Bread

Dutch Brown Bread - BruinbroodSubmitted by sunhana on May 19, 2013 - 8:41pm. I've never eaten dutch brown bread but my colleague ate it back in holland, adores it. I've came up with a recipe that uses 100% wholemeal flour, molasses syrup, instant yeast, gluten flour, salt and olive oil. Used prefermented dough method and the end result is soft, fluffy bread. the texture is okay but the color of the bread is not as dark as what my friend described. can anyone share their dutch brown bread recipe with me? or any pointers to get dark brown colored bread? I added a lot of molasses syrup but it just doesn't darken it that much.My friend said it's not rye (i tried added rye but she said brown bread has no sour taste). Please help...thanks.

If you were a sweetner...you'd be....Submitted by CJRoman on May 19, 2013 - 8:38pm. I'm missing a malty flavor in my bread.I've been using brown sugar, which is fine for the dough...but, I'm not sure about flavor.I used non-diastatic malt in last weekend's bake and I couldn't really taste a malt flavor.Its been suggested that I try barley malt syrup or molasses...but I'm concerned about cost.If you were picking a sweenter to really enhance the maltiness of your bread...which would you choose?

Hobart mixer repairsSubmitted by jhandy on May 19, 2013 - 7:43pm. I'm a college student who helped a friend clean out an old trailer. In it I found a (what i now know as) a Hobart a200 1/3 hp bread mixer from 1949. It probably needs to be serviced and have some light repair work, mostly the grease needs changed and the oil seems to be leaking a bit. Can an individual consumer have these sorts of repairs done? Can i do them myself? Any idea how much it is realistically worth?I thoroughly enjoy cooking and can't wait to use it!

Will my starter be OK in the fridge?Submitted by agrossbl on May 19, 2013 - 6:14pm. Hi!So I have heard that it takes about 30 days for a starter to be "mature." I am going to be going out of town next weekend, and it will have been 3 weeks since I started. It seems to be healthy- bubbles nicely, about doubles in size after 8 or a few more hours. Do you think it will survive in the fridge for about 3 days without feeding? Also, I have only been feeding it WW flour. Do you think it would be ok to start feeding it all purpose? Thanks in advance!

pain a' l'ancienneSubmitted by pattyspride12 on May 19, 2013 - 4:07pm. I've just baked 4 loaves of pain a' l'ancienne for the second time. The loaves were very tasty, with a beautiful crust. However, the loaves don't have the crumb with the big holes. I think I may be degassing them too much in preparation, but the loaves are tough to handle being so wet and pliable. Does anybody know what I may be doing wrong? Thanks for reading.

Tears (not mine)Submitted by baragouiner on May 19, 2013 - 2:37pm. Most of my loaves get a small tear near the base. The tops look good, I've gotten better at scoring, and the bread tastes great but the tears are really annoying. Any ideas what's causing them? Underproved? Poor shaping?

Yesterday at spin class, when I climbed down off my bike after an especially gruelling 55 minute class, I noticed a few drops of water under my bike. I checked to see if my water bottle was leaking, but no, the lid was screwed on tight. Suddenly it dawned on me that the liquid on [...]

Is it the water?Submitted by TheMadWookie on May 19, 2013 - 11:14am. I have had, for several years now, a white flour based starter. Over the last year or so, the sour has dropped to practically nothing. I have recently changed my feedings from 100% white to 20% rye , 80% white. Just to be clear, my percentages are based on weight and the hydration is 100%, thats is equal flour and water by weight. The white flour is a high protein unbleached flour. The rye is an organic rye from a local grocery's bulk foods section.With the 100% white feedings the starter would double within about 4 hours and my bread rose just beautifully, but they had loss the sour I had. With the change to adding rye flour, my starter rise has slacked a bit to about 8 hours or so and the bread doesn't rise like it used to. I'm less concerned about this for the moment because of what I am about to ask next.Here's the real question. The starter seems to be coming back on the sour note, but it's not what I would have expected at this point. When I feed my starter I use tap water filtered thru a Brita filter, however my concern is the chlorine level in the tap water. Is it possible that the Brita filter is not removing enough of the chlorine and the remaining chlorine is killing off the bacteria that produces the sour flavor? Should I be letting the water stand a day or so before using it with my feeding flour?I do have another question and it's not related to water, opaque or transparent? The container I amusing to keep my starter in is a clear glass bowl. Can sunlght be affecting the bacteria? Could it be either stifling their growth or, worse, killing it off?Thanks,Chuck

Hippie Bread with a German AccentSubmitted by Halfpenny on May 19, 2013 - 10:56am. Five Wheat, Two Oat, and a BuckOr Hippie Bread with a German AccentYeast Water: 1.5 cups water @ 105 degrees + 1/8 tsp dry yeastSoaker (Poolish)1 cup whole wheat flour1/6 cup wheat bran1/6 cup wheat germ1/3 cup buckwheat flour4/10 cup cracked wheat1-2 tsp salt1 cup liquid sourdough starter¼ cup yeast water2/3 cup warm waterMixed together this should have a liquid nature somewhat like cake batter. Place in a covered container and allow to rest for 6-7 hours. When time is up it should be transformed into a gooey, bubbly froth.Sponge (Scrap Dough)3 cups white unbleached flour½ cup steel cut oats1/3 cup rolled oats1-2 tsp salt1 cup liquid sourdough starter½ cup yeast waterMixed together this should be a stiff dough. Knead for 10 minutes, place in a covered container and allow to rest for 6-7 hours with these exceptions: on 25 minute intervals stretch the dough thin as if you were shaping a pizza then fold it up and place back into the container. Do this 4 times from the beginning of the ferment, then allow to rest undisturbed the remainder of the time.Final DoughMake more yeast water (see above)3 cups white unbleached flour½ cup molasses½ cup honey2 tsp celery seed3 tsp poppy seed1/4 cup flax seedAll sponge dough (pinch this off in 1 inch chunks as you add it)All soaker dough1 cup liquid sourdough starter¼ cup of the Yeast Water but add it gradually to avoid over-saturation. Adjust as needed.Should be a fairly stiff but flexible dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Split dough in half and put each half in its own covered container. Let them rest for 25 minutes before stretching the same as was done with the sponge dough. Repeat this 3 or 4 times. Then let the two dough lumps rest for 7-9 hours. It is a good plan to coat these containers with olive oil so the dough comes out easily.After they have rested and hopefully risen, turn each dough out onto a floured surface and gently shape them. After shaping I like to place them on a sheet of parchment and seal them with plastic wrap to let them proof for 1.5 hour or so. While the loaves are proofing, preheat the oven to 450 F. After placing a loaf in the oven spray water from a bottle into the hot elements to create some high humidity in there. Reduce temp setting to 400 F immediately and bake for 20-25 minutes, turning the loaf 180 degrees halfway through the bake and hitting the oven with another water spray.

My Spring Time ProjectSubmitted by Postal Grunt on May 19, 2013 - 10:28am. Late last year, I posted about the availability of Green River Organic Whole Wheat flour at a KC, MO Costco. I thought organic, stoneground, and $8 for a 10 pound bag might be of interest to others who live in the KC area and have access to a Costco. PMcCool was the first to post that he had purchased a bag and enjoyed both working with the flour and consuming the results of his labors.After purchasing a bag of my own and reading Paul's posts, I got motivated to work with the flour myself. Paul noted that the flour is particularly thirsty so I decided to temporarily lose my apprehension about working with higher hydration doughs and just go for it. After all, being a raggedy home baker allows me the excuse of not having to be perfect in style, procedure, and execution. I can learn from flops or bricks and not have to worry about the costs.This turned out to be a pretty good loaf. Essentially, it's a 67% bread flour/33% Green River whole wheat at around 74-75% hydration. Since the room temperature was around 70F while I was working it up, the dough moved slowly, requiring about three and a half hours for the bulk fermentation and another four for the proofing. I think it could've used more time proofing.Anyways, it all turned out very well for the first time around with new flour. It was a moist crumb with just a slight bit of that whole wheat sharpness to the flavor. My starter isn't particularly zippy in flavor because its refrigerated until needed so we weren't overwhelmed with sour. It definitely was worth repeating as a formula but the next time was different and a good lesson inwatching the needs of the dough.When I started my mixer on Thursday, the room temperature was already 84F. The starter had leapt into a vigorous fermentation during the day. Bulk fermentation took about two and a half hours instead of four which was a good thing. It meant I could go to bed at 1200AM instead of 1-130AM. I always clean up after flinging flour in the kitchen.An overnight proofing in the fridge didn't hurt the loaf at all. I let it sit on the counter for an hour and a half while eating lunch and preheating the stone. The resultant loaf is better than the first attempt but by no means as polished as I'd like. The appearance isn't perfect but I'm still experiencing the Carnegie Hall Syndrome, practice, practice, practice.So now, the real work on this loaf begins. I feel like I ought to gather my notes, both written and mental, to organize into a coherent formula rather than just a sketch as exists now. Until I can present instructions that someone half way around the globe can utilize, this formula isn't complete. For the gluttons for punishment among us, I have posted some disjointed and trivial ramblings on my blog site about these two loaves. Prior substance abuse isn't required before reading.http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/