The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.
Erzsebet Gilbert's picture

The mystery of the ghost biscuit

October 18, 2009 - 10:55pm -- Erzsebet Gilbert

This isn't a problem - it's just a big conundrum to me, and I'm simply wondering whether anybody can solve it...

The other day, I asked my husband what sort of bread he'd like for me to make the most.  He said a regular loaf - but salty! extra salt!  So I warned him that salt can kill yeast, and at best we'd have a very slow rise, but he said he didn't care - just salty!  (For safety's sake I made another loaf, the same recipe but without extra salt, too!)

rolls's picture

richard bertinet dough and weighing small amounts

October 18, 2009 - 8:31pm -- rolls

hi i made richard bertinet's basic white dough the other day. as he suggested i weighed everything even the water, to be more accurate. however, i found it difficult to weigh small amounts such as the salt and yeast.

i also found my dough dry compared to his, although i did use his method and recipes and the results were excellent. i made two fougasse and two baguettes.

i was wondering if anyone can lend some advice regarding these?

 thanks heaps.

Floydm's picture
Floydm

We started the day with Sourdough English Muffins.

After lunch I made my first batch of Anis Bouabsa's baguettes.

I hurried things a bit, only giving them about 16 hours in the fridge, probably not letting them rise quite enough before putting them in the oven, and slicing them while still hot.  Nevertheless, they were quite good.  I definitely want to try this again. 

Finally I made a sourdough miche using the technique crumb bum introduced a couple of years ago.

I've not cracked this one open yet.  I'm looking forward to it.

Actually this wasn't the end of the baking, because I also made corn bread muffins to go with the pot of green tomato chili I made, which was awesome.  Followed up by some of the remaining birthday cake Dorota made.  It is a pity that baking season comes at a different time than prime bicycling season here, because after a day like today I could certainly use the exercise!

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Getting ready for some Italian hoagies!  This is the recipe from the King Arthur bread recipes  http://kingarthurflour.com site type in scali bread in the recipes search box.  I hand mixed and did stretch and folds.  After my biga or starter they call it 'which can also be made with a 'biga naturale' for a little more chew...it was ready from a long night in my cool bathroom..this morning the starter looked perfect and I cut it up into the room temperature water, mixed it real good to start it dissolving added the olive oil and about a 1/4 cup flour from the pre measured flour.  In a separate bowl I wisked my all the rest of my dry ingredients..If you use the King Arthur Dry Milk powder..which I do..be sure and push it through a sieve..because it does not dissolve easily and can make lumps in your crumb if it's not sifted and mixed in good with the dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix till moist and let it autolyse for about 40-50 minutes then I did 3 stretch and folds about 40-50 min. apart..until I had a good gluten formation.  Pre-shaped them and rested about 5 min. and shaped them into rolls..I had a double batch..let them rise till very puffy..washed them with egg white and water, sprinkled with a few sesame seeds and washed them again.  Baked in a pre heated 450°F convection oven on parchment lined trays for exactyly 20 mins.  No need to steam them.

Crumb shot....these are my favorite italian sandwich rolls.

Sylvia

 

amazonium's picture

Bagel bagel bagel

October 18, 2009 - 1:43pm -- amazonium
Forums: 

Okay, all you chemistry people: I bought some 'kansui lye water' at my friendly Oriental market and I am wondering if it can be used when boiling bagels? The label reads " potassium carbonate & sodium bicarbonate solution"  "use 1 part solution to 50 parts water to refresh dried squid"- so, whaddya think? I bought it to use when making Chinese noodles.  

JeremyCherfas's picture
JeremyCherfas

Dan Lepard had a great recipe in The Guardian magazine back on 19 September 2009. I don't recall anyone here posting about it, but when I tried it I encountered a problem. Nothing insurmountable, though, thanks to Dan's forum.

Anyway, I wrote about it in detail at my blog. I'm putting this here in case anyone else comes looking.

And here's the warning: be very careful not to overheat the initial mixture of rye and coffee.

Happy baking

Jeremy

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