The Second Loaf
I didn't post pictures of my first loaf yet, so here it is! It was a simple white loaf that was quite delicious with honey and butter. I made the mistake of adding the flour too fast, but it turned out all right anyway.
After the relative success of my first loaf, I found I was unsure of my second one. We all want to succeed in our endeavors, and I felt like my second loaf would determine whether I can actually do this or not.
My second guy was a little bit of a step up. I'm still not trying to get ahead of myself and I'm still trying to understand how everything works individually and when combined with other ingredients. So my second bread was a simple whole wheat and honey bread.
To my surprise (I didn't really know what to expect) it very much resembled the bread that you buy at the store!! This was quite a bit different from my first loaf. The white bread calls for shortening and it didn't really seem to be kneaded much. The whole wheat loaf called for eggs and needed a bit more care. I think this time I may have added the flour a bit too slowly. I used my stand mixer and at a certain point it just wasn't really mixing anymore. So I layed it out on my floured counter and started kneading. After about ten minutes the dough was still sticking to my hands but the temp had reached 77 degrees (my cook book says that you should gage knead doneness by either an elastic smooth texture or temp) I would love love love some kneading tips. Should I look for temperature? Or is it more important to pay attention to texture? Also, whilst kneading, i needed to add quite a bit of extra flour for my hands and the surface. Is it possible to add too much flour? My loaf came out just fine either way!!
Tomorrow I'm going to a friend's for dinner. I think I shall try my hand at foccacia bread! I don't have a baking stone or a baking pan to use for water. But I do have a very nice Sur La Table baking sheet and a broiler pan that I think will suffice. Any homemade suggestions on what else can be done for humidifying the oven?
All in all, I'm still super excited to be baking bread. My coworkers laughed when I told them I had joined a bread site and had started a bread blog. But as a fellow manager pointed out, there are worse things to be this excited about. :) And with two successes under my belt, I'm feeling pretty optimistic on future loaves. Not to mention that I won't have to buy store made bread again!!!
~B
Comments
Those are some nice loaves for starters ~B. You have a nice looking crumb in your whole wheat and honey loaf, and it sounds like you are happy with the texture and "bite". That makes it good bread!
My answer (you will get many!) to your kneading question is to go by the feel of the dough as most important, and by temperature only "sort of". You must get the gluten of the dough developed or you will not get a good rise, and that will result in the well known brick. If you find your dough temperature is too high when the gluten development feels right then next time, all other factors being equal, use a little cooler water in your dough to compensate. In the end the dough temperature is determined by the flour temperature, the water temperature and the amount of kneading you have to do to develop the gluten. Kneading, though, is about developing the gluten so it will hold in the gas to raise up the loaf.
Oh, yes it is too easy to add too much flour! Working with wet dough takes some getting used to, but mastering that skill is one of the secrets to improving your bread. You might want to look into topics like "stretch and fold" and "handling wet dough" in various forms using the [Search] box at the upper left margin of every TFL page. You'll find plenty of reading to keep you from getting anything else done, on both topics!
The other thing I noticed (just trying to be helpful here) is that your oven appears to be a bit hotter on one side/front than the other/back. I'd suggest you check that with an inexpensive (relatively) oven thermometer from the "Kitchen Tools" aisle of the local grocery store. Around here they run about 5 bucks. To compensate for this just rotate your loaves front-to-back and/or side-to-side about half way through the bake. It will help even out your crust color over the loaf.
Great start; keep it up!
OldWoodenSpoon
Welcome to the site. I think you will find TFL a friendly place where you can learn to bake just about anything you would like. As OWS commented on above, your breads look great especially for early efforts. The Whole Wheat looks perfect!
The search feature here is helpful if you are looking for something in particular. Also you might want to look at a good general bread book by a well known author. Bread Bakers Apprentice by Peter Reinhart is one many of us started with. He has all the major bread types and helpful step by step instructions that are great for beginning bakers. There is a link at the side bar for the book if you can't find it at the library. There are many others but the BBA is a great place to start.
I look forward to seeing more of your breads. Don't hesitate to join in the conversation if you have questions on something you see.
Eric
with my first two attempts, britneychelle! You are off to a strong start.
Paul
OWS-- Thanks for the oven tip! I do have a temp gage, but I didn't even think to rotate. I will definitely do that in the future. I've been making my way through the Lessons page which has been super helpful. I'll take a look at those kneading tips. I think I'll be making this loaf a lot due to the fact that it makes such good sandwich bread.
Eric-- How did you know I was secretly a cookbook coveter?? I've been looking around for a good beginners bread book but it's hard to tell. So thanks for the advice! I'm so on it. :)
Thank you all for the supportive comments! To know that people are reading and giving me helpful tips is really encouraging!!!!
~B