The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

General

Any type of bread that doesn't fall into the other buckets: herb breads, sandwich breads, fruit and nut breads, anything else you enjoy.

dwfender's picture

Kneading methods

July 7, 2011 - 2:09pm -- dwfender
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I recently came across the slap stretch and fold method of kneading dough. I have used this method to make several batches of Italian bread loaves and it has proved to be quite successful. Generally, I work with doughs with high hydration and I find it difficult to knead them in the conventional sense of the word. I've also begun to increase my dough size which also makes it hard to knead by hand. Bsically what I am trying to get to is that I have found the slap and fold technique useful and I am curious if there is a specific reason as to why I would not want to use it.

dvuong's picture

Calculating soaker in Baker's Percentage

July 6, 2011 - 2:16pm -- dvuong
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I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of baker's percentage and can easily calculate preferments, final doughs, and total dough formulas.  I recently came across a forumla with a soaker listed in baker's percentage as well as actual weight.  I tried to do the math to calculate each ingredient but just can't see where the numbers are coming from!  Can anyone help?

Thanks!

spinypineapple's picture

Soft pane siciliano from BBA??

June 30, 2011 - 8:14am -- spinypineapple
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Hello! I just baked the Pane Siciliano from BBA, and I'm not sure if the bread is supposed to be so soft! I followed the instructions closely, cutting back on a bit of water as it was extremely wet (and I mean extremely. I tried Bertinet's slap-and-fold, but gave up and did repeated stretch-and-folds at 10 mins intervals until the dough passed the windowpane test.. about 4 reptitions of stretch-and-fold in total)

HMerlitti's picture

Calling all fillo dough aficionados

June 26, 2011 - 9:28am -- HMerlitti
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What is wrong with this recipe or my execution of it ???

Ingredients
  • 1(17.3 ounce) box frozen puff pastry, thawed
  • 2ounces gianduia (hazelnut milk chocolate) with or without whole hazelnuts, cut into 8 pieces
  • 1large egg, lightly beaten
  • Confectioners sugar for dusting
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: a small sheet of cardboard Instructions

Heat oven to 400º with rack in middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

jaywillie's picture

BBGA open houses, US and Canada, Saturday, June 25

June 24, 2011 - 5:02pm -- jaywillie
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A number of bakeries are doing open houses tomorrow, organized by the Bread Bakers Guild. As might be expected, events and times vary by location. Membership is not a prerequisite for most of the events, as far as I can tell. Many states are represented, but it's not massive coverage by any means.

Stephanie Brim's picture

Brainstorming: interesting breakfast loaves.

June 20, 2011 - 5:03pm -- Stephanie Brim
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I need new bread for toast. Horribly so.

When I was last here I had just had my second child. So...not much baking went on. He's over a year and a half old now, and I was getting sick of store bought bread. So...back to it. My kids are getting sick of it, too, though, and last night was the first time they touched bread in a long time: I made asiago cheese loaves and...er...they're almost gone now. Two more are in the dough stage as we speak.

kneadingbob's picture

Durability of mixers

June 16, 2011 - 6:41am -- kneadingbob
Forums: 

Yesterday I was making a batch of Kolaches and the dough was being kneaded in my Cuisinart mixer. I was busy making the apricot filling. When I wasn't looking, my mixer "walked" off the edge of the counter crashing to my tile floor. My first words were not "Oh Golly". The top came off, the front door came off and it unplugged itself. I put it back together, plugged it in and it worked just fine. No damage! Remarkable! I know many of you use Kitchenaid mixers and I hope they are as durable. Does anyone have stories of "walking mixers" or how to prevent them from doing it?

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