The Fresh Loaf

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Hamelman

mrosen814's picture

Bagels: Tough Tops

November 8, 2012 - 6:09pm -- mrosen814

Hi all, 

I just made a batch of Hamelman's bagels and I think they turned out well. I am an U.S. expat here in Australia and I have yet to find a decent bagel! I have also been unable to source high-gluten flour, though, I can get bread flour and I add some vital wheat gluten to that. 

I have noticed that with these bagels (and others I have made), the tops are very tough/hard. They're also too thick, I think. Could this be an oven issue? Too long in the boiling water? Flour type?

Thanks, 

Michael

ericb's picture

Hamelman light rye without yeast?

October 14, 2012 - 8:25am -- ericb

I am planning on baking a loaf of Hamelman's Light Rye tonight, but I'm considering making it without commercial yeast. I was wondering if anyone has experience doing this with this specific recipe.

For doughs developed using the Detmolder method, Hamelman says that commercial yeast is unnecessary, provided the baker builds in some extra time for proofing. However, he does not give a specific time. Besides, I'm not sure that this applies to doughs made using the simpler method outlined in the Light Rye recipe.

Our Crumb's picture
Our Crumb

Ok, maybe French Toast.  But I heard this reference to Elizabeth David's easy-peasy Summer Pudding recipe by Linda Wertheimer on NPR a while back and thought this has to be a sign:  A use for one formula in my Summer 2012 Tour de Hamelman that I would otherwise have been hard pressed to find, and a smashing crop of raspberries just pouring off our vines this year (plus some market-sourced blueberries).  Pain de Mie would have sufficed, but Chef Jeff's Toast Bread's slightly elevated richness seemed more appropriate.  As a straight dough, its ease of prep fits with the no-frills simplicity of Elizabeth David's recipe, offered here in the Oxford Times.

          

Can't go too far wrong with a desert consisting of nothing more than bread, fresh fruit and sugar.  With a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, this is one utterly satisfying seasonal pleasure.

Cheers,

Tom

yy's picture

Hamelman's Bread - 2nd edition cover

June 7, 2012 - 9:24am -- yy
Forums: 

Hi everyone.

Just curious what you guys think about the new cover for the 2nd edition of Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread. The first edition cover is below on the left and the second edition cover is on the right. I know this isn't directly related to bread, but I figured there are quite a few of us who have opinions on aesthetics. 

 

MarieH's picture
MarieH

Hi everyone. Even though I have been baking, I haven’t posted in quite awhile. This semolina bread is from Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread book. It uses a flying sponge which allows the baker to start and finish a bake all in one day. Great for the absentminded who forget to build a levain the night before! A flying sponge uses commercial yeast along with flour and water and ferments for about 75 minutes.

I had mixed the final dough and just put it in the proofer when I noticed the bottle of olive oil on the counter looking forgotten. Aargh – I pulled the bowl out of the proofer, added the oil, and mixed for about a minute till incorporated. No damage. This is why I almost always do mise en place so I don’t miss an ingredient.

I have just one banneton so I used one mixing bowl with a floured linen cloth for proofing. The shaped loaves outside for a quick picture in the Florida sunlight.

Loaded in the proofer with their plastic caps on. I use shower caps (disposable ones from a hotel) to cover the proofing baskets. Shower caps work well on the bowls for building a levain and bulk fermenting and on loaf pans too!

The finished product. The flavor profile is deep and complex even with a flying sponge.

And the texture is creamy and soft. The crust layers are light, flaky, and crisp. Can’t wait to take a bite!

Bake often ~ Marie

yy's picture
yy

Thanks to Weekend Bakery's extremely helpful Croissant Making Log, I finally made a batch of croissants that I'm happy with (see link for formula and tips). I made a couple of changes to the Hamelman formula used in the Weekend Bakery log: I used 4 grams of SAF gold osmotolerant yeast instead of 11 g of regular instant yeast (11 g is a huge amount of yeast, which I don't think is necessary if you use a yeast that can stand up to the sugar content in the dough), and I added a teaspoon of barley malt syrup for flavor.  Last time I made croissants was about a year ago, and the attempt was not so successful. I feel like I learned a lot from comparing that bake to this one:

1. Last time: the dough was mixed for too long and got too developed. This made it impossible to roll out the layers. It was like wrestling with a rubber band. Not only did this make the process hard on the arms, it also resulted in thicker, doughier layers because the dough could not relax enough to be rolled out thinly. 

This time: I mixed the dough until uniform and gluten formation had barely begun. As Ciril Hitz says in Baking Artisan Bread, gluten development should happen in the course of being rolled out (stretched) during the lamination steps. There is no need to fully develop the gluten in the beginning. 

2. Last time: The butter layer shattered into several small pieces instead of spreading out uniformly, due to being too cold. A number of authors advise you to freeze the dough between lamination steps for about 20-30 minutes, arguing that this will make the butter and dough the right consistency to roll out. 

This time: I just used the fridge instead of the freezer. I used Kerrygold butter, which has fat content equivalent to typical European butters, so at 38 degrees, it is stiff yet pliable. I guess this depends on how cold your freezer is. Mine is kept at a frosty -2 Fahrenheit. 

3. Last time: Croissants were underproofed, so the butter leaked out very badly during baking.

This time: I proofed until the croissants were "jiggly" and very puffy. While there was still a tiny bit of butter meltage, it was not nearly as bad as last time.  

Here were the results from today:

The crust was so light and the crumb was so tender that they started shattering under the slight pressure of my fingers while being transferred to the cooling rack. The croissants are shatteringly crisp on the outside and moist and light on the inside. The crumb shreds into transparent sheets. I highly recommend the Weekend Bakery tutorial.

I've frozen half the batch, so it'll be interesting to see whether this affects the taste and texture. Happy Sunday, everyone!

T

smoke signals's picture
smoke signals

Earlier this week I had a dream about ham & cheese on baguette. Since this was a dream that I could turn into reality, I took up the task of making some baguettes. So many dreams just stay dreams, when you have one within reach: grab it.

I turned to Jeffery Hamelman’s book, Bread, and to an old bakery formula I had from years ago working as a baguette mixer at Red Hen. Pretty strait forward, poolish recipe. But how awesome simple formulas can be! To my delight these baguettes crackled, and tasted like butter and nuts and wheat. It was hard to bake them long enough because I kept wanting to pull them out of and eat them in one, huge bite. 

Dear Baguette,

I am sorry we were apart for so long. I took you for granted. One day you just weren’t there anymore. Maybe the separation did us both some good. I’ve moved a couple of times, have a new boyfriend, in general, things are progressing. But maybe we could think about spending some time together again. I really love the way you smell.

Yours Truly, Smoke Signals  

   

    

    

    

MarieH's picture
MarieH

Today I made my first baguettes. I have shied away from the intimidating baguette - the shaping, the proofing, the scary, scary slashing! But I have made enough boules, batards, and rolls to gain confidence in my skills. I am quite pleased with my first attempt. Like all things baking, improvement will come with experience and practice. The recipe is from Hamelman's Bread: Baguettes with Pate Fermentee. While the crumb is not as open as it should be, the flavor is delicious and the texture light and airy. Good enough to do a happy dance in the kitchen (with only the cats to appreciate)! Thanks to all the baguette bakers who have posted inspiration.

Happy baking,

Marie

MarieH's picture
MarieH

Hamelman’s Vermont Sourdough is one of my favorite recipes. It is so consistent in both flavor and texture. It’s hard to mess up this formula. It’s still pretty warm in Tallahassee, FL so paying attention to the Desired Dough Temperature (DDT) is important. Following Hamelman’s instructions I needed chilly water.

Desired Dough Temperature           76

Multiplication Factor                         4

Total Temperature Factor                304

Minus Flour Temperature                71

Minus Room Temperature               78

Minus Pre-ferment Temperature     75

Minus Friction Factor                       26

Water Temperature                          54

I started the levain build yesterday at 6:30 p.m. and started the dough at 7:30 a.m. today. I created a timing chart to help me along the way.

The finished batards...

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