/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>4677751
I use a combo of high hydration doughs and very hot ovens with copious steam early in the bake cycle. It produces an external crust that almost lifts away from the crumb a bit, which makes it exceptionally crunchy when fresh, then again when toasted after it has staled a bit.

In general smaller loaves, lower hydration, hotter oven temps, longer bakes, and more steam during the bake will produce a crunchier crust.

>>4677868
Okay.

>>4677461
I dunno, man. It's just what I make. I like crusty breads with open crumbs, so this is what I do.

>>4677439
Nevermind, found it. It was still in tripcode explorer.

>>4443128
Isn't every single bit of OC kind of a secret bragging topic? I enjoy the bread I make, of course. Do I think it's the best? No, I still have a lot to learn.

Also, I've been posting these bread threads for well over a year.

>>4442440
Looks great. I love the crust you got on that.

>>4442851
Delicious.

>>4443251
Post photos!

>>4443255
No. I will eat one loaf in 3 days with my wife. The second will be given away.

>>4443296
http://youtu.be/MJGqSC2RpD8
I'm going to try and shoot another video this weekend. This time doing something that is non-sourdough, and maybe less than 30 minutes long.

>>4442333
I think it counts. I don't make calzones very often, since I prefer my toppings to get a little char on them, but they are delicious. Post a picture! I'm intrigued by your parmesan lattice.

>>4442347
Using spent grains for bread is a great way to get maximum use out of your ingredients. Hoppy bread sounds great.

Anybody bake anything good recently?

Here's a white flour and honey sandwich loaf I just pulled out of the oven. Nothing too exciting, but should make for good turkey sandwiches for the rest of the week.

>>4396335
There's only one video uploaded right now. You can find it here: http://youtu.be/MJGqSC2RpD8.. I keep meaning to make new stuff, but can't seem to find the time.

>>4396336
Thanks, man.

>>4396348
I bet it still tasted good, though. That's the beauty of an edible hobby: even when you fuck it up it still tastes alright most of the time.

>>4396234
The banneton that I proof them in is made out of coiled willow. Flouring the banneton produces these lines on the loaves.

>>4396240
I went to culinary school, then did an undergrad in food chemistry. While getting my food chem degree, I spent a lot of time in a cereal science lab.

>>4396250
Great River produces some great quality flour. I'd say go for it.

>>4396164
Flour.

>>4396133
Your guess is as good as mine. Doesn't bother me, though. This is the internet, after all.

>>4396148
Looks great for a first loaf. The crumb looks very cakey, though. I have a few thoughts

First, you need more gluten, and that requires a high protein flour, like bread flour. Most supermarkets stock a couple different kinds of bread flour. There are small diferences, but not enough to advocate one brand over another, so pick up whatever's cheapest and labeled "bread flour". Second, I'm guessing that the olives were oil cured (and not brine cured), which means that there was fat in your loaf. Fat is the enemy of billowy crumb, so cut that shit out if you want a big airy loaf. Third, increasing your hydration a bit will give you that more rubbery/chewy texture that artisan loaves are known for. Fourth, make sure you're letting the dough grow to 1.5-2x the initial size during proofing, before baking.

Steam is a nice technique, but hardly required for a good loaf. Work on the other stuff first, then you can introduce steam.

>>4396085
I do use a lame, but it's certainly not required. I'm at the point with bread baking where I can produce a loaf that is sufficiently consistent that I can start being creative with slashing. A lame makes it easier.

>>4396118
Try to slash at a 30-45 degree angle, and along the long axis of your loaf. Your slashes will bloom and open up like pic related.

Anybody bake anything good this weekend?

I finally got my starter back up and running, and bought about 85 lbs of assorted flours.

This bread is a 50/25/25 bread/rye/whole wheat flour mix, leavened with a sourdough starter. There's also a fair amount of both gold and brown flax seeds mixed in.

>>4379502
Slashes are a difficult thing to master. A good sharp double-edged razor and lots of practice are a baker's best friends, when it comes to slashing. The key is to create really good surface tension during preshaping/shaping, then to slash briskly at a 30 degree angle for a bloom, or at a 90 degree angle for a flat slash (pic related).

Looks killer.

I baked these yesterday. Formulation is: 100% flour (80/20 whole wheat/bread), 65% water, 3% salt, 0.5% yeast, plus a ton of walnuts.

>>4348580
Yeast.

>>4341084
No worries, bud. Don't feel bad, the bread looks great for your 2nd sourdough loaf. Sourdough baking is a delicate balance, and requires a lot of time and practice. That's a great start. My first sourdough loaves were wholly inedible.

>>4341043
If it tastes good, then that's all that matters. However, you'll get better leavening out of a starter that has had a few weeks to stabilize and mature fully. You'll also get more consistent flavors, and have a lower risk of contamination by unwanted bacteria and yeast.

The large air bubbles at the top of your loaf tell me that you need to work on preshaping/shaping. Also, the relatively small amount of oven spring you obtained during the bake and the poor bloom on your slash indicate that you need to either give your loaf more time in bulk ferment/proof, or use a higher fraction of sourdough starter in the formulation.

>>4325550

If you've been feeding the starter for a while and it is reliably leavening your breads without additional yeast, then it won't be getting any more sour. Try retarding in the fridge for 24-72 hours or shorting the starter fraction and allowing it to bulk ferment for longer. You can also add easily-fermented starches like potato starch and produce exceptionally sour loaves.

You should probably also bake your loaves at a higher temperature and for longer. Leavening looks good, but the color is underdeveloped.

>>4276097
Trust that all the little tools I have are only to make the process easier or to make the bread more aesthetically pleasing. They are not at all required to make good bread.

All you really need to make good bread is flour, water, salt, yeast, a surface to knead on, an oven, and something to put the dough on when it goes into the oven. It is a very, very simple process. Things like mixers, bannetons, couches, lames, so forth and so on are just icing on the cake.

I have a few friends coming over to bake bread this afternoon. I'll have some more shots of what they crank out. 3 out of 4 of them have never baked bread before.

>>4273703
Sure. No problem.

>>4273218
I should have specified that the purple crumb comes from the walnut oil reacting with the flour.

>>4273218
The world is your oyster when it comes to sourdough. You can use it to make waffles, pancakes, crackers, etc, etc. Pretty much any baked product where you want to inject some sourness will work. I make a sourdough lavash a couple times a year, and have even done a sourdough yeasted cake with cream cheese frosting.

>>4271318
Sourdough starters don't require a lot of technical capacity. The hardest part is just waiting long enough for it to fully mature before using it to bake. A good starter will often take 2-4 weeks to really come to life.

Baking sourdough bread, however, is a little more complicated. Starters are not nearly as reliable as commercial yeast, so you have to be willing to be flexible on your timetable and final product until you've really come to learn the character of your starter.

>>4271482
Yes. Boil until soft, mash, mix into the dough. Potato breads are very nice, especially when combined with roasted garlic and rosemary. Add in a sourdough starter and some walnuts, and you can get a very sour bread with complex flavor and a purple crumb!