The Big Bread Thread.

[guy]

Spurred on by the fantastic breads on display here, I had my first ever attempt at making rolls today (to go with homemade leek and potato soup this evening).

Potato bread rolls (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/rec...r-rolls-recipe), very easy:

[mad-moon]

Spurred on by the fantastic breads on display here, I had my first ever attempt at making rolls today (to go with homemade leek and potato soup this evening).

Potato bread rolls (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/rec...r-rolls-recipe), very easy:

They look the business....

[mightymonoped]

Spurred on by the fantastic breads on display here, I had my first ever attempt at making rolls today (to go with homemade leek and potato soup this evening).

Potato bread rolls (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/rec...r-rolls-recipe), very easy:

They look spot on! Nice


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[User211]

Some previous efforts just for the hell of it...

It's weird - I remember them all.



BTW I stopped using recipes a long time ago.

I just try different proportions of flour mixes each time, mess around with oil, malt extract, cheese etc etc and use fresh bakers yeast or sour dough cultures I make myself.

Another point WRT to flour mixes is it seems impossible to bake a bread that tastes nothing less than great no matter what flour proportions you use.

Low gluten flours can result in very heavy breads though e.g. 100% Rye. I always use at least 40% white flour for that reason at about 70-75% hydration.

What does that mean? If you had a kilo of flour 700g of water added to it is 70% hydration.

[User211]

They look spot on! Nice


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Yup.

[mightymonoped]

Some previous efforts just for the hell of it...

It's weird - I remember them all.



BTW I stopped using recipes a long time ago.

I just try different proportions of flour mixes each time, mess around with oil, malt extract, cheese etc etc and use fresh bakers yeast or sour dough cultures I make myself.

Another point WRT to flour mixes is it seems impossible to bake a bread that tastes nothing less than great no matter what flour proportions you use.

Low gluten flours can result in very heavy breads though e.g. 100% Rye. I always use at least 40% white flour for that reason at about 70-75% hydration.

What does that mean? If you had a kilo of flour 700g of water added to it is 70% hydration.

Nice little gallery of goodness there.

I think I have a very similar approach to cooking in general. I tend to look at recipes for ideas in general but seldom follow anything by wrote unless it’s new and scary.

On the bread-front, I seldom vary from the basic 500g recipe and just vary the ingredients to see what happens. I mix the flours based on what’s in the cupboard and try different sugars, yeasts etc.

I like to photograph everything I cook (well, not everything) as I sometimes go back and look for inspiration when I haven’t got any ideas what to cook.


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[mightymonoped]

Here’s a quick capture of some of the loaves over the last year...the far right, second row is my own Eureka moment, when I took the lid off the Dutch Oven half way through the cooking time and saw the magic rise for the first time, no going back from there, is there?




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[guy]

Here’s a quick capture of some of the loaves over the last year...the far right, second row is my own Eureka moment, when I took the lid off the Dutch Oven half way through the cooking time and saw the magic rise for the first time, no going back from there, is there?




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Beautiful - I would really appreciate some recipes/step by step guides from you Tony.

[mightymonoped]

Beautiful - I would really appreciate some recipes/step by step guides from you Tony.

Well I’m kind of an improvisor these days but happy to contribute where I can. Any particular recipes you’re interested in?


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[guy]

Well I did try making sour dough rye bread a while back. The "mother"/starter (built up with rye flour additions over a couple of weeks) was lively, but every loaf I made was heavy - damp inside and rock hard outside. It did taste very good though

Recent experience with the potato bread, using bought yeast, was so easy and much better texture (making rolls rather than a loaf would account for the better texture inside I suppose).

So, for starters (bit of a pun there) any thoughts on sour dough/do you use your own "wild" culture, or do you use dried/fast acting yeast?
Thanks in advance.