Homemade Bread Thread

[Robert65]

I've done it that way, starting with whole grain flour. The argument in favor is that the larger portion of the outer layer of the grain (bran) carries a larger inoculating population of yeast and bacteria, which is true, and the extra enzymes, minerals, and other nutrients in the germ and bran will jump start things. Also true. But you can also just start with all unbleached flour, which is now my preference (it has, I admit, been more years than I can count since I started my current sourdough, but thus is how I did it.) The argument here is that it is best to start a culture in the conditions you expect it to ultimately thrive in, and most of us regularly feed our sourdough unbleached flour.

The upshot is, you can start a culture using any flour you like, any hydration you like. What is critical is that the water be non chlorinated so as not to kill the few bugs you have, and to keep it loosely covered so as to allow oxygen access, but to keep bugs from the environment from gettng in as much as possible -- contrary to popular misconceptions, the bugs we want are present on the grain, just as traditional winemaking uses the yeast on the grape skin.

So there's more than one way to do it. But short story long, can't go wrong with advice from King Arthur. What should always be avoided is adding anything but some kind of flour and water. Extraneous sources of yeast and nutrients, like fruits, acids, etc., may yield comfortingly rapid onset of visible activity, but are not setting up conditions selective of organisms that will thrive in the long term in conditions we provide.

The absolute short version is: mix flour and water and cover loosely. When it has risen and fallen, however long it takes, discard some and add more flour and water. Repeat, repeat, repeat....

 

[applescrap]

Thanks so much Robert. Great, now I am curious. How much flour and water. Cup flour and half water or just blow and go, dump some starter add some flour and water too.....I assume a fairly wet, but not watery consistency. Thanks again.

 

[Robert65]

Thanks so much Robert. Great, now I am curious. How much flour and water. Cup flour and half water or just blow and go, dump some starter add some flour and water too.....I assume a fairly wet, but not watery consistency. Thanks again.

Yeah, my point is it doesn't really matter that much, bugs wanna grow, but a loose, batter like consistency is easier to work with, and with more water and, as a result, easier bubbling of CO2 out and O2 diffusing in, the culture will grow faster. So I'd suggest anything from 100% to 150% hydration initially, and 150% is probably very close to equal parts by volume.

 

[Beernik]

The method I used is similar to the King Arthur method. However, the most exotic flour I can find right now is unbleached. I think that’s contributed to how slow mine has come along.

 

[Robert65]

The method I used is similar to the King Arthur method. However, the most exotic flour I can find right now is unbleached. I think that’s contributed to how slow mine has come along.

Don't worry, be patient, it will get there. I honestly think you'll be better off in the end. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[ba-brewer]

This group is doing another sourdough project.
http://robdunnlab.com/projects/wildsourdough/

 

[deadwolfbones]

Kimchi sourdough w/ scallion, sesame, and fish sauce salt. I'd definitely use more of all except the sesame next time (maybe as much as 50-60% kimchi juice, it was only 100g or 25% this time):

 

[Inkleg]

Kimchi sourdough w/ scallion, sesame, and fish sauce salt. I'd definitely use more of all except the sesame next time (maybe as much as 50-60% kimchi juice, it was only 100g or 25% this time):

That description sounds amazing!

 

[Beernik]

Cranberry, poppyseed, & hemp seed NY style bagels using a stiff levain. Better than my last two attempts but still needs more rise and less water.

I make them on the small side. The recipe says it makes 10. I always try to get a dozen.

The crust has an almost cracker taste.

 

[rhys333]

I thought I would try making bread for the first time since I'm stuck at home. All I could get was all purpose flour, bleached I think, and I had to use some beer yeast slurry because there was no bread yeast in the store. I made a 1 cup flour "starter" with it and let it go for a day. Then mixed up a batch of no-knead bread with some oats I had and let it rest 24 hours. Surprisingly it didn't suck...

I owe that to the YouTube channel Artisan Bread with Steve though. Some really good easy to follow videos on there.

 

[TandemTails]

I thought I would try making bread for the first time since I'm stuck at home. All I could get was all purpose flour, bleached I think, and I had to use some beer yeast slurry because there was no bread yeast in the store. I made a 1 cup flour "starter" with it and let it go for a day. Then mixed up a batch of no-knead bread with some oats I had and let it rest 24 hours. Surprisingly it didn't suck...

View attachment 676197

I owe that to the YouTube channel Artisan Bread with Steve though. Some really good easy to follow videos on there.

looks like it worked really well! good job improvising with what you had on hand

 

[rhys333]

looks like it worked really well! good job improvising with what you had on hand

Thanks! I'm just a bit confused why it looks like brown bread instead of white.

 

[Staestc]

View attachment 674879 A couple 50 50 ap and stone ground whole wheat loaves. My wife asked me to make these smallish loaves again. The bread slices are good size for the kids. Turns out one dough batch makes two pizzas and two small loaves, so a good combo to rely on for me.View attachment 674876 View attachment 674877

Very nice. But every time I see your counters my first reaction is "I don't remember posting that"!

 

[Staestc]

View attachment 675552
cheese muffins were a hit.

Oh Hell Yeah!!!

 

[deadwolfbones]

Seed & nut sourdough w/ pecans, sesame, flax, and pepitas. Baked in my 6qt DO this time and as a result it's much flatter. Still delicious, tho.

 

[TandemTails]

I love the taste of pretzels but had been putting off making any since it was really hard to find baking soda lately. Well, I finally found some and decided to make some pretzel buns to go with dinner last night.

This recipe uses bakers yeast and only takes about 2.5 hours from start to finish. It was extremely easy and I ended up with 8 pretzel buns perfectly sized for hamburgers.

The ingredients and a rough method are below. For full instructions and more pics, check out my bread blog: https://alegrebread.com/2020/04/19/pretzel-buns/

Dough

* 3 3/4 cups AP flour
* 1/4 oz (about 2 tsp) yeast
* 2 tsp sea salt
* 1 1/4 cups water @ ~110'F
* 3 Tbsp melted butter

Rough Method

1. Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer w/ dough hook attachment for a few minutes.
2. Knead by hand for 2-3 minutes.
3. Let ferment in a warm area for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled.
4. Punch down and form into 8-10 balls
5. Let balls proof for another 20 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425'F and get the water bath started w/ 4.25 cups water and 3 Tbsp baking soda
7. Boil 2 buns at a time, 30 seconds per side
8. Let buns dry on a wire rack, scoring them and adding any toppings (I did pretzel salt)
9. Bake on a parchment lined sheet for 16-18 minutes
10. Let cool for 15-20 minutes then enjoy!

Bonus Pics

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I believe I lost some gas getting it out of the basket prior to placing in the Dutch oven, but it’s tasty.

 

[michaeltrego]

Bagels

Baguettes

Milk Buns

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I finally made a loaf that looks pretty good.

 

[TandemTails]

View attachment 676858 View attachment 676859 View attachment 676860
I believe I lost some gas getting it out of the basket prior to placing in the Dutch oven, but it’s tasty.

I had that happen to my first few sourdough loaves. Did you use a sourdough culture or bakers yeast?

It looks like there might have been two issues:

1. You didn't give it enough structure or develop the gluten well enough. This can be accomplished by giving the dough proper stretch + folds within the first 90 minutes of bulk fermentation.

2. You might have over fermented or over proofed it. There are many different variables that go into this, but the biggest ones are ambient temperature and how much yeast you used. The warmer the temp or the more yeast you use, the faster the dough will ferment and proof.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I had that happen to my first few sourdough loaves. Did you use a sourdough culture or bakers yeast?

It looks like there might have been two issues:

1. You didn't give it enough structure or develop the gluten well enough. This can be accomplished by giving the dough proper stretch + folds within the first 90 minutes of bulk fermentation.

2. You might have over fermented or over proofed it. There are many different variables that go into this, but the biggest ones are ambient temperature and how much yeast you used. The warmer the temp or the more yeast you use, the faster the dough will ferment and proof.

Thanks, I did the poke test and i got the correct rebound to know it was proofed. I used starter that was fed a few times to wake up. I believe it deflated as it was about 3/4 inch below tha basket rim and the bread is pretty dense along the bottom crust. Today’s loaf is really nice. I used AP flour, since that is all I could find right now, so less gluten developed undoubtedly.

I appreciate your taking the time to help out.

 

[deadwolfbones]

It also looks under-baked, to me. I mean, that's personal preference to a certain degree, but that loaf is VERY pale.

 

[deadwolfbones]

On the other end of the color spectrum: Baked a loaf with 100g mixed red & white miso, 100g cheddar, and 25g toasted sesame seeds today. It was a bit of a failure, though. The flavor combo is great and the crumb is perfect, but the cheese that peeked out the top bled oil all over the crust and it got pretty acrid. Gonna try it again later with less or no cheddar but keep the same amount of miso.

 

[Beernik]

I think I’ve figured out the right recipe modification when using a ≈ 2 cup levain in my bagel recipe. It’s 2 cups fewer flour and 1.25 fewer cups water. It’s the first time the dough came out of the mixer perfect.

However, I’m in a hurry and have to get these done tonight, so I supplemented it with 1 tsp of yeast (unmodified recipe uses 2 tsp) so I don’t risk ending up with rocks.

 

[Beernik]

This weekend’s bagels:

 

[beermanpete]

My first try at pretzles

 

[Seamonkey84]

My very first time making bread from scratch. As simple as it gets with a no knead bread, didn’t even have to touch the dough. Seeing as stores are out of bread yeast, I found two half packets of wine yeast in my fridge. I know both were opened roughly a year ago, so I combined and bloomed it for a couple hours first. Allowed to rise for 6 hours before punching and transferring to loaf pan. I just pulled it out of the over a few mins ago, can’t wait to try it in the morning.

 

[Seamonkey84]

Well, this is becoming a habit lol. I’ve made a loaf a day now. Loafs two and three,
I added som oil to this one to keep the crust softer

then this one I added a cup of mixed berries

 

[Seamonkey84]

Oh, for anyone else that can’t find yeast, I’m still using the same Yeast I started with several days ago! I pitched some of the hydrated yeast into a flour slurry (1:1 flour and water) and using it as a yeast starter. I’m not letting it sit out to become sourdough though. I just use 1/2 cup of it per loaf and add more slurry back in. Let it sit in a warm spot for over night to grow yeast, then stick it in the fridge. Small adjustment to the amount of water/flour needed for a recipe but it’s been working for the two batches so far.

 

[Beernik]

This weekend my stiff levain will be 7 weeks old and I think it is finally working more-or-less correctly. I took it out of the fridge this morning to get it warm for feeding tonight and starting new bagels tomorrow.

It ballooned up to 1.5 its size during the day.