/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>5121407
Ditch the sugar and egg wash. Up the hydration (75%+). Slash after proof and before bake.

When you slash, try to slash about 1/4" deep and at a 45 degree angle. It will allow the slashes to bloom during oven spring. Also, on baguettes the slashes should be oriented along the long axis of the loaf, just slightly overlapping.

>>5092472
Be patient. Croissants are a bitch without a dough sheeter on hand.

>>5092770
Overproofed.

>>5095157
You should be baking high hydration lean doughs at 475F-550F. Throw the boiling water into a pan that has been preheating with the rest of the oven when you place the dough on the stone.

>>5056167
Just make a bunch of lean dough loaves. Then do it again, and again, and again, and again. I like baking large batches because it enables me to practice a variety of skills on numerous loaves.

100% flour
60% water
2.5% salt
0.5% yeast

Mix flour and water together, knead into a rough boule. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Add salt and knead till distributed. Add yeast and knead till distributed. Knead until windowpane. Form into a boule and let rest at room temperature in a covered and oiled container until doubled. Turn out on to a floured counter, portion, and shape into whatever you'd like, knocking out the gas as you work. Place all the shaped doughs on to a floured surface, cover, and let rest until 1.5x in size. Slash. Put into an oven that has been preheating at the maximum temperature for at least 1 hour with a stone in the lowest position of the oven and a cast iron skillet on the floor. Put 2 cups of boiling water into the cast iron skillet and close the door. Bake at maximum temperature for 5 minutes, then drop temp to 450F. Bake till done. Let rest at least 2 hours before cutting. Eat and enjoy.

>>5035062
Prepare for imminent destruction. I've trashed three of those KA 600s in the last 2 years. A few tips to maximize the longevity of your new mixer: avoid low hydration doughs, never make more than 1 loaf worth of dough of anything under 65% hydration, always mix at the lowest speed, and be sure to give your mixer cooldown breaks every 5 minutes of kneading.

Good luck!

>>5000955
Technically, those are referred to as the bulk ferment and proofing steps. Usually when people say "rise twice", they mean to allow the dough to rise twice during the bulk ferment stage, degassing between the two, prior to proofing. I guess that means there are three total rises. I can't say I've ever truly understood the purpose of that method. Perhaps to enhance the flavor of the bread by prolonging the fermentation period? Long, slow rises in cool environments (read: your fridge or cellar) are sufficient to produce really knockout-quality bread flavor.

>>4964969
Books worth checking out: Bread Baker's Bible, Bread Baker's Apprentice, Crust and Crumb, American Pie (if you're primarily interested in pizzas), Tartine, Beard on Bread, and Bread (by Hamelman). They're all fine. The Bread Baker's Bible does a nice job of discussing a lot of the techniques of bread baking, and it's what I started with. I haven't opened my copy in years, but it's a fine book for a home baker who's getting rolling.

The truth of the matter is that a specific book doesn't really matter. So long as you understand the process, the key is to just start baking bread. You'll learn more from going hands on than you will any book, any video, any learning resource.

Pic related, it's bread.

I spread out the coals after the pizzas, then pulled them out around 8:30PM. By 9:30PM the oven was down from 750F to 600F, so I threw in some bread dough. I have to be honest...I think I make some great bread in my gas convection oven, but this just blows it totally and completely away. Far better than any of the commercial equipment I've ever used, too.

The loaves finished around 10:15PM, and the oven was down to 550F at that time. I opened the door to let it cool down to 400F, then put in two 9lb bone-in pork shoulders rubbed in coriander seed, fennel seed, mustard seed, red pepper flake, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. I'll check on them tomorrow morning around 10AM. Last time I fired the oven, it was still at 350F 12 hours after I pulled the coals. The shoulders were room temp by the time I dropped them in the oven, so I expect similar performance.