More Bread Stuff

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!

My Breadmaking Beginnings

So much for moderation, I've been baking some kind of bread every weekend recently.  We had the last baguette out of the freezer with dinner last night and, being a bit more removed from making them, they actually are really good so I will be making them again next.  Baguette is the bread we normally bought more than any other bread.  This will be the first good bread I'll be making for a second time.

I started my breadmaking late last fall with a couple different, simple no-knead recipes.  Quick and easy seemed a good way to start.  This is the first recipe I tried, Peasant bread, but if I do it again I think I'll try this version from King Arthur Baking Company, where I got all the rest of my bread recipes ever since.  The second recipe  I made was also a no-knead, but crusty and baked in a Dutch oven.  Better than the first, but still kind of a gummy texture.  Not sure why, but I have no pictures of these.

Plain White Sandwich Bread

The next recipe I tried was called 'the easiest loaf of bread you'll ever make,' so, of course, I tried it.  It was good, but I wanted better.  It's the first picture on this post from earlier this month.  After that my sweet tooth got the better of me and I tried another no-knead, a brioche swirled with jam.  The second picture from that same post.  The sweetness and swirl of jam covered up any gumminess of the no-knead bread and this loaf did not last long.

After that, I veered away from regular bread again and made cornbread muffins.  We had all the ingredients and they turned out very good.  Again, no pictures taken, but they're just corn muffins.

Next recipe was for baguette, and turned out to be the best thing I'd made so far, and probably since.  You can read more about what I wrote about that here.  Having done it once now, I'm hoping to improve on that first attempt this weekend with both technique and having a proper pan for the boiling water.

Cheesy No Knead Burger Buns

So, let's see, that's up to 6 different breads I'd made so far.  And I'm not counting the pizza crust my wife and I made together.  I'll be trying different pizza crust recipes in the future, but that's a different category.  On with the breads.

Having enjoyed the baguette so much, my wife asked that I make a sandwich bread.  We had sandwich ingredients but didn't have any sandwich bread at the time, so basically I was asked to either make one or buy one.  Well, I had all-purpose and bread flour, and there's not as many recipes out there for white bread as there is for wheat bread, and many of them called for dry milk so my choices were limited.  I wound up trying this recipe and it was okay, maybe a bit more dense than I'd like, but good.  Picture number one on this post for the 7th made bread.  I want to try a different sandwich bread recipe next time but haven't found it yet.  I may end up buying wheat flour, and that would be good, too.

That same weekend I made a no-knead cheesy burger bun recipe that had caught my eye.  The recipe offered a choice of cheeses, powder or finely shredded, and I went with finely shredded parmesan.  Picture number 2 here, of the number 8 bread.  These were good buns and you couldn't really tell they were no-knead, but a lot of flavor.  They really rose more then I expected, too, up and over the bun pan to look like muffins.  We had them with my homemade smash burgers and it was a lot of flavors competing with each other, so while I know I will make buns again I will be trying a different recipe.

Pan de Cristal (Glass Bread)

Then another bread caught my attention that I wanted to try, Pan de Cristal, or glass bread.  It looked like a nice outer crust but had very large air bubbles inside that I found very interesting.  And the recipe was a bit of a surprise, it's a 100% hydration bread, 500g water to 500g bread flour.  I read up on it and watched the videos, but actually found it easy to make and, again, was surprised at how much it rose for me compared to the recipe pictures and video.  Too well done and it wasn't in the oven as long as it was called for, but I've ordered an oven thermometer to check that and will go more by what I see than what the recipes say in the future.  But this is a good, novel snack bread, maybe good as part of a charcuterie board or something but not for everyday.  Bread 9, last picture here.

And that'll be the last of counting them, I think.  I also think I'm kind of good at this breadmaking thing, so far anyway.  Eventually I expect I may tire of trying so many different things just for the sake of it, but I also expect I'll be making the good ones consistently.  

Bonus double smash burger pic after the break!

Bake & Kate

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my baguette, including my wife who has been very encouraging.  We had some more last night and yes, it is pretty good if I say so myself.  But there's always room for improvement.  I've made baguette once now so will know better how to do things the second time around.  And I've ordered an 8 inch cast iron pan for the purpose of adding boiling water when I cook baguette again or other breads that call for it.  Just the latest baking purchase, aside from more expensive flour, different yeast and other ingredients, I've gotten new liquid measuring cups, dough scrapers, a bun pan and now the cast iron pan.  I'll have to bake more just to get back what I've spent so far!  Not sure if I'll bake anything this weekend, but we are out of buns so that is planned to be next.

I have no plans for this to turn into a baking blog, but I write about what I enjoy so you can expect more.  At least until I get tired of it, but I don't see that happening soon.  Everything in moderation.

My lovely wife Kate is 29 again today, though she hates having a birthday in January.  I can see why, we got 1.7 inches of snow early today for our first snow in 27 days.  Just her luck, I guess.  We went out and celebrated with friends last weekend, and she opened her present a couple days ago, so just a quiet night in tonight with her birthday wine.  Happy birthday, Kate. 🧡

I guess I thought I had more to say, but we have no real limits around here.  Cheers!

Making Baguette

The process went well, I thought, but I had too much flour on the board for the last part.  It called for 24-28 minutes of baking, and as called for I put 1.5 cups of boiling water in a pan beneath.  I safely set the timer for 20 minutes and when I checked them I was surprised at how dark they were, with the middle of the back one almost burnt, so I took them out.  They are done but actually not overdone, so I'm wondering if the steam is what darkened the crust, not sure.  They are all cool by now and two of them are already in the freezer, ready to eat even from frozen with a few minutes in the oven.  The larger, darkest one was left out to sample and make something with later.  The texture is good though I'd like to see larger bubbles, and you can taste the sourdough especially in the crust.  Overall, a good first try, I think.  And I will be doing this again in the future.  Recipe here.

I don't have any pictures of actually making the bread until the last stages, but I can put those after the break.

January This-And-Thats

Okay, it's high time I finally break the 2023 seal here on the blog.  Busy, didn't feel like it, not much to say, pick what you want, all are true to some extent.  Winter hit us hard and early this season, so there is that, too.  What matters is I'm here, now, writing.  So let's see if I have anything to say, shall we?

• Covid sucked, and right before Christmas.  It was a really miserable time, but my wife reminded me of how bad it could be and actually was for me the first time around back in 2020.  I seemed to have forgotten, or blocked it out.  So while very bad this time, yes, that was very much worse and serious.  I could breathe this time whereas last time just breathing was laborious for quite some time.  Yes, don't wish that upon anyone.  (This one, however...  ;))
• 
  I had last tested positive the Wednesday before Christmas, and had already decided it was just too close in time to see my Mom on Saturday.  Instead, I went down to see her after work on the following Tuesday to watch the late-starting Badger bowl game.  We enjoyed some barbecue takeout and enjoyed watching the game and other videos while talking until almost 2 in the morning.  I got a little tipsy but had a great time, and I think she did, too.  Better than Christmas any day.
• New Years Eve, as I mentioned last post, was spent getting all cleaned and dressed up for a fancy dinner out with friends.  It was a good time, then a quiet night in after that.  My wife's birthday is coming up fast, so we'll be doing something for her soon.
• Since this last bout of Covid I've gotten out of the habit of jumping on the treadmill after work every day.  I was doing 15 minutes or more at 3 mph at the time, now I've been on it just a couple times in the last week for about 10 minutes each time, I think for two reasons.  One, my knees haven't been the best lately, been pretty sore, especially since I was on my feet much more than normal one day recently and I do need to upgrade my leg pillow for sleeping.  And two, I have to start over with the balance issues I've had with walking on the treadmill.  Even though it got better the more I used it, it's never gone away.  I think I've said before, like slipping on a rug on ice!
• 
  I have a bunch of albums that I haven't even looked at in a long time, let alone played.  I keep saving leads on where I could sell them but I never follow up on it.  Is it laziness or not wanting to let go?
• I've been interested in making homemade bread for a while now, and I've finally started.  First with simple, no-knead recipes and working on getting to make what I want confidently.  I thought I took pictures of the earlier ones, but I only have pictures of my last two breads here.  They both tasted good, but my technique still needs improvement.  We have a stand mixer to help with the recipes that are needing kneading (I couldn't resist!).  I've also ordered a bun pan so I will make buns for when we make my 'famous' homemade smashburgers, but this weekend I will attempt to make baguette.  

I hope the new year is treating everyone well.  Overall, it's just a continuation of the same thing, isn't it?  But that's not a good attitude, they tell me.  Have I become more cynical with age?  I guess it's almost impossible not to.  Oh well, have a great week, everyone.