Long time lurker surfacing with some bread pictures and a rye question
I picked up baking about 6 months ago and since then quickly fell in love with making my own bread, this site has been a tremendous help along the way. Finally I decide to register and post some of my recent bakes:
1: BBA challenge, bagles
2: BBA challenge, richman's brioche
3: BBA challenge, artos
4: Feathurpuff WW loaf from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book - it rose so high both during proofing and in the oven! Did anyone else notice this? Should I have used 9x5 pan rather than the 8x4 suggested in the book?
There are a lot more, but these are the most recent.
Now here comes the question: this past weekend I tried to bake Jeffrey Hammelman's Flexseed Rye with no success. I followed the instruction exactly, converted my ww starter seed to rye starter for a few feedings, made the rye sourdough and prepared the soaker in the morning, then did the bake about 14 hours later at night. Mixed in my Kitchen Aid Pro at low speed for 2 minutes, then medium speed for 5, fermentate as normal, shaped into a batard, proofed in a linen lined basket. While it did rise during proofing, and I did score on top, it had a huge blow-out along the side while the slashes on top barely expanded at all. I made half of the recipe, so the dough was between 1.5lb and 2lbs. In the books it says to bake up to 35 minutes for 1.5lb dough, 40 to 45 minutes for 2lb dough, I baked it for 40 minutes, and it came out VERY dark, and the crust is VERY hard. The blow-out sounded like an underproof problem, but I proofed it for a full hour, didn't dare to go longer, should I proof longer after all? The dough did seem mostly proof to me. Also did I baked it too long? The crumb was not that open but not dense either, I dont know whether it's normal for this bread. It taste very yummy though. Thanks!
You have some great looking bread there!!! Very impressive.
About the rye bread. My thought would be shaping not underproofing. Sometimes they blow on what I think of as a fault line in the shaping. I have had it happen to me often on rye bread. For some reason it is harder for me to get the surface tension as tight on rye and it blows on me. So that is my 2 cents. And on the crust, maybe next time lower the bake temp 25 deg or so about 1/2 way thru the bake and see if it helps. But I am sure others will have better insight. But keep up the excellent baking and welcome!
You might be right there. It's my first time shaping a batard(usually boule and baguett), so very possible to have a "fault line". I am trying again in a few days, maybe I should stick to boule for now at least for rye. Thanks for the suggestions!
Welcome, Txfarmer. Nice photos.
As to your problems with Mr. Hamelman's flaxseed bread, I wonder if overmixing set the stage.
If you look at the recipe, it calls for mixing at first speed for three minutes and at second speed for three minutes. The mixing speed for various percentages of rye flour are noted at page 190, and he also discusses the need to gently mix rye at page 46.
Was the dough the desired 80F temperature after the mix? Did you remember to turn the oven temp down to 440F after the first 15 minutes?
The flaxeed bread is a wonderful bread to bake and eat. I described my first experience here. Since then, I've used King Arthur's Sir Lancelot high gluten flour and have gotten even better results.
Other TFL members have also posted about this bread - you can find those bakes by searching for "flaxseed" bread.
Hopefully you'll have a chance to give it another try and be happier with your results.
Hi, thanks for the tips! I checked out your link, my crumb looked very similar to what you had in the pictures, so at least that's good. As for mixing time, since the 3min/3min guideline is for spiral mixer, so I used his mixing time conversion table in the beginning of the book to get the time for my KA mixer. Yeah, I did remember to turn the temp down to 440F, I am suspecting that my oven may be a tad too hot, and/or I need to bake it for less time. I ordered KA Sir Lancelot flour last week, it's on the way to my house! I am hoping to try again in two days. I will post results then.
Hi, txfarmer.
Welcome to TFL!
Those are gorgeous breads!
I have had lots of blowouts with rye breads, too. Underproofing and not sealing the seams well when you form the loaf are the major causes. I find Hamelman's mixing instructions to be pretty reliable, so I doubt over-mixing was a factor.
Hamelman gives proofing times, but these are valid only if your ambient temperature is the same as he prescribes. I would pay more attention to what the dough is doing and less to the clock.
Dough with a high proportion of rye is "different." You will get the feel for it with experience. So persevere.
David
Took out my rye starter to refresh last night, and my KA Sir Lancelot flour arrived too, so I will try again for sure tomorrow. Will definitely pay more attention to proofing and shaping. This was my first time making such a high percentage rye (I've made a Jewish Rye before with <20% rye I think), let's just say it's "different" all right!
Let us know how it turns out!
Hi Texfarmer, The Feather Puff looks like my favorite bread. All are great looking. Nice photos. The pan size for the WW loaf looks right. Also liked the Brioche, the crumb so cake like, and tender. Nice successes. I have baked many of the breads From Laurel's book. and will work up to the Featherpuff loaf. Thanks for sharing photos. Great lighting etc.
Ray
Featherpuff is actually the first (and only so far) bread I made out of that book, lots of interesting looking recipes there, which ones are your favorite? I can't decide which ones to try next.
That's all I can say. They sure look delicious!
:)
Nice photos, Tex! And that's a cute watermark you've got.
Wow, that artos is spectacular!
That artos was so fragrant and delicious! It's from BBA, I never would've thought to make it if it weren't for the challenge, now I am so glad! Seriously addictive. We finished such a big loave in less than 40 hours, just can't stop pick on it. :P
I have made, The basic whole wheat countless times, The deluxe raisin, The overnight started bread, the soy milk bread twice, and the yogurt bread with the 6-10 hr. stiff starter, twice. A couple of others including one of the ryes I will have to re-visit. (meaning I could easily forget to mention) The spicy currant was one of those disapointments. It looked great going into the oven, then became smaller right before my eyes. Mabey the extra bran was the culprit. The black bean bread worked out well. I believe there have been others. I am still awed with the resultant great breads, from really simple methods (for the most part) and recipes. I am still working towards posting some pictures, as I have some nice ones to share. Regards, Ray
I forgot to mention, my favorite currently, is the yogurt bread. It has the most beguilling, seductive smell and flavor. I used organic stonyfield farm, whole milk plain yogurt. The store had just got it in that morning. Wonderfull bread. Ray
I am convinced! That will be my next one to try.
I forgot that I did make the basic whole wheat from that book, but it was Mike's adapted version from Sourdough Home website, which uses a whole wheat starter instead of yeast. It was fabulous!