Still cold and snowy, but at least it will get above freezing this coming week so everything should melt. Until I have other things to write about, here's more of this. At least it beats more writing about cold and snow. Breadmaking has made these mundane winter days more bearable.
As stated last post, I made baguette again last weekend. I think I did better shaping them the first time, though, and I need to work on dividing the dough evenly. But this time I had the new cast iron pan for the boiling water on the low oven rack and before putting them in the oven I brushed the loaves with water. I also cautiously baked them 10ºF lower than the recipe called for and I may have taken them out a bit early, but they are fully baked. They remind me of the take-and-bake baguette we can get from the store, so can be warmed in the oven for several minutes to be like fresh baked. I like the color a lot better and it tastes very good still, but I promise I
will get better at this yet.
I also noticed my wife had put buns in our online grocery cart, so rather than buy those buns I baked some on Monday evening.
This is the recipe I used, and they turned out really very good. Like the baguette, though, room for improvement. First, I think I flattened them just a bit too much as they are a bit bigger around than I'd like, and while the recipe calls for brushing them with butter just before and just after baking, I think I'll just do it before baking next time. The recipe also said you could divide into 6 and use the bun pan instead of the 8 shown here, but I'm sure they would have crested the rim and looked like muffins, like the cheesy burger buns I made earlier. I think I will continue to use this recipe for when we want buns, and I may even try to shape them differently for brats and hot dogs when we need those. Start to finish in less than three hours is pretty good, too.
We picked up that same grocery order mentioned above on Tuesday afternoon, so on Wednesday I made one of the
store-bought frozen loaves of white bread dough. If they had wheat I would have tried that, but this white bread is still really good. Again, maybe a bit underdone, it is very soft, so I may be being too careful in not wanting things to get overdone now. The directions called for an 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan and the one we have is pyrex, which may be why the sides and bottom were less done, but we also have 9.5 x 5 metal non-stick loaf pans and they may work better for this so I'll use one of those next time and we'll see.
More bread related purchases recently, a container for a loaf of bread to keep the sandwich bread protected and fresh, and a pastry mat that can be used as a work surface for bread dough. I've also previously bought an 8" cast iron pan, bun pan, dough scrapers, and oven and food thermometers. So, not including ingredients, I've spent just about 100 bucks on these items specifically related to my new breadmaking hobby. Not too bad, actually, I expected more. I wonder what I'll think I need next?
This weekend I'll be making no bread, for a change. At least I'm not planning on it. We have baguette, buns and sandwich bread so my work is done for the moment.
Of course, with new buns made there is another double smash burger pic after the break! ;)
And no, we don't have these quite as much as it may seem, but we had to test the new buns out!
2 comments:
Looking brilliant.
I love how you are reflecting on what you might do differently the next time too.
Just one thought about the buns - if they look too flat at the time to are due to put them in the oven, just leave them to rise a bit longer. Bread doesn't rise much more after it goes in the over, so aim to get the final required lift/volume by letting the yeast (etc) do its stuff before baking.
I don't know what your recipes are using to feed the yeast, but I always found that a teaspoon of honey works lots better than sugar. Indeed, even if your recipe does not have sugar, a tsp of honey (stirred into the warm water/milk etc before adding it to the yeast rather than put directly onto the yeast) will make all the difference to the ultimate rise, and you won't taste it as it is converted to 'rise' (carbon dioxide etc). Some people say that honey also keeps a loaf fresher for longer (as it is hydroscopic), but in such a small quantity I am doubtful.
You can also brush the tops of loaves with milk or beaten egg. Either will give you a nice golden crust.
Apologies if you know this stuff already, just trying to be helpful and it is amazing what crap seems to be stored in my bread brain!
Thank you, BW. I do want to get better and that will come with more experience.
For the buns I divided the dough into 8 roughly 100g chunks, then had to pull the corners in to make a ball. Then, sealed side down push the ball to 3" round, and I know I made mine bigger, which I won't next time. Then cover for the final rise before baking. I'm not worried about the rise, I've seemed to get more than expected a few times though I measure the yeast precisely. Most recipes call for a bit of sugar but we do have honey. Interesting to note that the buns called for the most sugar and yeast than any other recipe I've made.
The jam bread had an egg wash before baking, but you could probably tell that by the color. I've only had to brush that one, then I brushed the baguette with water, now butter on the buns. All filed away for future reference.
No worries, BW, I'd rather you tell me tips now rather than I-could-have-told-you-that later. Thank you!
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