Breadmaking

[mrs quoad]

Sounds like you need to step up your equipment. But hey it's a semi compering venture, so speculate to accumulate.

I've no experience doing what your doing, but I can bodge stuff! If you split it in two then batch mix forong enough, wont it sort out the nuggets?

I think the core problem is that the kneading attachment stretches. It doesn't mash. I attempted ten mins of hand kneading, but gotta be honest, 4kg is a bit too much for me to competently handle.

Next kitchen upgrade, if moving towards commercial, really needs to be a full scale bread oven in the shed and, yeah, a decent dough beater.

 

[mrs quoad]

Technically, that fits



And the one being squeezed is the one I'll keep. So that's alright

Edit: omg. Genius idea.

I've propped the slanty one on the right up with two spare skateboard wheels.

 

[mrs quoad]

They look alright. May well just shut up, depending on how my loaf cuts :lol:

Cut them by eye, and just weighed them to find out which is bigger (not sure which of my customers I'd give preferential bread to, but ay.) 944 and 947 grams. Quite pleased with that, for consistency!

 

[pug]

I think the core problem is that the kneading attachment stretches. It doesn't mash. I attempted ten mins of hand kneading, but gotta be honest, 4kg is a bit too much for me to competently handle.

Next kitchen upgrade, if moving towards commercial, really needs to be a full scale bread oven in the shed and, yeah, a decent dough beater.

I've got a hobart mixer in the garage (not that I ever use it), it probably weighs in at 300kg's or more so needs a solid floor to stand on. I think the minimum batch you could make in it'd be 10kg.

 

[mrs quoad]

I've got a hobart mixer in the garage (not that I ever use it), it probably weighs in at 300kg's or more so needs a solid floor to stand on. I think the minimum batch you could make in it'd be 10kg.

Need the oven to go with it, then

 

[pug]

Need the oven to go with it, then

I think I need to work on my baking skills a bit more first.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I think I need to work on my baking skills a bit more first.

View attachment 118173

Satanic hot cross bun?

I think the core problem is that the kneading attachment stretches. It doesn't mash. I attempted ten mins of hand kneading, but gotta be honest, 4kg is a bit too much for me to competently handle.

Next kitchen upgrade, if moving towards commercial, really needs to be a full scale bread oven in the shed and, yeah, a decent dough beater.

I thought you had a decent Kenwood? I've got the cheaper one and it's a bit of a pain tbh, if I turn it up, it jumps round the work top. Need to buy a clamp or something.

I had a bit of an issue when I did the overnight autolyse and then wanted to add starter. Was bloody hard work (and annoyingly the best tasting loaf I've made). I did see a guy on YouTube put a dough hook in to his power drill.

 

[mrs quoad]

I thought you had a decent Kenwood?

Yeah. It's great, for up to (and perhaps a bit over) 2kg. I'm assuming the bucket itself is only 5l, though, so 4kg of ingredients is pretty knife edge even before the "mixing" starts. And the dough hook is proverbially balls deep once it starts. Which I'm not sure dough hooks should be.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Second bucket is very cheap. You should blatantly try the power drill and dough hook method and report back.

 

[mrs quoad]

Second bucket is very cheap. You should blatantly try the power drill and dough hook method and report back.

Basically the same as a hand mixer with dough hooks, except more violent and uncontrolled - I'd imagine?

 

[mrs quoad]

A 2kg 20% spelt 10% wholemeal casserole loaf. Haven’t made one in our le creuset before, and had nowt more interesting to do. Definitely time to give it a shot.

Quick, easy and abusable to prepare (even used our oven’s “bread proving” setting, which is way too hot for normal sourdough); fucking ages to cook. (I did do the full autolyse, folding and pre-shape, mind).

Not overly blown away, as of yet. Tbf, it’s a bit wholemeal, and *only* 80% - suspect this could go some way higher ( RubyToogood ). Feels quite robust. It did rise one heck of a lot tho - will be rayt interested to see the crumb tomorrow. It may be a hidden winner.



Edit: yeah. I don’t feel I have gained much here. May try a higher hydration. There’s also what I can only describe as a slightly weird glossiness to the texture - I had the same when I last tried baking 100%s (and similar) in a dodgy cloche. Not sure if this is an artefact or the process, or sth else!



Edit2: idk, perhaps the time-to-proof could do with some tinkering. Hmm.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I think I'm becoming spoilt with "proper" bread. Woke up this morning and fancied a bacon sandwich. I've none of the ingredients, but even going to the corner shop didn't really fit the bill of what I was imagining... Thick slices of slightly chewy bread proper loaded with bacon.

Ah well. Will have to wait till tomorrow. Throwing together a white with a bit of rye and some seeds which is rapidly becoming my default loaf. Going to try and let it autolyse all morning though before I kneed it and put in the yeast and other ingredients, see what differences it makes.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Got the starter today mrs quoad. Going to give it a big feed at 80% and will use the first of that huge bag of organic flour I ordered and leave it a few days.

Doing a total mix up loaf to finish of every open bag. 875g flour and plenty of seeds. May experiment with putting some pomegranate molasses in to see what its like.

 

[mrs quoad]

Got the starter today mrs quoad. Going to give it a big feed at 80% and will use the first of that huge bag of organic flour I ordered and leave it a few days.

It was last fed 48ish hours ago. Unless it’s been sitting somewhere hot, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t lively / ready to go 12hrs after a first feed. Might be sulking tho!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It was last fed 48ish hours ago. Unless it’s been sitting somewhere hot, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t lively / ready to go 12hrs after a first feed. Might be sulking tho!

I'm away again for a few days tomorrow morning! Back Monday night. It's had 250g of flour. Do you think it will be good to go when I come back or will it need another feed?

Looks very different to the mush I used to use, will be sticking with measuring the ratios of how much it gets fed.

I've also been playing with folding to create structure. They've still be going in the loaf tin, but see now what a difference it makes. Today's rye and wholemeal heavy one may have to be baked freestanding though as think I may have got carried away with quantities.

 

[mrs quoad]

Started a “bread money envelope” last week, as I don’t really notice an additional £3 in my pocket, but I certainly notice a £50 flour bill.

To my considerable surprise, it’s already up to £17. That’s a lot of flour!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Ah good shout. My other half wants me start doing it commercially, so she can sell it in her veg boxes, but I feel I need a hell of a lot more practice! Especially as it would mean having 5 to 10 loaves ready for the same day. Think I'm fine with it as hobby for a bit, but maybe something to aim at.

I blatantly need a better flour storage system. Decanted some of the huge bag to a Kilner jar and made a bit of a mess and it doesn't even hold that much.

Today's loaf. It did need the tin in the end. Got it holding its shape, despite 70% hydration and a fair bit of rye, but it kinda collapsed downwards as don't have a basket. Ordered one a while back, but it's on the tiny side.

 

[mrs quoad]

I have a giant Tupperware. No lid. Holds about 1.5-2kg flour. Refill it from the 16kg bags elsewhere (using a takeaway Tupperware as a shovel), keep it in my bread cupboard.

Edit: and yeah, 5-10 loaves would do my nut in. 4kg as 2*1 + 1*2 is the most I can do. It’s the most our fridge can hold, tbf, and I’m not staying up overnight.

 

[mrs quoad]

My other half wants me start doing it commercially, so she can sell it in her veg boxes, but I feel I need a hell of a lot more practice! Especially as it would mean having 5 to 10 loaves ready for the same day. Think I'm fine with it as hobby for a bit, but maybe something to aim at.

If tempted, go on a course. Seriously. Find a decent sourdough baker, and go on one of their one-day courses. Nothing else will skill you up that well. All the practice in the world can’t compare to a day (or so) being taught by someone who does it for a living.

I’d cheerily recommend our own organic sourdough nut, as his courses are beyond outstanding. He’s literally responsible for everything I currently do. But that’s Obvs the wrong side of the country.

5-10 loaves a day is, IMO, nuts. In a domestic oven. And to any form of baking routine / schedule. Whilst holding down a normal / additional job.

We have a single oven (ie, not a double, so bigger cavity) with a decent baking stone (which I’d say is necessary for decent oven spring). I can get 2*1kg done at a time (say, 40 mins). Or 1*2kg (say, 45-50 mins).

With a bit of self punishment, I can get two bakes done in a couple hours in the morning. That’s 4kg / 4*1kg. I couldn’t fit any more in.

I’d reckon on 5 bakes for 10 loaves. Or 5*45 (will become slower after the initial two!), = say, 3.5hrs (+1hr to cool) of constant attention for, say, £30? ingredients and electricity not included?

Might be possible to bake 4*1kg at a time. Even with an outstanding bread-focused £850 oven, id be worried about how that would turn out. Would certainly take longer, and the risk of an uneven / dodgy bake would be magnified.

So.. yeah. Idk.

It might be technically doable. But ime, may well result in a pitiful / sub minimum wage income from it. Unless you’re able to massively upscale.

(I’d want a new fridge, and probably +1 oven (if not a proper 8-12 loaf bread oven), and one helluva bigger dough beater before trying to go remotely actual-commercial). The prospect of beating 10kg of dough in 5*2kg batches is... almost too awful for words. It certainly wouldn’t be baking for love any more!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It would be a once a week thing, but yeah the logistics of it all seem rather intimidating. And a very quick way of sucking any fun out of it. But that said the idea of doing a course sounds fun with no end goal. I Iove training courses with people who know their stuff.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Not soughdough related, but kinda unimpressed by todays sandwiches. The crust was just to much for the thick sandwiches I cut. So I think I'm going to work for a bit on not doing that. Thinking less steam. Maybe less heat. I'm already going lower then is suggested by a lot of places.

Can you over develop gluten? I'm asking as the last couple I've played with getting a blob of dough to form shapes, even if they have ended up in the tin and there has been definite change to texture of the bread itself.

 

[mrs quoad]

Can you over develop gluten? I'm asking as the last couple I've played with getting a blob of dough to form shapes, even if they have ended up in the tin and there has been definite change to texture of the bread itself.

If you overwork gluten, it’ll collapse. It’s rare to get to that point by hand. Otherwise, idk what too much gluten would look like - too elastic / tense to rise, perhaps? I’ve had a couple of loaves like that, but have (to date) always thought of it as a side effect of being too dry / underproofed - with more water or more time to rise, the same loaves would’ve been fine. I think.

Have just put 4 loaves in the shed to prove, as our fridge is beyond full. I’ll be getting up at 06:00 to bake them, and (realistically) would’ve been in bed half an hour ago (and up half an hour later) if there were only two. Realistically, I’m hoping to get £8 for the three “spare” (though one of those is £2 mates rates, tbf). A whole lotta Love has gone into every one of them - idk which Of the three will / won’t sell. So treated them all the same.

It does rather leave me wondering about hourly rates, tho :lol: Certainly with my questionable production methods, I’m a v long way off minimum wage!

 

[mrs quoad]

£5 for the bottom two. Trying to flog the top rift one :lol:

Really need to sort my shit out, tbf. I bring stuff in with the expectation that some people might want some (often bc they say they do), but that leaves me sorta begging for sales and / or with pointless bread surpluses.

Or with mismatches.

One of my new customers has a family who hates fruit. So I put aside a non fruit loaf for him. Turns out he likes having a loaf all to himself and his family can swivel, so no bread today tah. Oh well!

Have also cut the top left one (fennel and raisin). Is pretty good, tbf.

 

[RubyToogood]

I experimented with sourdough crumpets for breakfast.




Most recipes for them seem to add baking powder which seems totally unnecessary. I tried without, which worked ok, then got the crumpet rings out and tried with, which also worked. I used to make them with yeast in my pre-sourdough days, which is why I have the rings.

 

[mrs quoad]

Those look fantastic.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Those Crumpets look awesome

 

[RubyToogood]

I have bought some non-stick crumpet rings. I think I have found my "can't eat eggs any more" weekend breakfast solution...

 

[mrs quoad]

Our breadboard in normal mode.

1.5 Sainsburys loaves, and two packs of discounted Waitrose muffins.

Sigh.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

At least it's not Mothers Pride.

 

[mrs quoad]

Wife was unusually rude this eve, asking me to buy a baguette for a dinner she’s going to (having previously bagged a properly top loaf I made yesterday morning, and promised it to her dining colleagues. 30% Khorasan. Which I swear makes the finest bread ever*).

Which prompted me to have another think about baguettes.

I went back to my canvas, and proved up a couple of baguette shaped things. I’ve previously fucked up nearly everything about them (shaping, proving, getting the buggers onto the peel) so suspect this time I was working with some advanced awareness of impending fuck-ups.

Even then, they’re about 5 mins from done and looking... suspiciously functional

I don’t usually expect my baguettes to work!

*

(They got the football on the left).