Bread of Life facebook photos
Outstanding!
I just saw the post with the bread pics from the bread of life, that just motivates me to want to learn more and more!
Ok, I have 2 questions as a result of flipping through those photos.
1) - when you "slash" bread, do you need a special tool to do it? I have baked a lot of loaves and when I slash the loaf, the loaf often "pulls" with the direction of the slash and I basically just screw up the shape of the loaf. Is that because I am just not using a sharp enough knife or is there a special tool to give it that deep down slash. I am pretty sure if I went down that deep I would just distort the shape of the loaf. Is there a trick to the trade on this?
2) Sprinkling seeds on the top of a loaf. I see some artists in here that can really top a loaf beautifully with different types of grain to give it an amazing look. I saw some that were using some kind of cracked wheat or something or maybe barley oats or something and it just wanted to make you shove your whole face in there and start chomping. The question, how do you get the little buggers to stay on there? I have tried to put them on the loaf prior to baking so the loaf is in the pan, it has already risen, ready to bake, I sprinkle the oats or whatever on top and push down a bit on them to try and make them stick but by the time I have the loaf out of the pan and just touch it or put it in a bread bag or something, the next time I move the bag they all fall off and wind up in teh bottom of the bag. Do you do a brush of some kind, egg wash over the seeds or push them in harder into the bread to make them stick or what? Any tools of the trade on this one? By the time we got through the last loaf I made with seeds on teh top there was not a single one left as they all fell off!
Thanks everyone! Great site and those pics on facebook really hit home to me that I want to learn more about it all and not just make the same whole grain bread over and over again! hehe
Cheers and looking forward to responses!
Newfienewguy!
Hi, Newfienewguy.
I suggest you read the Scoring tutorial here on TFL. However, your second question implies you are baking pan loaves, and these are often baked without any scoring.
To get seeds and grains to stick, apply them after the loaf is formed and panned but before proofing. Lightly spraying the loaf with water may help. Other glazes such as egg wash or milk may be used on some breads, according to the recipes.
I hope this helps.
David
Good heavens I did not know there was that much to it! Can you buy those scoring razor blade knives at a Bed Bath and Beyond type of shop or do you really need a baking speciality store for them?
Cheers!
I assume you are referring to the green-handled lame -That's the French term for a bread scoring tool. It's pronounced "lahm."
I've never seen them anywhere but on baking supply web sites like King Arthur Flour or breadtopia.com. However, a regular razor blade you might buy in a drug store works just as well. If you search TFL on "lame," you will find additional information and ideas.
David
I too am fairly new to baking breads. I am a semi-reitred engineer who also happens to be very cheap. I made one by tearing apart one of my wife's bic razors. Prior to this I was using a VERY sharp bread knife which seemed to work adequately. The bic blade is much smaller than a double edge blade and is much harder to work with but double edged razor blades can be hard to find. Check Amazon under "Dorco" for blades. Again, check amazon under lames, they have a number to offer.