Homemade Bread Thread

[ChefRex]

Does anybody have any tips for making softer bread? The loaf of wheat bread I made yesterday is super tough.

Tough as in dense?

 

[MrNic]

Tough as in dense?

Yes, tough, chewy.

 

[deadfall]

Yes, tough, chewy.

You should probably post your recipe and maybe include a picture of a sliced section of the bread. Lots of things can make a dense loaf.

 

[Melana]

Does anybody have any tips for making softer bread? The loaf of wheat bread I made yesterday is super tough.

Either add egg or fat


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[MrNic]

Either add egg or fat


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Is there a healthy way to make it softer?

 

[HoppyDaze]

Is there a healthy way to make it softer?

how long are your rises? How much yeast are you using?

 

[MrNic]

how long are your rises? How much yeast are you using?

I'm using a bread machine. I was using the RapidRise setting and I believe it was a 45min rise. I used 3tsp rapid rise yeast for a 2lb loaf.

 

[ChefRex]

Whole grain it going to produce a denser loaf, If you want more control ditch the machine
White whole wheat works quite well and keeps the whole grain goodness, using a good white bread flour as some of the bill works wonders, Increasing the moisture in the recipe helps to develop pockets also.
An egg in a loaf isn't going to kill you and the fat will make the bread stay fresh longer.
I use a lot of whole grains in my breads and I have produced a lot of dense loafs, as with any thing else it takes practice.
Hope this helps.

 

[MrNic]

Whole grain it going to produce a denser loaf, If you want more control ditch the machine
White whole wheat works quite well and keeps the whole grain goodness, using a good white bread flour as some of the bill works wonders, Increasing the moisture in the recipe helps to develop pockets also.
An egg in a loaf isn't going to kill you and the fat will make the bread stay fresh longer.
I use a lot of whole grains in my breads and I have produced a lot of dense loafs, as with any thing else it takes practice.
Hope this helps.

I will definitely try that. Thank you.

 

[cheezydemon3]

"Dense" and "chewy" are not interchangeable in my book........

I LOVE my baguette crust to be chewy, I like my irish soda bread "dense". The baguette is light and moist inside, far from dense.

 

[terrapinj]

Country sourdough based off of the tartine recipe/procedure. 50g ap starter and 50g rye starter from my sour in the rye dreg starter. 1st time using the le creuset Dutch oven for bread. Got amazing oven spring. Can't wait to slice it open

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Looks better. Try more scoring, and higher heat to establish more of a crust.

With regard to loaves being less dense, I would not add fat or egg, rather focus on your shaping technique and fermentation temps.

All the loaves I have posted are crunchy crust and fluffy interior. Just salt flour water yeast.

 

[terrapinj]

The crumb.

I put much more focus on the stretch and folding this round. Shape held better but still need some work there. Proofing banneton should be delivered today

 

[bleme]

Is there a healthy way to make it softer?

I don't know about making softer, but egg and oil (and beer) are both good for you in moderation.

I like to add a quarter cup of spent grain to my loaves. I usually take a loaf to the church potlucks and everyone raves over them. There are quite a few teetotalers so when I am asked what the grain is, I just tell them it is toasted barley.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Lol

 

[finsfan]

Loaf tumor.

 

[HoppyDaze]

The loaf laid a loaf

 

[deadfall]

I'd be proud of that loaf. Nice work. I'd slice it deeper next time.

 

[ChefRex]

Had good oven spring, just in the wrong place.I second the depth of the slash.
I sure it tastes delicious just the same!

 

[bottlebomber]

I wouldn't kick that loaf out of bed either, but it's almost like either the top was a little dried out or the oven had no steam to keep the top moist. Definitely could have benefitted from deeper gashes. Hoppydaze is becoming quite the blossoming baker.

 

[bleme]

Had good oven spring, just in the wrong place.I second the depth of the slash.
I sure it tastes delicious just the same!

Just tell people that you were going for the snail look and they'd never know the difference.

 

[Salpino]

Reinhart's baguette recipe as one loaf instead of three slim baguettes. Gave the pre-ferment 36 hours and will probably let it go for 60 hours next time.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

So, you proof the bread in a banneton, then transfer it to you baking surface? How does it hold the shape of the banneton? How do you get it out of the banneton, flip it?

 

[Salpino]

So, you proof the bread in a banneton, then transfer it to you baking surface? How does it hold the shape of the banneton? How do you get it out of the banneton, flip it?

The peel in my picture is a Superpeel:

http://www.superpeel.com/

I place the inverted peel over the banneton and flip both over, releasing the loaf. The Superpeel makes it quite easy to transfer the loaf to my baking stone.

I bought the Superpeel for transferring pizzas to the stone, though I end up using it more for bread than anything.

I first heard about the Superpeel from breadtopia.com when I was first starting to make bread via the no-knead process. That site has plenty of cool gadgets and tools.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

The peel in my picture is a Superpeel:

http://www.superpeel.com/

I place the inverted peel over the banneton and flip both over, releasing the loaf. The Superpeel makes it quite easy to transfer the loaf to my baking stone.

I bought the Superpeel for transferring pizzas to the stone, though I end up using it more for bread than anything.

I first heard about the Superpeel from breadtopia.com when I was first starting to make bread via the no-knead process. That site has plenty of cool gadgets and tools.

Thank you for the info.

 

[ChefRex]

So, you proof the bread in a banneton, then transfer it to you baking surface? How does it hold the shape of the banneton? How do you get it out of the banneton, flip it?

I flip it on to a piece of parchment paper, makes it easy to transfer, slash and into the oven never giving it time to spread out.

 

[ChefRex]

An almost white loaf fresh out of the oven, I just couldn't do it.

 

[ChugachBrewing]

This bread is now 90 seconds old as of this post.

 

[HoppyDaze]

What are you guys using to score the dough?

 

[ChefRex]

What are you guys using to score the dough?

I use my boning knife which is kept very sharp.

 

[ChefRex]

Crumb,

 

[dan6310]

My extra tangy wheat/rye sourdough bread.


Dan6310

 

[bottlebomber]

Moved a couple loaves through tonight... ChefRex levain, 78% hydration, 10% whole wheat. Delish


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[ChefRex]

Moved a couple loaves through tonight... ChefRex levain, 78% hydration, 10% whole wheat. DelishView attachment 189761View attachment 189762View attachment 189763


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Beautiful loafs!

 

[bottlebomber]

Beautiful loafs!

Thanks! I've been getting a lot better at learning how to build strength in the loaves so I can reach a much higher hydration without having them turn into pancakes. Had some with soft cheesy polenta and olive oil braised collard greens.


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[Salpino]

What are you guys using to score the dough?

I use this bad boy:

Victorinox Granton Edge Slicing Knife

I also have the Victorinox bread knife--both are fantastic and very reasonably priced for the quality.

 

[ChugachBrewing]

I use a bread lame. About $4.

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[bottlebomber]

Wow, I'm just now viewing those pictures I uploaded from my mobile on my desktop, and that formatting is really crappy. I wonder if there's anything I can do to improve on that.

 

[Salpino]

Wow, I'm just now viewing those pictures I uploaded from my mobile on my desktop, and that formatting is really crappy. I wonder if there's anything I can do to improve on that.

I don't know--the loaves look killer to me. The crumb looks amazing.

You mind sharing your formula and baking technique? Curious to see where I can improve.

 

[bottlebomber]

I don't know--the loaves look killer to me. The crumb looks amazing.

You mind sharing your formula and baking technique? Curious to see where I can improve.

The recipe was basic.
200G of 100% hydration levain
900G of white bread flour
100G of whole wheat flour
755 grams of water
20 grams of salt

I basically followed the Tartine protocol of mixing a rough dough with my hands, reserving the salt and 55 grams of water, and allowing a 45 minute autolyse. Then you mix in the salt dissolved into the water, also with your hands. There was no conventional kneading. Then during the bulk fermentation I did a series of turns on the dough every 20-30 minutes for the first half of the 4 hour ferment, then one each hour for the remainder. You just simply wet your hand, slide it to the underneath of the dough mass, and pull the dough taught up into the air, fold it over, and repeat until you can feel that all the dough has recieved equal treatment. This is THE KEY to making bread that looks like this. I was unable to reach that level of hydration before because my bread didn't have the strength to hold itself up with all that water in it. With this technique you are building strength by pulling and folding the gluten strands, and you can really feel it as the dough develops.