The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Newbie mistake

Newfieguy's picture
Newfieguy

Newbie mistake

Hey everyone,

I pretty much made a serious boo boo and would be curious to know technically why.  I always use a very basic recipe for bread.  No measuring other than the yeast packet and the water but basically just keep tossing in seeds, sunflour, flax, pumpkin, blah blah and then WW flour until it stops clinging to the bowl and wraps around the hook.

It always has worked out perfectly but I went to the whole foods store near my place and bought a TON of seeds.  I think I went a little overboard.  I added way too much.  The loaf would have turned out like a brick but I said what the heck, more seeds can not be bad so I threw in the kitchen sink.

I did not put enough flour in I guess as it did not stick to the hook as my bowl was so full it would have wrapped itself around the whole kitchenaid if I let it climb up so I just scraped it, let it rise and it hardly rose at all and then when I baked it, it rose a bit but it was hard as a rock and when the regular time I cook it, 10 mins on 400 and then 20 on 350 came about I took it out and it was still goo inside.

Then I cut the whole thing in half, separated them and put one half in its own pan and left it to bake a while longer, took them out, cut them in half again and it was still not cooked through so now I had 4 chunks, I am telling you it was amateur hour.

Technically where did I go wrong here other than not using a recipe?  I have never had a loaf flop that badly before.  My guess is that I did not have enough flour in the mix to rise or basically bake.  The bread was awful, hard as a rock and the inside was like cement.  (I still ate it now of course!  waste not want not!  hehe)  but that is about it right?

If I had taken a temp reading inside obviously it would have not been hot enough so I should have kept it in longer.  I do not have this temp probe so I might have to go buy one but any idea what the idea temp center of bread should be before you haul it out?

Thanks all.

Head hung in shame!

 

 

 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Lift up that chin!  No shame allowed! A wonderful world awaits you!  (and a probe with your name on it)

All you needed to do would be to cover with foil, turn down the heat a little bit and let it steam in it's own juices for a hour or two (up to many hours) until the inside temp says it's done.  Helps to add a little more water too with all those seeds or even soak them first for a while.

Look up the recipes and get some idea of what you were doing.  Vollkornbrot is Full-grain-bread translated from German.

Mini

Newfieguy's picture
Newfieguy

Cool Mimi,

What temp do you suggest it be inside before removing it?

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

but somewhere in the neighborhood of 205°F

Mini Oven

Newfieguy's picture
Newfieguy

What temperature would you bake it at?  I always start out at 400 and then turn it down but for something that dense I would think that is way too hot.

 

Thanks!  I do love that thick dense loaf taste!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

That taste can get addictive!  Yummy!

400°F  is not soooo hot.  You could drop it down to 350°F or even 325°F if you want to, it will take longer the lower you set the oven.  Did you check out seedy recipes?  If you cover the dough while baking with foil, the trapped steam will protect the loaf for a while.  When you smell the crust browning, turn down the temp.  Keep notes (better ones) and let us know what you find out.  It is good to test your knowledge and limits!  Keep up the creative spirit! 

If you like dumping into the bowl (I do too) set it onto a scale, tare the bowl and with each ingredient you add, look down and record it and the weight, tare and add something else.  You will soon to start seeing patterns in the amounts and results that you get.  That way if you come out with a bread you like, you can repeat it without too much trouble. 

Happy Grains to you...

Mini

 

Newfieguy's picture
Newfieguy

ALl that is noted and next loaf will be covered!

 

What are Seedy Recipies?

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi

...but why are you asking a "technical" question??

You know where you went wrong.   No scales and tossing ingredients in as you see fit.   Maybe this is your problem?

Given I only work in percentages and grams, maybe I'm looking at your errors in a way you don't really want to look at them yourself?

However, it really is the best way for you to take control from the outset.   Buy some digital scales, and work with recipes which inspire you with confidence in the way they are constructed.

BW

Andy

Newfieguy's picture
Newfieguy

That is all and fine to measure out every single ounce of this thing and every single nano gram of that thing etc but the question then is where do you find out exactly how much of what to put in a recipe for whole grains?  I am sure there are probably 1000 different people who have a thousand different varities of any single recipe no?

If I had to do it all over again I still would not know how much exactly of flour to put in so I always used the "cling to the hook" method and until this time it has never failed!  This time I put so much in it was impossible for it to cling to the hook or it would have overflowed over the top of the hook so I just decided to bake it and it was so dense it did not bake!  Oh well, live and learn.

 

yozzause's picture
yozzause

Well when you know what went in and and more importantly whether you liked it or not you are able to vary some of the less critical ingrediants in a dough formula. You are then able to build up your knowledge and your own preferences, and more importantly replicate what worked for you. You can then even share your documented discoveries with others.

A tip if you are flying by the seat of your pants and WANT to know what went in after the event is to weigh a quantity of flour say 3kgs and after you have thrown in your several extra hand fulls weigh whats left over and you will KNOW what went in! I find this particularly helpful with the water AND KNOWING THE HYDRATION LEVEL if i am wanting to pass on an accurate account of what i did for others to follow. Measure say 3 litres and use what is required and measure what is left, the added advantage of this tip with the water is that if you are wanting to achieve a certain finished temperature then the water will be all the same rather than when you add an extra splash or two during the mix. 

Knowledge is the key, know what you put in what you did or didn't do, alternatively  rely on guess work, i know which one works for me. 

Regards Yozza

yozzause's picture
yozzause

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