Homemade Bread

[levain]

Ok, here's a pretty good write up on bakers percentages from a bakery I used to work for. It just happened to pop up when I googled bakers percentage. Go figure..

Anyway, this is a good thing to know and understand since it helps manipulate ingredients, and understand the process a little more. This is also really easy to integrate into a spreadsheet if you're so inclined.

Here's the link
http://www.artisanbakers.com/percentage.html

[svejkovat]

http://www.artisanbakers.com/percentage.html

Excellent!! Since I'm a beginner I might as well develop good habits from the start.

I just want to spend some time perfecting a loaf of plain bread. Might experiment with varieties much later. But I'd just love to get the skills down to do that basic loaf well whenever/whereever I happen to want to.

[levain]

Originally Posted by svejkovat

http://www.artisanbakers.com/percentage.html

Excellent!! Since I'm a beginner I might as well develop good habits from the start.

I just want to spend some time perfecting a loaf of plain bread. Might experiment with varieties much later. But I'd just love to get the skills down to do that basic loaf well whenever/whereever I happen to want to.

It's a great tool. Esp. when used metric since it makes so much more sense than American. We're all metric at the bakery, and wouldn't consider switching. Bakers percentage allows you to keep things in check. The most important being salt which should always be 2-2.2%. That's a pretty hard and fast rule that should be followed. There are times when it may be different, like our olive bread for example is less than that, but that's because of the olives. Right around 2% of the total flour weight (including pre-ferments!!!) is perfect for flavor and controlling fermentation.

[AngryScot]

going to start simple with the no knead type and see what happens.
My mum use to make fresh bread when I was growing up and that smell of the kitchen is like a time machine!

[svejkovat]

fresh bread when I was growing up and that smell of the kitchen

... and fresh sizzling bacon. Just can't top the basics sometimes.

[MikeFly]

This looks like one of the best loaves of bread I have seen. GREAT WORK

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Our flagship bread. Durum stick

[MikeFly]

Great thread. I've been making bread for a long time but only recently started using a levain. It's a lot different than using regular yeast.

Finally made a great baguette this weekend after temporarily giving up on some of the varieties of doorstops I have been making. I'm guessing that since I am used to a dough that is a lot drier, I am not using enough water in the dough.

[levain]

Originally Posted by MikeFly

Great thread. I've been making bread for a long time but only recently started using a levain. It's a lot different than using regular yeast.

Finally made a great baguette this weekend after temporarily giving up on some of the varieties of doorstops I have been making. I'm guessing that since I am used to a dough that is a lot drier, I am not using enough water in the dough.

I would venture to guess that 99% of the bread made at home could have alot more water in the dough. Pretty much if it's not pretty sloppy after mixing, you can get away with adding more. Watch that video on folding to get an idea of what needs to be done. Just don't beat the hell out of it. It really doesn't need much man handling at that stage. A simple fold over onto itself and you're done. key is plenty of fermentation time to give time between folds for a rest.

[levain]

Originally Posted by MikeFly

This looks like one of the best loaves of bread I have seen. GREAT WORK

Thanks. We just had some professional pictures done, so I enjoy showing them off. This photographer did a GREAT job with our products!

I love this one of that bread coming out of the oven from above

[a1fa]

Yum!!!

[AngryScot]

nice pics!
Bread is doing whatever it does for 12-18 hours. only thing there is no where in my house that is 70degrees so I wrapped the bowl and put it in the oven (off of course) to see if that helps keep it at a constant temp or as close as I can get this time of year. was a rush throw it together when I got home so I forgot the pics, will take some tomorrow when I see if it raised up or not

[levain]

Originally Posted by AngryScot

nice pics!
Bread is doing whatever it does for 12-18 hours. only thing there is no where in my house that is 70degrees so I wrapped the bowl and put it in the oven (off of course) to see if that helps keep it at a constant temp or as close as I can get this time of year. was a rush throw it together when I got home so I forgot the pics, will take some tomorrow when I see if it raised up or not

Great. I'd love to see what it looks like tomorrow! Take some pictures of your process as you go along if you can.

[Dismount]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Great. I'd love to see what it looks like tomorrow! Take some pictures of your process as you go along if you can.

How do you feel about the pan o' hot water in the stove to keep the temps up for rising/proof/etc >?


I've been leaving it in for the actual baking too, as my house induces nosebleeds with it's level of non-humidity.

[levain]

Originally Posted by Dismount

How do you feel about the pan o' hot water in the stove to keep the temps up for rising/proof/etc >?


I've been leaving it in for the actual baking too, as my house induces nosebleeds with it's level of non-humidity.

That's hard to answer without knowing the temperature, and what you're trying to achieve. We keep the bakery 75F year round, and our mixing window is 75-77. Generally, bread fermented in mid/high 70's is best for control and flavor. Just warm enough, but not too warm.

Humidity in the oven is crucial for expansion of the final loaf. Without it, you get alot of busting out all over, and you won't achieve correct volume. I don't have much experience baking at home unfortunately. Any humidity you can get into the oven in the first 15min or so would be a good thing!

The no-knead method as well as Chad Robertsons method described in Tartine use a covered dutch oven. That seems like a great technique to me. What is going to happen is all the moisture being driven off from baking will be trapped in the pot, and steam the bread. You'll need to take top off towards the end of the bake to drive off that moisture so you get a crust, and it obviously only works for round loaves.

[Dismount]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

That's hard to answer without knowing the temperature, and what you're trying to achieve. We keep the bakery 75F year round, and our mixing window is 75-77. Generally, bread fermented in mid/high 70's is best for control and flavor. Just warm enough, but not too warm.

Humidity in the oven is crucial for expansion of the final loaf. Without it, you get alot of busting out all over, and you won't achieve correct volume. I don't have much experience baking at home unfortunately. Any humidity you can get into the oven in the first 15min or so would be a good thing!

The no-knead method as well as Chad Robertsons method described in Tartine use a covered dutch oven. That seems like a great technique to me. What is going to happen is all the moisture being driven off from baking will be trapped in the pot, and steam the bread. You'll need to take top off towards the end of the bake to drive off that moisture so you get a crust, and it obviously only works for round loaves.

In the house, generally around 70. The heat pump does pretty well at keeping that within a degree or three. Differences in rise time outside of the oven and inside with a pan of hot water is about 2:1. That's for a double volume.

My oven should be shot and then buried at sea. It's a travesty.

I don't have a dutch anything at the moment. I'll give it a try once I do though. I'm going to try some dark bread this weekend.