Baking Bread

[dgaddis1]

I know a lot of folks that like BBQ also like baking bread. They're really similar in that people have been doing both for thousands of years and they both take relatively simple ingredients and with time and temperature transform them into something delicious, where the result is greater than the sum of the parts.

Baking, in my opinion, is *way* harder than BBQ though! At least doing it all by hand, I've never used a bread machine....just seems like cheating. (Disclaimer - I have no idea how bread machines even work, so I could be way off base)

So....lets use this thread to share about baking, successes, tips, lessons learned, and failures.

Also, real quickly I'll just add that I'm far from being an expert. I've been baking a bit here and there for about a year now, and have just gotten to the point where most of my loaves are edible. I rarely get exactly what I'm shooting for as far as look, rise, and crumb structure, but at least I can eat them, mostly.

SO, here's my most recent bake, which was a success and actually came out exactly as I hoped. The goal was a sandwich loaf-like loaf, and I didn't bake it too dark 'cause not everyone likes crusty bread (I took this to Thanksgiving - it was devoured).

700g flour (bread flour, except for the starter which was half AP and half dark rye)
65% hydration
~6hrs bulk rise, ~30something hour retard in the fridge

Didn't get a pic of the crumb 'cause once I sliced it folks were lining up to get some, but it looked like this, just taller.

And here's a semi-failure. This was a while ago so I don't remember exactly what I did, or where it all went south, but, looking back at the pics I can see the dough didn't have enough structure, so it just pancaked out and didn't rise much, other than few gas pockets. It was edible, but it wasn't great.

I've also had a couple that were so bad I didn't take any pics, they just went straight to the trash haha.

This was my very first loaf...as you can see, I had some sticky-dough issues while moving it into the oven, it stuck to my hands like glue so I lost the shape entirely. But it did have some great oven spring and tasted good!

 

[Joshw]

Looks pretty good to me. I have never used a bread machine, but I do like my kitchen aid stand mixer. I can make it by hand, but my Grandma wouldn't done that either, if she had a mixer. No such thing as cheating to me. Just results.

Not sure what you are looking for out of your bread, but there are only a few variables that affect the things you mentioned. What is it, that you don't like about your bread?

 

[dgaddis1]

Looks pretty good to me. I have never used a bread machine, but I do like my kitchen aid stand mixer. I can make it by hand, but my Grandma wouldn't done that either, if she had a mixer. No such thing as cheating to me. Just results.

Not sure what you are looking for out of your bread, but there are only a few variables that affect the things you mentioned. What is it, that you don't like about your bread?

I'm happy with flavor. I'd like a more open crumb, and don't always get a great oven spring.

I've bought Trevor's ebook, Open Crumb Mastery, but haven't taken the time to read it yet. I should get on that....

Here's one of his loaves. Look at that spring!!!! #BreadGoals

(pics from his facebook page here :: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100023213778436 )

 

[Joshw]

Interesting. I prefer a denser bread. I like it to hold up to a sandwich. Looking at those pics, I would say he uses a very high gluten, high protein flour, and works it a lot.

 

[BBQ Bacon]

I love crusty bread, but if you're looking for a nice springy loaf of bread add a beaten egg to the wet ingredients. Then proof and cook like normal.

 

[Look What Maddie Made]

bread can definitely be hard! yours looks good though! I made a couple loaves of brioche over the summer and they came out great, but I think it might have been beginners luck lol! I'm actually going to make potato bread tomorrow for the first time, I really hope it comes out good! I'm making the dough tonight! I just got a kitchen aid mixer a few months ago and it's a huge help, the brioche was one of the first things I made with it!

 

[BillN]

I really do love baking especially yeast breads, I like the process, the feel of the dough and the fragrance of baking bread. However I don't bake much anymore because baked goods are not good for my waistline and I am not strong enough to resist the temptation to not eat the fruits of my labor. My name is Bill and I am a breadaholic.

BTW your breads look great thanks for sharing.

 

[Mike in Roseville]

Another bread maker here.


I am on hiatus though. I will say that @dgaddis1's sourdough bread looks solid. I have made quite a bit of sourdough with a number of different starters and my proofing has really been a crap shoot between the starter I used and the temperature I was able to maintain during proofing. Sometimes my loaves were a little flatter like the one pictured; sometimes a really nice rise with a tighter crumb.



Practice and taking notes is the best advice I can give. I would say it isn't necessarily harder than BBQ. But it takes a little more practice than yeast loaves to really get right. Tweak the recipe ever so slightly and don't add too much extra flour to compensate for the stickiness when kneading.



I'd suggest getting a couple of wood pulp or wicker banneton's (proofing baskets) and use those for proofing. They're especially handy for "wet" or "sticky" dough.



There are so many uses for baked bread that I don't throw it away (unless its burned). A few times I have made my own stuffing or croutons. Worse comes to worse take it to the lake and feed the ducks.

 

[Norm]

Some great looking loaves posted here!

I love to do bread and pizza dough from sourdough starter. Getting a solid starter really makes a difference but like BBQ bread making is a huge rabbit hole. I've got two different starters going right now, made some bread bowls with a SF variety I just got going.

 

[Mike in Roseville]

Norm that looks awesome! I wish I had one of those handy for the Turkey soup we're having tonight.

 

[medic92]

Baking is a huge weak spot in my cooking game. I think January and February may be the time for me to start addressing that area.

Great looking loaves all through this thread, it's darn near inspiring!

 

[Lawnguy]

Nice looking Breads. I've been messing with bread making for a few years. Don't have enough time usually. But I have managed to put out some edible bread.

My journey started with wanting to make NY style pizza. Bread is a different animal for sure. Here are a few of what I've made over the last few years.

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[Lawnguy]

A few more.

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New England style hot dog buns.

 

[smoke ninja]

French bread





ciabatta sandwich rolls





biscuits





pretzels

 

[jdefran]

Love seeing the bread makers on here! My experience has been limited to no knead dutch oven breads, quick breads (banana & pumpkin), and some in the bread machine.

After taking a few years off, I've made a couple dutch oven breads in the past week. It started with a soup and bread lunch for Thanksgiving. However, the bread was mediocre so gave it another shot and obtained slight improvement.

I am reminded how similar bread making is to BBQ in understanding the importance of time, temp, prep, and of course being our own worst critic.

 

[ferdelious]

I love baking bread ever since the no knead craze about 10 years ago, just usually hard to find the time. I need to start baking more though. My go to recipe is 600g flour, 10g sea salt, .5 tsp yeast, 75% hydration.

 

[dgaddis1]

^^That looks great! If you enjoy baking rustic-style bread, IMO you gotta try sourdough. Once I made my first sourdough, scratch that, my 2nd sourdough (the first was a bust), I haven't used commercial yeast ever since. I love the simplicity of making something delicious with just flour, water, and salt.

I haven't made sourdough pizza yet though, still using packaged yeast on that. Getting some good results though! For pizza, getting a baking steel is by far the biggest improvement I've made.

ALSO - forgot about these pics. Same ball of dough, same bowl. First pic is after final dough mix, the 2nd picture is about 10 or 12 hours later, 3rd pic is the resulting bread. Baking is basically a science experiment you can eat.

This is a different loaf, but it's one that turned out pretty dang well.

Out of the proofing basket.

A couple scores.

After taking the lid off the dutch oven.

After finishing browning up.

Crumb.

EDIT to add, one more boule.

 

[BBQ Bacon]

By far the most fun I've had baking bread was in the fire pit.

Then cooking on the pizza stone in the oven.

Then when disaster strikes and your dough is way too loose after proofing, add more flour and herbs and turn it into buns.

And of course a clay dutch oven and cast iron dutch oven make great bread as well.

 

[ColoradoSmoke]

I'm loving this thread. I bake french baguette and the family loves them. This winter I'm planning on expanding my knowledge and trying different types of bread.

I just got a copy of the Bread Baker's Apprentice (link). Hoping to dive into it soon and learning more.

Will post some pics next time I bake.

 

[Look What Maddie Made]

you guys are killing me, everything in this thread looks great! You're making me want to step up my game, so thanks for that! Smoke Ninja's post reminded me that a month or so ago I made pretzel bagels! They didn't come out too pretty but they were good! I used one for an Oktoberfest breakfast sandwich with eggs, sausage, and beer cheese with a side of german potato salad home fries! I also made an almond pretzel that I put cream cheese and caramel on!