The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Greetings & my first loaf

Prairie_Tarwe's picture
Prairie_Tarwe

Greetings & my first loaf

Hello everyone! Long time bread enthusiast, but very amateur baker here. I loved bread and decided I wanted to try baking some of my own! I hope this is an o.k. place to post an inquiry - I was wondering if anyone had some advice! 

I followed this recipe; http://lessonsfromyesterday.com/one-bowl-knead-bread/ 
I baked my loaf in a glass bread dish. The lady on the website said she greased her bread pan with olive oil, though I used vegetable oil for mine. I also used tinfoil to make a cover for the dish for the first 30 minutes of baking. 

All things considered, I think my bread turned out alright! The taste had a bit of stronger yeast-flavor, and the crust was a bit too crisp on top....and waay too hard on the bottom. Any ideas what went wrong and how I can remedy this in the future? 

I've included some photos of the inside (which was rather...airy?) as well as the bottom of the loaf so you could see how it turned out. 

Thanks in advance! I'm excited to meet and discuss with fellow bakers! :) 

clazar123's picture
clazar123

Great start! Keep using the same recipe and get a notebook to take notes in. It is not a destination but a journey with side roads and "AH-HA" moments and a few "Drats" along the way. The birds never go hungry and either your bread crumb can or your bread pudding bowl are frequently refilled. :)

There are as many ways to make a loaf of bread as there are bakers so you will get a LOT of advice from the great people here, everyone you talk to and every book you consult. Sometimes it will be conflicting advice! So how do you make sense of it? Remember to try and understand the CONCEPT of what is involved.First of all- WHAT IS BREAD?? Before every bake-ask yourself what type of bread you want to make and use the techniques that will make that a successful outcome.

Please realize you have multiple learning curves ahead and don't get frustrated. As stated before-It is a journey.

1.Find a simple recipe-write it down

2. Make it over and over. Change only 1 thing with every bake so you get a sense of how that 1 thing affected the loaf. Do many bakes with that 1 change if necessary to get that understanding. Then move on to the next change.

3. If possible, convert the recipe to weighed rather than volume-measured ingredients. It is not absolutely necessary but it helps with scaling up or down and also consistency from bake to bake. There is something called "Baker's Percentage" you will encounter later (another learning curve). Before you convert to weights-use the same measuring cups and measure out the ingredients in the same manner every time. Look up "scoop and sweep" measuring.

4. Use the same brand and type of flour for each bake. Even changing brands of the same type of flour can affect outcomes. For finicky recipes-even the harvest season can affect an outcome.

You didn't mention the type of flour you used when you made this loaf. AP? Bread flour? The author says any kind of flour can be used but whole wheat or rye will both greatly affect the texture of the dough and later, the crumb. Both WW and rye behave totally differently in a loaf and require different techniques to bring out the best loaf. It's a different learning curve.Don't think of it as the same as AP or bread flour.

Here is a recipe from Jacques Pepin (chef and friend of Julia Child) and his "Fast Proof" easy bread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP27HxEzdK8

Many similarities in technique to your recipe but he does a short rise first (1 1/2 hrs) at room temp. Then he stirs it down before refrigerating for 10-12 hrs. His dough is not touched again and goes right into a hot oven.  The short rise and knockdown helps make the crumb more even. If you want a loafpan used, knock it down,shape and put into a loafpan before the refrigeration. It does need to be covered, tho, so it doesn't skin over in the refrigerator.

You can use 1/4 tsp yeast as in your recipe or 1 tsp yeast as in Pepin's recipe. The amount of yeast controls the amount of time it takes to fully raise at a given temperature-use 1/4 tsp and take 15-24 hrs to raise or use 1 tsp and take 8-10 hrs(overnight ) to raise. Different amounts of yeast can be used at different seasons-less in a hot kitchen and more in a cool kitchen. First lesson.

Have fun and bake some deliciousness!