Baking Much?

For questions/topics that don't fit into the other, more specific forums.
User avatar
Jeff B
Posts: 14741
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Has thanked: 1954 times
Been thanked: 2324 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by Jeff B »

ChefKnivesToGo wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 4:00 pm Here’s today’s masterpiece. :)

Yah...well Ray has pretty pictures in his crust! :mrgreen: But that does look pretty tasty!
If God wanted me to be a vegetarian he wouldn't have made animals taste so good.
User avatar
ChefKnivesToGo
Site Admin
Posts: 16857
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:23 pm
Location: Madison, WI
Has thanked: 2051 times
Been thanked: 3275 times
Contact:

Re: Baking Much?

Post by ChefKnivesToGo »

Baby steps. :)
Image
Mark Richmond
Co-Owner Chefknivestogo
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/newarrivals.html
User avatar
mauichef
Posts: 3974
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:10 pm
Location: Boca Chica, Panama
Has thanked: 675 times
Been thanked: 1021 times
Contact:

Re: Baking Much?

Post by mauichef »

ChefKnivesToGo wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 5:15 pm Baby steps. :)
It’s all about the taste. And it looks tasty. Is that a sourdough Mark?
User avatar
mauichef
Posts: 3974
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:10 pm
Location: Boca Chica, Panama
Has thanked: 675 times
Been thanked: 1021 times
Contact:

Re: Baking Much?

Post by mauichef »

Busy morning baking Sourdough bagels! Its a 3 day process.
These are some of the best I've made! Hard to go back to store bought 😋

Image
User avatar
jbart65
Posts: 3276
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:18 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 105 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by jbart65 »

My latest sourdough loves using an heirloom wheat called white sonora. Very unusual wheat with an excellent sweetish taste and delicate crumb. I used whole, but it looks like bread flour.





(More bread photos below)

I don't know if I am overthinking sourdough - unlike woks - but I sure have been thinking a lot. I've probably spent 200 hours reading books and websites, watching video and making sourdough bread since I caught the bug in September.

Making sourdough has easily been the biggest cooking challenge of my life. Didn't help that I picked the Tartine recipe as my master recipe. Early on my loaves were often underproofed, too wet and sticky and hard to shape. Ended up with some hockey pucks.

After about a half dozen bakes I started to figure it out. But it took a lot more bakes to get consistency. One big problem was starting my journey in the cooler months. Yeast does not like to be cold. I also had to get a better feel for the dough and figure out when to hold back water. Adding tension to high-hydration loaves was another challenge.

Now I an venturing out to new flours, heirloom flours, ancient flours. That can be tricky too, since some of these flours don't act with the same consistency as store-purchase flour such as King Arthur. One very tasty flour I ordered from a mill in Pennsylvania simply couldn't hold together without a stronger bread flour to match with it.

I can't match Maui yet, but I am getting there. Bought a Challenger pan and damn is it good. Since I always bake two loaves at a time, I am thinking of getting another one.

My other vessel is a Lodge 5-quarte double-dutch oven. Does a great job, 95% equal to the Challenger. But it has a few problems. First, it really does not do batards very well. Just OK. Second, mine always develops a light rust coating on the exterior after each bake. Very weird.

BTW, Bob Z, the 5-qt lodge has the same measurements as the combo cooker, except it is deeper.

Anyway, here are some of my recent bakes:








Jeffry B
User avatar
ronnie_suburban
Posts: 2921
Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2019 11:43 am
Location: Chicago
Has thanked: 2061 times
Been thanked: 3402 times
Contact:

Re: Baking Much?

Post by ronnie_suburban »

mauichef wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 5:36 pm Hard to go back to store bought . . .
Yeah, that's a blessing and a curse, for sure. Those bagels do look great, though.
jbart65 wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:46 pm I don't know if I am overthinking sourdough - unlike woks - but I sure have been thinking a lot.
LOL - there's no such thing. As long you're enjoying the process, just keep going. :)
jbart65 wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:46 pm Anyway, here are some of my recent bakes:
Wow - phenomenal stuff!
=R=
Half of cooking is thinking about cooking.
arthurfowler
Posts: 712
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2017 5:33 am
Location: Berkshire UK
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 80 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by arthurfowler »

ChefKnivesToGo wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 4:00 pm Here’s today’s masterpiece. :)

Looks good Mark!!
arthurfowler
Posts: 712
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2017 5:33 am
Location: Berkshire UK
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 80 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by arthurfowler »

mauichef wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 5:36 pm Busy morning baking Sourdough bagels! Its a 3 day process.
These are some of the best I've made! Hard to go back to store bought 😋

Image
Just awesome Ray!! I can literally taste them as I am looking at the photo!! I need to try and make some bagels.
arthurfowler
Posts: 712
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2017 5:33 am
Location: Berkshire UK
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 80 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by arthurfowler »

jbart65 wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:46 pm My latest sourdough loves using an heirloom wheat called white sonora. Very unusual wheat with an excellent sweetish taste and delicate crumb. I used whole, but it looks like bread flour.





(More bread photos below)

I don't know if I am overthinking sourdough - unlike woks - but I sure have been thinking a lot. I've probably spent 200 hours reading books and websites, watching video and making sourdough bread since I caught the bug in September.

Making sourdough has easily been the biggest cooking challenge of my life. Didn't help that I picked the Tartine recipe as my master recipe. Early on my loaves were often underproofed, too wet and sticky and hard to shape. Ended up with some hockey pucks.

After about a half dozen bakes I started to figure it out. But it took a lot more bakes to get consistency. One big problem was starting my journey in the cooler months. Yeast does not like to be cold. I also had to get a better feel for the dough and figure out when to hold back water. Adding tension to high-hydration loaves was another challenge.

Now I an venturing out to new flours, heirloom flours, ancient flours. That can be tricky too, since some of these flours don't act with the same consistency as store-purchase flour such as King Arthur. One very tasty flour I ordered from a mill in Pennsylvania simply couldn't hold together without a stronger bread flour to match with it.

I can't match Maui yet, but I am getting there. Bought a Challenger pan and damn is it good. Since I always bake two loaves at a time, I am thinking of getting another one.

My other vessel is a Lodge 5-quarte double-dutch oven. Does a great job, 95% equal to the Challenger. But it has a few problems. First, it really does not do batards very well. Just OK. Second, mine always develops a light rust coating on the exterior after each bake. Very weird.

BTW, Bob Z, the 5-qt lodge has the same measurements as the combo cooker, except it is deeper.

Anyway, here are some of my recent bakes:








Jeffry, bread looks brilliant!!
Chappychap
Posts: 503
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 3:20 pm
Has thanked: 733 times
Been thanked: 246 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by Chappychap »

Yeah that looks really really great. I have a bag of white sonora berries that I've not ground up for bread yet -- maybe I should!
gladius
Posts: 5295
Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2017 7:59 pm
Has thanked: 780 times
Been thanked: 911 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by gladius »

Chappychap wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:44 am Yeah that looks really really great. I have a bag of white sonora berries that I've not ground up for bread yet -- maybe I should!
Those are soft wheat berries, best used for flat breads, pancakes and cakes, etc. Will you add gluten for bread making?
User avatar
jbart65
Posts: 3276
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:18 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 105 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by jbart65 »

I used a white sonora sourdough recipe from The Perfect Loaf. It calls for freshly milled white sonora, but I used some whole sonora flour I bought from Breadtopia. The author of TPF raves about white sonora and got the idea to use it after tasting a loaf made by Josey Baker.

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/white-sonora-sourdough/

I paired the sonora with Giustos bread flour and KA bread flour since my shipment of Central Milling Hi Mountain flour had not arrived yet. Sonora is low in gluten relative to other flours and needs to be paired up with stronger flours. The recipe uses about 30% or so of whole white sonora.

Very unusual crumb. Much softer than anything I’ve made with 100% hard red wheats. The contrast between between the thin crackly crust and delicate interior was surprising to say the least. I might not want it as my standard sourdough loaf, but for sandwiches and toast it is hard to beat.
Jeffry B
Chappychap
Posts: 503
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 3:20 pm
Has thanked: 733 times
Been thanked: 246 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by Chappychap »

jbart65 wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:11 am I used a white sonora sourdough recipe from The Perfect Loaf. It calls for freshly milled white sonora, but I used some whole sonora flour I bought from Breadtopia. The author of TPF raves about white sonora and got the idea to use it after tasting a loaf made by Josey Baker.

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/white-sonora-sourdough/

I paired the sonora with Giustos bread flour and KA bread flour since my shipment of Central Milling Hi Mountain flour had not arrived yet. Sonora is low in gluten relative to other flours and needs to be paired up with stronger flours. The recipe uses about 30% or so of whole white sonora.

Very unusual crumb. Much softer than anything I’ve made with 100% hard red wheats. The contrast between between the thin crackly crust and delicate interior was surprising to say the least. I might not want it as my standard sourdough loaf, but for sandwiches and toast it is hard to beat.
Good to know. What % whole wheat vs bread flour vs AP did you use?
User avatar
jbart65
Posts: 3276
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:18 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 105 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by jbart65 »

I went by the recipe exactly except for the part that called for 237g high protein flour (Central Milling High Mountain.) You can use 237g of King Arthur bread flour or another strong flour with 12% to 13% protein.

In my case, I used 100g of KA Bread flour, ran out, and used another bread flour (Central Milling ABC plus) for the remaining 137g.

The recipe uses 39% of whole white Sonoma.
Jeffry B
Chappychap
Posts: 503
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 3:20 pm
Has thanked: 733 times
Been thanked: 246 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by Chappychap »

All the bread baking by Jeff and others inspired me to get back into baking bread after a while making bagels and other things. Although I love making a sourdough boule or similar, I've gravitated towards sourdough sandwich bread for the best balance of prep vs. pay off (right now at least). So, it was 50% freshly ground Kamut WW, with King Arthur bread flour 50%, along with water, honey, milk, butter and salt. To grind the Kamut I use a Mockmill, which is a really great investment for anyone that is into baking and enjoys using high quality tools that give you that bit better control over the end product (I'm looking at you Mauichef, La Vie!!).
BBBCEFEB-4E62-4AA3-8959-259A06C34E75.jpeg
B28FA49F-B756-419D-888A-5EA6AED7F3F6.jpeg
It was a really tasty lunch snack with EVOO, flake salt, olive oil and the balsamic vinegar Ronnie recommended (thanks Ronnie!). Also good on the top was honey and lemon zest, as well as honey and finishing olive oil. Got into experimenting a bit!
User avatar
mauichef
Posts: 3974
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:10 pm
Location: Boca Chica, Panama
Has thanked: 675 times
Been thanked: 1021 times
Contact:

Re: Baking Much?

Post by mauichef »

Chappychap wrote: Tue Jan 19, 2021 4:26 pm All the bread baking by Jeff and others inspired me to get back into baking bread after a while making bagels and other things. Although I love making a sourdough boule or similar, I've gravitated towards sourdough sandwich bread for the best balance of prep vs. pay off (right now at least). So, it was 50% freshly ground Kamut WW, with King Arthur bread flour 50%, along with water, honey, milk, butter and salt. To grind the Kamut I use a Mockmill, which is a really great investment for anyone that is into baking and enjoys using high quality tools that give you that bit better control over the end product (I'm looking at you Mauichef, La Vie!!).

BBBCEFEB-4E62-4AA3-8959-259A06C34E75.jpeg

B28FA49F-B756-419D-888A-5EA6AED7F3F6.jpeg

It was a really tasty lunch snack with EVOO, flake salt, olive oil and the balsamic vinegar Ronnie recommended (thanks Ronnie!). Also good on the top was honey and lemon zest, as well as honey and finishing olive oil. Got into experimenting a bit!
Very nice my friend! That looks and sounds so tasty. Yes a mill is so tempting. But getting the raw ingredients out here is tough.
User avatar
mauichef
Posts: 3974
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:10 pm
Location: Boca Chica, Panama
Has thanked: 675 times
Been thanked: 1021 times
Contact:

Re: Baking Much?

Post by mauichef »

Todays bake...or at least, one of them!!!!

Image

Image
Chappychap
Posts: 503
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 3:20 pm
Has thanked: 733 times
Been thanked: 246 times

Re: Baking Much?

Post by Chappychap »

mauichef wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 4:25 pm But getting the raw ingredients out here is tough.
Breadtopia is your friend.

Nice bake today!! Stunning pictures.
User avatar
mauichef
Posts: 3974
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:10 pm
Location: Boca Chica, Panama
Has thanked: 675 times
Been thanked: 1021 times
Contact:

Re: Baking Much?

Post by mauichef »

Chappychap wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 5:09 pm
mauichef wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 4:25 pm But getting the raw ingredients out here is tough.
Breadtopia is your friend.

Nice bake today!! Stunning pictures.
Thanks x 2 🤙
User avatar
mauichef
Posts: 3974
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:10 pm
Location: Boca Chica, Panama
Has thanked: 675 times
Been thanked: 1021 times
Contact:

Re: Baking Much?

Post by mauichef »

Can't stop myself!!!

Image

Image
Post Reply