every Day gets frequent mention, but I haven't read it so cannot comment.

Please add your knowledge to this list.  Thanks!

P.S. I started with Tartine. This was very aggravating for me. It wasn't until I read FWSY that I was able to make a gorgeous Tartine loaf. The principles explained in that book helped me to troubleshoot and understand where I was going wrong. Tartine does also have some fundamental information, but it wasn't quite enough to get me over the hump. Tartine loaves are lovely, so not a knock on the book, just my ability to use it as a newbie.

Subjects: Best artisan bread books. Which bread books to buy. How to start making bread.

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BreadBabies

After making multiple Tartine loaves, I decided to add some commercial yeast as insurance and to get a better crumb (wish I had taken a pic of the inside). This was definitely the best crumb bread I've made yet.

For a one-loaf recipe (500g flour), I dissolved 1/8 tsp commercial yeast into the 25g of water.  I added this yeast-water with the salt after autolyse. 3.5 hour bulk ferment and retarded final rise in fridge overnight.

Worked out amazing and still had the same flavor.

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