The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Cooking at Work

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne

Cooking at Work

I've had a chance to teach a few bread classes where I work.  The classes have turned out well but since there is no oven, the full normal cycle can not be demonstrated.  The last class we did was Sourdough English Muffins which are cooked on a griddle, which we do have.  This seemed to work out better.

 

So, my question to all of you is:  What other breads do you cook on a Griddle?

 

The only other breads that I can think of are Flour Tortillas and Nan bread.  Thanks for any suggestions and or recipes (I prefer Sourdough).

Dwayne

 

tom scott's picture
tom scott

When I go to Taiwan (no oven) I cook this bread on the stovetop.  It is Indian in origin.  Youtube has a lot of videos for "Bhatura" but this is the closest to the one I use.  http://foodviva.com/roti-paratha-recipes/bhatura-recipe/
I use yeast vs baking powder.  (easy to convert to sourdough if you wish.)
I use just a bit of oil to brown them - more like a biscuit.  I flatten with the heel of my hand so it's a smaller diameter.
I got the recipe from
 http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Step---Step-Guide-Baking/dp/1844767566/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458320945&sr=1-1&keywords=the+practical+step+by...
I got the book primarily for the smallish section of Indian & Middle Eastern breads.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne

Tom,

 

Thanks, this looks like a good possibility.  Do I understand correctly that there is no rise time after shaping (rolling them out)?

 

For Sourdough we could mix them up (making some substitution of Sourdough for yeast) the day before and them cook them at lunch time.

 

Thanks, Dwayne

tom scott's picture
tom scott

Neither recipe requires it.  Most of the time I give it about an hour.  But the real rise comes in the frying pan.  If pressed out to about 1/2 inch after frying they are a little over 1 inch thick.

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Apparently (though I've never tried it) you can bake bread in a slow cooker. Maybe see if you can find a recipe for this.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne

We have some large Roaster Ovens here and I have baked in them once.  The loaf turned out pretty well.  It was funny to see people just standing around the loaf when it was done, just eating one slice after another.  I guess this means that they liked it.  : )

 

Thanks, Dwayne

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Crumpets?

Injera?

Crepes?

Moroccan Mkhamer?

Naan?

Chapati?

Scones?

Oatcakes?

I'm sure that there are more possibilities.

Paul

 

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne

Paul,

 

Thanks for the ideas.  I am primarily only looking at Yeast/Sourdough types of bread so I check into Injera, Mkamer, Naan, and Chapati.

 

In the bread classes that you teach have you made any of these?

 

Dwayne

pmccool's picture
pmccool

But not the others, Dwayne.  Students are surprised at the scones, since most have only seen them baked.  Note that they are chemically leavened, not yeasted or sourdough. 

Paul

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Bannock. If I remember correctly you even posted on it once.   I'm pleased you remembered Oatcakes though:-)

pmccool's picture
pmccool

But I'll concede your point that it should have been mentioned, too.  Maybe the Irish part of me was interfering with the Scot that day.

Paul

sherdbachchi's picture
sherdbachchi

Hi !

Longtime lurker, first-time poster here. I just registered to answer your question.

A few breads come to mind, that can be cooked in the stovetop (sorry if my extra comments sound obvious!):

Algerian / Morrocan matlou' (or matlou3 for the guttural last letter): semolina-based dough, very wet and holey, traditionally made with sourdough, it looks like a massive English muffin from the outside, but the crumb is more ciabatta-like inside. It's usually cooked in a clay tagine directly on the stove, but a heavy griddle or tava like for naans can do the trick. I don't have a recipe that I really like to share, still testing...

South Indian idlis: steamed puffy pancakes usually made from a fermented mix of soaked and ground rice and urid lentils. I've never added sourdough to the batter because the ground rice and lentils ferment really quickly on their own, but I don't see why you couldn't experiment. It might change the texture of the idli (from pancake-y to bready).

South Indian dosas: crispy crepes made from the same batter as the idlis (slightly thinned out with water)

Algerian / Morrocan baghrir: fermented crepes, not unlike injera in texture/appearance, but made from a mix of semolina and plain flour (or all semolina if you're brave enough though I wouldn't recommend it). They are meant to be holey and full of bubbles, in fact the more bubbles/holes, the more successful your baghrir is. That's why baking powder is usually added in addition to the yeast. I've followed this recipe with pretty good results (adapted it for sourdough by replacing 15% of the flour+semolina weight with flour in the sourdough, around 12 hours rise, no baking powder in the initial batter but added around 1 tsp baking soda just before cooking).

Doughnuts are deep-fried over stovetop

In the same vein, there's a middle eastern festive "bread" (called Sfenj in Algeria, luqaymat or gaymat in the Persian Gulf, literally "little morsels" or "little bites"): basically deep-fried dough balls or rings, eaten with honey or date molasses. The dough is very easy to make, and very forgiving, but very wet: flour (usually plain flour, sometimes atta flour), water and yeast and a pinch of salt. Depending on your flour, the hydration should be around 90-100%. You scoop out the dough/batter with your fingers and drop little blobs of it into hot oil. They Puff up and are done when they're a deep golden brown. Easily adaptable to sourdough, though I've never done it (it's my next project).

Chinese steamed buns, plain or stuffed

 

That's all I can think of for now !

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne

Sherdbachchi,

 

Thanks for the suggestions, there were a number of breads that I had not heard of before.  I'll look into these.

 

Dwayne

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne

Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions.  Right now I think that I will go with either Bhatura or Naan Bread.  From the recipes that I've seen so far, which is not many, the dough seems similar.  they should be easy enough to make here at work and cook up on a griddle.  People can then sample the results.  I may make a sourdough batch and a yeast batch to see the difference in flavors.

 

Thanks, again, Dwayne

jammy's picture
jammy

Bhatura or poori will be the best bread to cook on griddle or stove top. Here is a recipe I follow

http://cookclickndevour.com/bhatura-recipe-how-to-make-bhatura

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne

i will have to try this.  

Thanks, Dwayne