The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

ITJB Week 6: Polish Potato Bread (1/7/12 - 1/14/12)

Urchina's picture
Urchina

ITJB Week 6: Polish Potato Bread (1/7/12 - 1/14/12)

After the excesses of the  holidays, something warm and comforting and thrifty like soup and bread sounds like a great dinner. We've had soup probably four times since the New Year already, and have a wonderful lineup for the next couple of weeks, as all of my cooking magazines seem to have taken soup as their mantra for January and February issues.

Ok, back to the bread. This just looked good. And I promise, promise, promise that I am going to improve upon my (as-of-now) deplorable batting average and actually post on this one!

Looking forward (as always) to everyone else's experiences as well!

 

Kendra

loydb's picture
loydb

Between the challenges and the holidays, I'm about sweeted out. Looking forward to bread and potato soup!

 

 

littlelisa's picture
littlelisa

Greetings all from sunny, summery Cape Town

I'm about 3 weeks behind with this challenge, but have been loving the baking, and gradually updating on my blog, which you can find at http://relentlessabundance.wordpress.com.

All best

Lisa

 

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

We 3 sisters, gmabaking, gmabaking2, and gmagmabaking2.... made the potato bread with mostly good results. Barb and Helen, the first two user names listed had flat loaves with not much oven spring, nice airy bread and nice hole patterns. Very tasty and great for toast or with soups. Mine was very dense, first not rising, then I slashed it too soon and deflated with had risen... then had a brain Poof and decided to combine it into one loaf... then didn't rise adequately, and ended up being quite the brick!  HEAVY takes on a whole new meaning when lifting or attempting to cut that loaf. But since my talented sisters had success, I may actually try again  when I am having a more "patient" day.  They did a fabulous job as per their usual.  We are looking forward to the closed pockets and learning to make puff pastry.

Diane

 

gmabaking2's picture
gmabaking2

Had Eggs Benedict yesterday morning using the toasted Potato Bread instead of an English Muffin and the egg was delicious filling all the nooks and crannies even better than an English Muffin!

cheesehappens's picture
cheesehappens

I followed the recipe exactly, except for slashing the bread and brushing the tops with oil, for fear of deflating the pillowy dough. There wasn't much in the way of oven spring. I left the loaves in until they were a gorgeous deep orange-brown, but the crumb turned out to be incredibly moist. It's still just as moist a day later, so I'm thinking this is a bread that should be eaten quickly so it does not mold. I was very surprised by the lightness and the open structure, not at all what I expected from a bread made with high gluten flour. It struck me as far from the humble bread my ancestors probably ate. 

cheesehappens's picture
cheesehappens

In my previous comment, I worried this bread would mold after a few days, so I'm happy to report that the last little piece I gobbled up this morning was just fine at five days old. Other commenters hit it on the head - this bread is just like crumpets/English muffins, and I'm a bit curious to bake it next time in such a form.

dawkins's picture
dawkins

...are the words that best describe my Polish Potato Bread experience. :o) I was very glad to have a savoury one this week too - in the end I weeded out of making the honey cake, mainly because I couldn't face another cake!

Making this one was tricky, as the dough seemed to be very wet indeed - maybe I messed up with the measuring, but it was more gloopy than just sticky. I mixed it by hand in a bowl and let it rise in the bowl, then with a lot of flour dusted about I was able to shape it into one large and two small loaves, which is what I have in the way of tins. It rose nicely, I slashed the top terribly badly with my inept use of my new lame, but they still sprung nicely in the oven. At this point I realised I'd totally forgotten to add the salt - stupid! Without salt, it tasted flat, but with a nice smear of marmite or a slice of cheese it's delicious. Reminded me a lot of crumpets - might try this dough to make some, I think. It's the wettest dough I've used and I love the spongy texture it had (the crumb shot is from a very shallow loaf tin, rather than showing a lack of rise). Another winner from ITJB.

 

 

bonnibakes's picture
bonnibakes

We weighed most ingredients, using the larger flour amount. It was obvious early on that the dough was way too wet but we continued with the recipe as written to see how it played out.

The instructions warned about adding more flour, so it had to be poured out of the mixer.

At this point it was less Polish and more Salavdor Dali-esque

I didn't have two 9x5 loaf pans available and decided to divide it among three 8.5x4...another mistake.

 

They didn't rise very well and some seriously stuck to the bottom of two out of three pans. The third loaf popped right out, probably a different manufacturer.

 

The very wet interior was more like a potatonik than potato bread. We rescued it by toasting but obviously something very wrong happened here. Since others have happily had better results, I'm trying to figure out what went wrong? We followed the recipe carefully with all items measured correctly. Could the mashed potatoes have contained too much moisture? I used Bread Flour instead of Hi-Gluten, could that have contributed to this? The dough was closer to that produced for artisan no-knead bread but even when I've had to literally pour that into a baking pan, it has risen & baked correctly. Any ideas?

Thanks, Bonni

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

I agree, I had no success with this one... disappointing, since my sisters had good loaves... not much rise for them but tasty... ahhh... this is the purpose of this challenge to see how different things can be in different kitchens and climates I believe.  

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

In your before picture of the 3 loaf pans... did you also bake the loaves on silicone and a baking pan?  If so, try them just on the rack or just the sheet pan, the silpat might be keeping the heat away from the bottom of the loaf where it is needed most.  Just a thought. :)

I'm also wondering if the variety of potatoes and amounts (medium size under volume) has something to do with the variety of results.  Try this... hold back just a little of the potato water when mixing to add if needed.  Just from looking at the potato amount (80%) vs the flour amount,  not mash the potatoes but use a large hole size grater, takes only a minute.  

I have not yet made a loaf with so much potato!  Stan?  This reminds me more of potato pancakes.  Large flat pan perhaps?

Currently I've got the cooked potatoes cooling but making one loaf from the half the gram measurements, also added 1/4 tsp or 0.5g ground caraway and plan to mix up the dough without the yeast adding later after the dough has stood overnight at 15°C.  Will double the yeast when I add it to raise the bread.    

bonnibakes's picture
bonnibakes

I appreciate your suggestions Mini Oven. I want to try this bread again and agree that next time I'll be cautious about adding all of the potato water. The bottom of two pans were so highly fried that they stuck and looked like hash fries. When I see the good results that some people achieved, I'm still stumped about what caused such a wild difference. After running a bakery/cafe for 12 years I know we were very careful regarding measurements and suspect that the problem was just too much wet potato & water in the recipe.

Today we made the Closed Pockets, although that isn't a name I remember hearing in the local Brooklyn bakeries of my youth...Cheese Danish was more common. I've never made puff pastry from scratch before, and we opted for the Blitz version because of time constraints. Don't be afraid to try this one. It starts out looking VERY STICKY, but becomes easy to work with after a few folds. We used the cheese filling and the pastries were delicious. I'll post pictures and some specific questions in a day or two. We had so much extra filling that I plan to bake another dozen tomorrow. Try it, you'll like it.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Was doing fine with the dough until I added 7.5 g yeast and let it bulk rise for an hour.  What a sticky mess!  Now I know what everyone is talking about.  

Ended up with a dense small loaf.  I used a smaller pan than the recipe, 11cm x 25cm and the dough filled less than half.  Double would not come close to the rim.  I did get some oven spring and the middle domed higher than the rim but I'm not keen to try this again without changes.  I also unpanned the loaf and let it brown further on the rack.  Crumb was transparent with large bubbles, tasty but ugly moist.  

gmabaking's picture
gmabaking

Last week's bake of Potato Bread was very different from yesterday's Almost Wonder Bread baked for picky grandchildren who don't know better bread. Today our bread box holds a tall, lofty loaf which looks like it should be on the prize table at the County Fair, and a tiny crust of Potato Bread that somehow escaped the soup and bread dinner.  The Almost Wonder Bread is beautiful and tastes good but the Potato Bread was so far superior in the taste and texture that we have come to love over the past two years of bread making. Had to laugh, thinking of years past when our eldest sister and I occasionaly baked bread--the Wonder Bread would have been considered the pinnacle of success. Have enjoyed the challenge almost as much as the recipe testing, except for the mystery of not knowing what the new recipes would be each week. Next week's puff pastry will definitely take me out of comfort zone and into new realms of goodness.

Nici's picture
Nici

When I read Bonni's review it could have been mine, even the pictures were the same.  Very wet dough, which could only be poured into the pans, it hardly rose at all, and baked like a brick.  That said we did eat it up - waste not, want not.   Since then I have made a sourdough potato bread from the Bourke Street Bakery book, and that was very good in both taste and looks.  I am really looking forward to next week now.

carlene's picture
carlene

As others have said, this dough was very wet.  I didn’t measure my flour very accurately.  I had weighed what was left in the bag and knew I had just a bit more than what was called for, so just stopped adding when it cleaned the sides of the bowl.  I do think I had a little more flour than the recipe specified.  I still felt it was too wet, but was afraid to add more because of the caution in the recipe.  I did use high gluten flour.  Even with my hands floured it was a bit difficult to work with.  I did brush it with oil and slash it, although my slashing technique needs work.  I didn’t get much oven spring either.  The result--actually quite good.  It makes excellent toast.  I am really enjoying baking along with everyone.  Next week looks extremely challenging.  It will move me out of my comfort zone.  We are spending a long week-end on California’s beautiful Central Coast, so I won’t have much time and it certainly looks like it will take some time.

Carlene

siuflower's picture
siuflower

Here is my trying for the polish potato bread. I read the comments on the blog regarding this recipe and knowing that the dough was very wet and soft.

I did make some changing on the recipe. I feed my starter yesterday and I had 3.5 ounces of old starter and I wanted to use it in my bread. I known the starter had 2 ounces of WW flour and 1.5 ounces of water. I reduced the same amount of flour and potato water in this recipe. The rest of the flour I used high gluten flour.

I cooked and smashed the potatoes, added the starter into the mashed potato, I mixed the potato and starter together before adding the flour and yeast. The flat paddle was on #1 speed and I added the water slowly. I added the salt and mixed again.  Then I  used the dough hook to knead the dough on #2 speed for 12 minutes. The dough never came off the bowl and it was very wet and soft like everyone said.

I poured out the dough on the counter and feel that the dough had not built up the gluten, because there was no strength in the dough. I did more than 10 minutes slap and fold of the dough (you can knead the dough instead). I can feel the dough had some resistant but the dough was still very wet. I known that the potato was the reason for the dough so wet. I also known the dough had some strength in it. I put the dough in an oil bowl and let it bulk ferment for 90 minutes like the book said. After 90 minutes, the dough was double and a lot of air bubbles on the surface. I degased the dough and divided it into two loaves and put it in the well-greased pans and let it proofed for another 60 minutes. The dough rose up to the rim of the pans. I baked it in 375 F for 30 minutes, check the temperature of breads and it went up to more that 200 F.  It was 10 PM and I just left the loaves on the rack to cool. This morning I sliced the bread, it was very soft and a lot of holes in it. My husband complained this bread is way too soft and it was a surprise from a guy who loves wonder bread. 

 

Ready to bake.

Cooling on the rack.

A lot of holes and the bread is very soft.

 

siuflower

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

Every body loved my sister's potato bread... (gmabaking2) she had to make it again, this time with even greater results...She had a good rise, oven spring, and a great crumb. For some reason, I couldn't load her pictures, but trust me, they are awesome. I will be brave and attempt it again myself... tomorrow... right after we 3 sisters bake together again making the closed pockets!!! Yeah, baking day. Loving these challenges.

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Back from our vacation in Mexico, after an overdose of Christmas sweets and a consecutive fast, this is my second challenge bread.

Like the others, I followed the instructions, heeding the warning not to add any more flour. Two factors made it difficult to judge whether the consistency of the dough was right. I used my new KA 600 Pro (giving it another chance after initial disappointment) and wasn't sure whether the dough hook was really able to grab all of the ingredients, and, like the others, not exactly knowing how the consistency of this potato-rich dough was supposed to be like.

I took Russet potatoes, as given in the recipe, and First Clear Flour (a bit shocked, that it is bleached - I would usually never use bleached flour). I found the dough to be very wet, too. I didn't know whether it was supposed to clear just the sides of the bowl, like Pain à l'Ancienne dough, or, also, the bottom.

I bake Pains à l'Anciennes every week, and, therefore, I'm used to handle very wet dough. But Ancienne dough is cut in slices, not shaped, and the Potato Bread dough was, also, absolutely unshapable. I managed to fold it a bit with the bench scraper, and flip it into a container for the bulk rise.

Here I deviated from the recipe - I retard, almost routinely, most of my doughs overnight in the fridge. It rose just fine, but was still very wet, and really impossible to shape. Basically it had to be flipped from the board into the pan (I made only one bread, not knowing what to expect). I didn't even try to score it.

The bread rose, slowly, to the rim of the pan, and I baked it for 35 minutes - it registered 204 F. It had a nice ovenspring, and looked quite appetizing. Since the dough was so hydrated, I left the bread, unpanned, for another 10 minutes in the switched-off oven, with the door slightly ajar.

When we cut it for our lunch, it showed larger holes, than it (probably) was supposed to have, but had a nice, thin, crisp crust. We were wowed by the taste, toasted and untoasted. I really didn't expect anything like it, and was sorry that I didn't make the two breads!

I will definitely bake this bread again, substituting a bit of the white flour with whole wheat, and starting with 300 g water, adding the rest slowly, ending up, maybe, with 320 g water instead of 340. I do believe that the taste improved by the long, cold fermentation.

Karin

 

 

 

littlelisa's picture
littlelisa

Hi all

I've been wondering, with all these posts about too-sticky doughs: which measurements are you using? The book gives measures in grams, pounds and ounces, and cup measures. I would say that if you're baking a recipe you haven't made before (and therefore don't have a 'feel' for), stick with the weight measures - and stick with only one category, ie just the imperial or just the metric. Cups are very unreliable - not sure about you, but one cup of flour (for me) tends to weigh anywhere between 130 and 150 grams, and apparently US cups are different to UK cups (though I thought a cup was 250 ml).

Before I joined this forum, and started reading about 'artisanal' breadbaking, I used to think that it was necessary to add flour to any doughs long enough that it became easy to handle (!!!) It's not, of course, but I can tell you that the most forgiving of this misapprehension was potato bread: the potato water and mashed potato somehow lend a moisture to the dough that doesn't readily give over to dryness. In other words, if your 'sticky mess' was really too wet to handle, you could certainly add a handful or two of flour without disaster striking.

Before that, though, I'd suggest trying a few stretch-and-folds in the bowl: it's amazing how quickly this stretches the gluten into making something workable of a wet, messy dough. My potato bread certainly went from wet to stretchy and handleable (not doughy though, but I like wet doughs these days).

That said, I totally messed up my proofing times, and underproofed this time (having overproofed the challah!!), so couldn't bring myself to photograph the loaves. But they still tasted delicious and I will definitely be making this bread again. I've put a photo of a slice, alongside a more photogenic bowl of soup (which went beautifully with the bread) here: http://relentlessabundance.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/potato-bread-and-a-lovely-soup/

Lisa

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

was still dense and wet.  I went the S&F route for wet dough.  Did a round of folds in the bowl during the bulk rise.  Folded until my dough took shape.  Moving it to the pan was such a job I did more S&Fs and more and more.  I had a heck of a time getting some sort of skin on the top surface.  I had large bubbles like crazy!  Was brutal to the dough more than once stamping out the large air pockets, "no way you crazy goop!"    No gentleness with this stuff, it takes advantage!  Didn't someone cage gar gum in the 70's and call it slime?  Samo, samo.  

It used the metric half recipe.  Several thoughts... one is the 80% potato amount.  It is not common or reasonable to have over one third (or 66% of flour weight) of the dough made with a non-gluten substance that combines with AP wheat flour.  I think we can safely say that potatoes with their starch and bread flour could run up a little higher but 80% is very high.  Potatoes contain a lot of moisture (70%???) so nagging at me is the potato moisture of the mashed potato.  If the dough consistency without the potato is at 60% hydration (acceptable, not a wet dough) then comes the potato, wow, what are we looking at ... over 90% hydration?  (I'm guessing here.)    All I did was boil the potato peeled/ halved under water until just done.  Others might cook the potato longer giving a wetter potato.  Logic says some adjustments have to be made later in the dough hydration.  I was actually tempted to roll my grated potato into flour until it resembled something doughy or crumbly (must be a knödel dumpling reflex.)  

Which brings me to another way of mixing up this dough, one that seems easier at least for me. 

I prefer to reduce water than add flour because adding flour reduces all the other ingredients in the recipe, like salt and yeast amounts. I try to follow the recipe first, then make tweaks.  I did find 3% salt too salty (another thing to reduce but I do that with most recipes.)  I made the dough with the correct amount of water and grated potato which was not too hard to turn into a ball of dough, the potato did fall apart after such a long mixing time but it was the yeast that started breaking down this delicate dough turning it into a liquid.  I pride myself at not giving up but "lawd" my hands were a mess!  

I think I will put the potatoes in the mixer bowl first (mashed or grated or pressed hot through a ricer) cool then add the flour/salt/yeast combination using the normal beaters to make crumbs of the potato and flour.  When thoroughly combined, switch to the hook and start adding some of the pre-measured potato water a tablespoon at a time slowly until it starts to hold together as a dough.   This seems like one way to approach perfect consistency.   And what would that be?  I suppose soft (been there) but not runny (been there too.)   Middle soft?

I probably under-proofed as well not being familiar with such a slime like soft dough.  Maybe that is why those making this recipe a second time have better luck.  Just ignore a poke test and clock letting it rise a little more than double because it can.  I thought the dough amount was too little for the size pan stated in the recipe.  There is a consistency in all the crumb shots, a heavy bubbly crumb, verging on a heavy English muffin and reminding me of my first under-proofed sourdough loaf.  Flavour is not the problem here, potato being very dominant, but the rubber like crumb is not something I want to see more of.   

Mini

bonnibakes's picture
bonnibakes

Since so many of us, despite carefully following the recipe, experienced the similar too-wet-to-shape quality of the dough, I wonder if Norm or Stan can offer any suggestions. Did any of the book's bread testers have a problem with this recipe, and if so, how was it resolved? I too want to make this bread again, successfully.

Bonni

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven
hanseata's picture
hanseata

Lisa, I always use metric measurements - I, too, compared all those volume/weight conversions published in different cookbooks, magazines, or the internet with the weight of my own flours, and found remarkable discrepancies.

The great unknown in this formula are the potatoes - 80% of the flour weight. Even if you drain them well, their moisture content will necessarily vary. Other potato breads I made (like Potato Rosemary Bread from WGB) contain much less potatoes, therefore this variable doesn't carry such a weight.

When I bake the Polish Potato Bread again, I will substitute some whole wheat for white flour, start out with a little less water, and use S & F instead of long kneading. As I did before, I will retard the dough overnight.

Karin

 

 

GermanFoodie's picture
GermanFoodie

but my excuse is, "my dog ate my project". We have a new boxer mix from the pound, and the kids left him alone for a few and he ate some of my potatoes and dragged down the potato water... :)

My take is, I had no problem w/ the stickiness of the dough, it kind of felt like, say, ciabatta, but the potato content made the crumb look a little, well, starchy/almost translucent. So next time, I may just either reduce the water content or up the flour a little.

 

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Bonni, I was, also, wondering what authors or testers could tell us about this problem. Though I was one of the testers, I didn't make this particular recipe.

Mini, I almost treated the potato dough like gluten free dough, since shaping was not possible, just a little bit of handling with the bench scraper, and basically flipping the dough from the counter into the pan. It didn't seem to hurt it at all.

I put the bread into the oven when the highest part of the dough just reached the rim of the pan.

Karin

loydb's picture
loydb

By procrastinating my bake until the end of the week, I can learn from the experience of those who have their act together and baked earlier! A common theme seemed to be "dough too wet," so I was meticulous about my measuring. The biggest opportunity for adding moisture seems to be during the process of boiling the potatoes. I weighed them prior to boiling, and again after draining, and they had gained a half-ounce. I reduced the potato water in the recipe accordingly.

For the flour, I milled hard red wheat and sifted it to ~80% extraction through a #30 sieve.

As you can see, the dough was still wet, but it wasn’t the batter that some folks have gotten. I was able to more-or-less wrangle it into a shape with well-floured hands.

I would change the following things next time I made it:

First, I would allow the proof to continue until the loaf was higher than the top of the pan. Like many others, I got no oven spring at all. I had gotten such a vigorous rise in the fermentation, I think I could have easily gotten another inch during the proof.

Second, I got burned (almost literally) by putting the pans into the top third of the oven rack. The tops were starting to get really dark at the 40 minute mark, so I pulled the pans. I left the bread in the pan for 15 minutes, then moved to a cooling rack. The bottoms were very undercooked. If you look at the bottom of the slices in the last picture, you see no crust at all. Next time, I’ll put them lower in the oven, and tent with foil if necessary to get a longer bake.

And there will certainly be a next time. The bread is unbelievably soft – the softest milled wheat bread I’ve made. I made potato soup to go with it, and they paired perfectly. I would imagine I’ll make this every time I make potato soup in the future – I’m already boiling them, it’s really easy to add a couple extra for the bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

(squishing them warm through a press or grating them, let cool) and add the whisked flour/salt/instant yeast.  Mixed with wire beaters (or a whisk) until everything is crumbly.  This lets the flour absorb the potato moisture.  Any large pieces of potato can be easily mashed again with a fork on the side of the bowl (stop the mixer before doing this.)

Then switch to hooks and add most of the potato water.  I added 120g (for a half recipe) to the middle plus two tablespoons (2 x 15g) of water a spoon at a time until the dough pulled together and cleaned the crumbs off the sides and bottom to form a soft ball.  Let the macine work in the spoon of water before adding more.   Real easy to tell when there is enough moisture!  (For the GRAM recipe in the book, start with 240g liquid and then add a tablespoon at a time on top of the crumbs until dough forms.)  This method works fantastic!   Remove hooks and cover bowl for bulk rise.

I covered the dough for 90 minutes and by golly, it doubled!  (22°C)  Dusted lightly with flour before plopping out and shaping  Dream dough!  It's rising on my radiator and it's been an hour and now just touching the plastic wrap draped over the loaf.   Won't be long now!  Final proof took almost 2 hrs.  

 

Slashed this loaf and fail to see the wisdom in it.   Short diagonal slashes might be better or no slashes at all.  Too soft.   After 30 min. baking I removed the pan to finish browning on the rack.  Smells more like fries than bread as the crust darkens.  45min total baking time.  Inside temp 100°C or 212°F.  Nice brown crust.      

I found the crust brown much faster than the sides of the pan so I suggest placing it lower in the oven to bake.

Yes, a BIG improvement in the crumb.  Could even call it "fluffy."    Day old bread smells like cold french fries or chips.  I can see this more as a ciabatta and cutting into rounds or squares for hamburgers or triangles for fish buns.  Maybe some fine chopped pickles in the dough?  (Beet or dill or mixed veggie, run through a garlic press?  mixed into the grated potatoes...)

bonnibakes's picture
bonnibakes

Okay, I followed your lead and combined the riced potatoes with the flour mix first, until crumbly.

I estimated that you cut back the potato water by about a third. For the full recipe I only added 8oz, instead of the written 12oz. It was still too much, so I added another 2 Tbl of flour while mixing. It was still very wet. After an hour rise I did a stretch/fold to help it pull together, then let it rise another 30 minutes. I used two slightly smaller liberally oiled pans because that's what I had on hand. They rose well and were even with the top after an hour. I didn't oil or slash the top this time and used the middle oven rack. They were baked in a home oven at a Convection/Bake setting of 400 (which automatically sets the temp to 375). After 15 minutes I reversed the positions because the tops were not browning evenly and lowered the temperature to 375 (auto sets to 350). After another 20 minutes they were beautifully brown, jumped out of the pans without any issue and registered 205 degrees. What a difference!!! I let them cool, okay we couldn't wait a full hour, and then had some with jam as is, as well as toasted. Both wonderful!! Many people commented on the delicious crust.

I was planning to post detailed pictures that I took with my new iPhone after the camera died. While I thought I was taking photos I was actually taking 3 second movies. Duh. I don't know if there is a way to save a single frame as a jpeg, so no successful  pictures to post. At least the bread was great and I encourage anyone who had a bad experience with it to try Mini's suggestions. I'm glad I did.

Bonni

hanseata's picture
hanseata

I am a bit astonished about your bread's smell, Mini. My loaf smelled quite pleasantly - and we loved the taste. I wonder what caused this french fry smell?

Karin

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

The potatoes made it smell like fries or hash browns.  (Smell as in aroma not stink.)  I did have a very dark crust esp. the top crust.

Not saying it was a bad smell but I did think that it gave my kitchen a "burger joint" aroma after about 12 hours.  The first 12 hrs  I had no problem with it and was so tempted to nibble on the loaf.  (It was calling to me just like fries do.)  When the loaf end jumped out of the bag in the morning to join fried eggs it was there again and gone 10 minutes later with its disappearance.   Even the boys thought I had made fries instead of bread so it wasn't in my head.  I had greased the pan with butter.  The first loaf (way up the thread) was greased with bacon drippings and was very good.  Although that loaf was a brick, it disappeared faster, must have been the timing.   Used the same flour and potatoes for both.  Put a pinch of ground caraway in each.  My sister suggested ketchup (she hadn't seen the holes) then tomatoes and bacon (BLT) for a sandwich.   I can think of lots of meats and cheeses that go well with french fries.  

Nobody thought the bread whiffed of french fries?  Really?

I must have some very aromatic taters.  :)

gmabaking's picture
gmabaking

I was concerned that such a wet dough would stick so I really greased the pans well--enough so the crust was crispy. I have to admit to a more than casual acquaintance with french fries and yes my kitchen did smell like fried potatoes or french fries. Actually the texture could be described with the same words that I would use to describe good fries,  crusty on the outside, soft on the inside and tasting really, really good.

cheesehappens's picture
cheesehappens

without, of course, all that oily mess. I will make this bread again for St. Patrick's day, instead of my usual potato bread.