Homemade Bread Thread

[z-bob]

Major enlightenment time! (you probably all knew this already) I've been trying to use bakers' percentages lately when I bake bread or pizza. And anything with a lot of whole wheat flour always is too dense. I made some rolls this weekend using about 55% WW flour and the rest bread flour. (I dumped all the WW flour out of the near-empty bag and added bread flour to make up the difference) I had some milk in the fridge that I think was frozen and thawed before I bought it because it still tasted sweet but was clabbered. So I scalded some of that and used it instead of water. 100% hydration. The rolls came out nice (they spread out a bit) with a chewy crumb and large holes. I've been making sandwiches with them. I also made a freeform loaf with the last of the dough and that really spread out but it also rose and otherwise turned out good. I haven't cut it yet.

It should be obvious but it wasn't to me; the bran absorbs a lot of the moisture and makes it unavailable to the starch and the gluten. So you have to add more liquid to compensate. If I ever make bread using 100% whole wheat, I might go 115%.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Major enlightenment time! (you probably all knew this already) I've been trying to use bakers' percentages lately when I bake bread or pizza. And anything with a lot of whole wheat flour always is too dense. I made some rolls this weekend using about 55% WW flour and the rest bread flour. (I dumped all the WW flour out of the near-empty bag and added bread flour to make up the difference) I had some milk in the fridge that I think was frozen and thawed before I bought it because it still tasted sweet but was clabbered. So I scalded some of that and used it instead of water. 100% hydration. The rolls came out nice (they spread out a bit) with a chewy crumb and large holes. I've been making sandwiches with them. I also made a freeform loaf with the last of the dough and that really spread out but it also rose and otherwise turned out good. I haven't cut it yet.

It should be obvious but it wasn't to me; the bran absorbs a lot of the moisture and makes it unavailable to the starch and the gluten. So you have to add more liquid to compensate. If I ever make bread using 100% whole wheat, I might go 115%.

Even different brands of white flour behaves differently, but usually not to a great extent. A slice of my last loaf for avocado toast with quail eggs.

 

[Eltes]

Yesterday's bake. 60% "Halbweiss" (semi-white?) flour, 20% stone milled whole grain wheat, 20% whole grain spelt.
Really pleased with the crumb on this one

 

[jwill911]

Yesterday's bake. 60% "Halbweiss" (semi-white?) flour, 20% stone milled whole grain wheat, 20% whole grain spelt.
Really pleased with the crumb on this one

View attachment 816820

Very nice. Great rise
I bake every week now, here’s mine from two days ago:

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Here is a recipe for decadent white bread. I use it for Texas toast (slices dipped in salted garlic butter and browned in a skillet). I am not the most skilled baker on Earth, but this stuff is amazing. The sides and bottom are crunchy, salty, and buttery. The top tends to come out lumpy, though. Maybe someone with more skill could fix that.

INGREDIENTS
520 g bread flour
1.5 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. yeast
2-3 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. butter
310 g warm water
1/2 tsp. malt extract

Blend the dry things first in the food processor. Then blend in the water, until the dough is well mixed. Maybe 20 seconds. Wait 10 minutes. Blend in butter (softening will speed this up). Butter a bread pan after salting the butter.

Looking at this, I think the yeast should be reduced by at least 50%. I used to overdo the yeast.

Form a loaf and put it in the pan. Butter it with more salted butter. Let it rise in the pan. Bake at 375 or whatever makes you happy. Best to let it rise under an inverted pot or something to prevent it from drying out.

 

[Kent88]

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Sourdough Pullman loaf ready for tomorrow.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Crumb shot. Sourdough Pullman loaf. Not an artisanal beauty, but easy for slicing and portioning.

 

[Eltes]

Made a sourdough focaccia yesterday. Came out really nice. Next time (tomorrow) I'll try pushing hydration to around 100%. This one was just north of 90%.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Sourdough “English” muffins.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Double batch of dough, one to give the other to have.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Sourdough.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Sourdough with 30% rye flour.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Small sourdough boule and English muffins.

 

[beermanpete]

I made a whole-wheat boule today.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Enriched braid. Not a Challah - no sugar and only one egg.

 

[user 342556]

Joined Homebrew Talk for cider advice ... discovered fun fermenting and baking and curing and smoking folks. Yay! These were my Thanksgiving Dinner rolls.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Homemade sourdough.

 

[Rodent]

lots of great inspiration in this thread!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Breakfast cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[NeilMac]

Nice Been delaying making some myself.

 

[Dimax]

Sourdough Fruit Cake, They're now wrapped in cheese cloth and soaked in rum and sealed up in aluminum foil sitting in the frig for a 3 week rest.

 

[user 246304]

This is a "Pfalzer Krustenbrot," a very traditional regional sourdough from the German Palatinate. It´s a 50:50 mix of rye and wheat flours. From the book Heimatbrote by German physician Dr. Björn Hollsteiner, der brotdoc | Gesundes Brot aus meinem Ofen …, author, and, I´m honored to call, friend.

 

[Kent88]

Hey Gad, it's been a while. I hope you're well. And nice bread!

 

[user 246304]

Hey Gad, it's been a while. I hope you're well. And nice bread!

Hey Kent, wonderful to see you man! Yep, been a long while. I hope things are going well for you. I stopped brewing - health was really bad, part of it due to underlying condition(s) that won't be cured but were poorly understand, until a few years ago. I was able to finally turn to training and lost a lot of weight (275 or so at its worst, down to 220-224 for years now), so just don't drink beer like I used to. But you know, I've always missed brewing itself and crazily this post-retirement gig at our lbs lit a fire, so just starting back. Can't wait to brew again.

Thanks for posting and for the kind words buddy. Great to see you.

 

[rhys333]

Has anyone used kefir in place of yeast or a sourdough starter? Online sources suggest 1 cup each flour and kefir, fermented for three days prior to baking.

 

[Kent88]

Sounds like something @bernardsmith would know about

 

[NeilMac]

Yes, also Yogurt, depending what I have on hand. 72 hour ferment.

 

[kmarkstevens]

What beer yeast(s) would folks here recommend for bread baking?

Some random websites claim Nottingham is a good one and makes the bread smell like oatmeal (in a good way). I have Notty in stock, so will probably try that. I have another 20+ beer yeasties in the library, so checking the experienced wisdom here.

 

[Kent88]

@kmarkstevens : None. Every attempt I have made to use beer yeast for bread ended up tasting like bad banana bread, and I don't think we had a banana in the house the days I made them.

Good luck.