The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Most bookmarked

June 13, 2011 - 8:05am
breadsong's picture
breadsong

Herb rolls

Hello,
There are a couple of herbs in my garden, that thankfully, come back each year –
I so look forward to when these fresh herbs have started growing!
Chervil is one of the first things to start growing in spring. It reseeds itself, and there will be new chervil in the fall also :^).
I love the tender, lacy leaves and delicate anise flavor.
Golden sage, which I am so grateful made it through our cold winter, is now producing some pretty
golden-and-green variegated leaves.

Time for some herb rolls! 
(the image is an experiment with merging photos):


This idea I first saw in a Better Homes and Gardens ‘Holiday Cooking’ magazine, from December 2000.
After proofing, the rolls are gently brushed with egg white; the herbs are applied; then the rolls are gently brushed with egg white again, making sure the whole herb leaf is covered; then the rolls are ready for the oven.
Parsley (Italian flat leaf) is another nice herb to use for this technique.

Susan at WildYeast also made a lovely! version, using parsley, for her Roasted Garlic Bread.


The chervil rolls were the herb version of this recipe:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/dinner-rolls.aspx

The golden sage rolls were based on Sylvia’s excellent ‘buns for sandwiches’ recipe (Thanks, Sylvia!).
The potato adds such a nice flavor and texture to these rolls!

  

The chervil rolls were baked in a pan on a rack in the oven (no baking stone). The chervil didn’t brown at all and kept its green color through the bake :^)

I was a little worried about the golden sage browning as the leaves are thicker and wanted to lift off the roll a bit after being brushed with egg white. Also, these rolls were baked on a baking stone, starting out at a hotter temperature but baking in a reducing oven. After 2 minutes of baking I covered the rolls with foil, turned the oven down to 325F convection for the last two minutes of baking and removed the foil, so the tops of the rolls would finish browing (but hopefully not the sage!).

  
Crumb shot, Sylvia's sandwich bun:

 

I want to try making a big loaf using some Italian parsley – Susan’s loaf was so pretty!
Happy baking everyone!
from breadsong

Submitted to YeastSpotting

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 12, 2011 - 3:03pm
amateur's picture
amateur

New to sourdough - what to do?

Okay, I'm sure this has been covered many a time; my apologies.

I have sourdough starter in a crock-pot in the kitchen. No mold. Brown stuff on top - hooch, is that what it's called?

I made a loaf out of it. The loaf didn't rise. Even after two days at room temperature. I finally gave up and baked it. It rose, and I ate some. SOUR! I mean, really sour.

So, since it didn't rise, I made another loaf, added a lot of honey to it, and just baked it without leaving it at room temperature. It's dense and heavy. It tastes all right, but it didn't rise at all.

What's the best way to approach this thing called sourdough?

 

 

 

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 12, 2011 - 2:28pm
varda's picture
varda

Vermont Sourdough with Banana Yeast Water

Yeast water Vermont Sourdough with peony...

After being pushed over the edge by Akiko's magnificent baguette, the desire to ferment just became too strong.    So over the last few days I've been making banana yeast water.   I followed Akiko's instructions in her blog post which also refers to a very detailed and helpful web page.   I replaced raisins with sliced bananas but otherwise followed instructions.   This means that I started with banana and water only rather than weaning my flour based levain to fruit as I have seen others write about.  After 5 days it seemed that the yeast water was ready.   I strained out the water, took half of it, added flour, left it overnight on the counter and baked with it the next morning.   The results were tasty but not quite ready for prime time.    Meanwhile I fed the yeast water with another banana and water as per Akiko's instructions and this morning was ready to try again.   I decided to bake Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough partly because it's good and Codruta reminded me of it, and partly to have a well recognized formula to experiment with.   Further I baked two loaves - one with a banana yeast water levain and the other with my regular levain.   Since these were different hydrations the only difference in the two doughs was how much water I added to the final dough.    All of the percentages matched Hamelman's instructions.   While preparing both doughs, I noticed that the yeast water version was always more manageable and with a more silky texture.   Really though, there was very little difference between the two doughs.   However during final proof it became clear that the one with regular levain was fermenting much more rapidly.   In fact so quickly that the oven wasn't entirely ready for it when I put it in.   Unfortunately this caused me to stumble technically.   The loaf bottom split in the oven and so the whole loaf came out misshapen.    I am almost sure this was due to the fact the oven wasn't steamed properly and also possibly the stone wasn't sufficiently preheated.   Oh well.   I waited until the first loaf was done (and the oven resteamed) before putting in the yeast water loaf.    This had definitely needed the extra 55 minutes of proofing and did much better in the oven.  As for taste, what can I say - they are both tasty breads, but the regular levain sourdough has a tiny bit of sour tang which is quite delicious, where the yeast water loaf is a bit flat.   Also if you look at the crumb shots below, even with the poor misshapen loaf, the regular levain wins the competition.   So maybe I simply chose the wrong formula to test out my yeast water on and picked one that is more appropriate for a regular levain.    I will probably try, try again, and I simply love the fact that I can take a piece of fruit, doctor it for a few days, and end up with something that very competently raises bread.   

 

Yeast water Vermont Sourdough crumb...

Vermont Sourdough with standard levain crumb...

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 12, 2011 - 9:23am
metropical's picture
metropical

deciphering Instructions for starter

I have a small bit of starter from someone I met recently.

The instructions that came with it don't make much sense to me and I have no way to contact.

Can anyone decipher?

 

100%,  1/2 WW, 1/2 white x.022=weight

70% water

10% sourdough

12 hrs.

total weight 180 IE: .400/180=.022

 

Take total weight of starter you want IE: .4g divide by total of percentages IE: 180.

Then multiply by each percentage for weight.

 

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 11, 2011 - 3:08pm
Juergen Krauss's picture
Juergen Krauss

Rye Sourdough Recipes with added Commercial Yeast

I recently posted in my blog a general formula to make German style breads with a rye-wheat flour mix.

The formula has been derived from the blog of a German baker, and it contains a bit of yeast in the final dough.

This fact caused some surprise.

I further researched this practise: the primary reason to use yeast is to have a predictable schedule, but yeast is also a means to influence the acidity by cutting the bulk fermentation short (Hamelman, Bread, p.169, in the comment)

The German "sourdough guidance" wiki gives a table of different starter types and their effect on the dough, and where the use of yeast is appropriate or necessary.

Just for reference I also checked some of the books I have for rye sourdough formulas with yeast, and found quite a few:

Peter Reinhart

The Bread Baker's Apprentice

New York Deli Rye, page 236

PR's comment: “The best rye breads are made with a mix of wild-yeast starter and commercial yeast. This is what makes them so flavourful.”

Pumpernickel, p.248

Sunflower Seed Rye, p.249

Crust & Crumb

Team USA Swiss Sunflower Bread, p.185

Daniel DiMuzio

bread baking - An Artisan's Perspective

Deli-Style Rye Bread, p.216

Hearty Sourdough Rye, p. 220

Jeffrey Hamelman

Bread, A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes

Whole Wheat Multigrain, p.169: Yeast shortens bulk proof to prevent acidity to hide grain flavors

Golden Raisin Bread, p.172

Five Grain Levain, p.175

Cheese Bread, p.180

Normandy Apple Bread, p.181

Roasted Garlic Levain, p.183

Roasted Hazelnut & Prune Bread, p.185

All breads from the chapter “Sourdough Rye Breads”

 Happy Baking,

Juergen

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 11, 2011 - 6:36am
JoeVa's picture
JoeVa

Eugenio Pol - Micca di Montagna review and comparison

Da un pò di tempo volevo provare il pane di Eugenio Pol di cui ho più volte sentito parlare bene: usa farine biologiche macinate a pietra (Molino Sobrino), acqua di montagna, lievito madre ... chimico di studi, lascia Milano per la montagna.

It's a while I want to try the bread baked by Eugenio Pol, a baker I had some good feedback around: he uses organic stone grounded flour (Molino Sobrino), mountain water, sourdough ... he studied chemistry, he left Milano for the mountain.

Dato che non si trova troppo distante (circa 120km) avevo anche programmato di andare a vedere sul posto, Eugenio vive e lavora a Fobello (Valsesia) ed il suo laboratorio si chiama Vulaiga (http://www.fobello.com/public/vulaiga.htm). Avevo lasciato un messaggio in segreteria ... ma non ho ricevuto risposta. Quindi per non fare un viaggio a vuoto ho cercato qualcuno a Milano che importa il suo pane. L'ho trovato.

Since he is not so far (about 120km) I planned a trip to get a look in place, Eugenio lives and works in Fobello (Valsesia) and his lab is named Vulaiga (http://www.fobello.com/public/vulaiga.htm). I left a message to the answering machine ... but I didn't receive a reply. So, to avoid a trip with no assurance to get the bread, I searched for someone that import Eugenio's bread in Milano. I found him.

Tempo una settimana ed il mio ordine è arrivato. Ho preso la bici e sono andato a ritirare la mia pagnotta. Ho scelto la micca più "semplice" e vicina ai mie gusti, la miglior base da sottoporre ad analisi: la Micca di Montagna. Caricata la pagnotta (da 2 kg) nel mio zaino questo è quanto ho portato a casa:

In a week my order arrived. I ride my bike and I went to take my miche. I chose the "simplest" miche close to my taste, a good base for a tasting test: Mountain Miche. With the miche in my bag (2kg) this is what I brought back home:

Mountain Miche - Ingredients: type"2" wheat flour, type"2" farro flour, type"2" monococcum wheat flour (all stone grounded), extra vergin olive oil, pure water, sea salt, no added yeast, fermented only with mother dough.

Ecco le mie (strettamente personali) osservazioni, i gusti sono soggettivi. La micca aveva almeno un giorno, la crosta aveva perso la croccantezza, ma ciò non importa. La mollica morbida, ma poco umida e troppo "panosa", senza elasticità residua  setosità e lucentezza, alveoli piccoli ben distribuiti, colore tipico con una leggera tonalità grigia. L'aroma in linea con la media dei pani a lievitazione naturale ... purtroppo ho ancora memoria dell'aroma provato in un panificio a Lione. Al gusto emerge la "dolcezza" del farro, nessuna acidità sufficientemente esplicita, la crosta ben caramellizzata. Prezzo (2011 a Milano): 12 €/kg.

Here my (strictly personal) observations, each one has its taste preferences. The miche was at least one day old, so the crust lost its crispiness, but that's not so important. The crumb is soft, but too dry, not yielding silky and translucent, well distributed small alveolage, typic color with a light tone of gray. The Aroma is aligned with the average of other sourdough bread ... unfortunately still the memories of the bread I taste in Lyon. The taste, I feel the "sweetness" from farro, no explicit acidity, the crust is well caramelized. Price (2011 in Milano): 12 €/kg.

Il tutto a confronto con il mio ultimo Paesano (il sacco è finito) su cui ho sperimentato un differente processo, una criptica sintesi: farina 100% buratto, idratazione finale 73%, lievito naturale al 70% di idratazione (salato allo 0.5%), puntata 3h a 27-28°C (circa sino al raddoppio), impastamento durante la prima ora in 4 fasi con maggior sviluppo del glutine, formatura più strutturata, appretto a 4°C per 20h, cottura con vapore come al solito.

And this compared with my last Paesano (the bag is empty) with a different process, a criptical synthesis: 100% buratto flour, 73% final hydration, 70% hydration sourdough (salted at 0.5%), 3h bulk rise at 27-28°C (almost double), mixed in the first hour in 4 phases with more gluten development, more structured shaping, proof 20h at 4°C, baked as usual with steam.

Ad anche qui ecco le mie (strettamente personali) osservazioni. La mollica è umida, morbida ma elastica e setosa, alveoli medi ben distribuiti, color crema. Aroma tipico. Al gusto dolce nella mollica con finale leggermente acidulo (lattico), crosta caramellosa e liquorosa. Difetto di formatura! Prezzo (2011): 2.5-3 €/kg.

And also here my (strictly personal) observations. The crumb is moistly, soft but yielding and silk, medium sized well distributed aleolage, cream color. Typical aroma. The taste, sweet crumb with final aftertaste lightly sour (lactic), crust caramelized and liqueurs. Shaping defect! Price (2011): 2.5-3 €/kg.

Qui un tentativo (mal riuscito) di confronto tra due mezze fette.

A (not so good) tentative of comparison between two half slices.

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 11, 2011 - 2:01am
Mebake's picture
Mebake

66% Sourdough Rye (More like the recipe)

I Have blogged about my first 66% Sourdough Rye before Here, but this time, its more like what it should be: close textured, more sour, More Rye-ish. This time i used Medium Rye (I mixed sifted Rye Flour with Whole Rye Flour in 50/50 ratio).

The fermentation happens faster when whole rye is added, and my bulk fermentation was 45 minutes only. As expected, the dough never came together as it would with lower Rye breads, but the falvor of sour rye was very pronounced.

I guess that this is how Hamelman's 66% sourdough Rye may really look like.

Khalid

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 10, 2011 - 11:44pm
JoeVa's picture
JoeVa

Maggio (May)

Dopo un mese pieno di impegni ho finalmente il tempo e la tranquillità per aggiornare il blog. Il mese di maggio è stato un mese frenetico: Corsi di Panificazione, Gite Sociali, Festa del Pane e Festa del Punto Parco hanno scandito i nostri fine settimana.

After a very busy month I finally got some time and tranquility to update the blog. The month of May was full of work: Bread Baking Courses, ItaliaNostra Social Trip, Feast of Bread and the Feast of PuntoParco marked our weekends.

Fortunatamente quasi tutto è andato per il meglio, non senza imprevisti, come il brutto tempo delle ultime settimane che ha "rovinato" la Festa del Punto Parco impedendo lo svolgimento di molte attività previste (animali da cortile, giochi dimenticati, figuranti, risottata nella "pentolaccia" ...).

Fortunately, almost everything has gone well except a very bad weather in recent weeks that has "ruined" the Feast of PuntoParco preventing the conduct of many planned activities.

Ecco un riepilogo degli eventi svolti.

Here a summary of the events of this month.
 

Corsi Panificazione (Bread Baking Courses)

Per il primo anno abbiamo svolto i nostri corsi nel nuovo laboratorio/cucina. Immersi nella bellissima ambientazione tra le due barchesse accanto al nuovo (ma ormai ben collaudato) forno a legna, il tutto incorniciato dal verde della natura e degli orti didattici.

For the first year we did our courses in the new lab / kitchen. Immersed in the beautiful area between the two "barchesse" next to the new (but now well-established) wood fired oven, all surrounded by the natures and our didactic gardens.

Ecco qualche foto che sono riuscito a scattare in quei brevi istanti senza le mani in pasta! Non è stato possibile documentare tutto, ma questo piccolo "assaggio" può darne un'idea.

Here some photos I had the chance to take in those few free moments without my hand full of dough. It wasn't possible to document everything, but I think those images can give you the sense.

Chef: Pane Francese (Chef: French Bread)

Qualche micca a lievitazione naturale cotta nel forno elettrico: farina biologica macinata a pietra, acqua, sale (senza lieviti aggiunti).

Sourdough miches baked in the electric oven: organic stone grounded flour, water, salt (without added yeast).

 

Fuoco e Fiamme: la Pizza (Fire and Flames: Pizza)

Una delle tante, cotta nel forno a legna ... per me la prima volta, che bello! Qui la più semplice, pizza bianca ad alta idratazione e lenta lievitazione: farina bianca, acqua, olio, sale, lievito di birra per l'impasto, solo olio e sale sopra.

One of the many, baked in the wood fired oven ... for me the first time, very nice! Here the simplest, white pizza with slow rising high hydration dough: white flour, water, oil, salt, fresh yeast for the dough, just oil and salt for the topping.

 

Gita in Valchiavenna: tra Crotti, Bresaole e Palazzi

Una gita intensa: l’antica Abbazia cistercense di Piona, Piuro ed il Crotto Belvedere, le cascate dell’Acqua Fraggia ed il Palazzo Vertemate. Questa volta Arturo non ha risparmiato su nulla! Il LINK alla locandina con il programma dettagliato.

A very intense trip: the cistercian Abbey in Piona, Piuro and Crotto Belvedere, Acqua Fraggia waterterfalls and Palazzo Vertemate. This time Arturo planned a very rich trip! Here the LINK to the playbill with the detailed program.

Un collage riassuntivo (clicca sulla foto per visualizzare la versione ad alta risoluzione).

A collage summary (click on the photo to see the high resolution version).

 

Festa del Pane (Feast of Bread)

La prima Festa del Pane a Cascina Favaglie, perfetta occasione per inaugurare ufficialmente il nuovo forno in presenza della giunta comunale. Il nostro progettista Giuseppe, preciso e pignolo, ha fatto un ottimo lavoro, come dice lui scherzando, è già pronto per il prossimo forno.

The first Feast of Bread at Cascina Favaglie, a perfect moment for the official inauguration in presence of the city councile of our new wood fired oven. Our designer Giuseppe, precise and meticulous, done a great job and, as he used to joke, he's still ready for the next one.

Tre giorni di panificazione: sabato, domenica e lunedì. Domenica abbiamo veramente esagerato, tre infornate la mattina ed una, non programmata, il pomeriggio per un totale di 4*30 kg = 120 kg di impasto (l'impasto lo fa il panettiere, ma infornare non è da meno). Poi nel tardo pomeriggio anche 16 pizze con poolish preparate il giorno prima da Arturo e 4 pizze bianche (quelle sopra) impastate a mano durante il corso della pizza di sabato.

Three days of baking: saturday, sunday and monday. Sunday we really exaggerated, three batch in the morning and one, not planned, in the afternoon with a total of 4*30 kg = 120 kg of dough (the dough is mixed by a bakery for us, but baking that stuff is not less). Then in the evening we did also 16 pizze with poolish mixed the day before by Arturo and 4 white pizze (the one showed above) mixed by hand in the pizza baking course of saturday.

(clicca sulla foto per visualizzare la versione ad alta risoluzione)

(click on the photo to see the high resolution version)

 

Festa del Punto Parco (Feast of Punto Parco)

Purtroppo il maltempo ha impedito la realizzazione di gran parte del programma... Nonostante ciò, attorno all'aia (e al forno a legna acceso per l'occasione per riscaldarci...), ci siamo trovati in parecchi e abbiamo tirato sera tra musica, balli, risottate cucinate dalle cuoche di Italia Nostra e l'esibizione canora del Gruppo Corale "Il Melograno". Presente la Giunta Comunale quasi al gran completo. Grazie a tutti per la partecipazione e arrivederci alla prossima manifestazione (che per leggi statistiche dovrà godere per forza del bel tempo...)!

Unfortunately the bad weather has prevented the realization of much of the program ... Nevertheless, around the barnyard (and the oven turned on for the chance to warm up ...), we were a lot of us and we got night with music, dancing, risotto cooked by our chefs of ItaliaNostra and the singing performance of "Il Melograno" Choral Group. Present the City Council almost in full force. Thanks to everyone for participating and we hope to see you the next time (which for statistical laws must necessarily enjoy the goodweather ...)!

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 10, 2011 - 12:20pm
codruta's picture
codruta

baguettes, weight, length

hello, I need an advise regarding the right proportion between the length of the baguette and the weight of the dough. My oven (in fact, the stone inside it) is 39cm wide. If I want to make baguettes of 35 cm length, how much dough should I use for one, to obtain a proper ratio of crumb and crust? I guess I'm not the only person out here with a small oven, maybe some of you had the same problem before and can provide a good advise. I made baguettes before, but usualy they were too thin, and once they were too fat (large in diameter)... so, I would appreciate any advise I can get.

codruta

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
June 9, 2011 - 3:21pm
Nickisafoodie's picture
Nickisafoodie

Pizza lovers: Easy to recalibrate home oven up to 35° hotter

Like many I don't have room for a brick oven (condo) and have tried various ways to try to emulate same.  The 550° max setting on my oven makes very good pies, but not nearly as well as my dream 2 minute brick oven pie, nor as good as my 4 minute 650° but "not for everyone" method posted below.  I'm happy with the variables re dough, sauce, and toppings, thus the oven temp being the issue.

I just found a link (see bottom of post) that shows how you can calibrate your oven for up (or down) by 35° in 5° increments.  This feature is common as it is not unusual to find that ovens are off by up to this amount from the factory, thus the manufactuers provide an easy way to calibrate to the correct temp assuming you tested oven with an accurate themometer.  Once that is done, the fun begins:

I have a better use for this feature since my oven is accurate - increase by the max 35° adjustment and hope that my 550° max turns into 585°.  That should result in a 5-6 minute pie vs. 9-12 minutes at 500-550°.  Given my GE oven has a self cleaning function with insulation designed to withstand 900+ degrees for hours on end, there is no danger with a mere 35° increment- nor would the manufactuers provide for this feature if the insulation could not handle it.

For the adventurous- The above approach will be a departure as I usually run my oven at 650°-675° with a 90 minute preheat resulting in a 3 1/2 to 4 minute pizza as explained in this post: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18417/pizza-baked-home-650-degrees  Those pizza's rock and gets me as close as I can absent the real deal.  This method works very well for me when the stone is near the bottom of the oven, and after the pre-heat I turn on the broiler (which is on the ceiling of the oven, about 12 inches above stone/pizza.  The retained heat of the stone combined with the broiler flame is the closest I've come to emulating a 2-3 minute brick oven bake.  Also at these hotter temps the hydration percentage needs to be in the 70-75% range (I use natural leavan and 3 day fridge per the above link) to ensure a moist geletinized inner crust and slightly chared outer crust. 

But 90 minutes is a long time to get my stone to 650° thus my interest in trying out what will hopefully be a 585° oven and likely a 45-60 minute preheat.  And at 585° I will just let the oven bake rather than trying the broiler after the preheat (but may have to revisit that and try!).  Hopefully this weekend...

The following link talks about GE ovens, likely that most manufactuers have this feature either in the owner's manual or on Google.  Easy to reset back for traditional baking...

http://www.appliance411.com/faq/temperature-calibration.shtml

Share
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo

Pages

more