The Home Made Bread Thread

Hole structure is related to lots of different things all inter related. The biggie is hydration. If there's not enough water in a dough, you'll never get a good hole structure. Fermentation is huge, and with that proofing. Over proofed bread will lose hole structure even if it was a perfect dough once upon a time. Development and strength in the dough has alot to do with it.

I would recommend upping hydration first. Keep in mind that wetter doughs tend to ferment a little faster.

Ingredients are an important consideration. Any fats will hinder a good hole structure.

couldn't believe my eyes when i saw this thread, quel chance!

I have been baking bread for a few years now, and the NYTimes article really sparked my interest. The no knead method opened my eyes to the possibilities in baking good bread from home.

Anyhow, for those of you interested you might want to check out these two links

This is a similar method but has returned much more satisfactory results for me. it involves making a sponge which is supposed to sit for more than 2 hours (I have been leaving it for around 12 hrs to develop flavor) and then mixing the dough and using a method of short kneads and 10 min resting periods.

It is very easy and makes excellent bread - I've even upped the wholewheat content considerably with still good results.

give it a try.


This is the page where the blog starts - its an interesting read for the beginner :http://sourdough.com/blog/sourdom/beginners-blog-slash-and-burn-hopefully-not

This is the method I use http://sourdough.com/blog/sourdom/beginners-blog-kneading-and-mixing

And use the Pane Francese (2) - sponge ingredients list from here http://sourdough.com/blog/sourdom/recipes

I have been using my baking stone to bake the bread and pour boiling water into a pan under the stone just before the loaf goes in to make the "oven spring"

I found this works better than the dutch oven method because I always have a hard time getting the relatively soft proofed ball not to crash down into the dutch oven.

Here is a quick image of my latest. sorry for the poor quality



Keep up the good baking

So my old cheap bread knife went missing. Now I have an excuse to buy a slick new fancy one. My wife wants a Wusthof, I was thinking Shun. Any recommendations?

Thanks for the info Jim. I guess that explains why my bread I made this weekend was a little on the dense side........buttermilk, 1 1/2 sticks of butter, beer cheese and wild boar meat make for a dense but delicious loaf.

That'll definitely do it!

Made for pasta dinner last night.
The middle was a tad doughy if that is a word? still tasted great with some butter melted on it and used as a pasta scoop

I still need to get my arse out to get a stone. The pot I have been using is good and all, but I want to try some french type breads next

What happened to the master bakers?

I'm no master, but I'll answer. I went skiing in Colorado. Just got back last night. I'll probably bake something tomorrow.

Two things:
Oftentimes on high hydration doughs a good solid bake is required to get rid of some of the moisture.
Also, I tend to prefer most bread after a suitable rest. Say 5-24 hrs. That allows the crumb to stabilize, flavors to meld.

By the looks of that loaf, I'd bet that if you baked it longer it'd solve the doughy crumb and you'd get a nicer crust. Color is flavor. Bake to a darker brown/black to caramelize the sugars on the outside. You'll be surprised at what you find!

I know that's meant as joke but it's not a laughing matter. There are less than 100 certified master bakers in the US. I think there are now 79. It's a big deal in my world, and something I couldnt imagine ever attaining.

It was more of an observation that professional bakers seemed to take over the thread.

Fair enough, but I think I'm the only one? I'm happy to lurk from now on, if that's what everyone wants. Say the word!

I think it's just Jim- I worked as a baker for a while, about 10 years ago, but nowadays I just sometimes make a couple loaves of bread, in a little kitchen aid and an apartment size oven.

Ignore him, Jim, he's being a troll.

Rubbish.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=316225

Not completely.

Been reading this thread through and through. Took a shot at it today, my first attempt.

looks good shady, bet it tasted good too

I'ma doin' more of this.

Kinda fun, ain't it.

I have a batch about ready to throw in the oven. I tried something different. I dumped what whole wheat I had in my hopper into the bowl, along with enough bread flour to make it 400 grams, then added the water, salt, and yeast. It ended up being about 300 grams whole wheat, 100 g. bread flour. May be good, may be a hockey puck.