Hi,My wife and I recently started on the South Beach Diet, so I wanted to find a recipe for a bread that follows that diet (i.e., whole wheat flour and no sugar). I found one at http://www.yumyum.com/recipe.htm?ID=19364.

But I wanted to use the “hybrid” method I’ve used successfully with bread-machine mixes, which is to have the bread machine knead and initially rise the dough; and then move the dough to a regular loaf pan, re-rise it, and bake it in a conventional oven.

Unfortunately, while the resulting bread is tasty, I have yet to make a loaf that isn’t flat on the top. Also, the bread’s texture tends to be a bit gummy, instead of crumbly.

To see a picture of the results and a detailed list of the ingredients and procedure I used, go to http://bmbmisc.home.comcast.net/bread.html

Any suggestions on how to get the bread to rise so that the loaf is more rounded and to make the texture less gummy would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

I have been baking bread for years, but have only recently gotten more serious about it.  I must admit that all the terms I read about on the form have gotten me totally baffled.  I have no idea what many of them mean.  Can anyone suggest a good book that would go in depth about terms and the science behind bread making without going over my head.  One of the things I have been wondering lately is whether or not the different wheats on the market will make a huge difference in the bread produced.  I prefer the hard white wheat, but the white wheat white flour seems to be so dense.  I don't get the lift I always use to get from using Dakota Maid bread flour.  I believe the bread flour was always hard red wheat.  I want a more open bread like I use to get.  I know I need to start using my scale for all my bread making so I can get a consistant bread, but right now I am wondering about the flour and if it makes for a great difference in texture.

Thank in advance.

Blessings,
Lydia

Hi,

I commented in the recent thread that I'm experimenting with the Whole grain Struan recipe in PR's Whole Grain breads book.  

I have now made the recipe twice:

1. using a soaker that I cooked "to order" for the bread:  Bob's Red Mill 5-grain cereal and barley, plus some uncooked rolled oats.  Used buttermilk in the soaker
2. using the same soaker he details in the next recipe for the transitional struan, but with pre-cooked white basmati rice instead of brown rice.  Also used buttermilk.

In both cases, I'm using a wild yeast starter, from the same book.  The starter seems lively enough and the dough is rising in the times suggested in the book.

In both cases, the loaf baked for the same amount of time (20 min, turn, 25 min more).  I keep a pan in the bottom of the oven and pour 1/2 cup or so of boiling water just after loading the loaf on the stone.  I'm baking on parchment.

In experiment #1, the dough was SO loose I ended up adding a bit more flour, but really working with a very wet dough through the process.  It made a nice windowpane after ~7 minutes of kneading.  I had to use the french fold method, because it was impossible to knead in the standard way.  The result was an awesome tasting bread with a few nice holes in the crumb, moist but very flat (I shaped a batard and baked on a pre-heated stone).  I believe the barley was a very nice taste addition.

Experiment #2 was looking much better - the soaker had the consistency of the picture in the book.  The dough, without any extra flour was firm and kneaded well in a similar amount of time.  I was slightly worried about it being too dry - what a change!   The loaf was pretty high (for a batard) in the couche but immediately upon hitting the stone, it spread out and became even flatter than the original loaf.  Sigh.  The crumb was closer/denser and the bread (though good) was not as nice tasting as the one made with the loose dough.  It seemed a little dry, even 4-5 hours after taking it from the oven.  

I have baked very successfully from Dan Leader's "Bread ALone" for quite some time and have never encountered this problem, despite having much less yeast in the recipe (I'm always surprised by the 2.5 teasp. added in the final dough of PR's whole grains - in addition to the starter).  The boules are generally firm and rise well. 

While I know that we'll have some awesome toast in the morning (especially coupled with my freshly made Saturn peach jam)....

BUT I really love the whole grains and taste of the breads from this book so would like to learn what parameters may be causing this incredible spread, even when the dough itself seems to be firmer.  

 Any ideas?   

 Thanks in advance for your thoughts....

MommaT 

I'm a newbie, and after several attempts at creating starters, decided to follow (to the letter) Hamelman's Liquid Levain instructions from his book: Bread.

Hi,

My sourdough isn't turning out as a nice boule shape. It seems to flatten after it's long proof on the bench (it's still quite active, as it rises/ flattens out in the oven) into a flattish shape. Am I not developing enough gluten in the initial mix? Something to do with humidity or temperature of proof? Starter activity? Old flour?

The bread still tastes quite good,with nice crumb structure; but it'd be nice to have a good shape. Any advice would be appreciated. I am using Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible, basic soudough boule.

Anybody have a good experience with Salt Rising Bread?

Locations for recipes, tips, tricks, things to avoid, etc.?

Thanks for any help.

 gdubya