Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 08:50:36 GMT -------------- BEGIN bread-bakers.v111.n042 -------------- 001 - Jeff Dwork Subject: Bread Sculpture Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 23:44:00 -0700 From Discovery News, just in time for Halloween and Day of the Dead... ++++ Oct. 25, 2011 - Artist Kittiwat Unarrom sculpts bread in his family's bakery in Thailand to look like human heads and body parts. The ghoulish creations are made of flour, raisins, nuts and other traditional bread ingredients. Unarrom said he makes the bread to reflect the Buddhist philosophy of "Do not believe in what you see, what you see might not be true as you thought." He hopes people ponder whether "they are consuming food, or food is consuming them." +++ Photos and a link to a video at Jeff --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v111.n042.2 --------------- From: Werner Gansz Subject: Re: How Can I Retard Rise Without Souring Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 07:53:41 -0400 You didn't say how long this baking project took before you put the bread in the fridge. I'd be astonished if the dough soured in one day of working and one night in the fridge. Putting dough in the fridge overnight is on of the best methods for improving the flavor of breads made with commercial yeast. It retards the yeast but allows the enzyme action that reduces the starches to sugars to continue. The bread should be sweeter, not sour. Only after several days will the dough start to sour. I use the fridge all time for yeast doughs for bagels, bialys, rye and wheat breads, focaccias, pizza. They all get sweeter, caramelize to a more golden crumb, and have deeper brown crust because of the additional sugars developed while in the fridge. Many of the recipes in Peter Reinhart's Bread Bakers Apprentice use the fridge as a flavor enhancer. The flavor that results is a nuttier sweetness, not sour. Are you sure you are not just picking up flavors from the fridge? BTW. salt can be used as a yeast inhibitor, but of course, salt affects the flavor. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v111.n042.3 --------------- From: Suzanne Lander Subject: Re: backyard brick oven Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:52:02 -0500 There is an account by someone building a backyard bread oven here: . The earlier posts are at the bottom of the page, of course. There's a link to this book: in the first post. Suzanne "the Dalai Lama and Charlie Brown make me want to stick around" --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v111.n042.4 --------------- From: Reggie Dwork Subject: No-Knead Baguettes Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:13:53 -0700 * Exported from MasterCook * (Bread), No-Knead Baguettes Recipe By : Artisan Breadd in Five Minutes a Day, Jeff Hertzberg Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Bread-Bakers Mailing List Breads Low Fat Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 3 cups lukewarm water -- (24 oz) 8 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour -- King Arthur 1 tablespoon salt -- (3/4 oz), (regular table salt, not kosher) 1 tablespoon instant yeast Place the water in a 6-quart dough-rising bucket or other large container. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt and yeast until blended. Add about half the dry ingredients to the water and stir to combine. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until there are no dry spots. The texture of the dough should be very soft. Use your wet hands to fold the dough over several times, right in the container. Cover the container, and let the dough rest at room temperature for 2 hours. Then refrigerate overnight, or for up to 7 days. To bake bread: Grease your hands, and scoop out a scant 1 pound of dough (about 1/4 of the batch, approx. 14 1/2 oz). Shape the dough into a rough, slightly flattened oval, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes. Fold the dough in half lengthwise, and seal the edges with the heel of your hand. Flatten slightly, fold lengthwise, and seal again. With the seam side down, cup your fingers and gently roll the dough into a 15" log. Place the log seam-side down onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, or into the well of a lightly greased baguette pan. Cover and let rise till the baguette is very puffy, about 1 1/2 hours. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450F. Slash the baguette three or four times on the diagonal. Spritz heavily with warm water, and bake until a very deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Yield: 1 large baguette. Total batch of dough yields 4 baguettes. Description: "Here's a great, easy way to launch your baguette career. Our thanks to Jeff Hertzberg's 'Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" for the inspiration." Source: "King Arthur Flour Co, The Baker's Catalogue, Early Fall 2009" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 910 Calories; 2g Fat (2.5% calories from fat); 26g Protein; 191g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 1609mg Sodium. Exchanges: 12 1/2 Grain(Starch). --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v111.n042.5 --------------- From: Reggie Dwork Subject: No-Fuss Focaccia Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:12:21 -0700 * Exported from MasterCook * (Bread), No-Fuss Focaccia Recipe By : Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Bread-Bakers Mailing List Breads Low Fat Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 1/2 cups warm water 3 tablespoons olive oil -- plus additional for drizzling 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour -- King Arthur Flour 1 tablespoon instant yeast 1/4 cup cheese powder -- optional 1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom. 2) Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds. 3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it has become puffy. 4) While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375F. 5) Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger. 6) Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with pizza seasoning, and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired. 7) Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. 8) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serving Size: 70g Servings Per Batch: 12 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 164 Calories from Fat: 44 Total Fat: 5g Saturated Fat: 1g Trans Fat: 0g. Cholesterol: 0g Sodium: 316mg Total Carbohydrate: 26g Dietary Fiber: 1g Sugars: 0g Protein: 4g. Yield: One loaf, 12 servings Description: "Warm, aromatic yeast bread, hot from the oven - with no kneading, AND in under 2 hours?" Source: "King Arthur Co" Start to Finish Time: "1:40" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 166 Calories; 4g Fat (20.8% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 224mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v111.n042.6 --------------- From: Reggie Dwork Subject: Secrets To Perfect Loaf of French Bread Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:31:29 -0700 Usually, my stand-by recipe is the No Knead Bread (because it's so darn easy) but it does require you to mix the dough at least 12 hours prior. When I only have three hours, this is my recipe which is based on trial-and-error from baking over 40 loaves in the past 8 months. The techniques are a combination of things I learned from Pamela Anderson (no not arm candy, the chef Pam Anderson!), the original No Knead Recipe published in the NY Times and Rose Levy Beranbaum (author of the Bread Bible). Secret #1: Knead dough with dough hook for 2 minutes. Let it rest for 7 and then knead again for another 3 minutes. If you are doing this by hand, then your formula is 6 min-7 min-7 min. Letting the dough rest at this stage allows the gluten to relax, redistribute, and get all cozy. It results ultimately a smoother, well-mixed dough. After the brief rest, you'll feel a difference in the dough. Its more supple and soft. Secret #2: Pinch! When you form the dough into a loaf (see photo below) pinch all ends tightly to create a seal. Basically, you are creating surface tension so that the gas from the yeast (or as Alton Brown describes "When the yeast burps") the dough expands up and out evenly. If I don't create this surface tension, the dough in the oven will just go "blah" like Al Bundy on the couch. Something called gravity makes the dough expand down and flat. Secret #3: Use a pizza stone, cast iron dutch oven or my favorite Pampered Chef Covered Baker. Just make sure that your loaf will fit into the vessel. Stone or cast iron retains heat and radiates the heat of the oven evenly. If you don't have one, don't worry, just use a good quality, thick baking sheet inverted. Secret #4: Steam = thin, crunchy, beautiful crust. In the No Knead recipe, there is a high proportion of water to flour. Because the No Knead dough rests for multiple hours, lots of water in the recipe works. In this 3 hour french bread recipe, you can't do that. To make steam (a.k.a. crust) - you have to do one of 2 things, depending on the baking vessel. -> Pizza stone or baking sheet: Once you put the bread in the oven, throw 1/2 cup of water on the oven floor (electric oven) and immediately close the door. No, it won't harm the oven. It's a technique that professional bakers recommend for home ovens (professional ovens have a built in steamers). Once the water hits the hot oven floor, it creates steam, which creates the crust. -> Covered baker or dutch oven: You'll need less water - about 1/4 cup. Once you put the loaf into the very hot pot, throw in the water and over the lid immediately. Put the pot directly in the oven. Because you've pre-heated the oven AND the pot for 1 hour, the trapped water in the pot will create steam. If you are shy about throwing water in, grab a pie pan or loaf pan, preheat it along with whatever you are baking on, and throw the water in that instead of the oven floor. Basically, cold water in hot pan + hot oven = steam. I have an electric oven (heating element is on the top of oven). Some bakers throw ice cubes in, but I prefer water. Secret #5: Timing and temperature: Have an instant read thermometer. The internal temperature of the bread should be 190-210F. All ovens are different and I'm sure our loaves will be different shapes. The timing in the recipe below is just a guide for you - this is what works in my oven and how I shape my loaves. Please make sure that you check the internal temp of your bread to gauge doneness. Source: "Steamy Kitchen" --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v111.n042.7 --------------- From: Jeff Dwork Subject: brick oven building Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:10:47 -0700 We've had a lot of discussion of brick ovens over the years in bread-bakers. Many of the sources are still active. The Bread Ovens of Quebec, ISBN 0-660-00120-9 Includes complete building instructions (but it's expensive) Build Your Own Earth Oven by Kiko Denzer We met the author and saw his oven at Summer Loaf festivals in Portland, OR in the late '90s. Very nice. The book is $17.95 from the author, cheaper at Amazon (see Suzanne Lander's post in this digest for the link). http://www.intabas.com/kikodenzer.html http://www.handprintpress.com/books/build-your-own-earth-oven/ Ovencrafters.net Detailed plans available (expensive) The Bread Builders, ISBN 1890132055 ($22.86 at Amazon) Brick Oven Cooking Information links and a yahoo groups mailing list http://avalonrecords.com/brickoven/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brick-oven/ At bread-bakers.com, search digests for the exact phrase "brick oven" to read the discussions. Jeff --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v111.n042.8 --------------- From: Reggie Dwork Subject: French Bread Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:56:15 -0700 * Exported from MasterCook * Bread, French Recipe By : Serving Size : 16 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Bread-Bakers Mailing List Breads Low Fat Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 4 cups bread flour 2 teaspoons active quick rising dry yeast 2 teaspoons salt 1 1/2 cups warm water 1. Reserve 1/4 cup of bread flour in a pile on your clean counter top. Place remaining 3 3/4 cups bread flour in your mixer bowl. Spoon the yeast on one side of the bowl, and the salt on the other side. Pour in the warm water and with your regular mixer paddle, mix on low speed until the dough comes together in a mass. Switch to the dough hook. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Dough should clear the sides but stick to the bottom. If it is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time. If too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water to dough to adjust. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. 2. Turn the mixer on again and mix for 3 minutes. Take the dough out and place on the counter. Remember that 1/4 cup of flour that we reserved? We'll use it now. As you knead the dough by hand, incorporate more flour as you need. Knead by hand until the dough is very satiny, smooth, tight and formed into a nice, compact ball. Place this dough in a large lightly oiled bowl (I use Pam spray). Turn dough over so that all sides have a thin coating of oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in warm place for 1 1/2 hours to let rest and rise. Dough should almost double in size. While the dough is rising, about 1 hour into the rising stage, preheat your oven to 450F and place your pizza stone, inverted baking sheet or covered cast iron pot into the oven to heat up. 4. After the dough has risen fully, punch dough down and form back into a ball. Poke your finger on the surface - the dough should give into the pressure and slowly creep back up. 5. Ok, here's the fun part. Cut the dough into half - you'll shape one half at a time (keep the other piece under wraps) Pick up the dough - stretch it out until it forms a big rectangle. Dust your work surface with flour and fold over the ends of the dough like this. Now do a little "karate chop" lengthwise down the middle of the bread and stretch out the long ends again. Fold over in half. The karate chop helps get the middle tucked inside. Pinch all sides shut. This is important - you want to make sure that all ends including the short ends are pinched tightly to create a seal. This allows the bread to rise and expand up and out evenly. If the bread looks a little lopsided, you can try to fix it by letting it rest 5 minutes and gently stretching it out again. Just don't knead the dough again - you'll pop all the beautiful gas that took 1.5 hours to create! 6. Turn the bread over so that it is seam side down. Cover the loaf with a damp kitchen towel. Repeat with the other dough ball. Leave the loaves to rest on your well-floured pizza peel or cutting board for 30 minutes. After resting, take a sharp paring knife and make 3-4 shallow, diagonal slashes on the surface of the loaf. This allows the steam in the bread to escape so that it expands evenly during the baking process. 7. When you are ready to bake, remove your baking vessel from oven. Carefully slide the gorgeous loaf into or onto your baking vessel. I like baking one loaf at a time. The most important equipment to have is an instant read thermometer to measure temperature of the bread. If you are using pizza stone or inverted baking sheet: You can probably fit both loaves on it at the same time if you wish. -> Get a 1/2 cup of water ready next to the stove. Open the stove, put your bread in the oven and throw the water on the oven floor. Immediately close the oven door. This creates your steam. -> Bake 20-25 minutes. Check temperature of the bread - internal should be 190-210F. Remove and let cool before cutting into it. If you are using a long cast-iron pot or covered baker: -> Before closing the lid on your pot/baker, put 1/4 cup of water directly in the pot. Cover immediately. Put pot in oven. -> Bake 10 minutes. Remove lid of pot. Bake another 14 minutes. Check temperature of the bread - internal should be 190-210F. Remove and let cool before cutting into it. Repeat with other loaf. (For convection ovens: bake 8 min covered, 10-12 min uncovered. Check temperature of bread). To re-crisp the crust, put in 375F oven for 5 minutes. Eat one loaf, share the other loaf with a friend! Description: "Baking the Perfect Loaf of French Bread in 30 Hours" Source: "Steamy Kitchen" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 125 Calories; 1g Fat (4.3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 268mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat. --------------- END bread-bakers.v111.n042 --------------- Copyright (c) 1996-2011 Regina Dwork and Jeffrey Dwork All Rights Reserved