/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.9467534]

So what are you baking today, /ck/? I'm baking sourdough bread using 50% red fife whole wheat flour. First loaf got a little dark, so I'm shortening the baking time for the second one.

[Anonymous No.9467583]

Second loaf, shortened the bake time by 5 minutes. Really pleased with how these turned out, it's only my third time making sourdough and my first time using freshly milled whole wheat flour.

[Anonymous No.9467598]

made some buns with white flour and milk

don't have any pics though

[Anonymous No.9467619]

>>9467583
This looks perfect. You mind cutting it open so we can see inside?
Post recipe?

[Anonymous No.9467700]

>>9467619
Here's the crumb shot for the darker loaf, the lighter one is still cooling.

Recipe for 2 loaves:
437g Red fife whole wheat flour
437g white bread flour
646g ater
80g sourdough starter
23g salt
Mix water, starter and flour together, rest for 30 minutes autolyse. Sprinkle salt over dough and mix using the pinch and fold method until salt is incorporated. Rest another 30 minutes.
4 rounds of stretch and folds with 30 minutes between each session.
Divide, preshape, bench rest 10-15 minutes.
Shape and place in floured bannetons, cover and refrigerate 12-14 hours for cold proof.

Preheat oven with lidded dutch oven inside to 450F.
Remove dough from banneton, score, bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, bake additional 10-15 minutes.

The dark one I baked for about 17 minutes uncovered, the lighter one for 12.

[Anonymous No.9467707]

>>9467700
That looks so good... can't even start to imagine how it smells.
Thanks for the recipe! I really need to get back to baking bread again. It's so satisfying. What will you be eating with yours?

[Anonymous No.9467718]

I put my starter in the fridge a few days ago because huge loaves of bread every day was getting to be too much for me
It seems okay so far but I am worry

[Anonymous No.9467806]

>>9467707
It smells amazing and tastes great -- a little nutty from the whole wheat. I had a slice, half by itself to taste it and half with Irish butter. I'm also making some tomato sauce with some farmer's market tomatoes, so for dinner I'll have some pasta and sauce with bread.

>>9467718
I keep my starter in the fridge, it's totally fine. Just take it out like 12 hours before you want to bake with it and feed it then. It'll bounce back just fine. Make sure to feed it once a week, if you're not baking with it every week.

[Anonymous No.9468732]

This made this this afternoon. It turned out perfect except for the bottom, which got hopelessly burnt. Not too bummed out though, because the bread tastes so good, and I’m somewhat of a beginner anyways.

[Anonymous No.9468737]

>want to try making sourdough but cannot stand throwing away excess starter

[Anonymous No.9468745]

>>9468732
what're you baking it in/on, anon?

[Anonymous No.9468746]

I baked my first loaf yesterday from this recipe (https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/yeast-bread-primer.html))

Really happy with how it turned out. Learned a few things along the way. Looking to pick up fwsy in a couple of days and get a dutch oven.

Don't really know where to go in the meantime but I'm looking forward to the journey.

[Anonymous No.9468755]

>>9468737
you can use the excess starter to make things like pancakes or crackers, or you can just maintain a very small amount of starter and build it up when you need to bake with it. there doesn't have to be a lot of waste!

>>9468746
congrats on your first bread, anon! i highly recommend getting a good dutch oven to bake bread in, it makes a huge difference. after you get one, i recommend checking out Ken Forkish's bread book "Flour Water Salt Yeast," it's a great primer into artisan bread baking (but all the recipes require a dutch oven to bake in)

[Anonymous No.9468792]

>>9468745
I just baked it on a greased baking sheet. I’m retrospect, maybe some parchment paper would have shielded the bottom a bit.

[Anonymous No.9468823]

>>9468755
Would you recommend just a cast iron dutch oven or is an enameled one just fine too?

[Anonymous No.9468826]

>>9467700
Looks nice, but you could definitely stand to up your starter percent. Where is your recipe from?

[Anonymous No.9468857]

>>9468826
recipe came second hand, was about 80g starter to 900g flour. next time i'll definitely up the starter percentage.

>>9468823
either is fine! i use an enameled one because it's what i have, but regular cast iron is gonna work just as well.

>>9468792
next time, try putting some parchment paper underneath and maybe move the tray up a rack in the oven if your heating element is at the bottom. if you have a second baking sheet, you can put that face down on the rack below and it'll help deflect some of the direct heat.

[Anonymous No.9469458]

I just bought my friend's bread maker and I can't wait to use it! Gonna try for some Hawaiian sweet loaf like I used to make in college.

[Anonymous No.9469489]

>>9467534
Just a nice rustic loaf in my enamel dutch oven. I made a double batch of dough and did a second loaf in a loaf pan that didn't come out as pretty.
I also resurrected my starter today which will hopefully produce some nice sourdough later this week.

[Anonymous No.9469492]

>>9469489

[Anonymous No.9469541]

>>9469489
these look great! what recipe did you use? and out of curiosity, how long was your starter dormant? i've been feeding/baking with mine once a week, but i'm wondering how long i can extend the time between feedings.

[Anonymous No.9469550]

Is there a way to use active dry yeast in a recipe that is calling for instant yeast?

Would I just have to proof it first?

Am I thinking about this too hard?

[Anonymous No.9469555]

>>9469550
yep, absolutely. just use the same amount, maybe a few grains more than the recipe calls for. sometimes it helps to "bloom" the active dry yeast in a bit of water (use a few tablespoons removed from the total amount the recipe calls for), but i generally don't do this.

[Anonymous No.9469556]

You will never be this happy when baking bread.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUuKstAWof4

[Anonymous No.9469578]

>>9469489
What is the idea behind using a dutch oven? Just more even heating?

[Anonymous No.9469580]

>>9469556
sweet jesus this is pornography for me

[Anonymous No.9469588]

>>9469578
OP here, the idea with the dutch oven is that yes, it gives more even heating, but more importantly when you put the raw dough into a covered dutch oven at a high temperature lots of steam escapes from the dough and is trapped within the dutch oven, helping the dough to rise and create a good crust. most commercial bakeries have steam injectors in their ovens, so baking in a dutch oven with the lid on for the first part helps recreate that environment.

[Anonymous No.9470237]

>>9468755
Thanks for all of your help.

[Anonymous No.9470246]

>>9467534
I hate thick crust on bread. I hate that it is the standard for high quality baking. It is annoying to eat for me.

[Anonymous No.9470248]

>>9468732

You can just flip the bread upside down in the oven halfway through if the bottom's browning too fast compared to the top or vice versa.

>>9470246

It's easy enough to avoid so no worries.

[Anonymous No.9470359]

I have some black bean brownies in the oven right now. I eyeballed the measurements until the taste and texture were okay because I couldn't be bothered converting freedom units to normal ones. We'll see in 30 min. Anyone got some tips to make them fudgy?

[Anonymous No.9470462]

>>9470359
taste is good, texture is not dense enough for my taste.

[Anonymous No.9470501]

>>9470462
Sure sticks to your plate...

[Anonymous No.9470611]

>>9469458
How much attic space will that take up?

[Anonymous No.9472051]

From a couple days ago...Lahey no knead olive bread. Used kalamata olives and a wok with lid instead of dutch oven.

[Anonymous No.9472380]

>>9472051
question for you -- with a no knead bread, at what point do you add the olives?

[Anonymous No.9472386]

>>9467583
>>9467700
Good god, it's perfect well done.

I've only made a handful of sourdough loaves so far, some have been good and some not so much. At first I was having issues with handling the wet dough, particularly when shaping the loaf (I don't have a banneton yet so I shape by hand).

I tried using a mixing bowl as a proofing basket which was a disaster because the dough stuck badly and totally collapsed when I transferred it to the Dutch oven. The result was a flat dense mess. So until I get a banneton I will be simply doing my final proof in the cold Dutch oven and baking directly from there. It's been working reasonably well so far but it's not perfect as the shape is a bit off.

[Anonymous No.9472410]

>>9472386
Thanks, they taste delicious. I had my fair share of sticking issues until I got a banneton, but the thing that worked the best for me was to take a tightly woven kitchen towel (linen worked the best) and use it to line a fine mesh colander. Then dust the everloving shit out of it with flour -- rice flour works best, but AP or bread flour works okay -- and work the flour into the grain of the towel.

[Anonymous No.9472452]

>>9472410
Tightly woven is probably important here as I wasted a cheap cheesecloth doing this. Floured the fuck out of it but the dough was determined to stick to the cloth and ultimately the whole lot had to be tossed.

Is the banneton a gamechanger? I mean does wet dough ever stick to it if it's well floured?

[Anonymous No.9472507]

>>9472452
I've definitely had high hydration dough (80%) stick to the banneton, even when its been floured. I generally do 70-76% hydration doughs, though, and most of 'em turn out okay. The more I use the banneton, the easier the dough turns out of it. I've had mine for about 3 months, and I haven't had a dough stick in the last month.

But seriously, get some rice flour, it's a game changer. I dust my banneton and my linen lined colander with 50/50 rice flour and bread flour, and the rice flour really makes a huge difference. Another tip is to do a cold final proof in the fridge -- the chilled dough is less likely to stick to the banneton or linen then.

The real game changer with the banneton is the additional oven spring you get from having a loaf do the final proof in a high-sided basket. It helps to add structure to the dough! Plus, you get that nice ~aesthetic~

[Anonymous No.9472519]

>>9472452
Follow up, the dough is more likely to stick for two reasons:
1) You didn't get enough surface tension when you shaped the final dough before proofing
or
2) It's overproofed.

[Anonymous No.9472576]

>>9472507
>>9472519
I've heard of the benefits of rice flour for non stick purposes so I'll definately have to add this to my list along with the banneton. Each loaf I make is improving as I become used to the feeling of the dough. And just learning some of the differences compared to normal yeast bread like using the multi stage stretch and fold technique with wet hands. I've recently realised the benefits of surface tension on a round loaf and it's something I now always make sure I get right before I bake

[Anonymous No.9472588]

>>9472576
I'm no expert, I just like baking bread and experimenting, but it sounds like you look at baking the same way I do! Every loaf you bake is the opportunity to learn something and improve your technique. Good luck, and post bread threads, I'll happily contribute!

[Anonymous No.9472817]

>>9470611
>How much attic space will that take up?
not op but bread machines are excellent for making dough... I use mine 1-3 times a week to make various doughs.

[Anonymous No.9472828]

>>9472386
>Good god, it's perfect well done.
no it isn't. it's burnt. Everyone on here loves to show off their burnt bread. I'm not impressed at all. all my bread is covered and has a normal crust, I'm not scaling a mountain, I'm eating a piece of bread.

[Anonymous No.9472859]

>>9472828
This just in: People Like Different Things

I prefer a medium to medium dark crust on my breads.

Post a pic of your bread?

[Anonymous No.9472946]

>>9467700
>30 min autolyse
>not 2 hours
yu are like being of little baby
Jk autolyse is very different with sourdough than with yeast-leavened breads and that crumb looks great.
Actually in the market for a handmill atm, any recommendations? Something manual preferably

[Anonymous No.9472969]

>>9472946
Lol, I was gonna leave it to autolyse longer, but given the timing I wanted to be able to shape them and stick 'em in the fridge by 1:30am, so had to make do with a shorter autolyse.

Sadly, I have no recommendations for a handmill. I got sent some 2-lb sample bags of freshly milled flour from a farm/mill in California, and these were baked with the red fife they sent.

[Anonymous No.9473031]

>>9472969
Haha, I've baked bread/croissants during all nighters pulled to finish papers/projects and I know the feeling of trying to fit everything into a reasonable time frame.

Ah, fair enough. That's quite cool, I have to say. I recently found a hippy store selling hard red winter wheat berries, so I've been meaning to mill my own since it apparently makes such a huge difference in flavor.

[Anonymous No.9473060]

>>9473031
Definitely try the hard red winter wheat berries if you find a mill, I'm pretty sure the red fife I baked with is a red winter wheat.

FWIW, here's the place I got the red fife flour from:
http://honoremill.org/

It's hippy/christian for sure, but fuuuuuck this flour makes some tasty bread. I'm gonna order at least 4-8 lbs of it this weekend, depending on how much space I can free up for storage in my fridge (they recommend keeping their freshly milled flour in the fridge or freezer).

[Anonymous No.9473128]

>>9473031
Definitely try the hard red winter wheat berries if you find a mill, I'm pretty sure the red fife I baked with is a red winter wheat. It was nice of the hippy/christian farm/mill to send me some for free, and it totally worked. I'm going to order 4-6 lbs more red fife this weekend, depending on how much space I can free up in my fridge (they recommend storing the fresh flour in the fridge or freezer)

[Anonymous No.9473334]

>>9469541
I just used the seriouseats "workhorse loaf", except I mix up the dough a bit differently as well as add a little sugar to the yeast.
The whole recipe is enough for two loaves.

[Anonymous No.9473339]

>>9469541
The starter was kept in the fridge for about 6 or 7 months. I've never brought a starter back from this far, but I've heard that it should be fine as long as I feed it every day for a week.

[Anonymous No.9473340]

>>9473128
Nice, nice. How's your starter doing with the revival?

[Anonymous No.9473380]

>>9473339
I've heard the same -- keep us posted, or post a new thread about your starter revival process once you have set results!

[Anonymous No.9473444]

I'm baking a chocolate mud baby, this brown snake was created from a mix of Mexican food and dairy. This Hershey surprise is gonna be a real growler later, I'm baking a loaf and I think it's sourdough

[Anonymous No.9473468]

>>9473340
>>9473380
>>9473339

[Anonymous No.9473472]

>>9473468

[Anonymous No.9473476]

>>9473468
What kind of flour are you feeding it, at what ratio?

[Anonymous No.9473483]

>>9473472
I fed it roughly 4 hours ago, there's a decent amount of activity but it's not doubling in volume yet.
This is the second feeding since I took it out of the fridge. It still smells a bit off, kind of this sweet vinegar-y smell. I'm hoping it'll go away after a few feedings.

[Anonymous No.9473487]

>>9473476
I'm just doing 50/50 bread flour and water by weight and increasing the volume of the starter by about half each time with the flour water mixture (after dumping out half the starter)

[Anonymous No.9473503]

>>9473483
I kept it in a tupperware in the back of my fridge, It had a very unique thick gummy texture almost like unmixed organic peanut butter.
There was a very small layer of brown liquid on top of it, I salvaged about 4oz of it and tossed the rest. It smelled relatively ok, like old vinegar and yeast, but it also had the fruity off odor that I described above.
I'm actually quite new to baking bread like this, the starter was something that I wasn't really ready to use when I was given it, but I'm getting back into baking more and hopefully it comes back to life and produces some tasty bread for me. I'll post updates regardless of if I get good or bad results.

[Anonymous No.9473533]

>>9473503
Good luck! It sounds like you know what you're doing to revive it. If you happen to have some rye or whole wheat flour, try feeding it some of that at the same ratio.

[Anonymous No.9474479]

[Anonymous No.9474483]

rosemary and olive btw

[Anonymous No.9474588]

>>9474483
Looks beautiful!
if you're trying for more of a rectangular loaf shape, try shaping before the final rise by doing a three-part fold. Same way you'd fold paper when you put it in an envelope, tucking the edges first.

[Anonymous No.9474610]

>>9474588
thank you x
will try next time, am just hungover and didnt want to go to the shop

[Anonymous No.9474617]

>>9472817
me too for pizza as well, saves a lot of work

[Anonymous No.9476361]

>>9467534
I baked a loaf of pumpkin bread with fresh pumpkin. I was really nervous on how it would turn out, because it was my first time. It came out great, though. Tasted good and looked good too.