Breadmaking

[mrs quoad]

So how does one bake with it? Does it go into a hot oven?

Depends who or what you read, tbh.

Bakerybits, who sell it, recommend hot cloche, dough goes in after second proof.

The leaflet that came in it recommends second proof in the cloche. So that’s what I’ve been doing. (There’s also literally no way I’ll be able to get a 1.5kg second proofed loaf into a baking hot cloche without causing the dough serious structural damage! With a smaller loaf, maybe...)

 

[mrs quoad]

I might try a run of small baguettes tonight tho

 

[gentlegreen]

Right ...

I haz a bag of dark rye flour and some caraway seeds and 3 days.

Do I need to dilute the flour to make it in a breadmaker ?

 

[gentlegreen]

Well I'm taking a first stab at it.

250g dark rye, 200ml water, one aeropress scoop of caraway seeds, wholemeal 5 hour cycle.

My plan is to make something to eat instead of oatcakes when I get to work - perhaps more filling, perhaps cheaper so at least I'm paying less to stay fat ...

 

[mrs quoad]

Right ...

I haz a bag of dark rye flour and some caraway seeds and 3 days.

Do I need to dilute the flour to make it in a breadmaker ?

Many breadmakers need a special paddle for rye. It’s qualitatively different to other flours - mine uses a comb shaped paddle for owt up to 50% rye, bc the spade shaped one would knacker it. Check the “recipe” book that came with it for rye recipes, if unsure!

Trust there’s yeast and salt in there too?

 

[mrs quoad]

tbh, I’d add that imo there’s little point at all in using a bread maker for 100% dark rye, because there’s literally no benefit to be had from kneading it. Insofar as it offers benefits, they’re most likely to be from the enclosed oven it provides - which traps steam.

Which, now I think about it, is quite an advantage!

I wouldn’t be shy of hand making tho. Particularly for rye. It’s litetally “mix, leave, cook.”

Edit: and that gives you more leeway to bake earlier / later / as needed, obvs.

 

[gentlegreen]

Sadly I don't have an oven at the moment...

I just peered in the machine and the dough is smeared around the sides and the paddle is rotating in air

 

[gentlegreen]

Weirdly it smelled like hot cross buns while baking.
I'm leaving it to cool before I try to extract it from the pan.

It's just a little flatter than my usual bread - i.e. the paddle is sticking out of the top.
I looked at a £1 bag of strong white flour earlier, but couldn't bring myself to buy it.

 

[mrs quoad]

Sadly I don't have an oven at the moment...

I just peered in the machine and the dough is smeared around the sides and the paddle is rotating in air

Yeah. Might as well mix it by hand and remove the paddle, tbh.

 

[gentlegreen]

So the result ...

The next day it's really quite acceptable - not quite pumpernickel.
Many years since I last had Herbert's dark rye with caraway.
I'd forgotten that my permanent first memory of tasting caraway seed would have been in cake - so less competition for flavour.

I realised earlier that in my quest for more interesting bread, I had somehow forgotten malt - and the joys of dunking warm granary in a pot of tahini.
.. thence to malted wholemeal ...

... or Essene sprouted ...

I really shouldn't eat bread - I'm "50" pounds overweight again

 

[gentlegreen]

Actually, this may be a winner - it's very nearly cake
I bought some pumpernickel yesterday and this definitely has the edge - or at least is complimentary.
Just remains to be seen what it's like after longer drying out - if I manage to keep any that long

 

[gentlegreen]

Wholemeal loaf on left, rye on right - twice as much flour, but not much thicker
I don't put salt in my bread, but the rye seems to need it - even though it's more "cake" than bread - it would probably be nice with salty vegan margarine, but I I don't have a fridge so never buy it.

 

[gentlegreen]

At the last moment, at 6.30 this morning I decided to make a new loaf rather than warming up the loaf I made on Friday...
I just got started then I remembered I'd forgotten to buy more wholemeal ...
Luckily I'd bought a bag of wholemeal spelt to experiment with..

I even followed the recipe on the bag - only 150g of water per 250g of flour.

Even on the 2 hour rapid cycle it turned out much too moreish - it came out more like granary bread than the usual solidified porridge.

 

[mrs quoad]

Wholemeal loaf on left, rye on right - twice as much flour, but not much thicker
I don't put salt in my bread, but the rye seems to need it - even though it's more "cake" than bread - it would probably be nice with salty vegan margarine, but I I don't have a fridge so never buy it.

View attachment 145598

That on the left definitely looks like an unsalted loaf.

Edit: As does your spelt.

Is this a principled decision? You’ll get a far better structure from most flours (*perhaps* rye excepted) with salt. Even the most minimalist of breadmakers would say that the three ingredients in bread are flour, water, salt.

 

[gentlegreen]

That on the left definitely looks like an unsalted loaf.

And I confess I put quite a lot of salt in the spelt one

 

[mrs quoad]

And I confess I put quite a lot of salt in the spelt one

Really? Ok! That looks far more knubbly than I’d expect from a salted dough.

My bad.

 

[gentlegreen]

Sorry to hijack your thread while you're away
Last week's spelt loaf was so yummy I decided to make a full-size loaf.
But of course I ruined it by using one fifth ground linseed and a shedload of seeds - so it was roughly the same volume, but twice as dense.

 

[moose]

It's going to be more dense if you don't put salt in. It's not just there for the flavour!

 

[gentlegreen]

It's going to be more dense if you don't put salt in. It's not just there for the flavour!

I did put salt in on this occaision
And thinking about it, I put the same quantity of seeds in as I would for half the amount of flour.

 

[keithy]

I need help! My bread keeps rising out of shape like pictured. Doesn't matter how deep I score. Not overproved. I don't know why it would suddenly be happening when it didn't used to.

 

[keithy]

 

[gentlegreen]

What sort of oven do you have ?

I don't heat my house and my bread's character changes markedly according to the season

 

[keithy]

Electric fan oven. It has been like this for the past few months no matter the weather.

I might reduce the amount of yeast next time

 

[iona]

Focaccia, baguettes and a loaf from a breadmaking workshop today

My bread turned out the best apparently that tub is some sourdough starter and there was a pizza too but I ate it

 

[han]

Having just got some sourdough starter from the lovely RubyToogood , I am looking forward to making my first ever sourdough, in fact my first ever bread, using Ms T 's instructions on this thread. Gonna give it a whirl starting on Monday.

 

[moose]

Having just got some sourdough starter from the lovely RubyToogood , I am looking forward to making my first ever sourdough, in fact my first ever bread, using Ms T 's instructions on this thread. Gonna give it a whirl starting on Monday.

Haul thyself to the Sourdough thread then!

 

[han]

Excellent! Thanks! X

 

[han]

Ah well we finally got round to making it today. Here it is, our first ever loaf of bread, some sourdough. Just leaving it to cool down for an hour, then will taste! Exciting!

 

[han]

Oops, wrong thread!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Ah well we finally got round to making it today. Here it is, our first ever loaf of bread, some sourdough. Just leaving it to cool down for an hour, then will taste! Exciting!
View attachment 264029

That looks fantastic