Simple Bread

[rwsaunders]

80% biga...boy this dough was wild, wet and warm...”and all you gotta do...is crack naturally”...paraphrasing Buck Owens.

[rwsaunders]

Slice pics and a highly recommended recipe from Ken Forkish...simple too, requiring no kneading and an overnight fermentation.

[Too Tall]

I'm all about the Biga. Looks great. Allowing bread to naturally break has been a recent delight. Kudos on the real butter.

FWIIW Glamping season is upon us. I've had good luck baking bread on a campfire however our main campsite does not allow wood fires. I've got a new Kamado Joe Jr. that will fit my Lodge dutch oven. I'm predicting a couple disasters before I get it right BUT promise to send pics. of everything.

[rydesteel]

My first attempt at this. No knead bread 8oz Bread flour, 8oz white flour, salt, 3/4tsp yeast, 1 1/2 cup's H2O, 8 hour rise in the bowl, 1 1/2 hour rise on the board after shaping, 450* oven and the usual 30 covered 15 uncovered in a Lodge Dutch oven. gave the pot a couple squirts from the spray bottle, then the loaf and then the lid closed it all up and wow, think I'll try this again.

[rwsaunders]

Harness your inner Nancy Reagan and just say no to corporate dough (bread).

[mnoble485]

Great first attempt Frank. I don’t see much room for improvement.

Mike

[rydesteel]

The crazy thing is I'd forgotten how good fresh baked bread is, even a simple no knead recipe is head and shoulders better than anything I get at the store. Getting ready to make a Grilled cheese sandwich, or eggs in a hole not sure yet.

[rwsaunders]

I hadn’t seen my Mother in person for almost 8 weeks and now that she and her senior community have been fully vaccinated, I received the request to help put away the Winter decorations and to bring out the Spring “things”. We had to celebrate with some cinnamon raisin bread and smell of the bread being toasted, brought a few of the neighbors out of their apartments. We are getting there.

[htwoopup]

As we are out of bread, I made baguettes. Because, well, it is Quebec.

And, for some reason, something came over me and I thought up to mix in 25 grams of maple syrup to the dough. Because, well, it is Quebec.

It made the crust much deeper brown.

But it didn't taste noticeably sweeter nor maple-y.





But, OMG, did it tremendously improve it. With a shmear of Camembert it is total heaven.

Almost made me not mind that this was day 7 of riding the Seven. On the trainer. Because, well, it is Quebec Covid Quarantine.

It is only 5 hours since it came out of the oven, and I rode for 2 hours and my wife rode for 1 hour and somehow we only have one baguette left.

Think I will bring some maple syrup to NYC to throw into all manner of breads.

[rwsaunders]

You’re making me hangry, Jon. PS...my LPS (local pizza shop), gets similar crust color results with a dash of molasses.

[rydesteel]

So I tried my hand at the no knead bread again and thought I'd add a few mix ins. I love Jalapeno Cheddar Bread and found a recipe for it. I need to work on my folds to better distribute the mix ins but the flavor was spot on. Makes great grilled Cheese as well!

[Too Tall]

I think Frank's bread is looking darn great. No kidding, homemade bread is insanely good. FWIIW I typically mix a 1000g batch, divide it into two loaves. Freeze one and destroy the other while considering maybe I should not have frozen the other ;)

In a few weeks, fingers crossed, I'll start posting my experiments baking in a Kamado Joe Jr. BBQ grill. I'm pretty sure it will work very well as I've had good luck cooking over a campfire.

[rwsaunders]

My daughter’s Easter focaccia.

[bbillington]

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I bake often and don’t measure. I tend to just go by feel. My best results are typically cooked in a Dutch oven as I no longer have a gas oven and electric—though blessed with a Viking stove—doesn’t provide the same result for me.

[bbillington]

Made a kalamata loaf last night to go with homemade pasta. I had to rush it to table so it didn’t cool enough. Moisture content was still too high but the Briney flavor from the olives is hard to beat, ATMO.
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[Too Tall]

Righteous looking bread Bbillington. Ken Forkish is putting me on the path to freedom. We all want to cook by feel however baking and go with the flow never works out for me.

[bbillington]

Righteous looking bread Bbillington. Ken Forkish is putting me on the path to freedom. We all want to cook by feel however baking and go with the flow never works out for me.

Thanks, TT! My bread is pretty pedestrian but also consistently delicious. A French friend couldn’t believe I don’t weigh my ingredients, but he strives for a level of perfection that I don’t aspire to.

[TMB]

As we are out of bread, I made baguettes. Because, well, it is Quebec.

And, for some reason, something came over me and I thought up to mix in 25 grams of maple syrup to the dough. Because, well, it is Quebec.

It made the crust much deeper brown.

But it didn't taste noticeably sweeter nor maple-y.





But, OMG, did it tremendously improve it. With a shmear of Camembert it is total heaven.

Almost made me not mind that this was day 7 of riding the Seven. On the trainer. Because, well, it is Quebec Covid Quarantine.

It is only 5 hours since it came out of the oven, and I rode for 2 hours and my wife rode for 1 hour and somehow we only have one baguette left.

Think I will bring some maple syrup to NYC to throw into all manner of breads.

I use maple syrup in the water when I boil bagels, it does seem to add some sweetness. I really want to take the next step to doing the bagels on the Weber Kettle and have been wanting to do that for a while but I never seem to get to the stage of firing up the kettle first thing in the AM.

[rwsaunders]

Back in the saddle after a fail. I’ve been using Forkish’s biga-based recipe as it really tastes awesome imho and it’s relatively simple to make...it just requires patience in paying attention to the room and mix temperatures. Well I wasn’t watching the biga overnight fermentation temperature and I let it get too warm...needs to be relatively low for this recipe...low to mid-70’s. I should have known when the folds weren’t doing the trick and the dough was soupy...biga is essentially a stiff starter. If you like croutons, that’s all that the boule was good for as the rise was pitiful. This little doughball was all business and it smells wonderful. Pics later when I slice for dinner.

[rwsaunders]

Our washing machine was down for a few days and I had to replace the primary drain pump. One of our friends let us spend time with her machine and this poolish-based boule was exchanged in return. The reason that I shot a video, is that the poolish boules sound like a 10# bowl of Rice Krispies when they come out of the oven and this pup was no different. Let’s see if the sound comes through.