Bread recipes?

[Reds]

Argh. I was so proud of myself for buying "bread flour" at the store and yeast packets, but I didn't buy any whole wheat flour or molasses, and my quick google searches are telling me I need whole weat flower and molasses!!!

I have honey, I have flour, I have the general baking things, and yeast. I also have some bran cereals...

any hope of me baking bread with this stuff?

[Mary Ann]

You can bake bread with any variation of ingredients. Just depends on what you want your end result to be.

Are you doing yours by hand? Or do you use a bread machine or a stand mixer with a dough hook or what?

You can make white bread with that bread flour. Also a really slammin' potato bread (makes awesome toast!), a split top buttered white, yada yada. You don't *have* to have whole wheat flour (although I usually won't cook without it unless it's an artisan loaf) and I rarely make my bread with molasses. Honey makes a good sweetener.

For most any two 8.5x4.5 loaves, you need:

5 or so cups of flour
2 or 3T of some sort of fat (but not for French bread)
a scant T of salt
2 c of liquid at 110 degrees
2-3T of some sort of sweetener (but not for French bread)
1T instant yeast
Various add-ins such as nuts, seeds, eggs, fruit, oatmeal, cracked wheat, yada yada

I always put the liquid in the mixer first, and then sprinkle on the yeast. I like SAF yeast, a French yeast I get from King Arthur Flour. It's super reliable and works very easily, unlike some of the Red Star and Fleishmann's types. Sweetener goes on top of that and I let it proof, or sort of start reproducing. (It's feeding on the sweetener.) Then I start mixing in the flour. I might beat a white flour or a lower gluten flour for a couple minutes at higher speed, to develop the gluten. Bread flour doesn't usually need it. When I get a nice sludgy goop, I add in my salt, nuts, fat, egg, or whatever else goes in; then I add flour to take it up. I knead until I get a nice satiny blob, and let 'er go for 4 to 10 minutes. Then I oil the bowl, cover it, and put it in the oven with the light on to keep it warm. About an hour to an hour and a half later I punch it down, let it rest for 10 minutes, and then shape it. Then I throw it in greased pans and put back in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour to rise about two inches above the edge of the bread pans. When it's risen I often don't even preheat the oven; I just turn it on at about 400 for thirty minutes. Breads with milk in them tend to overbrown, so I might go 350 for 40 and check for doneness. I cool them on a rack and slice them when they're cool.

There are a gazillion different little tips to make bread making successful; so for that I suggest a top quality bread book like Bernard Clayton's Book of Breads. Another good one that sort of teaches you as you go is anything by the King Arthur people. I have three or so of theirs, the Clayton book, James Beard's Beard on Breads, The Breadmaker's Apprentice, and I can't remember all the rest. I mostly sort of make them up. Once you get the principles down, it's easy.

Arrgh, hubby's out doing chores without me! Gotta run!

[Reds]

I'm going to look into some books.

I "made" bread today-the plus side is it smelled the house good and gave me something to do with my time.

Other than that, it doesn't look like bread. Really.

You wouldn't want to do a bread baking clinic sometime, would you?

[Mary Ann]

What did today's bread look like? Perhaps I can troubleshoot.

Bread clinic sounds fun!

[Reds]

It...um...didn't rise. I followed (sort of ) the recipe on my bread flour bag. Remember: I'm a general grocery shopper...) I should have looked at it AT the store to make sure I had the ingredients!

I substituted wheat flour with some bran cereal (I saw several recipes with bran cereal so I figured I'd try).
I subsituted honey for molasses.

When it came time to knead, it said to add more flour or water as necessary...well...I added a TON more water than the recipe called for because there was no way this was going to mold into a ball. When it sorta did, I left it to rise. It doubled, but maybe I punched it too soon...because it only sorta rose after that.

This recipe also didn't call for a bread pan-just the cookie sheet at the bottom of the oven. It looks like a landscape stone.

Tastes good, though

[Trailpal]

Sounds like the yeast died after the first rise? Maybe too cold, or it ran out of honey?

I have made small loaves on a baking sheet that turned out well.

I have a couple of breads I make, but mostly the dough is all the same - basically ww flour and white flour (about 1/3 ww, and the white flour is the all-purpose stuff), water, salt, yeast, honey. After kneading I put a little olive oil in the bowl, roll the dough ball in the oil to get it covered with oil and let rise with a towel over it. After the first rise, I shape it, let it rise again (or put the pizza toppings on it) and bake. I use this basic recipe for pizza crust, bagels, bread sticks, and small round loaves to eat with soup.

[Mary Ann]

LOL! A landscape stone? ;D

Trailpal may have it. Or it may have been too cold to do an adequate rise.

Or you may have had too much bran in it for the strands of gluten to hold the gases. (Bran will cut strands of gluten and let the gases that the yeasties give off escape.)

Another possibility is that your substituted flour may have been too low in gluten. That's generally reflected in the protein content of the flour. Low gluten flours like cake flour have a very tender crumb and can take a beating without developing the tough elastic gluten strands that hold the gases. Bread flour is higher in gluten; AP flours generally have moderate amounts, but are usually too low for bread making. You can buy straight gluten flour at most health food stores to increase the gluten content of any flour; you add about a quarter cup per recipe. I would never try to make bread with graham flour; it's too low and difficult. But it makes a good cake or cookie. Rye flours are notoriously low in gluten too. That's why they have to have some white or wheat flour added, and it still comes out very dense. The rye breads on the market make me laugh; they're white breads with a tiny bit of rye flour and molasses for coloring, and a bunch of Heidelberg sour for flavor. They're not like true rye breads, but they're what people expect.

Over time you'll get a feel for how much flour and how much water. The good thing about learning to make bread is, while your results might not always be optimal, you can almost always eat your mistakes.

[Reds]

Hmmm...I wonder if it was too cold. It was chilly in the house, but I didn't know about putting it on the oven with just the light on!

I'm going to print this thread and try it again later this week!

[Trailpal]

I hadn't realized the bran could cut the gluten!

I used to experiment with breads quite a bit, but that was Before Horses! I just don't have that much time at a whack any more.

[Mary Ann]

I had to boost the temp for mine this morning. I made a sunflower/sesame whole wheat loaf (my usual everyday bread). I had just the oven light on but didn't get a good rise the first time, so I punched it down and turned on the heat for two minutes, then turned it off again and had just the light. Worked great, and I got a really good rise.

Trailpal, that's what snow's for.

[Reds]

Well, I have 2 NORMAL looking loaves baking right now! MA, I took your generic recipe and did some "trying".

The dough tasted normal, so we'll see how this works.

It's. Actually. Rising!

[Reds]

trailpal, any chance you'll share your recipe? I'm interested in trying the pizza topping stuff...but need your starter!

[Mary Ann]

Alright, Stella! You GO, girl! What did you make it like? Is it a white bread recipe?

Hey, sometime when you make mashed potatoes, save either some of the leftover taters or about two cups of the water you cooked them in and use them for bread. Really good moist bread, and ca-runchy good toast! If you use the water, remember to heat it to 110 (if your work bowl is warm) or 120 (if it's not). Do you have an instant read thermometer?

[Reds]

Wellllll...I used butter for fat, honey for sweetener, and I put in 2 eggs. I only had the white bread flour.

It's warm, soft, and breadlike, but tastes awfully *white*. How do I get rid of that?

[Trailpal]

Sept 14, 2008 14:22:29 GMT -5 Reds said:

trailpal, any chance you'll share your recipe? I'm interested in trying the pizza topping stuff...but need your starter!

Sure!
Turn on your oven to about 375 or 400, you want it preheated to full temp, plus the heat will help the crust rise as you are preparing it.

In a medium size glass or ceramic bowl:
1 cup warm water
1 good squirt of honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
Disolve honey and salt in the water (I only measure the water, the salt and honey are estimates)

Add 1 packet yeast (I use Fleishman's Rapid Rise) and stir in. You should see bubbles or smell that yeasty smell in a minute or two.

Add 1 Cup Whole Wheat flour, use a fork to mix into the water/yeast.

Add a cup of White flour - use the fork at the start but you'll need to use your hands at some point. Once the mixture is sticking to itself and forming a ball, scrape most of the flour out of the bowl on to the counter and add a little more flour, knead the ball until it feels right. It depends on the humidity of the day. If you knead it til it's stiff you will have a very chewy crust. If it's too soft when you quit, you'll have a hard time picking up a slice! You will develop a "feel"

Add about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to the bowl - take your kneaded ball and wipe its top side with the oil and coat the whole ball with oil, then let sit in the bowl with a cloth over the top. It will probably take around 20 minutes - let it rise til it's about double.

Meanwhile, assemble your toppings:
Sauce - I use 1 small can of tomato paste, a tablespoon of Olive Oil, Salt, Oregano, Basil to taste. It should be kind of strong, as it's a condiment. Thin with hot water, usually just a few spoons to make it an easy to spread consistency. Makes enough for 4 pizzas, I use the little snack-size ziplocs to freeze single pizza portions for future use.

I use the pre-shredded cheese - a whole 2C bag. I shop at wallly world, so I've used various kinds, they all taste good - "pizza mix", "fiesta mix", "mozzarella". If I have some provalone slices I may add those on top, but they are "extra".

We have a couple of favorite topping combinations:
Sweet onion and bacon - fry 2-3 large onions (the frying makes them sweet) and mix with about 3/4 pound of crumbled fried bacon)

Pepperoni and spinach - use the thick pepperoni or a double layer of the regular peperoni. We can get loose frozen spinach and I add that on top. If your spinach comes in a block you'll have to thaw/wring it first.

Garlic! Not good if you have to work in an office the next day. I take about a head's worth of cloves, peeled and sliced. Place on pizza covering the whole thing. You can put tomato slices on top if you like.

Prepare your pizza pan -
Oil the pan (I use a spray but you can use regular oil and a paper towel).
Next put about 2-3 Tablespoons of cornmeal on the pan and make sure it gets all over the pan (like when you oil/flour a cake pan). Shake the loose stuff in the trash.

So by now, your ball of crust should be ready.
Turn it out on your floured counter and flatten. It should stay pretty round. Use your hands to flatten it so it's a little bigger than the pan. You can turn it over a time or two before it gets very big. Fold the crust back on itself and place it on the pan and unfold it. Going around the pan, cut off the excess dough - this will become breadsticks! Using your thumbs/fingers roll the crust up a bit and pinch it to make the edge.

Turn your attention to the "excess" - knead just a little, divide into 4 pieces and roll into ropes - the future bread sticks. Oh yeah, get a small baking tray for them.

Back to the crust... put a little oil on the crust and be sure the whole thing is coated - not thick, but any areas not oiled will get soggy from the tomato sauce. Of course, the oil is always too thick... Take a breadstick and roll it around on the crust - it will pick up the extra oil! Do this with all 4 breadsticks TA-DA right amount of oil on crust

With the back a spoon, add your sauce and spread it around. It's just for flavor - if it's too thick you will get burned when you bite it! Next add whatever topping you like, and finish with the cheese.

Bake at 375-400 for 15 minutes and check. Depending on your toppings it might take as long as 20 mins.

I tuck the breadsticks in on another rack to the side, it doesn't seem to affect the pizza and the sticks are nice with salad.

Once it's done, let it cool on a rack for about 5 minutes. Then slide it out onto a big cutting board that you will serve it from. I don't use those round pizza cutters, just use your longest knife to cut down, lift, rotate the 'za and cut down again until you have it all sliced.

It sounds like a ton of work at first, but after making 1 or 2, it flows easy.

I also figured out how to make a Chicago Stuffed Pizza. OMG it was good but so much cheese! I copied Garcia's (Cham-bana) version with 5 cheeses.