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July 27, 2008 - 2:42pm

pmccool

Walnut Stout Bread

This weekend's bake, per my wife's request, was a walnut stout bread. The recipe that I used (note that all measurements are volumes, not weights) can be found here: http://www.kitchenlink.com/mf/2/4133. We first saw it printed in the Kansas City Star some years ago; the link attributes it to the Houston Chronicle. It's probably one of those recipes that was reprinted widely, since it is so good. Oh, and don't miss the Cheddar-Ale spread recipe at the bottom of the page. It is wonderful with this bread!

There are a couple of insights that I can offer, having made this bread on several occasions. It is essentially a rye bread, which means that the crumb is very smooth and somewhat dense. The dough will be sticky as you handle it. The recipe suggests adding flour during kneading to control the stickiness but I elected to knead with one hand and clean the countertop (and my hand) with a plastic dough scraper. It helps to keep the finished bread from being too dry. The recipe merely says "rye flour". I don't know if it means white rye, medium rye, or whole rye. In my case, whole rye flour was on hand, so that is what I used and it turned out fine. The recipe also requires 1 Tablespoon of coriander, and that is not a misprint. Between the coriander and the anise seed, it is a very fragrant bread. As for the stout, I've used Guinness on previous occasions with good results. This time, I used Boulevard Brewery's Dry Stout (local to Kansas City) with equally delicious results. I think you could get away with using any dark beer or ale, whether stout, porter, bock or dunkel. The flavor may shift a bit, but it wouldn't upset the overall results. Obviously, the richer the flavor of the beer or ale, the richer the flavor of the bread. The walnuts are, to my tastes, essential for the bread. They contribute both flavor and a crunch that play off the other flavors and textures very nicely.

The recommended baking time is 35-45 minutes at 375F. I checked a loaf's temperature at the 40-minute mark and it was only about 180F, so I left it in for another 10 minutes. If it had been taken out at the recommended time, it would have been gummy. Since I only make this every two or three years, I haven't really experimented with different temperature/time combinations.

Here is a picture of the finished loaves:

Walnut Stout Bread

Paul

July 25, 2008 - 5:24am

tbednarick

Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough Group Bake

Hi all,

I'll be making Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough again this weekend. Is anyone interested in joining me and comparing notes?

You can find the recipe here: http://ostwestwind.twoday.net/stories/3707371/

I made this loaf for the first time last weekend and I finally feel like my bread starting to turn out pretty good. I'll be concentrating on this bread for awhile, in an attempt to improve my skills.

I think the things that helped me out the most the first time I made this bread was I had refreshed the starter twice in the 24 hours before making the bread, instead of once in 12 hours. I also followed Hamelman's instructions very closely and used a scale.

This time around, I'll be making the full home sized batch and one of the loafs will be a batard. I've pretty much stuck will boules, but I'd like to improve my shaping skills.

Please join me in making this delicious bread. I really learn alot from reading other people's experience with the same recipe.

Tonya

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July 23, 2008 - 8:01pm

foolishpoolish

Milk Loaf

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July 17, 2008 - 11:48am

bakerwendy

starter

Yesterday I started the starter from Bread Baker's Apprentice. Today when I added the second helping of water and flour I noticed some bubbles in the Day 1 mixture. I mixed in the new flour and water and marked on the side of the jar at the level of the dough. In the book Reinhart says it could maybe rise 50% by tomorrow. Well it has already risen that much in about 4 hours. I have only started a starter one other time and it seemed to take several days to do anything. Is everything alright? Thanks

update: now it has been about six hours and it is coming out the top of the 4c mason jar. I guess i am just going to divide it and add the 3rd day four and water.

Does anyone know how this could be happening so quickly? Or any advice on what i should do?

Wendy

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July 16, 2008 - 5:17pm

Zigs

Weak dough or Over-proofing?

I've been having consistent problems with my loaves deflating during scoring and little to no oven spring. From what I've been reading, this usually indicates over-proofed dough, but I really don't let the dough proof very long (30 minutes - 1 hour) and when I poke it before scoring, the dough still slowly rebounds.

I'm wondering if this could be an indication of dough strength instead of over-proofed dough. I really don't know what "strength" means, but I've read it could be a problem when scoring.

My breads are whole-grain (ground myself) typically either Hard White Spring or a mixture with Hard Red Spring. I'm using the Reinhart whole wheat method (biga, soaker, fridge for a day, etc...). Also using the stretch-and-fold (~4-6 folds w/half hour rests) instead of kneading.

So, any ideas on if this is a strengh issue or over-proofing? If it's strength, any tips on increasing the strength of the dough?

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July 14, 2008 - 8:27pm

foolishpoolish

Granary Cob

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July 12, 2008 - 1:21pm

hullaf

Using whey as liquid substitute

I've just tried a "30-minute mozzarella" recipe, and it turned out wonderful, but the book it came from said that the leftover whey can be used as a substitute liquid in bread making. Has anyone tried this? Book reads: "whey contains milk sugar, albuminous protein, and minerals." So, is the part that is called "albuminous protein" same as the serum protein in milk and thus has to be scalded (just below the boiling point = 190F) before it could be used? The whey in the mozzarella cheese making process only got to 105 degrees F.

Anet

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July 12, 2008 - 12:49pm

CountryBoy

Is Reinhart's 100% Rye Hearth Bread Possible Without A Starter?

Is it possible to bake the following Reinhart recipe, from his Whole Grain Bread bk., p. 175, without using a rye sourdough starter? Yes, I know a starter is much better, but is it at all possible to work around that and still deal with the acidity of the rye flour and get a reasonable loaf of this bread?

Thanks.

Soaker

	Single Loaf	Triple
Whole Rye Flour	1 ¾ cups	5 1/4
Water	1 Cup	3 Cups
Salt	1/2 tsps	1 ½ tsps
Vital wheat gluten (optional)	4 tsps	12 tsps

Starter

	Single	Triple
Rye mother starter	½ cup	1 ½ cups
Whole Rye Flour	1 2/3 cups	Almost 5 cups
Water	¾ cups	2 ¼ cups

Final Dough

	Single	Triple
Soaker	Use all	Use all
Starter	Use all	Use all
Water	¾ cups	2 ¼ cups
Salt	5/8 tsp	3 1/8 tsps
Instant yeast	2 ¼ tsps	6 ¾ tsp

Note: Forgot to add:

Whole rye flour

¾ cups+ 2 Ts

2 ¼ cups

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July 11, 2008 - 8:59am

MaryinHammondsport

Sourdough Banana Bread

This recipe is a modified version of Floyd's !0 Minute Banana Bread recipe shown at the lower left on the home page. It incorporates most of the suggestions Foolish Poolish made just recently and a change or two of my own. I just happened to have some over-ripe bananas and some left-over starter this morning, so I though , "Why not?" It's delicious and so tender it almost slices itself!

Sourdough Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 350° F

In a food processor, combine and pulse until broken up:

1/2 stick of room temperature butter (4 ounces/60 gr.)

2 eggs

2 -3 fully ripe bananas, broken into chunks

In a large mixing bowl combine and stir:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (214 gr.) (could be partly whole wheat, but not more than 1/2 cup)

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (100 to 150 gr.)

3/4 teas. salt (4.5 gr.)

3/4 teas. baking soda (3.5 gr.)

1/4 teas. baking powder (3.5 gr.)

1/2 teas. cinnamon (1 gr.)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry.

Also add up to a cup of sourdough starter. I used a scant cup of batter-consistancy starter, and it was just right. Thw weight here will vary -- some starters are heavier than others. It would be ok to use a liquid measure of 8 oz., more or less, here.

Stir all together very very well.

Optional ingredients to add at this point:

1/2 to 3/4 cups chopped walnuts, or

1 tablespoon poppy seeds, or

1 to 2 tablespoons flax seeds

I would not use more than one of these options.

Grease an 8 1/2" X 4 1/2" loaf pan or two smaller ones. Turn batter into pan(s).

Bake at 350° F on a middle rack. It should take 30 or so minutes if in two pans and about 40 in just one. Test by poking a toothpick into the center of the loaf; if it comes out clean, the bread is done.

Let sit in pan(s) for 5 minutes or so, then turn out onto a wire rack.

This is going to be my favorite use of left-over sourdough, I can tell that!

Sorry, no photos; I put it in two 8 1/2"X4 1/2" pans and the loaves are way too flat to be proud of, but they taste great.

Thanks to Foolish Poolish for getting me started on this modification and to Floyd for providing the basic recipe.

Mary

July 9, 2008 - 3:22pm

trenicar

Morton's Onion Bread

Hi this is my first post.

9 years ago I visited Morton's restaurant next to the twin towers.

I remember the meal was great, but the one thing that sticks in my mind is the loaf of hot bread that came with the meal.

It was Onion Bread and wondered if anybody had a recipe that would be similar to this

I have never found a loaf as good.

I live in France, in a small village where we have an artisan baker, he is quite experimental, and I try to bake as well.

I am English, but we both have a passion for fresh bread.

This seems a great site and I look forward to trying some of the recipes, I will let you know how I get on

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The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Most bookmarked

Walnut Stout Bread

Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough Group Bake

Milk Loaf

starter

Weak dough or Over-proofing?

Granary Cob

Using whey as liquid substitute

Is Reinhart's 100% Rye Hearth Bread Possible Without A Starter?

Sourdough Banana Bread

Morton's Onion Bread

Pages

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Most bookmarked

Walnut Stout Bread

Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough Group Bake

Milk Loaf

starter

Weak dough or Over-proofing?

Granary Cob

Using whey as liquid substitute

Is Reinhart's 100% Rye Hearth Bread Possible Without A Starter?

Sourdough Banana Bread

Morton's Onion Bread

Pages