[Sca-cooks] made my first loaf of bread

Terry Decker t.d.decker at att.net
Mon May 17 18:00:05 PDT 2010


First, it sounds as if you aren't getting enough kneading.  And it may be 
you aren't baking at the proper temperature.

Second, I don't think bread machines are conducive to a crisp crust.  When 
you bake in a container crusts tend to stay soft because the container traps 
moisture.  If you want a harder crust, bake loaves on a cookie sheet dusted 
with corn meal.  Moisture that bakes off will give you a harder crust. 
Baguettes and those thin crusty breads are done with moisture injection into 
the bake chamber.  Brushing the crust with water will give a hard heavy 
crust.  Egg glaze will give you a shiny crust.  Melted butter will give a 
soft crust.

Adding fat to the loaf will give you a softer crumb and it will reduce 
moisture loss during baking, which will probably help get what you want. 
Try adding a couple tablespoons of melted butter or margarine to the recipe.

Most bread is too soft to cut straight from the oven.  Let it rest overnight 
before cutting.

My current basic bread recipe is:

5 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of salt
2 to 3 tablespoons of softened butter
2 1/2 teaspoons of dry active yeast proofed in one cup of warm water
1 cup of warm water additional

Mix dry ingredients together
Add butter, yeast misture, and water
Beat into an appropriately kneaded dough ball in the mixer
Work the dough a little by hand to see if it feels right
Let rise in a covered oiled bowl 2 to 4 hours
Punch down, shape, place in greased tins or on a corn meal covered baking 
sheet
Let rise an hour or two (until it looks like the loaf I want)
Bake at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes or until done

If I want fresh bread in the morning, I mix it in the evening, tin it up for 
the second rise, cover it and put it in the refrigerator.  Then fire up the 
oven when I get up and pop it in to be fresh for breakfast.

Bear


> Okay, I've made another loaf, no buckwheat.  White flour (regular baking
> flour) and spelt flour.
>
> I have another question.  Some of the loafs of bread I get at the bakery
> are....hmmm....pull-apart.  I mean, when I pull them apart, they make a
> cracking noise (I assume that's an egg crust?) and require some effort to
> pull apart, and make a "chuff" noise when I pull them apart.
>
> Kind of like baguettes, this way, and it's the kind of bread I identify as
> being the best for fondue.
>
> To distinguish this from regular bread, when I pull apart regular bread, 
> my
> fingers sink in, parts crumble off, and pulling it apart makes a lot of
> crumbs, but doesn't require much strength.
>
> How do I make my bread more chewy and less crumby, like this?  I like the
> baguette type, better.  Someone, before, said that lack of shortening 
> could
> affect the chewiness.  My favorite breads have no crumbs at all.  Or very
> few.  I like the sticking togetherness, the texture is...profound.
>
> Any idea what I'm talking about?
>
> Oh, btw, the white loaf I made is much better, and more like what I 
> wanted.
> I think I'll use less buckwheat when I use it.  Stuff is harsh.
>
> On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:52 AM, Terry Decker <t.d.decker at att.net> wrote:
>
>> Two or three tablespoons of malt extract are a little more viscious than
>> the same amount of molasses and can be worked into the dough by kneading.
>> Sticky, yes, but most thick liquid sweetners tend to be.  It may be that
>> Ian's bread machine doesn't have the power of my KitchenAide or the 
>> baker's
>> kneading technique to get the job done.  I will add the caveat that 
>> adding
>> at least some of the liquor before adding the molasses helps reduce the
>> problem you have presented.
>>
>> Dissolving malt extract, and for that matter honey or molasses, is 
>> usually
>> the better choice, since it disperses the sweetner more evenly through 
>> the
>> dough.  Over four tablespoons of sweetner, I would say dissolution is the
>> recommended technique.
>>
>> Bear
>>
>>
>> Terry Decker wrote:
>>>
>>>> Two to four tablespoons of liquid malt extrtact should give you what 
>>>> you
>>>> want flavorwise.  It can be added directly to the flour with the liquor 
>>>> or
>>>> mixed into boiling water and cooled for a finer dispersion.
>>>>
>>>
>>> It can only be added directly to the flour if you want a big sticky 
>>> mess.
>>> Mix it with hot water, really.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
>>>
>>
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>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Ian of Oertha
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