November 19, 2016 - 3:54am
Soaking raisins and using the water
I'm using raisins as an add in to my bread and have decided to soak them in boiling water first then using the water in the recipe too. Dabrownman advised this with my last Einkorn loaf and said it'll add lovely flavour and make a nice crust due to the sugars. This isn't an Einkorn loaf but I'm doing so all the same.
My question is... The raisins will soak up the water and after draining I'll be left with juicier raisins but less water. Since it's all going into the bread do I ignore the fact that the water will be less or do I need to add in extra water even though the raisins will now add to the moisture?
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Since raisins will soak up some water you need to add the difference: I do the same when I am soaking cranberries and add as much as it was soaked up by them.
Happy baking!
Joze
Much appreciated. Can't wait to see what a difference it'll make in flavour and crust colour.
because there will be more sugar in the dough and it will therefore caramelize faster. At least this is my experience with dough that contains some sugar (also honey) .
Wish you a successful bake!
Joze
I don't weigh the soaking water; I just eyeball the amount so it's not too much more than the weight I plan to put into the dough. After the soaked raisins are removed, the remaining water is always such that I have to add more water to get the weight I want.
before adding make-up water to a loaf when I add soaked raisins. The raisins themselves always seem to give up some water to the dough, even if well drained. As a result it sometimes ends up "wet enough" without the additional "make-up"water. It is not always the case for some reason, but still I have learned to wait until the raisins are in to judge the final hydration of my dough.
Happy Baking
OldWoodenSpoon
This is what I was concerned about. I could always measure out the water that might need to be added and keep it to one side and then if the dough needs it I'll add it in.
that the raisins do give up some water to the dough, but in practice, I've never had a dough feel or a loaf turn out noticeably different from what I expected. Indeed, since I haven't compared side by side, if the water from the raisins only affected the dough hydration by a % or two, I may well not have noticed.
However this could very well be because I used chestnut puree instead of pumpkin puree. I think chestnut puree is dryer so I might have been adding extra because I changed the recipe in the first place.
to pay attention to your dough. Your flour may be drier one time, and have more moisture another. We always have to watch the dough, and listen to what our hands and eyes tell us it needs, regardless of the exact quantities called for in formulas. For my part, I have learned to anticipate the possibility that the soaked raisins will carry back enough water to have some impact. Reserving some water allows me to deal with that easily.
You are experiencing the same in your changed formula, where a substitution has affected the apparent hydration of your dough, so you compensate to bring it to where you think it should be. Congratulations, because you are growing as a baker, and bringing your skills and knowledge to bear to make the best bread you can. There is the center point, the bull's eye, that we all aim for.
OldWoodenSpoon
The change in the formula threw the hydration off and adding extra when compensation for the waking raisins brought it back in sync.
It was the first time I've used a raisin soaker then added the water back in so wasn't sure where that would leave me. Do the soaked raisins add to the moisture or do I need to make it back up? What I didn't realise at the time is I've changed other stuff as well.
Thanks for the kind words.
And used that to soak the raisins. So I aim to drain the water into the dough bowl and add the raisins later after the dough is formed. I'll see how much I need to top back up after I've weighed the remaining water.
Thanks Arjon
raisin water liquid as part of the dough liquid total. T raisins mihr give up some of theor water when baking but I have never found that to be a problem if the bread is baked to at least 205 F. The extra sugar added to the dough from the raisin water does two things in SD bread. It tones down the sour and it helps to caramelize the crust to that prized mahogany color.
I did have to top the liquid back up. All the raisin water went in and it had honey to-boot. This is a chestnut and raisin sourdough adapted from a pumpkin and sour cherry sourdough. The original had honey but no soaker. I included both. My starter build was playing up but since I only have a limited time once a week I couldn't afford to start again. It didn't seem ready but it smelled so good! I pushed ahead after waiting as long as possible. Told myself it's just a young starter which some recipe do use. Ran out of time for the bulk ferment and had to refrigerate overnight. Finished off the bulk ferment today but it took ages! Shaped and final proofed. It's now out of the oven, looks and smells very good indeed. I'll include a pic below and another of the crumb shot.
P.s. why can't you use an immature starter and just wait long enough for it to do its job? I've been meaning to ask this question for some time now. I'm sure this is what I've done.
Would love to see the colour of your crust.. 100% of the water is raisin water?!
By 100% I mean I soaked the raisins in all the water of the recipe and included it in the final dough. I had to top up the water soaked up by the raisins though. Just out of the oven and it's dark! See below...
and I love that bold bake too! I'd wager that you will have a very nice crumb as well. Well done!
OldWoodenSpoon
Not fully cooled so still a tad gummy but I'm very pleased with this bake. Thin crispy crust and soft crumb. Raisins make this bread. Perhaps next time I'd approach it slightly differently and allow my starter to become very mature first simply because of the touch and go through the whole process. But a good save nevertheless.
Thanks for the post.. love raisins in bread too.. very great..
I recommend using the raisin water, when soaking them, in the dough. Wonderful flavour.
The puree might have made it a bit 'gummy' too. I find that most breads with some kind of puree in them need to sit for a day to fully develop. I bet it smells heavenly!
I'm not sure, but I think if you use an immature starter and then add all the bread ingredients you might either overwhelm the small population of yeasties and beasties, or encourage the growth of something else. The other ingredients would probably have an effect on the development of the leaven as well. But as I said, a great save, and good on you for being patient and paying attention to the dough and what it needed!
It did smell heavenly and I'm very happy with this crust. One of my best! I'll see what it's like tonight and how much the gumminess has improved. It wasn't so bad, even though it was still warm, but I hope it has improved.
I don't like these touch and go breads as I'm on tenterhooks while waiting thinking it's not gonna work and I've spent ages on it. When I saw the oven spring while it was baking I was very relieved. The starter smelled ready that's why I proceeded otherwise it certainly looked lack lustre. And because of all the add-ins it might very well have slowed things down too.
Thank you for the kind words and explanation.
I know what you mean - worrying about bread and all. My husband laughs at me because, even though I bake at least three times a week and in large quantities, I'm always saying, "I hope this bread turns out"! There are so many variables and it's such a relief when it comes out of the oven looking like bread! I'm happy when my customers write me a note to tell me a loaf was delicious because, unless I make an extra of each batch for us, I'm never certain of the crumb or flavour. That would be way too much bread for us!
Especially when you've got customers waiting for bread you cannot afford anything to go wrong. I now understand why many bakeries selling Sourdough actually make them hybrids.
Good to get feedback as you don't know what its really like till you've cut into the bread. Your husband wouldn't understand. It's alright when you aren't doing the baking.