The Fresh Loaf

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Laurel's Kitchen Learning Loaf

frrobert's picture
frrobert

Laurel's Kitchen Learning Loaf

I new to bread baking except for pizza crust and I have made the Laurel's Kitchen Learning Loaf twice now and I think it turned out pretty good.  The second loaf is cooling but the outside looks good.

Here is a link to pictures  https://goo.gl/photos/F1m5Yy5GbGXhWxM29

I did modify the recipe. 

The biggest change is that I do not have access to whole wheat bread flour so the bread is 50/50 whole wheat flour/ bread flour.  I also use Greek yogurt vs regular yogurt

I have one issue with the recipe.  It says to use warm tap water to mix the yeast and hot tap water to mix with the yogurt.  Don't ever cook with water from your hot water faucet if you have some type of water heater with a tank.  While the water is most likely safe it will have an off taste.  Always use water from the cold tap and heat it up.

One issue I had is my bread it never passed the window pane test.  I mixed it with my Kitchen-Aid mixer with the paddle till it was mixed then switched to the bread hook to knead it.  It needed on a speed of 2 for a total of twenty minutes.  I can not use both hands so I am trying to to do the test with one hand so it may just be the way I am trying to stretch the dough.

The other issue is that my bread sticks just a bit after it is baked.  I have to run a thin metal spatula around the loaf to get it to release.  I bake in a metal pan that has been greased with oil.  I baked the bread to a temperature of 205 degrees.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Fr. Robert

 

 

 

 

 

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

That's a nice looking loaf of sandwich bread, for sure. Interesting about the hot tap water. It might be worth a try to run a tap of hot water, let it cool to room temperature and do a side-by-side taste test with cold tap water also left to sit to room temperature. I must say, I often drink hot tap water and haven't noticed an off taste, but I should check that again.

I have found myself that if I wipe my bread pans with oil, sometimes the bread sticks, where if I spray them with pan spray type oil they don't. I'm not sure why, but that's my experience.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Your bread looks grand.  Using Greek yogurt you probably could have upped the hydration a bit to compensate for less water in the mix.  Other than that it had to be tasty.  I say if you put whole wheat in bread.... it is whole wheat bread flour:-)  Welcome, well done and happy baking 

estherc's picture
estherc

I love that there is a recipe for a "learning loaf." I will recommend it to friends who ask. 

 

Lovely loaves. Congratulations.

TopBun's picture
TopBun

The "Loaf for Learning" in that book is one of my go-to sandwich loaf recipes. It performs very consistently and has wonderful flavor - even though it's for a fast/straight dough. The yogurt conditions the dough beautifully and creates nice flavor. There's a sponge variation in the book called Yogurt Bread that has even better flavor and is a good way to try a pre-ferment.

The book, while wonderful, is a little out of date about a couple of  things. She calls for hydrating active dry yeast in warm water, but with instant yeast now widely available and generally more popular, this step is now unnecessary - you can just incorporate instant yeast into the dry ingredients and add the yeast-proofing water to the other liquids. (Instant yeast is sometimes called bread machine yeast).

And although the book insists that a vigorous 20 minute knead is essential, I have produced many high rising breads from the book that pass the windowpane test with only a good initial mix and a series of stretch-and-folds, although I usually boost the hydration modestly to facilitate the non-mechanical gluten development.

About "whole wheat bread flour" --  As another commenter observed, you really can just use 100% whole wheat flour as long as it's not labeled whole wheat pastry flour. King Arthur, Trader Joes, Bob's Red Mill (and others) all have plenty high enough protein for a strong dough and a good rise. My loaves of this recipe made with 100% whole wheat rise nearly as high as yours go with 50% whole wheat. A long, cool proof works especially well.

As to your bakes, the loaves are beautiful, well done! Using Greek yogurt reduces the water content of the recipe but my guess is that your other modification of using 50% white flour compensated for this. If you do try 100% whole wheat flour, and I encourage you to do so, you should increase the water enough to just get a soft, pliable dough.  

Eric

frrobert's picture
frrobert

Update on my learning loaf. 

I have gone to 100% whole wheat and everything has worked fine.  The only difference is taste.  Needless to say with 100% whole wheat it has a stronger taste.

The other change is I started greasing my pan with shortening rather than oil and the bread releases much better.