Hey, I was just wondering if anyone had any good links or info about new technology in baking equipment, I should also specify this is for plant bakeries. An example is Liquid-fed MDD mixers. I am having a hard time searching for any good info on Google.

Does anyone know any further improvements on telfon coated dividers? Or if there are highly efficient moulders or depanners? Or even any better ovens (for large plant bakeries) than the common tunnel ovens?

Thanks :D

Hi everyone.  I am in desperate need of some brilliant assistance by anyone who can truly help.  My dough is 68% hydration with 40% prefermented flour [fully active starter].  We bulk ferment for two hours then preshape and shape batards and baguettes.  The dough immediately goes into our walk-in refrigerator to proof for 17 hours.  Due to our production schedule and our need to immediately bake, we let the dough sit at room temp for 20 minutes before slashing and baking.  Since we are baking a full load of bread in our wood fired ovens, we do not introduce any further steam.  The temp of the oven is between 500 and 525 before loading the loaves.  The loaves are properly shaped and properly scored however the cuts do not form ears.  I'd love for the bread to look as good as it tastes!  It seems like the cut is filled in as oven spring occurs.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Dont think this counts as advanced, but didnt really know where else to put it.

I am about to invest in a probe thermometer to measure the internal temps of my bread during cooking.
I was wondering if there is a website/guide/book I can look at to tell what type of bread has what temperature at the point of being ready. I know the basic 80-90c, but I am looking to move towards different types of bread and mixes, and am assuming that there wont be a universal bread ready temp.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Charlie

I'm having a discussion with myself here regarding a formula I found to calculate layers in laminated dough.

l = (f + 1)ⁿ  

L being # of finished layers, F # of folds and N being the # of times the dough is folded.

Seriously lacking in the math department myself it probably is a better idea to ask for help!

I understand the formula, but I'm uncertain as to where the formula starts counting. Here is my point: if I lock in the butter, which I wouldn't "count" as a "fold", I start out with 3 layers anyway, right? So... that will effect the total number of layers by an extra factor of 3... or am I completely nuts.

Or is it just as simple as this: one  sheet of dough with butter locked in= one layer?

Any pointers?

Thanks for helping me out

Freerk

 P.S. You would do me a big favor endorsing my BreadLab iniative. Every "like" will get me closer to realizing a 6 episode documentary/road movie; chasing the best bread Europe has to offer. Thanks in advance!

I have just begun baking bread and I keep having the same problem - dense loaves! I use the amounts called for, knead for the correct amount of time, let them rise longer than the recipe says, and I still can't get them to rise as much as they should! My loaves always turn out great tasting, but small and dense. I am thinking my problem may be that I am either kneading incorrectly or not long enough (I am doing it by hand because I don't have a mixer), or my dough is too dry. Do most recipes call for more flour than is generally needed? And how sticky should the dough generally be to get a good amount of rise? Thanks for all the help!

Hi,

When using the no knead sourdough bread receipe, my round loaves are flat.  The bread rises well in a beneton but does not rise after placing the proofed loaf in the la cloche which has been heated to 450 degrees.  Loaves are baked for 30 min and after the lid is removed for another 10-15 min in a 440 degree over.

My take is that the bread is too soft and liquid and spreads out rather than raises.

Can anyone suggest how the loaves could raise higher?

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

We just started milling grains for our flour.  I really love what King Arthur's Bread flour does for my sandwich bread.  It's got malted barley in it though.  DO I just get barley and add it to my hard red wheat?  ANyone replicated their flour before with home milled grains?  Or have a fabulous recipe for sandwich bread that is light, fluffy made from home milled grains?

Thanks,

A

Hi there,

I'm new to the forum, but I've been an avid fan of The Fresh Loaf for quite a while.  My father was a professional baker for quite some time, and I've picked up the "baking bug" from him.

I have a question about a recipe that I just formulated.  I am trying to make reasonable "ladi pav" (also known as "pao").  They're basically soft buns with a relatively soft but golden crust.  The closest comparison would be decent hamburger buns.  I used the following ingredients:

3 cups maida, 2 tsp instant yeast, 1.5 tsp sugar, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup milk, 1.5 tbsp butter, 1.25 tsp salt

I proofed the yeast in the water, into which I'd dissolved the sugar.  I mixed the flour (maida) and salt in a separate bowl, and once the yeast had done its thing, I poured that, the milk, and the melted (but not hot) butter into the flour mixture and mixed well.  I kneaded it with quite a lot more maida (I would say that I added at least another cup, most likely a cup to a cup and a half) - it was exceedingly wet and sticky, and I couldn't have kneaded for a full ten minutes without that much of an addition.

It was still quite soft and a bit sticky by the end of ten minutes' kneading.  I greased a bowl and proofed the dough for two hours.  It rose very well. 

I punched it, kneaded it a few times without any additional flour, and formed it into eight small balls. The dough was still quite soft, but not very sticky. I let this rise for just under an hour - again, it rose very well.  I baked the buns at 365 F (approximate) for 35 minutes.  They baked through properly, and tasted quite nice, but I'd like to improve the recipe in the following ways:

-make them softer and moister

-make them hold their shape better (they spread out quite a lot), and rise a bit higher

Any suggestions at all would be fantastic! 
Thanks in advance,

Sarah

I believe I know my "problem" if my final end product after letting rise for the second time and everytime I get a denser dough like bread, is this because I am not final proofing long enough?

Using unbleached "All purpose flour"

Sponge is rising for approximately 90 minutes

Combining sponge to dough mixture.

Kneading dough for 15 mins by hand seems to pass the window pane test for elasticity.

Letting rise covered in plastic 4-5 hrs on top of stove

Pounching down Dividing dough for loaves

Proofing in (in home oven) covered with towel aprom 4-5 hrs

Baking @350 till internal temperature temp reads 195°

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/03/25/baking-as-therapy/

I stumbled onto this article, enjoy!