The Home Made Bread Thread

Pix. Need pix.

Thanks to everyone, especially Jim for this great thread. I made my first loaf using the NY Times method this weekend.

Nice crust, good taste but the loaf didn't rise much in the oven and wound up about 2 1/2" tall and 10" in diameter. Holes were small, nothing like, for example, the pics of Jims breads. Used 1/3 ww flour, 2/3 W Cnadian high gluten. ( happened to be on hand )

I've read the entire thread and my head is spinning with the variables.

I'm baking in a crappy electric oven and using an aluminum dutch oven at 425.

I let the dough set 12 hours at 75 degrees, folded three times, shaped and moved to a towel after 15 minutes, final rise was 1 /2 hours.

Any ideas? More water? More or less time in steps? Pizza stone or something in oven?

Thanks again.

sounds like the dough was either not strong enough, it was over fermented or your oven wasn't hot enough. I always suggest getting a home oven as hot as possible for a minimum of an hr. to preheat. If you're using the dutch oven, it needs to be in the oven the entire time as well to preheat. In a good oven, 425 isn't hot enough. I'd suggest cranking it up as hot as it'll go. Forget about what the thermostat says. Just turn it up all the way.

I'm baking tonight. If I get around to it, I'll take some pictures from tonights bake.

Let me know if you make it to RI. I'd be happy to take you on a bread tour

The NYTimes recipe calls for a 2 hour final rise. That's probably your problem. It also says the first rise should be between 12 and 18 hours. I've been using the NYtimes recipe to bake two loaves every other week for almost a year, using an 18 hour first rise and a 2 hour final, and the bread alway rises nicely, very consistently, with nice bubble structure.
Good luck!

"final rise was 1 /2 hours."


Opps, that was a typos I meant 1 1/2 hours. I'll try your suggestions. thanks

, I'll try the higher heat. I'm not sure what you mean by "dough was either not strong enough" . Needs more folding? Less water?

Thanks for the help Jim.

My wife whipped up this lovely concoction last week. Made a dense, heavy loaf. It turned out very good, Crust tasted slightly sweet, but not over the top. Her only word of advice was to not let the ice cream melt all the way. Use it when it's just gotten soft. We used Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate ice cream.

There aren't many things better to wake up to than the smell of fresh homemade bananna-nut bread coming out of the oven.

Sandwich loaf we made today. Went great with mesquite smoked turkey, muenster, cole slaw and mustard.

I bake a lot of stuff, fruit breads and muffins. I use Bob's myself. All whole wheat to be precise. I love the stuff. I load up when it is on sale. But 4 bucks for a 5 lb. bag off sale is a little steep. My best close second is Trader Joe's. I find King Arthur's to have to much of a bold over powering taste that I was not able to tame down.

Made 6 loaves yesterday!

My problem is that I can't follow the recipe! I always have to tweak it with a twist or two of something else.

That my friend is sweet tooth addict's pornography! Now if I can just get the slobbers off my key board!

Fermentation develops bread all on its own. That is the basis behind the no knead method. There's actually a lot of science behind what you guys are doing. Just mixing the ingredients together and letting them sit for a long time will turn into a bread dough eventually like so many in this thread has experienced. That only works with the smallest amount of yeast though. Too much, and it'll over ferment before giving it the opportunity to develop. We achieve the same thing with starters at the bakery allowing us to make bread in shorter time. The starters started the day before though, or in the case of sourdough years before.

Sooo, if the dough isn't developed enough, it's gonna be slop. It's not going to get any volume. Hole structure will suffer. Following the no knead method, maybe your dough needs more time. Maybe, it needs a fold (more likely). Still, considering what you said, I suspect its your bake. 425 isn't hot enough. If the oven wasn't pre-heated, and you used a cold (just an assumption) dutch oven, it's never going to get any volume. The hot dutch oven is creating a heat transfer forcing the cold dough up. Go into a cold oven, and the dough goes flat.

The other thing to keep in mind is that all flour is different. The recipe given is a guideline. Keep the yeast/salt/flour the same, but don't hesitate altering the water called for in the recipe. It's possible that your flour just doesn't absorb as much water, making it a wetter dough. Keep in mind also that, for the most part, the wetter the dough, the better the bread.

Hope that helps.

I am going to post my version of never fail banana bread! This will make two large loaf pan loaves.

4 Cups whole wheat flour. I use Bob's Red Mill or T.J's

2. T. Baking soda.

1.T Salt I use sea salt.

1. Cup dark brown sugar.

1. Cup honey, or molasses, or sorghum molasses. or an extra cup of dark sugar.

1. Cup Canola oil. You can use butter, or what ever oil you want. I prefer canola.

4. Rooster bullets. Sometimes referred to as eggs.

2. T real vanilla. I use Penzeys. You can use the imitation stuff, but you will notice the difference

8. large bananas that are over ripe. Fresh bananas will and can work, but is is just not as goos.

2. C. Chopped nuts. I use slivered almonds from Costco. Seems to be best price. Walnuts are best, but are big $$$

2. Cup dry oatmeal oats. Again I use Costco, best $$ and they are Quaker oats.

note, if you do not use honey or molasses or sorghum, and substitute with the sugar, DO NOT use the oats.

Mix the bananas, canola oil, rooster bullets, vanilla and the honey/liquid stuff, and the brown sugar together. I put the brown sugar in with the liquid stuff to be mixed so it will well and it is a lot less work than putting it in with your dry ingredients. I love my Kitchen counter top mixer for this. I'm taking this thing to the old folks home with me.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in big bowl. Mix well. Pour in all the well mixed liquid stuff in the dry stuff and mix well. I use a big wooden spoon to do this as it gives me a good feel of the texture of what is in the bowl.

At this point you can toss in several different things to make your mixture wetter if that is what you want. I use apple sauce mostly, or milk will also work. But if you want a dryer mixture I use equal amounts of dry oats and wheat flower. A quarter cup of each at a time.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes and check to see if it is done. Usually it talks 60 few odd minutes. Do not take the dark color of the top of the load as meaning the bread is done early.

Now, here is something I learned the hard way working with whole wheat flour. USE METAL type pans. Trust me on this. My Pyrex. or Visions glass loaf baking dishes will burn the bottom of the loaf before it is done. This is not a problem if you use white flour. Whole wheat not so.

....three to start with,...

....and my personal fave,...

My wife response "when are we going???" I'll take you up on that, I'm heading to MA for work next month and plan on taking the bike and some extra days. I'll touch base ahead of time.

Thanks,
Marc

Been droolin' over those blueberry scones all week!
Ill be down on sat to add to my waist (?waste- wheres klay when you need him) and Jims bottom line.
Please be sure to save me some!

As soon as this weather cools a bit ill get back to pursuing the perfect loaf.

Let me know!