Baking Much?

[Kekoa]

I made a sourdough loaf for the first time! I recently bought a book I found at the antique store called Making the Best of Basics for $4 and have been trying some stuff out of the book. My brother also found an open source book for sourdough nerds called The Sourdough Framework that has more in depth strategies that we are going to try in the future.

This loaf was made with white unbleached flour since that was what I had on hand, but I think it will be even better once I get my hands on some whole grains that I can grind myself. I made the starter using some dry active yeast, let it set for a day and now have it refrigerated. The next day I made some batter with my starter and let that set overnight. Then this morning I took my sour batter and made some dough with it by mixing in flour till the texture was right, seasoned with just a little salt and sugar, then got into kneading it. I have never kneaded bread before so my technique was probably somewhat poor until I started to understand what I was trying to do. It was kinda fun to fold and smash the dough, ha ha! I split my dough into two loaf pans, let them rise for a bit, then threw them in the oven for an hour.

And voila, I have sourdough bread! All my younger siblings had it for lunch and loved it. It was good tasting and nothing turned out disastrous so I'm happy! This is going to be lots of fun to experiment with I think. One big thing I want to do is figure out how to make some sourdoughs that are gluten free, that should be very interesting. Me and my bother are going to try some using whole oat flour and see what we get.

[Bob Z]

This weeks sourdough rye

Got into making a "poolish" with sourdough starter(of course you can use yeast if you don't have sourdough starter handy) which blossoms after about 12-16 hrs, making a mini sourdough starter. The next day you add the rest of the ingredients to make a loaf of bread (flour/salt/rye flavoring etc)

After the poolish and other ingredients were combined the second day it was kneaded in my Kitchen aid for about 10 mins, folded twice during bulk fermentation (first rise) and then rose for a few hours til at least double in bulk. After that it gets formed into the final loaf then "proofed" til ready

This one cracked in the middle a bit but tasted great! This is easy to do if you never baked bread before, but you need a 5qt or so dutch oven to make it work.

Tell me you don't want to eat this!
want details, send me a pm

[ronnie_suburban]

This weeks sourdough rye

Got into making a "poolish" with sourdough starter(of course you can use yeast if you don't have sourdough starter handy) which blossoms after about 12-16 hrs, making a mini sourdough starter. The next day you add the rest of the ingredients to make a loaf of bread (flour/salt/rye flavoring etc)

After the poolish and other ingredients were combined the second day it was kneaded in my Kitchen aid for about 10 mins, folded twice during bulk fermentation (first rise) and then rose for a few hours til at least double in bulk. After that it gets formed into the final loaf then "proofed" til ready

This one cracked in the middle a bit but tasted great! This is easy to do if you never baked bread before, but you need a 5qt or so dutch oven to make it work.

Tell me you don't want to eat this!
want details, send me a pm

Beautiful looking loaf, Bob. Really nice!

[mjgillen]

Almond Roca cookies for the mother in law:

[Jeff B]

Delicious looking cookies mjgillen.

[mjgillen]

Thanks Jeff! Here is the recipe. Its basically the Nestle Toll House cookie recipe with a bag of Heath Bar pieces added and the cookie ball of dough is rolled in chopped almonds, hence the name Almond Roca cookies.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Chocolate Chips
1 pkg Heath Bar pieces

2 cups chopped almonds

Directions:
Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl
In a stand mixer beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
Gradually beat in flour mixture; fold in chocolate chips and Heath Bar pieces

Form balls of dough and roll in chopped almonds, place on cookie sheet.

Bake @375° until golden brown, about 14 minutes

Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely

[Kekoa]

I did a couple more batches of sourdough. The first two were pretty dense, which is pretty typical for white flour from what I gather, but I determined I was probably over fermenting my batter slightly. I soured my batter for a few hours less and my last batch turned out a little less dense and just about perfect for my preference. I was almost surprised to see I was able to fix it, I'm glad I seem to be understanding what I have learned so far about sourdough bread making.

[trancher]

I did a couple more batches of sourdough. The first two were pretty dense, which is pretty typical for white flour from what I gather, but I determined I was probably over fermenting my batter slightly. I soured my batter for a few hours less and my last batch turned out a little less dense and just about perfect for my preference. I was almost surprised to see I was able to fix it, I'm glad I seem to be understanding what I have learned so far about sourdough bread making.

Sounds like you are progressing well on your way to sourdough nirvana!

Fun, ain't it?!

[Kekoa]

Addicting is the word I used the other day.

[Bob Z]

Too hot here in N Ca to bake much these days but i got up early and made up a batch of lemon cranberry biscotti for the wife. I used half cake flour and a cup of rice flour to make them lighter and it worked out.

My only 240 gyuto (sadly) is a Tojiro dp which sliced the biscotti

[Jeff B]

Dat looks like a big scrumptious cookie!

[XexoX]

Baked this this morning. Working on a recipe I like. Just a white bread made with buttermilk. Used the bread machine to knead the dough, but baked it in the oven. Next addition is oatmeal. Maybe less yeast and salt.

[trancher]

Looks great, Xexo!

[Bob Z]

Getting cooler finally so I made some rye and some orange/cranberry soda bread. ATK no knead bread with a few embellishments like rye seasoning and caraway seeds. Second rise just didn't have the oomph wanted but the taste is there.

[ronnie_suburban]

It looked interesting to me, so I followed Brian Lagerstom's recently posted method/recipe for sheet pan apple pie . . .


I Solved Apple Pies Biggest Problem

It turned out pretty good but I think the overall approach is fundamentally flawed. Here's what mine looked like after it came out of the oven . . .


Sheet Pan Apple Pie
I used a combo of honeycrisp and granny smith. While Lagerstrom goes 100% brown sugar in the filling, I went 50/50 light brown sugar and white sugar.

And here's one of the four coveted corner slices . . .


Corner Slice

But this leads me to the big issue with this approach: all those middle pieces. Even with the nice streusel topping, no one's choosing those middle pieces first. There's a good reason (probably several) why traditional round pies have endured for as long as they have. One is that there's exterior crust in every slice. On this take, not so much. It's quite tasty but those corners and sides are clearly the most desirable pieces.

[XexoX]

Looks delicious Mr. Suburban. Now I'll have to try that. I'll send the middle pieces to my neighbor's work place. They eat anything!

[Bob Z]

I bought the original inventors book of the no knead bread craze, "My Bread" by Jim Lahey to give a try. It sure was easy but I found a few "folds" helped the bread get a better rise. Here is my 2nd attempt at "no knead". Not bad for 5 minutes of work!

[Kekoa]

Here are my first two attempts at some yeast breads. I had been experimenting exclusively with sourdough but got frustrated with the inconsistency of not using yeast. The only thing that I can think at this point is that there is chlorine of something in the water that is hurting the activity of my starters. Anyway, here is some yeast loaves and rolls, both from the trusty Betty Crocker cook book.

When I finished the loaves my family was like a bunch of bread piranhas coming after me, ha ha! Many of us hadn't been eating gluten for a few months so they were eager to try it and it was better than any store bought bread we have ever had.

I think I thickened the roll dough too much, I'm assuming that is why I couldn't get them into smooth round balls, but everyone seemed more than satisfied all the same.

[Jeff B]

Those loaves look fabulous!

[ronnie_suburban]

One more apple pie before it no longer makes sense. This time, traditional/round, with a streusel top . . .


Apple Pie
Used a combo of granny smiths and honeycrisps.


A La Mode
Probably shouldn't have photographed the first slice. It did not come out too cleanly.

Next pie, if there is one, probably pecan.