Bread!
It's one of our favorite things. Probably P's favorite thing to eat. So, let's talk about bread in this thread!
I think I found my favorite bread recipe. I'm ok at making different kinds of bread, but I've never been able to make a sandwich/loaf type bread that is light, rose properly in oven, and had perfect flavor. Well, this recipe: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=195 is possibly it. It says it can keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, so I did the recipe, came out with two bowls worth of dough, let them rise, and put in fridge. I baked the first loaf that same day at 350 for about 35 minutes (I didn't see in the comments where it says to bake at 450 for 30 until thhf told me). The loaf looked perfect on the outside, seemed done, but it was not done at all inside. I rebaked it, and toasted it like twice..so it was edible, but not done at all. Here's that loaf:
So, I left the other dough in the fridge. I went to bake it today, and realized I should have more properly covered it! The edges were dried, the top was flat, and I guess the bottom had partially baked when it was rising on the preheating oven the first time. BUT I put it in the loaf pan, and baked it at 450 for about 35. It came out really flat, but looking ok. I got for a run, come back, and P tells me it's the best bread he's ever had!
I'm thinking if I can combine these two breads, it will be perfect. Hopefully next time!
ok people, so I tried the burger buns and they were not too successful. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly.
When I left the dough for the first rise, the rise didn't really happen but I thought maybe it's because our house was cold and continued anyway as oww seemed to have had no problems even though hers didn't rise.
Then I made them into rolls and put the in a warm oven to rise. Again they didn't really rise, but I still persevered.
I put them in to cook at 400 and then after about 13 mins they were really browned - to the stage where if I'd left them in longer they would have burnt. BUT they did not really rise any more and they were all doughy inside. Not uncooked doughy but really heavy and stodgy.
So any ideas anyone? The only thing I could think of was that maybe my oven temp is screwed up and the temp was too hot for them. Does that sound reasonable?
I really wanted to love them but they were just meh. I don't have much experience with bread making so maybe I'm just crap at it.
Recipes always say to use lukewarm water for the yeast but I make it pretty hot, like I can still put my finger in it but it definitely feels hot, not warm. My breads started being way more successful after I started using warmer water for the yeast. And the burger bun recipes calls for so little water to put the yeast in that it cools really quickly, too. So yeah, make sure you use warm enough water to proof the yeast.
ok people, so I tried the burger buns and they were not too successful. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly.
When I left the dough for the first rise, the rise didn't really happen but I thought maybe it's because our house was cold and continued anyway as oww seemed to have had no problems even though hers didn't rise.
Then I made them into rolls and put the in a warm oven to rise. Again they didn't really rise, but I still persevered.
I put them in to cook at 400 and then after about 13 mins they were really browned - to the stage where if I'd left them in longer they would have burnt. BUT they did not really rise any more and they were all doughy inside. Not uncooked doughy but really heavy and stodgy.
So any ideas anyone? The only thing I could think of was that maybe my oven temp is screwed up and the temp was too hot for them. Does that sound reasonable?
I really wanted to love them but they were just meh. I don't have much experience with bread making so maybe I'm just crap at it.
I let mine rise longer than it says. I don't ever proceed until I see that it has risen considerably. Yeast cannot be trusted to do its job in the allotted time so time restrictions are the devil (at least for me) when it comes to bread baking. Also, make sure it's in a warm area of your home (or a heated and cooled oven) so it has a chance to rise. After making my own wine and cider, I know that yeast can be tricky little shits, but keep them warm enough and they'll pretty much do everything you want and need them to. Hope this doesn't discourage you from baking more breads!
eta: 5 loaves a week PLUS making other bread. Woweee! But then I've never been a really big bread eater. We have to freeze our bread otherwise a loaf will go mouldy before we eat it all. We go through about half to one loaf a week. If I made bread though, that would be different. Homemade bread is much better.
yeah, I don't contribute all that much to our bread consumption, but I do like having toast for breakfast.
Mr oww, on the other hand, has a minimum of five sandwiches for morning tea every day at work, and frequently has four pieces of peanut butter toast before and/or after dinner. He'd have more, but we only have a four slice toaster. haha.
that being said, we were having Mother's Day lunch with his family, and dinner with mine, and lunch was soup so I was taking the bread. I slightly over-catered, and ended up baking 29 bread rolls. This was yesterday morning. Guess how many I've got left?
only 3!
Ugh. I just had my first "bread in 5" fail. This is after many many successful loaves, so I guess I shouldn't be so down, but still.. I made the beer bread, and my first loaf from the bucket turned out great. But, the bucket languished in the fridge (mostly since my husband refused to try it, since he hates beer). So, it was nearing the end of its lifespan yesterday when I decided to bake the remaining 1.5-2 pounds. I did the refrigerator rise for about 8 hours, then baked at 450 for 30 minutes. The first slices were a little gummy, but the loaf was still warm so I didn't pass judgment. This morning, though..the interior is really gummy. I just can't eat it. I'm not sure if it didn't rise enough (I hadn't done the refrigerator rise before), or if it is underbaked, or a combination of both. ::sigh::
Do I bother trying to bake the remaining part longer, or do I just toss it?
I'll probably just mix up a new bucket and move on.
Sounds like the dough sat too long and the yeast died. I've worked for various pizza restaurants and if the dough is in the fridge for too long, the yeast dies, so the dough doesn't rise and doesn't really bake (won't brown and stays doughy). There's nothing you can do to save it at that point.
Shelloid, sounds like your yeast might have been dead too. Did the yeast/water mixture get frothy? If it didn't, the yeast was probably dead. If it did, then you probably just needed to give it more time like sb said.
Sounds like the dough sat too long and the yeast died. I've worked for various pizza restaurants and if the dough is in the fridge for too long, the yeast dies, so the dough doesn't rise and doesn't really bake (won't brown and stays doughy). There's nothing you can do to save it at that point.
Well, my yeast wasn't completely dead because I definitely did get some rise. But it may have been on the way out. With the "bread in 5 minutes" concept, you keep dough in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, although the authors do say that near the end of the 2 weeks dough is better for flatbreads/pizza crust since it might not have much rising power left. This is probably the longest I've pushed it as far as the age of the dough - it would be interesting to know if I would have gotten more rise if I had waited longer before baking. Oh well. I probably won't have to test the limits of my dough again very soon, since we usually get through the batch before the first week is up! ;)
Perhaps I'll try the refrigerator rise again with fresher dough - it sure would be convenient to shape a loaf in the morning, stick it in the fridge, and then just bake it when I get home from work. The book claims it should work. Maybe I'll poke around the internet a bit and see if anyone has done it successfully.
Even if the book says it'll last 2 weeks, if the conditions aren't exactly right the yeast could still die. Fridge temp not low enough, too much exposure to warm air when the door's opened, etc. It might not have been 100% dead, but there probably wasn't enough left to make the bread turn out. Yeast can be picky. :-\
I see what you're saying, permanentgrin, but I don't want leave people reading this thread with the impression that yeast are so finicky that it's not worth the trouble to make your own bread. I've made lots and lots of successful loaves (probably upwards of 20 by now) using the "Bread in 5" technique, and I'm sure I'll make many more. I know I've used dough that was up to a week old many times with great results, so I definitely wouldn't say yeast are especially picky. I think I just pushed the envelope a little too much with this one failed loaf.
I don't think the yeast was dead....I bought it on Friday and made the bread rolls on Sunday. It also did rise a bit but not much.
I think I'll try again with a longer rise and make sure the first rise is somewhere warm. I'll also add more water to the yeast initially as it makes a really weird paste, so I couldn't see if the yeast was doing anything before I added the other wet ingredients.
It definitely won't discourage me because I really want to make amazing bread now that I've tried one recipe.
Here's a loaf I baked tonight from the bucket'o'dough I mixed up last night:
http://imgur.com/XoAtY.jpg
http://imgur.com/gnjKa.jpg
100% whole wheat with olive oil, from the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book. It is so delicious! We ate almost half the loaf with some vegetable soup tonight. Although, it's only a 1 lb loaf, so that's not too crazy...right? ;)
I'm contemplating trying some pita bread with some of the remaining dough.
I hope I haven't killed this thread. I seem to have that effect... :-\
But, I did try the pita bread. What a revelation! It puffed up to form the "pockets" even! It would probably be easier with a pizza peel and stone, but I made it work with two cookie sheets (one preheated in the oven, the other flipped upside down and floured for sliding the pitas onto the preheated sheet). It was hard to tell if they were done enough - a couple of them got slightly crispy on the bottom, but I think that will soften up after being stored in a plastic container. I got 6 sandwich-size pitas out of about 1 lb of dough. Still 2 lbs left in the fridge of this lovely dough. :>
You didn't kill it, no way!
good job on the pita. you seem like an excellent bread maker!
That is a nice looking loaf of bread. ;)b
Maybe this is a completely dumb question but...What kind of yeast does everyone use? And can you use bread machine yeast with oven-baked bread?
(I'm pretty ignorant with this stuff, please excuse :-[)
Thanks allychristine and monkey7! This bread in 5 minutes thing has really gotten me bitten with the bread bug. Before DH and I got the book, our only attempt at 100% whole wheat bread was disastrous. So, we had settle for 50% whole wheat bread machine bread. But, now I'm making delicious 100% whole wheat loaves, baguettes, etc etc.. :D So, I wouldn't say I'm an excellent baker, but the technique is easy enough even for me!
berryraw - sure, you can use bread machine yeast for regular oven baked bread. Bread machine yeast is quick rising, so you may need to reduce your rising times. The container might have suggestions of how much to adjust the times, otherwise you can probably find info if you google red star yeast and look at their bread machine/quick rising yeast.
I just use active dry yeast (?).
I use instant yeast. It is $5.00 for 2 pounds and will last me about a year. I have used bread machine yeast for oven baked breads. My understanding of the different yeasts is that some need to be mixed with the water and sugar before being added to the flour. Instant yeast is the same as bread machine yeast (from what I read).
Ok, I googled this and was hoping to come up with a nice table that describes all the different varieties of baker's yeast, but no such luck. Here's a summary, though:
Instant/RapidRise/Bread Machine yeast - these all seem to be similar, requiring less rising time. Usually a bit more expensive, better for bread machines - especially if you have a "rapid" cycle.
Active dry yeast - this is the "usual" type of baker's yeast you'll find, if it isn't labeled with any of the things above. This is less expensive, and you can use it for any traditional yeast breads. This is what I use for the "Bread in 5 minutes a day" recipes - I have a large (1 or 2 lb) package and keep it in the fridge.
Fresh or cake yeast - this is basically the same as active dry yeast, but it doesn't have as much moisture removed. It might be harder to find, and it goes bad much more quickly. This seems to be sort of a specialty product - I'm not sure what the advantages/disadvantages might be.
I love bread!
I tried several times to make some, but I think it would work better if I had a machine!
I just use active dry yeast (?).
me too.
mmmmm bread.
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