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Post by Auf Kiltre on Mar 29, 2022 10:46:49 GMT -5
Not money, actual bread. Equipment, technique, recipes.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Mar 29, 2022 11:33:22 GMT -5
Definitely interested to read. Have never baked my own bread. Closest I can say is banana bread, which to me is more of a cake than a bread.
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Post by Taildragger on Mar 29, 2022 11:33:22 GMT -5
I used to make cornbread whenever I cooked chili. Being lazy, I usually just went with premix out of a box. The wife doesn't like spicy-hot anymore, so I haven't made either in some years.
My only other experience with bread making happened during my impoverished "hippie" days, when I used to bake bread in Folgers coffee cans. The loaves came out looking like mushrooms. If there was lead in those can seams, I'm probably carrying it around still.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Mar 29, 2022 11:45:48 GMT -5
I've made a cheese bread recipe a few years back that required no yeast. I'm more interested in traditional breads. A few people I know that had bread makers told me they eventually ended up only using them for the prep, then baked in the oven.
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woody
Wholenote
Posts: 245
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Post by woody on Mar 29, 2022 12:04:48 GMT -5
Does pizza dough count? I make a lot of that, bread not as much.
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jtheissen
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Montana lurker, mostly🎸
Posts: 202
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Post by jtheissen on Mar 29, 2022 12:22:31 GMT -5
Love homemade bread. It can easily be done in the oven. I have an older Zojirushi machine and a recipe book that must be 30 years old. Great fun and tasty.🍞
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Post by NoSoapRadio on Mar 29, 2022 13:53:32 GMT -5
Not money, actual bread. Equipment, technique, recipes. Flour, water, salt, and yeast -- or some other leavener like a sourdough starter. A bowl and maybe a wooden spoon -- but your hands will work too. Mix, knead, and bake. There are all kinds of breads out there -- anything specific you want to start with so maybe we can narrow something down?
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Mar 29, 2022 14:50:59 GMT -5
anything specific you want to start with so maybe we can narrow something down? Probably something basic for starters like a good country white. Not sure how complex it gets from there. I love me a Schwarzbrot/Pumpernickel now and then, not sure if those are too complex.
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Post by rickyguitar on Mar 29, 2022 15:37:54 GMT -5
I learned to make bread from my mom. Over the years my wife and I have made quite a lot and quite a variety of bread. There are countless recipes. We have done it all by hand and have used bread machines too. Mg fav is a trick I learned from my mom. Let your dough rise once, punch it down and divide into thirds. Roll out 1/3 at a time and lightly cover with nuts and raisins (or whatever) then roll into a snake. Take your 3 snakes and lay them side by side. Then braid together and let rise again. Bake. Yum. The raisin nut bread was a Christmas tradition in our house.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Mar 29, 2022 15:48:44 GMT -5
Are we talking just the run of the mill white flour, or anything more specific?
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jtheissen
Wholenote
Montana lurker, mostly🎸
Posts: 202
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Post by jtheissen on Mar 29, 2022 16:39:48 GMT -5
Bread flour. Haven't made any in quite awhile though.
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Mar 29, 2022 21:07:42 GMT -5
The only bread I've made, surprisingly enough, is croissants. Not easy, but really good. We took part of the dough and made croissant cinnamon rolls.
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Post by NoSoapRadio on Mar 30, 2022 13:15:58 GMT -5
Probably something basic for starters like a good country white. Rather than writing out a recipe and instructions, I'll link to one of John Kirkwood's vids. His technique is fairly universal, the recipe is basic, and being a no knead recipe it's easy and pretty quick to do. He's using a fancy cloche which is not necessary -- I use one of my Le Creuset dutch ovens. I turn the risen loaf out on a sheet of parchment paper and use that to set the loaf into the dutch oven. You don't need to pay $400 for a Le Creuset -- a $50 Lodge from Walmart will work just fine. He's using a banneton to proof the loaf -- which I recommend, but you can get the same result with a plastic bowl lined with a tea towel which also needs to be well floured. His recipe uses strong flour which is bread flour here in the colonies. I've only used King Arthur so I can't speak to any other brand. I recommend taking his advice to weigh all the ingredients rather than measuring. The lame he's using to score the risen loaf is also not necessary -- it's basically a handle with a razor blade -- a plain razor blade works fine. Good luck.
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GmanNJ
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somewhere deep in the swamps of Joisey
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Post by GmanNJ on Apr 1, 2022 17:33:17 GMT -5
As a home brewer I have been playing with making spent grain bread. Most recipes yield something like paste mixed with granola and horse feed type results. What I have found if I dry/toast the grains in the oven then into the coffee bean grinder to turn to flour it comes out so much better. Using this only creates waaay too dense a bread so I am now experimenting with ratio of flour to grain flour.
I like the taste of a yeast bread and it pairs well with grains. So for my next batch i am going with 1:2 or 1:1 beer grain/flour ratio, dry active yeast AND baking powder (dual acting). Dual acting baking powered creates C02 when wet which helps to add air to the dough and the 2nd part creates more when heated. I want a light airy inside with a nice crisp crust (think french bread)
I will let you know how that goes....
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Apr 1, 2022 17:44:50 GMT -5
I've often wondered how some of the liquid beer yeasts like White Labs would work on bread and if the different styles (Ales, Lagers, Belgium, etc.) would impart different characteristics to the bread.
As Dylan sang, 🎵Yea Heavy and a Bottle of Bread.
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Apr 1, 2022 18:17:05 GMT -5
As a home brewer I have been playing with making spent grain bread. Most recipes yield something like paste mixed with granola and horse feed type results. What I have found if I dry/toast the grains in the oven then into the coffee bean grinder to turn to flour it comes out so much better. Using this only creates waaay too dense a bread so I am now experimenting with ratio of flour to grain flour. I like the taste of a yeast bread and it pairs well with grains. So for my next batch i am going with 1:2 or 1:1 beer grain/flour ratio, dry active yeast AND baking powder (dual acting). Dual acting baking powered creates C02 when wet which helps to add air to the dough and the 2nd part creates more when heated. I want a light airy inside with a nice crisp crust (think french bread) I will let you know how that goes.... As an avid brewer, I'm curious. I've read about it but the results always seemed a bit"hearty" even for me. I like while grain bread, but I thought it might be a bit much. Drying and milling and blending seems like a good approach
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GmanNJ
Wholenote
somewhere deep in the swamps of Joisey
Posts: 315
Formerly Known As: Your Friendly Neighborhood Gman
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Post by GmanNJ on Apr 3, 2022 7:11:00 GMT -5
The flavor was spot on but the texture too dense. So I am trying things to "fluff" up the bread.
When i was a working investor in a brewery that eventually went south due to too many breweries in NJ (there were 40 others when it opened and well over 120 when it closed) I noticed the massive amounts of spent grains they paid to get hauled away. Like 8 55gal barrels worth per batch! They gave some to dairy farmers for feed (cows love that stuff and I heard it makes better milk). It seemed such a waste and overhead expenditure that was unnecessary. I created a means to dry the grains out to package and sell as feed supplement (no funding so I did not do that) and make bread that the bars/restaurants could then give out with dinner. But like I said the brewery went under (was Rinn Duin which is now Toms River Brewing) so now its a hobby for my home brew
one side experiment is pretzels. Once I get the bread ration right I will move onto pretzels. gotta have a hobby!
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Post by hushnel on Apr 3, 2022 8:56:58 GMT -5
I used to make a couple loafs a week in my Miami humidity controlled home. The humidity here at the farm is saturated, haven’t had much luck.
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Post by orrk01 on Apr 3, 2022 9:27:32 GMT -5
I spent a couple of weeks trying to get a sourdough starter started without much luck. I might try again once the weather warms up.
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Post by rickyguitar on Apr 3, 2022 22:18:59 GMT -5
I am real iffy on sourdough. If only the dough wasn't sour!
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Apr 4, 2022 7:57:53 GMT -5
Well, we had a cold, rainy day Saturday so we decided to spend some time in the kitchen. We made creme brulee and a loaf of french bread. I pretty much did the entire bread myself, which was a very simple no knead recipe (bread flour, honey, water, salt and yeast). It turned out pretty good, but didn't rise and much as I'd like. I'm really looking forward to upgrading our oven...the new one will have a proofing feature.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Apr 4, 2022 8:08:47 GMT -5
Looks good! We're currently looking at bread makers on Amazon. Not looking to for anything super expensive, somewhere between the "Amazon Basics" brand and Zojirushi.
Think I'll try my hand first at something done in the oven.
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Post by NoSoapRadio on Apr 4, 2022 14:24:05 GMT -5
I'm really looking forward to upgrading our oven...the new one will have a proofing feature. Your current oven probably has a "proofing feature". Just turn the light on and put your dough in a bowl covered with a towel or cling in the oven. The light bulb will heat the oven to at least 70F -- perfect for proofing.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Apr 4, 2022 14:31:55 GMT -5
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Post by NoSoapRadio on Apr 4, 2022 14:37:39 GMT -5
I spent a couple of weeks trying to get a sourdough starter started without much luck. I might try again once the weather warms up. I have a starter in the fridge that is several years old but every couple of months I start a new one. I use a 50/50 mix of bread flour and whole wheat flour. I only use bottled water for the feeding -- chlorinated tap water will kill or stunt the starter. I use glass jars with a loose fitting top. While growing the starter I put the jar on top of the fridge where it's a little warmer than the rest of the kitchen. The new starter is always ready to use within 7 days. Sourdough is my favorite bread to bake (and eat).
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Apr 4, 2022 15:18:36 GMT -5
Crispy outside, airy inside, a little lacking in flavor (didn't use the honey butter part of the recipe). Not bad dipped into olive oil/parm/spice mix. I followed the recipe using all purpose flour but will try again using King Arthur bread flour.
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Post by NoSoapRadio on Apr 4, 2022 15:43:31 GMT -5
a little lacking in flavor Those look good -- but the flavor comes from the proof. The yeast (or starter) needs time to work to develop a distinctive flavor. When I make ciabatta, I start the poolish the day before and proofs slowly overnight in the fridge. When I make a sourdough loaf, it takes three days. Ordinary dinner rolls can be on the table in a half day -- they taste good -- but they're not as delicious and complex as a loaf that has had a proper proof.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Apr 4, 2022 15:52:11 GMT -5
I can Google it but can you give me some clarity on the definition of "proofing"?
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Apr 4, 2022 15:59:24 GMT -5
Ok, so essentially the amount of time to allow the yeast to do its thing, at the right temp?
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Post by NoSoapRadio on Apr 4, 2022 16:06:02 GMT -5
I can Google it but can you give me some clarity on the definition of "proofing"? It's the process of allowing the yeast or starter to ferment the carbs in the flour which releases CO2, which causes the dough to rise. Another by product of the fermentation is sugar or alcohol which is behind the sharp or sourish flavor that some of us like.
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