The Daily Bread

xtsho

Well-Known Member
For thousands of years bread has fed the world. Thousands of years ago someone figured out that mixing flour with water and letting it just sit until it was all bubbly then mixing it with more flour and water would yield light fluffy loaves of bread.

The simplicity is so amazing. Yet so effective. That's how beer was initially made as well.

In this day and age of technology it's nice to just go back to the basics and do what they did so long ago. I fully embrace technology being an IT guy but it's so rewarding to just go back to the beginning and mix up some flour and water to be used for leavening bread. From binary to microbes. Maybe I'll write a book.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Lots of melty butter, sugar and cinnamon. *drools*



anytime after 5 :grin:
I'd like to learn how to make your sourdough. I'm intrigued by the whole process. I love bruschetta. Its my go-to comfort food and everything comes from our garden. The bread is the one thing I always have to run back to the store for. And you really need a good sourdough or ciabatta for bruschetta.
Sourdough is easy. Just get a starter going using rye or whole wheat flour then just feed it with all purpose flour once it's active. Then use some good bread flour to make bread.
 

Dorian2

Well-Known Member
It’s a Native American favorite. Most people I have met that know about it have either lived in the Res or in the general area. You can freeze them and put them in the toaster too.
Same with Native Canucks, just a different name I guess. I made homemade Naan bread and a Native buddy was telling me that the Bannock I made was awesome. I got a chuckle out of that one. :)
 

C. Nesbitt

Well-Known Member
My mom has always baked, breads, pies , etc. She’s struggling with some cognitive impairment these days but baked two pumpkin pies this evening for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Crust and filling from scratch:
DE9DED76-BDC9-4E11-8D5C-9AB402EFA5FB.jpeg
E1211EFA-1E25-4440-A881-C67E5DD4DF2D.jpeg
71BA2124-B4E5-4A92-A6A1-FFA3FAE16CFB.jpeg
Artistically she’s slipped but they smell fantastic. Probably the last year she’ll be up to making them. Looking forward to a big slice tomorrow.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Part of the new starter.




Used it for this loaf. Using a loaf pan. Makes a nice shaped bread perfect for those turkey sandwiches I'll be eating tomorrow. And it keeps from getting that thick crust from a rustic style sourdough loaf. This should reach the top of the pan in 8-12 hours and then into the oven.

 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Well I ended up putting the dough in the refrigerator before I went to moms for Thanksgiving dinner. When I got back home I pulled it out planning to bake it last night. I was going to let it warm up before putting it in the oven. Then I fell asleep. Fortunately it rose nicely overnight and I put it in the oven early this morning.

I wasn't thinking and had the oven a little too hot so it got a little dark on the top. I brushed the top with butter right out of the oven. I'm happy with the results and will be having turkey sandwiches later today.

Excuse the dingy looking bread pan. But you don't want to wash them.



 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
The crumb turned out pretty nice. There's a big pocket at the top but that's probably from when I shaped the dough. I was worried I might have left some air pockets. It was a pretty high hydration dough as I was looking for a softer bread and a thinner crust so being a sticker dough it was more challenging to get formed and into the pan.


 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Had to pick up another bag of flour. $15 for 25 lbs. I can make over 20 loaves of bread. The only other ingredients are water and salt. Pretty inexpensive for a decent loaf of bread. Plus it's a great hobby as well.

Just out of the oven and brushed with melted butter.



This is a really good high protein flour. Good for long fermentations which makes it a good choice for sourdough. It's great for both bread and pizza doughs.

 

C. Nesbitt

Well-Known Member
Had to pick up another bag of flour. $15 for 25 lbs. I can make over 20 loaves of bread. The only other ingredients are water and salt. Pretty inexpensive for a decent loaf of bread. Plus it's a great hobby as well.

Just out of the oven and brushed with melted butter.



This is a really good high protein flour. Good for long fermentations which makes it a good choice for sourdough. It's great for both bread and pizza doughs.

Nice. Do you knead by hand or have a mixer? I’ve always done it by hand and found it relaxing but it hurts my wrists a little these days.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Nice. Do you knead by hand or have a mixer? I’ve always done it by hand and found it relaxing but it hurts my wrists a little these days.
I don't knead by hand unless I'm making a noodle dough. And then when making ramen noodles which is a really dry dough and difficult to knead I put the dough in a ziplock bag wrapped in towels inside another bag and walk on it in my socks.

For yeasted doughs I use a Kitchenaid. For sourdough I don't knead at all and just use the "stretch and fold" method. I mainly make sourdough bread using starter and not packaged yeast.

 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
I don't knead by hand unless I'm making a noodle dough. And then when making ramen noodles which is a really dry dough and difficult to knead I put the dough in a ziplock bag wrapped in towels inside another bag and walk on it in my socks.

For yeasted doughs I use a Kitchenaid. For sourdough I don't knead at all and just use the "stretch and fold" method. I mainly make sourdough bread using starter and not packaged yeast.

Have you seen the Electrolux Assistent. I got one for bread and love it. I believe they rebranded it to Ankarsrum. I still love my Kitchenaid but don't use it for bread anymore
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Have you seen the Electrolux Assistent. I got one for bread and love it. I believe they rebranded it to Ankarsrum. I still love my Kitchenaid but don't use it for bread anymore
That's a damn nice piece of equipment but it sure is expensive. I'll take one if you're offering :mrgreen:

I mostly do sourdough these days for bread and it doesn't require much kneading. You can make a decent white sandwich bread that doesn't even taste like a traditional sourdough and skip the kneading. You just use the sourdough starter as the leavening agent. Getting the bread sour is another process that requires fermenting and long proofing to develop the real sour taste.

You can leaven bread with natural sourdough starter and get the same result as you would with packaged yeast. It just take longer to rise and requires a decent amount of breadmaking knowledge. I don't even follow recipes. I mix everything based on weight and hydration ratios. Breadmaking is a science. Treat it as such and you'll be successful in making bread.

Now post some pictures of your bread. :)
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
That's a damn nice piece of equipment but it sure is expensive. I'll take one if you're offering :mrgreen:

I mostly do sourdough these days for bread and it doesn't require much kneading. You can make a decent white sandwich bread that doesn't even taste like a traditional sourdough and skip the kneading. You just use the sourdough starter as the leavening agent. Getting the bread sour is another process that requires fermenting and long proofing to develop the real sour taste.

You can leaven bread with natural sourdough starter and get the same result as you would with packaged yeast. It just take longer to rise and requires a decent amount of breadmaking knowledge. I don't even follow recipes. I mix everything based on weight and hydration ratios. Breadmaking is a science. Treat it as such and you'll be successful in making bread.

Now post some pictures of your bread. :)
I don't eat bread anymore. I'll go through my pictures and see if I have any old ones but it's been awhile. I've made sourdough too.
 
Top