Breaking Bread: Making Bread

This came up in the discussion about the cost of food going up so I thought I would move the bread making discussion here. I am a tenderfoot at making bread. It all started when I had a batch of inelastic pizza dough that I could not flatten out so I threw it in the pre-heated oven on the stone and it came out edible. Bread making did not seem all that difficult since I had already been making my own pizza dough from scratch for years.

As it turns out you can make your own easily that can match or best just about anything you can buy in a grocery store. So what the heck. Why not make bread? It is a great cost saver. So after posting in that discussion I went out to the kitchen and made up a loaf real quick this afternoon. I just made up the recipe on the fly.

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon high gluten flour
1-1/8 cup warm water with two teaspoons of active dry yeast and a pinch of sugar for activation
1/8 cup milk added after mixing started to get it wetter
1-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic

I hand mixed the ingredients with a wooden spoon to start and then kneaded it by hand until it had a smooth ball texture - about 10 minutes.

Let rise warm under an xenon under counter light for an hour

Knocked rise down once about midway and folded it a few times

Shape loaf on a flour dusted pizza peel and score it with a sharp knife

Baked it in a well pre-heated oven directly on a stone for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Basted it with butter about midway.

Nice job Davydd... And I hear ya on the food costs. I started making my own hamburger buns (total novice here when it comes to breads), but they came out fairly decent for a first time attempt.. Only thing is I didn't have a big enough round cutter, so cut them in squares, with a little hand rounding before the 2nd rise.

[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2318/2249826801_21f6331bb5.jpg?v=0[/img]

When I first began baking bread regularly, I did not find that there was that much of a $ savings as long as I had to buy yeast--you have a choice between Fleischmann's and Red Star, and they are both expensive. That led me to sourdough, and I have kept the same starter going for over 20 years. I keep yeast around for the occasional yeast loaf, but I almost never use it now.

In response to the above post, I buy my yeast {Red Star} at Costco in a 1lb. package. Very reasonable and freezes well, in fact I often use it right from the freezer.
I also have a couple of sourdough starters. The only problem with those is when you have to feed them is the waste, and with the riseing prices in flours it could get expensive, meaning cost per loaf.
On the other hand I often will start a bread today minus the yeast and finnish the following day by adding just half the yeast for that final oven spring. That is working well for me.
Those burger rolls look great. You don't need a round cutter, just cut the ammount needed with a bench knife, scale, and shape on a bread board by rolling with your hands. Only commercial bakerys use a punch or cutter for ease. Chow Jim

quote:

Originally posted by UncleVic

Nice job Davydd... And I hear ya on the food costs. I started making my own hamburger buns (total novice here when it comes to breads), but they came out fairly decent for a first time attempt.. Only thing is I didn't have a big enough round cutter, so cut them in squares, with a little hand rounding before the 2nd rise.

[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2318/2249826801_21f6331bb5.jpg?v=0[/img]

In a fancy restaurant they'd just call those "Rustic Country-style Buns", and charge you more.

The way I was taught to make small burger/sandwich rolls was to divide the dough into the appropriate amounts, and then to roll the pieces around under the palm of my hand to shape them into spheres, and then to place them on parchment on a baking sheet, giving them a little squoosh (technical term) to flatten them slightly. I've got a new pan from the King Arthur flour people with little depressions for the rolls, but I haven't tried it yet.

I love to bake bread. It makes your house smell really good and it tastes better than anything bought in a store.

I don't buy those packets of yeast anymore. An inexpensive jar is what I have now that I keep in the refrigerator.

I just picked up a book today at Borders. It was in the cheap vestibule rack for $5.99 but it was one of those full color photos glossy paper 256 page oversized books. For that price I grabbed one. It is Bread, the breads of the world and how to bake them at home by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter.

Davydd,
My man, you are an artist with flour...pizza and bread...the true Ambrosia!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by UncleVic

Nice job Davydd... And I hear ya on the food costs. I started making my own hamburger buns (total novice here when it comes to breads), but they came out fairly decent for a first time attempt.. Only thing is I didn't have a big enough round cutter, so cut them in squares, with a little hand rounding before the 2nd rise.

Those buns look good to me. Couldn't you cut round buns with an empty can?

quote:

Originally posted by Davydd

I don't buy those packets of yeast anymore. An inexpensive jar is what I have now that I keep in the refrigerator.

I just picked up a book today at Borders. It was in the cheap vestibule rack for $5.99 but it was one of those full color photos glossy paper 256 page oversized books. For that price I grabbed one. It is Bread, the breads of the world and how to bake them at home by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter.

I have bought nearly every bread book ever published. About 25 years ago, Red Star published a really good one that was available only by special order, and it kept me busy for a long time. Most recently, I picked up Bernard Clayton's first book in hardcover for a few bucks at a thrift shop. But the one book I own that really changed things for me was "Adventures in Sourdough Baking" that was published by Gold Rush, the SF company that sells (or sold?) dehydrated starter. I got it years ago for a dollar in an antique center in Syracuse. It's the only book I've found that really explained the whole process and seemed to have tested its starter-adapted recipes before writing them down.

Davydd

Have you ever seen the PBS show: "Breaking Bread with Father Dominic"

It is a really cool baking show, and he has companion cookbooks for each season, plus a few extra baking books.

I wrote him about a year ago, he sent me back a nice letter and two recipe cards for things he was working on in his kitchen. It was so cool the cards had splatters and flour dust on them.

here is a link to his books

http://www.kitchenconservatory.com/fatherdom.htm

Davydd you are a true inspiration! Started making and experimenting with homemade pizza's because of you. I use a bread maker to knead the dough. Going to try hamburger buns. Thank you for posting pictures!

Laura

CJ, I haven't seen Breaking Brad with Father Dominic. I don't recall ever seeing it in a listing. Maybe our local PBS isn't carrying it. Thanks for the tip.

LoveyMyLab, That's why we are here breaking bread. It makes me happy when I can be of help. Inspiration is a big word.

In 5 minutes I will be pulling a fresh loaf out of the oven.

Here is an article on rising wheat prices and its effect on bakeries.

http://www.startribune.com/business/16136592.html

Tonight's bread.

Davydd, it's probably too late, but can we get a pic of that after you cut it? I'd love to see the crumb.

It is half gone! That is the down side of homemade warm bread. it is irresistible.

I did get a picture of the first slice of the previous bread. It was similar.

I made another bread Friday and took it down to La Crosse, WI. My 2-1/2 year old grandson could not get enough of it. He ate three slices for breakfast Saturday morning without doctoring with butter or peanut butter. Could it have been I made this one with a bottle of Summit's Pilsener beer instead of water? Two tablespoons of butter and three tablespoons of sugar helped as well.

Once again Davy, great looking loaf there.
Is there any reason you don't slash the top? I most always do unless I want a more dense crumb.
This may become an active thread. I am watching the today show now as I type and they are reporting that bread prices have doubled over the past year.
I bake because I enjoy it and the finished product is much better than what you can buy at the store. Also it's theriputic, makes the house smell nice and at times it can be a mystery. It's great to have fresh bread cumbs or croutons on hand is another plus. Chow Jim

jimeats, I wasn't sure what the reason for slashing the top was. Remember I am an amateur. If you scroll back I did slash one loaf. My loaves seem to bake fine without slashing and I do like a more solid bread.

With that said I made two dough balls today. One for bread I baked today and one for a pizza tomorrow but that is for another thread. This bread was similar to the last I made only I used Summit Pale Ale for the liquid that has a more hoppy bite. 2-1/2 cups bread flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon high gluten wheat flour, one 12 oz. bottle of ale, 4 tablespoons of exra virgin olive oil, one tablespoon of minced garlic, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt and 1-1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast. This time instead of hand kneading I used a hand mixer on it for about 10 minutes. Then I let it rise for 2 hours at room temperature, punched it down and let it rise again before baking on a pre-heated stone at 375 degrees for 55 minutes. I also melted some butter and brushed it on the top.

Davydd, you slice the tops so that they won't tear when you get oven spring (rising in the oven) It's a way to control the direction of the rise basically.

I didn't know you were a bread baker. So am I! I adore bread! I have 2 loaves of honey wheat in the oven as we speak.

[img][/img]

Turkish Pide with Black and White Sesame Seeds.

We had this with Red Lentil Soup this weekend.

[img][/img]

I love making bread, ethnic breads especially.

zataar,

Very nice looking loaves. I bet they taste great.

BhamBabe,

I'm just a neophyte recently started. Right now I am thinking Guinness bread for St. Patrick's Day.

Whoa, I had a double posting lol

Thanks for sharing your pics of y'alls bread.

Do any of you have a blog I could visit and keep up with all your baking?

I blog pork tenderloin sandwiches is all.

http://www.porktenderloinsandwich.com

I am thinking of adding Cuisine de Confort to expand but right now this thread and Another Saturday, Another Pizza (Pics) can only be found on Roadfood.com.

I came up with a very crusty, delicious bread, very simple.

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, frozen
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
•
• Directions
1. Add dry ingredients to your mixer, mix well, add liquids and mix for 5 minutes, immediately after mixing place dough into the refrigerator to ferment, at least overnight.
2. About 3 hours before you plan to bake the bread take the dough out of the refrigerator and let rise to double.
3. Then roll dough into a rectangle with one dimension the length you want the loaf, then roll the dough into a loaf, place an cookie sheet with parchment paper and cornmeal sprinkled on it and let double in size, you can mist the dough with water and sprinkle poppy or sesame seeds on it.
4. Preheat the oven to 450 and boil about a quart of water and pour the water into a Pyrex bowl and place on the bottom rack of the oven.
5. When the dough has doubled in size place into the oven and turn down the heat to 400, after 30 minutes check for doneness.
6. When done it should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

let cool.

quote:

Originally posted by BhamBabe

Whoa, I had a double posting lol

Thanks for sharing your pics of y'alls bread.

Do any of you have a blog I could visit and keep up with all your baking?

BhamBabe you might want to surf over to www.thefreshloaf.com
Many blogs there. Also some very good information thru out the site.
Try to stay away from the pictures, just looking at them you have a tendancy to put on weight. Chow Jim

Very well done all a pleasure. I am impressed.
...Russ

Today was a stay at home day with snow falling. Besides treadmilling 85 minutes so I could do this, I baked bread. Today I made a Guinness Bread with one bottle of Guinness stout, 2 cups bread flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon high gluten flour, 3 tablespoons butter, 1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon IDY. I prepped the dough last night and let it rise overnight at room temperature and baked this morning. I don't have a stand mixer but instead of hand kneading I used a handheld mixer with dough hooks and worked it for 10 minutes and left it highly hydrated. This morning I dumped it out of the bowl onto the counter spread with flour and hand folded it a few times without a lot of shaping. That's why it looks the way it is.

It is so addicting to eat when hot. That's why I treadmilled. It doesn't look pretty but tasted great to me.

This is so fresh and hot I suspect you can smell it right through your computers. My fifth loaf this month.

Once again Davy great looking bread there.
Have you ventured into sourdoughs yet? If not take the plunge, it can be frustrating at times but adds a great depth of flavor. It's also nice to have homemade english muffins, much better than store bought.
I'm always looking for something new for my discarded starter.
Last week I made a sourdough pizza, it may become my standard pizza dough.
Think how great a pork tenderloin sandwich on homemade crusty sourdough would taste. Chow Jim