u/robot_writer

Made the Everyday Sandwich Bread from the Perfect Loaf bread book. I was hoping my loaves would come out with that classic rounded top typical of sandwich loaves, but one of my loaves decided to explode. Not sure why- under proofed? I also still have trouble getting an even coat of seeds. Would love to hear if you have a good technique for applying seeds to your bread right before the bake. Despite those issues, I was surprised how good this turned out. Crispy crunchy crust with toasted sesame seeds and wonderfully chewy, soft interior. Bumped it up to 30% whole wheat, at 74% hydration + small amounts of olive oil and honey. Good stuff.

Zone 10a. Peach tree did well last summer, sprayed with copper past winter, but this spring had a lot of growth and buds from an early warm spell, then long period of cool weather. Now longer shoots mostly without leaves. Almost no fruit. When fall/winter weather drops leaves, should I trim back to where most leaf growth is now?

Should I give up and plant new seeds? Anaheim pepper from last summer. Not sure why it's not growing now.

So this is the Baron Bagels Recipe from Dan Graf, Adapted by Joan Nathan for NYT, with tips from another NYT article by Brian Chenaug, adapted by me to make onion bagels.

Yield 10 bagels;  Time: maybe 2 hours, plus a multi-hour rise and overnight fermentation

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014445-baron-bagels

Ingredients

• 125 g 50/50 WW/AP starter
• 376 g (70%) BF
• 161 g (30%) WW
• 14 g salt
• 1 TB/8 g diastatic malt powder
• 311 g water, 87 F
• 85 g caramelized onions [230 raw (1 large or 2 med), sliced onion + 2 TB butter + 1 TB white wine to deglaze at end]
• Dried onion flakes for topping
• 3/4 tsp/3 g lye in 2200 g water (0.15% lye bath) [Alt: use 2 TB/40 grams baking soda]

Day 1.

1. Make starter [and caramelized onions] night before or morning of.
2. Mix (~3 hr):
   1. Add flour, salt, malt powder, water and starter. [alt caramelized onions]
   2. Mix by hand ~5 min [alt: mixer at low 5 min with dough hook]
3. Cover dough and allow to rise at room temp for X hr [use Sourdough Journey table]
4. 1-2 stretch and folds 30-60 min apart.
5. Punch dough down [I’m not sure how necessary this step is…].
6. Cut dough into 10 pieces 85-90 g each. Shape each into ball, pinch center with floured thumb and index finger to create hole, then widen by spinning dough into ring. Stretch thicker parts until uniform.
7. Put bagels on baking sheet on parchment paper. Cover and refrigerate for ~10-24 hr.

Day 2 (~1.5 hr for one batch).

1. Pre-heat oven to 500 F using baking steel. Put shelf at 2^(nd) highest position.
2. Make lye solution in stainless steel pot [NOTE: other metals could be poisonous!]
   1. 2,200 grams water with 3 g/ ¾ tsp of lye powder [available on Amazon].
   2. Add lye into stainless steel pot of water, bring to a boil and add bagels.
   3. Carefully place just enough bagels into pot to cover surface of water, making sure no bagels are resting on top of one another.
   4. Let them float on 1 side for 1 min, flip to other side for 1 min.
3. Remove with slotted spoon and place back on baking sheet.
4. Shake dried onion flakes onto bagels.
5. Bake for 8-10 min with steam (I use this steaming method). Then bake 8-10 min without steam, or until golden brown.
6. Watch carefully during 2^(nd) half of baking. If onions are becoming too dark, to prevent them from burning, tent with foil.

So our baseboard turns out to be made of this crappy material that won't hold the screw anymore. Not sure how I can repair this. Any suggestions welcome.

https://imgur.com/a/8EJbLVI

My go-to bread is a mix (Miche? Pain de Campagne?) with about 40% whole wheat and/or other flours (spelt, einkorn, buckwheat and rye). I usually pick from those on the fly for each bake depending on what I have on hand. I might add seeds as well. This one has spelt instead of whole wheat with a little rye and buckwheat, and dried sour cherries thrown in for good measure!

Sourdough Miche/Pain de Campagne

Ingredients for 1222 g loaf:

• 326 g BF
• 177 g whole spelt flour (or whole wheat)
• 68 g buckwheat flour
• 49 g AP
• 33 g rye flour
• 503 g water (around 80-90 F)
• 7 g malt powder
• 171 g starter
• 13 g salt
• Optional: 163 g raisons (or dried blueberries or cherries, or figs) + 1 tsp cinnamon, OR 1 tsp ground, toasted coriander seeds

Instructions:

Day 1:

1.      Mix starter and let double during autolyse below. Starter should be active (recently doubled or tripled). [during winter, 4-6 hr at 78-88F or so for my starter]

2.      Mix flours, malt and water. Autolyse for 1-5 hr.

3.      Bulk (5 hr) at 77-88F or so. Mix in starter and salt. 4 turn-and-folds every 30 mins during first two hours of bulk. 5th turn-and-fold used to remove from bowl. Preshape, cover.

4.      Let rest 20-30 min, shape, place in banneton. Cold proof in banneton overnight uncovered. [ALT: can keep in fridge 2 or nights]

Day 2:

1.      Preheat oven to 500 F.

2.      Place loaf in cast-iron combo-cooker. Score. Turn down to 450 F. Bake 30 min.

3.      Remove lid, bake uncovered and turned down to 425 F for 20-25 min.

 

Adapted from a Boulangerie Pas à pas video. I was really happy with the result. Great for sandwiches or breakfast sliced thin. Kept really well. The recipe below is for 3 loaves, but I adjusted my bake for 2 loaves since I only have 2 loaf pans. 😁

Seeded sourdough bread with Rye starter.  Sechskornbrot.  A German bread

3 loaves should be 700 g each

Ingredients (total 2974 g)

400 g Rye flour (T130) [I used Bob's Red Mill]

600 g Stone-ground flour (T80) [I used Bob's Red Mill]

730 g Water

24 g salt (0.8% or 0.008x total dough weight)

20 g organic molasses

720 g seed mix: 720 g (sunflower / brown flax / golden flax / rolled oats / pumpkin seeds)

480 g rye starter

Method:

1.       Make Seed Mix:

a.       Soak the seeds for at least 3 hours before preparing the bread.

2.       Make rye starter

a.       Mix: 150 g of liquid WW sourdough starter, 150 g of T130 rye flour, and 180 g of water at 104 F.

b.      Let ferment at 95 F for 2.5 to 3 hours to get a very active loaf.

c.       Important: scrape down sides to prevent starter from drying out and becoming acidic.

3.       Hand kneading

a.       Add a little water to sourdough starter, then mix everything into bowl with the seeds.

b.      Stretch it, then knead for 5-10 minutes.

c.       Line your pans with parchment paper

d.      Put dough into Pullman pans. Should be ~1/2 way up pan.

e.      Smooth the surface with wet dough scraper. Cover with plastic wrap.

4.       Let rise for 2 to 2.5 hours at room temperature (68 F). [adjust time for temp]

5.       Refrigerator at 39 F overnight (maximum, with a slightly shorter rising time, is 48 hours).

6.       Baking:

a.       The next morning, take out pans. For scoring, dip pastry cutter in a little neutral oil, make a light cut (1 cm deep), down center of the loaf lengthwise.

b.      Scatter  pumpkin seeds on top.

7.       Baking:

a.       480 F for about 30 minutes WITH steam.

b.      Then 20 to 30 minutes at 410 F without steam.

c.       Baking check: core temperature of at least 208 F, very important for preservation.

8.       Place it on a wire rack to cool.

I modified this recipe from Gristle and Toll's website a long time ago. It's 100% hydration and makes some delicious whole wheat bread.

Ingredients for one loaf:

• 100 g starter [mine is AP/WW 50/50]
• 450 g whole grain (preferably freshly milled [I use Bob's Redmill as I don't own a mill])
• 450 g water @ 80F
• 12g salt

Optional:

• 150 g: raisins and/or dried cherries/bluberries/cranberries;
• 1.5 tsp toasted, ground coriander seeds

 

Day 1:

1. Mix extra starter to yield 100g ~6-8 hr ahead of time or prior evening for morning mix.
2. Mix dough (all ingredients)
3. Bulk fermentation: approx. 3 hr. Turn-&-fold 3x (1x/hr).
   1. Shorten if hot, lengthen if cold.
4. Pre-shape, rest 15 min
5. Shape, place in banneton
6. Optional: roll in sesame seeds or rolled oats first
7. Proof overnight (8-24 hr) in refrigerator (longer period may overproof)

Day 2:

1. Preheat 475F 1 hr ahead
2. Place in cast iron combo cooker, slash
3. Bake 25-30 min covered, 15-25 min uncovered.