Hello Bakers, 

Would anyone know what an oil such as ext. vir. OLIVE OIL would do to a ciabatta dough? I make a straight up ciabatta with just flour yeast salt & water and I'm just wondering what the addition of some OO would do to that dough... more holey crumb or the opposite?

Thank you, 

Ray

I made Reinhart's focaccia recipe from the BBA a couple weeks ago and it turned out very well.  Interestingly, I noticed that the olive oil and water are simultaneously mixed with the flour.  I understand that fats are typically added later in the mixing process so that the gluten is given more time to form and so the fat doesn't lubricate the gluten and prevent it from forming longer strands.

Is this the typical mixing process for focaccia?  Am I right in believing that the mixing order (combined with the dough's high hydration and generous fat content) produces the tender crumb of a well-baked focaccia?  Has anyone tried a different mixing order or an autolyse with focaccia?

Hi all!

Going to make a loaf tonight (not sure what, I've just been doing a lot of experimenting lately), and I was thinking of using some unrefined oil I picked up downtown.

I've been reading about the apparent health benefits of unrefined oil over refined oil, and I was wondering if anyone has baked with it? I have unrefined sunflower oil.

I only ask because I know unrefined oil cannot withstand high temperatures that come with frying and sauteeing; maybe they wouldn't be good for baking then?

Let me know if you know or at least have an opinion/idea!

Thanks.

I have been making what I think is some very flavorful bread recently. A few years ago I discovered a local mill and have been playing with their organic wheat and rye flours. The other week my mother-in-law, a great baker herself was enjoying the bread and she asked what oil I used. When she learned that this bread was only flour, water and salt she was puzzled. Why would I make a bread without any fat? She learned to bake in the 40's and used pork fat.

That raised a good discussion, why would I use oil. I had always thought the fat was used to add some flavour to breads made from processed flours where the taste of the wheat was processed out of it.  The bread i have made is moist, flavourful but does tend to dry out a bit faster than bread made with oil/fat.

Having learned the great flavour of wheat are not possible in the grocery store, bleached flours I wondered if that is the primary reason for its inclusion in recipes. Fat is flavour?

I love this site and the shared knowledge of the community of bakers.

Comments welcomed. 

JL  - Gatineau, Quebec

Maybe I'm doing something totally faux pas, but I never oil the bowl for rising. I mix and knead in the dlx mixing bowl, I remove the hook or the scraper and roller, and then I shape it a bit so I can when it has  doubled, and then I put the DLX bowl lid over top. When it's doubled, I just grab the mass, and only a tiny bit sticks, I scrape that up, add it to the rest and then fold it a few times for shaping or the second rise, whichever it needs.

Am I 'missing' something by not adding oil? I guess I just don't see why it's needed? Maybe I'm allowing too much air into the dough?

The two whole-wheat breads I've made recently, both from Reinhart's Whole Grains book, were his Whole Wheat Anadama bread and Transitional Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Both breads had crumbs that were much dryer than I would like. I'm trying to figure out what I should have done differently. I make Reinhart's Oat Broom Bread frequently, with the same whole wheat flour, and that bread always turns out moist. Comparing the recipes I am wondering how much butter vs oil affects the moisture of bread. The Oat Broom bread calls for olive oil, which I use, but the other two breads call for either melted butter or oil. When I made them, I used melted butter both times. Could using butter make the bread more dry than using oil? I thought I would try using oil next time I make a whole wheat bread, but I figured I'd ask here first to see if anyone already knows. Thanks.

I use a recipe similar to Dan Lepard's for focaccia.

• 100% flour (obviously)
• 35% sour starter (100% hydration)
• 0.74% yeast
• 2.5% salt
• 65% water
• 5% extra virgin olive oil 

When it cools, it's extremely light and fluffy, with HUGE holes in it. The closest you'll ever get to eating clouds. But for some reason, it goes tough and hard within 24h despite being kept in an airtight plastic box.

WTF?! Should I store it differently?

When I make 'dry' bread (i.e. without oil) it stays nice for days on end... sometimes up to a week.  But this is no doubt because it's already dry, so it doesn't matter so much that it's getting drier every day...

My friends are complaining that my breads are too dry.  I am using 3 tablespoons of olive oil for each 4 chup of flour and between 1 1/4 and 1 1/3 cups of water.

Will a different type of oil be better, or should I jsut add more oil?  Also, for more percentages of Whole Wheat, should I add more oil generally?

Thanks

Does vegetable oil work as a substitute for butter in baking yeast breads? I use it (or applesauce) in baking other stuff. I don't have access to butter or shortening.