The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Intro and today's bake

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

Intro and today's bake

Hi folks, 

I've been lurking for a while and got so much help on shaping and steam from the site today I figured it's time to delurk :) Grew up in England, Lived in Brooklyn, NY for 30 years (!).

Been baking about 18 months, one or two loaves a week, started with Lahey no-knead and after a couple of other books quickly settled on Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast, which I've been using since, mostly straight doughs, occasional preferments, still working up to levain. Tried a few other thing like macarons and croissants, but still love bread the most.

I've made almost exclusively boules because the cast iron combo-cooker makes it so easy to get good results, but my wife has been encouraging me to try some different shapes, so today I tried one tried-and-true 40% w/w boule, and then a couple of white flour batards, and I cannot believe the bloom and lovely ears I got on them. Burned my hands a bit making the steam, but well worth it! :)

Anyway, just wanted to say hi, and thank everyone for the great info.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, greenbriel!

Welcome to TFL!

If you have been baking breads for just 18 months, from the loaves in your photo, I'd say you're a quick learner. They look wonderful! Did you know we like to see photos of the crumb? It's a sort of fetish, in a way, but it does tell a lot about the formula and the fermentation process.

I would encourage you to move on to baking with wild yeast. Just know that you may never want to turn back.

Happy baking!

David

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

Thanks very much for those kind words, David! I did notice that crumb photos are de rigueur, but these loaves are destined for a family feast tomorrow, so I had to hold off. If I remember I'll snap a shot of the crumb when we dive in. :)

Appreciate the nudge toward wild yeasts. I've started a couple of levains in the past and it didn't go well, but I think I've learned more about how the doughs and preferments should look and feel (and how to manipulate time and temperature) so I'm ready to try again soon. 

Cheers,

-Gabe

fotomat1's picture
fotomat1

and may I suggest the purchase of Bread by Hamelman as a wonderful source of all things Bread along with some great points on levains. I have a library full of Bread books written over the past 60 years and his really stands out. Good luck!!

cerevisiae's picture
cerevisiae

Just wanted to quickly second the recommendation for Hamelman's Bread and add that you may want to look for the 2nd edition, which has more formulas.

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

Thanks!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Unlike mine this week, your batards hit the oven proofed perfectly.... instead of over proofed.  I'm with David - time for you to move on to sourdough bread baking.  Welcome,well done and

Happy baking   

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

 

The crumb pics!

I apparently lost a longer comment while uploading the photo the first time, but I really appreciate the generous words, and they are genuinely encouraging regarding the next move to sourdough. Looking forward to it! Thanks so much.

-Gabe

 

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

One of the things lost in the previous reply was that Hamelman has been showing up on my radar more and more, recently, and I am going to move his book from my Amazon wishlist to my shopping cart tonight. Thanks!

hreik's picture
hreik

I started w FWSY and found it very helpful and user friendly.  I've done 3 of his sourdough/levain/ poolish breads and loved them. My recent bakes from Hamelman's book have be delicious.  His judicious use of rye has opened me up to mixing up flours a bit more and adding what appeals to me in small amounts.  You'll love the book.  It's packed with information and it is like taking a baking course.

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

I've just  finally, after a few tries, got what looks like a viable starter going, and I have had good success with FWSY so far, so I will do a few from that book before looking elsewhere. Well, except TFL; I am currently fermenting both FWSY Field Blend #2 (interesting working with the rye flour, great smells, sticky!) and txfarmer's 36 hour baguettes! :) Too much inspiration here!

I tried a couple of books before settling on FWSY (Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day I found less involved than I was looking for, and then I got Reinhardt's Bread Baker's Apprentice which was a bit harder to follow for a n00b, and then FWSY was the Red Riding Hood perfect porridge/bed etc..Tartine is on the list, too , of course. :) A lot more to learn from all of these great books. I am really looking into diving in to the Hamelman book.

Best,

-Gabe

a_warming_trend's picture
a_warming_trend

Hello from one newbie to another! The batard crumb is really lovely...it's no easy feat to achieve a crumb that is so consistently open (i.e. lots of small airy holes without frustratingly large ones interspersed). 

Good luck with your transition to sourdough, too. I will warn you that I thought I liked baking before discovering wild yeast. You might well find that once you create your own starter and begin to experiment with it, there's simply no going back to to life B.B.B. (Before Bread Baking).

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

After watching a load of batard preshaping/shaping videos (Hamelman on KAF, mostly), I handled the dough a bit more firmly than I usually would, and the partial degassing did indeed lead to a more satisfying and consistent crumb than I usually get. All that oven spring made for a really light airy texture, and both loaves were descended upon as if by wolves :) I did have to retard the proofing while I baked the boule by opening a window in the bathroom and closing the door (it was 9 degrees out), but I got lucky and the temp/timing worked out well. The Hamelman book is en route, and once I read what he has to say on levain, I'm going to get one going.

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Wartface's picture
Wartface

About getting a starter started...

When I started into my sourdough quest I just bought a dried starter from King Arthur Floor company. It came in a small plastic container. You mix it with flour and water and in a couple of weeks you will be ready to bake bread with it. I've had that same starter for 3 years and it is still very good.

It produces very nice bread... 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/food_pictures/15415271743/

I also read your post about Jason's ciabatta bread recipe. I have played with that recipe often. Next time you try it try reducing the hydration from 95% down to 85% and after it doubles in size do some stretch and folds. I also reduced the salt from 3% to 2%. I think you will get a tastier loaf and it's a little easier to handle. 

Happy baking... 

 

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

Great looking bread. Those loaves were all pure levain, no commercial yeast (no that I am opposed, just curious)? Great oven spring.

I bought a starter from Breadtopia earlier on in my baking and managed to kill it. I am keeping this one I started 10 days ago (wild Brooklyn yeast!) on the countertop and feeding daily for now, will possibly split and see how one half fares in the fridge at some point). I also read somewhere (Forkish, I think), that after several feedings, all starters become native to the flour and local ambient yeast. Thoughts?

I may try your ciabatta adjustments next time I make it, which I surely will, although I did rather like the challenge of dealing with the goop, and I won't lower the salt as I usually up a gram or two in most recipes.

Cheers!

 

 

Wartface's picture
Wartface

I baked a loaf a day to get bread like that. I learned most of my technique from Northwestsourdough.com ... That is no longer an active website. From what I understand the lady that owned it got a divorce that left her emotionally and/or financially incapable of continuing. 

Yes those are flour, water salt and starter... Real sourdough bread. The oven spring came from a good starter, good shaping to get lots of tension, and using a mixing bowl over the loaf to create lots of steam. Go to Northwestsourdough on youtube to see a video of how that is done. It keeps you dough soft and pliable during the oven spring process so your bread can rise and your ears can grow. 

Ciabatta.. Jason's recipe got me interested in that type of bread. I've cooked that recipes many times. A 3% salt rate left a salty after taste in my mouth. I decided to reduce the salt. Then because I liked that bread so much I started searching the web for more info about ciabatta. I found that most ciabatta bread had a 2.5% fat content in the recipe, as a % of flour. So I've been playing with that some while adding some rosemary. You get a crispery crust and a different taste.

Starter's... Yes they gooble your local natural ingredients and become regional..that's why no one can reproduce San Francisco style sourdough bread. 

No need to have a refrigerator starter AND a kitchen counter starter...just figure out when you want to bake and feed your starter before you want to use it. Log how long your start needs to rise.. Then feed it when you need to. 

You probably already know the test... Before you use your starter, fill a small cup of water and scoop a teaspoon of your starter into it... If it sinks, it's not ready to use. If it floats, it's ready to cook with.

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

But they can't make Brooklyn Sourdough over there ;-D

The only reason I'm considering keeping two starters is because the one I'm feeding daily is seeming very vigorous, and I will keep it going temporarily as a backup until I'm sure I have one in the fridge that I have successfully restored a couple of times. I'm also baking so often recently that daily feedings make sense right now!

Do you use butter as the 2.5% fat in the ciabatta? I like the idea of that and definitely will try rosemary.

Wartface's picture
Wartface

You can use any fat but butter or olive oil is the traditional favorites. 

If you are baking daily I would feed my starter twice a day. I only put Brutus in the fridge when I'm not going to bake for a week or 2 in a row. 

You know you can make Foccaca bread with that ciabatta dough too, right? Just put it on a sheet pan and degas it and you have Foccaca.

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

Whisking up a batch as I type, will let you know how it goes, thanks again!

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

Oddly, I don't enjoy foccacia as much as many other breads. According to Forkish, most of his recipes can make focaccia also, I just never really had the desire.

I'm definitely going to try adding some fat next time, thanks for the tip.

Do you think it's inadvisable to switch to a cheaper flour for starter feedings? Pillsbury AP is about half the price of the KAF that I use. Maybe I'll ask in the forums too... 

Wartface's picture
Wartface

I'd check the protein content. if it is close to the King Arthur AP's then I'd switch.   

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

Thanks!

Wartface's picture
Wartface

If you want to learn a lot about bread baking and your starter I would suggest you go to this website. There are 5 podcasts that cover everything about bread baking and bakers percentage. 1 of the podcasts is all about your starter and is very, very technical. I Listened to all 5 podcasts yesterday and today I'm going to change what I feed my 5 year old starter. I'm going to start feeding it half AP and half whole wheat. It has to do with the various bacteria that is in your starter. 1 thrives better on the AP and the other likes the whole wheat. 

Heres the page with those podcasts on it. Scroll down to the bottom of the list. It's the last 5 listings.

http://stellaculinary.com/stella-culinary-school-podcast-index

greenbriel's picture
greenbriel

Subscribed, thanks!