March 3, 2020 - 12:27pm
New to Breadmaking
Hello all,
Just thought I'd introduce myself! I'm pretty new to bread making (about one month in, at this point), but I've already had a ton of fun with the breads I've made so far and I can tell it's something I'll keep doing, so I'm super glad I found this site. I'm really excited to dive into the art/science of bread making, experiment with different techniques, flavors, flours, etc. I think I'd like to get into sourdough and artisan loaves at some point, but that's a bit intimidating at the moment, so for now I'm sticking to some recipes from Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen, and recipes from friends.
Open to any and all pieces of advice, and excited to keep baking!
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Just got started and am having difficulty with my second rise of the dough. Unfortunately my bread goes flat when I cook it so I’m doing something wrong.
How do you know when it under or over proved?
Make a small indentation on the side with the pad of your fingertip. If it fills in quickly, it's not ready, if the indentation mostly stay, but fills up just a little very slowly, it's ready. Check Youtube, there are lots of videos that will show you visually.
Thanks for your reply. Am new to baking and got started after watching The Great British Bakeoff so I thought I’d give it a try. First thought I purchased “How to Bake” by Paul Hollywood. Also have visited YouTube and watched many videos of basic bread making and every baker has their own method! Being an engineer, I’m used to following a formula but seems like bakers can made bread using different techniques.
After knocking the dough back and place it in a loaf pan, should I try pushing with my finger? The indentation should come back out? Then let it rise for 30 minutes and check again. Unfortunately I have been just looking to see if it rises above the loaf pan and sometimes after 90 minutes just take it out and when I score it, it drops and after baking it’s very dense.
Hahahaha! I had wanted to learn for a long time but British Bakeoff is what gave me the push as well!?
From my very limited experience, collapsing loaf is maybe from overproved dough. Maybe try indentation test after 1 hour, then every so often.
Or maybe oven temp too low...
Is your first proof ok? The test on that is opposite - finger up to knuckle and indentation should remain.
Room temp/humidity affect rise time, so don't judge on time alone.
So we both got hooked watching Paul and Marry?
I’m following his instructions in his book and the main difference, in making the dough, is that he uses cooler temperature water than most every recipe, video that I’ve watched. So he says for the first proof to go at least one hour but 3 hours is fine. I go about 2 hours.
Unfortunately my second proof is about 90 minutes and all I’m looking for is if it rises above the top of the pan but by then it over proofed so I’ll start checking after 30 minutes.
What temperature do you cook your loafs? I’ve tried everything fron 350 to 425. Also do you put water in the oven?
Still didn’t get very high in the pan so was checking online. Found that there are different size loaf pans and mine is 9x5 which is too big for the recipe.
Will try again tomorrow
Yes! Exactly why I mentioned the indent test, pan size, room temperature, etc affect the rise, also what size pan vs. dough weight baked. I mostly bake at 450, depending on recipe (one specifically calls for 350). If I bake on the oven stone, I pre-heat at 500 for 20 min, then lower to 450 when the bread goes in.
Yes, I put a pan in the bottom rack of the oven, and pour a cup of water in it after a few minutes of baking
Hi and welcome!
I'm also fairly new to bread making (4-5 months in), and it becomes a passion!
So far my best friends have been Google, Youtube, and Peter Reinhart's Bread Baking Apprentice (15th anniv). BBA was my best purchase, all the basics are in there, but you have to be ready to read! I've read every single page, and went back to the baker's formula until I got it. I've also successfully baked many of the easier 1-day recipes (very excited that I'm finally trying out a preferment next weekend!!)
Best advice I could give you (although boring, I know!) is to pick one, single, straightforward recipe, and do it repeatedly until you're satisfied (research any questions... why is it tight at the top? Bottom? Water temp?, etc). You will learn SO much.
Good luck!!
I agree about sticking to one recipe to start with. If you're changing too many variables at once it's hard to know how each change affects the final product. Have fun with the preferment! My favorite technique to introduce flavor (besides using a starter) is definitely a long cold ferment.
Can't wait to try any type of preferment, is taste difference that significant?