English Cottage loaf and others
Hi,
I'm in the UK but we don't have such a good forum over here so hopefully you will be able to help me.
We have a small monthly market in our village and I'm hoping to help out with some baking as the previous lady has had to give up. I make my own bread by hand, using a sponge, left overnight and then adding more flour, salt, butter and milk/water. I also knead by the 'french' method as I have arthritis in my wrists and can't knead in the traditional method. I cook my bread in a tin (it fits the toaster better) My query if anyone can help is: can I use this type of dough/method to make other shapes of bread such as an English Cottage Loaf, Bloomer and White Cob?
If someone can get back to me real quick with some help I would appreciate it as I only have a week in which to perfect or NOT....!!! the perfect Cottage Loaf.
Thanks
You'll need proving containers of some sort, bannetons or bowls lined with floured linen. Use less dairy and introduce steam to the oven if you want crustier loaves. A stone/two or three terracotta tiles in the oven help if you're not using tins. Get them good and hot before baking on them and use semolina or rice flour to stop the loaves sticking to them.
Don't panic. Those loaves aren't so different from what you're already making. They may not be perfect first time round but they'll be perfectly edible. Shaping and handling the dough without a tin will probably be your biggest challenge and there are lots of videos on-line which can help there.
How many loaves are you aiming to produce?
Hi Jon,
That was quick - thought you'd all be in bed in USA at this time.
I'm only starting with maybe 4 or 5 as I'm also hoping to get some pastries, cookie. quiches and cakes done as well. I'm not sure just how much will sell as it's only a small market approx. 7 stalls.
I do have a large terracotta stone in my oven (I leave it there all the time even when baking other stuff) though I've not used any water trays as I usually make 4 loaves and freeze 3. So the crust is always soft.
My recipe is 700g Canadian strong wheat flour 600g water and 9g easy-bake yeast made into sponge - left overnight and the 366g flour 166g mix of milk/water salt and 50g butter. This makes two 900g approx. tin loaves. I didn't know about using less butter, should I leave out all the milk and just use water?
Is there anything to make shaping free form bread easier - tips appreciated.
Just FYI - Jon is also in the UK (check his profile - update your own :) and the US is behind us time-wise, so 10:30pm here is 5:30pm to 3:30pm over there (east to west coast)
If you want shaping tips, then go online and check youtube - there are many bread shaping videos there...
See e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgqPli_sLLM and a few others by Ciril Hitz. Also a few ideas from Bertinet's Dough book DVD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOjSp5_YiF0 and many many others!
-Gordon
And it's earlier over there than it is over here. On the West Coast they're still at work.
It's been a while since I've seen good examples of the loaves you mention but, as I recall, the cottage loaf is usually heavily floured, with a fairly soft crust while the bloomer has a bit of crackle to its crust and the cob is crustier still. None of them are very crusty, so I assume that they're all enriched doughs but maybe not to the same degree. It might be worth checking on-line to see what recipes you can find for each sort. On the other hand, it might just be that the different shapes make for a slightly different finish.
I can't help much with the shaping I'm afraid. I've made a few boules but, like you, I usually make sandwich loaves in tins. There are some good videos around though. Try these for a start: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shaping+loaves
Jon
Isn't that at the border of New Vermont?
Good youtube link for shaping vids.
dobie
It's nowhere near Original York or Old Scotia, either, but not that far from Ancient Greenwich.
Jon
Vermont to vermiculture (worm farming/composting). I never made that connection.
dobie
A completely spurious connection, of course. I assume the name actually comes from the French for 'Green Mountain' but that the 't' from vert was dropped somewhere along the Anglicising way.
I believe I have mentioned my habit of making disjointed connections. Sometimes they're deliberate and for humorous effect.
Yes, Jon
I do believe it's been mentioned.
Still, I like Worm Mountain better.
dobie
However if you're happy with your current mix/knead method, then it's just a matter of shaping after that - but for the free-formed ones like a cottage loaf, reduce the water a little to make the dough a bit tighter - else you'll likely end up with a flying saucer... Remember to punch your thumb through the cottage loaf until it meets the worktop and cut/slash it before proofing (although if you forget, use scissors before it goes into the oven!)
Also - have you looked at some of the no-knead methods? (or minimal knead) You can prepare some quite large quantities of dough using some of those methods...
You might also want to look at using a linen couche to help support the bloomers too, or as Jon suggests above, bowls lines with floured linen - this photo is essentially that:
those baskets have shaped linen liners in them.
Where about are you? I do a few small local produce markets in rural Devon...
-Gordon
Hi Gordon,
I'm in Rural Carmarthenshire. Still very much a novice bread baker - very much an OAP......!! My OH only likes white bread that fits the toaster...!!!! I'm hoping to maybe try some different recipes if our little market takes off.
And SORRY Jon - presumed you where in the USA.
Thank you for your comments all taken on board and will be tested out in the next few days.
Daphne
Love your part of the world. We've spent many happy holidays in Pembrokeshire and surrounds.
My OH is like yours but I've managed to get her on to half white, half wholemeal loaves. As long as they fit in the toaster.
Hi Guys,
I had a go at Cottage loaves pic attached. Not as I remember them in my youth. Strangely tonight I was watching Victorian Bakers their first episode and they were baking Cottage loaves.....!!! Similar to mine in shape as was the photo also shown back in the early years.
They did seem to squat down and spread a bit once they were doing their last prove. I gave them an egg wash - never used this before as normally just sift some flour on top. Might try that next time as I wondered if that was why the top seems to have disappeared into the bottom. I remember being able to 'tear' the top from the bottom and these (I've only shown one - the loaves in the back are my normal tin ones) I don't think will.
I did leave out the milk and reduced the butter and used slightly less water - should have been 166ml and I did
130ml. the dough seemed to be tighter
.
... that I might have a go for Saturday - I have a table at a little local produce market - wonder if an olde-fashioed cottage loaf would work there... who knows!
Bit hard to make detail out in that small photo, but it seems to have the basic shape there though. I'm sure it tastes just fine!
Cheers,
-Gordon
But it's extremely hard to tell how much alike from that photo.
If the dough sags a little you can always tighten it up a little after the final prove, as in this video Not a problem we have using tins!
I recall cottage loaves being well dusted, too.
Hi Jon,
Thank you for the link to shaping bread - very interesting and I now realise that I'm NOT making any of my loaves tight enough - I'm being TOO gentle.....
I like the idea of moulding then allowing time between before moulding again. I'll give this a try on my next bake.
While looking at 'your' video link there was a Richard Bertinette, this is were I got the idea for the way to knead without using my wrists. But I leave my 'first' dough mix overnight then add the rest of ingredients before kneading like Richard does.
The 'Cottage' loaf was lovely but will flour dust next time and it will NOT fit in the toaster....
Any ideas for 'easy' 'fail proof' different breads for a beginner - for my stall.
Though the hoops I've got to jump through for the paperwork to be able to sell quiches and cream desserts just once a month for 3 hours is horrendous.**
If it's a real cottage it'll have an Aga, not a toaster, and you can toast any shape of bread on an Aga.
I picked up the 'slap and fold' method from that video, too.
You're asking the wrong person about different breads, as I don't have a very wide repertoire. I do bake a lot with spelt, though, and you could do worse than substitute spelt for your usual flour in your white sandwich loaves. It'll take a little less time for the final prove but, apart from that, you can do a one for one replacement. It has a great flavour, a different texture and it's becoming better known, so should sell OK. A half-and-half mix of white and wholemeal works well, too. Spelt doesn't bake as well in free-standing loaves, however, tending to slump.