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6K views 132 replies 19 participants last post by  ollyoxenfree 
#1 ·
Okay, I only aspire to bake daily, but anyway! For those of us that bake bread at home, I thought we could share what we're doing (and recipes!) here. You can never have to many threads about good eating, right? :)

Today I'm working on a bacon pain d'epi. Pain d'epi is our favorite basic loaf, and when I came across this recipe that added bacon I was ecstatic! I wish I had some of my home made bacon to put in it, but I'm doing it today with store bought since I haven't smoked a pork belly in awhile (another thing I need to start doing again). It makes six small loaves, so I think I'm going to do three of them with bacon and three plain, just so I can see how I like it. And I'm already thinking of ways to further customize it - maybe next time I'll add sun dried tomatoes and olives and herbs - I'm thinking that would be an excellent breakfast loaf to serve with an omelette.

Anyone else doing some interesting bread?
 
#3 ·
I keep seeing people mention that book all over the place. I may need to see if the library has it. Though I am pretty partial to the River Cottage Bread Handbook myself. Which recipes have you made from the Healthy Bread book that you like?

I'm doing another pain d'epi today. The last one I made turned out so well - literally the best bread I've ever made. I'm only splitting the dough into two loaves today though, instead of six small ones. And I think I'm going to do the sun dried tomatoes and olives with the bacon in one, and leave the other plain.
 
#4 ·
Well, probably not too interesting, but yesterday I made a basic French loaf with white flour for the first time in ages. I usually make whole wheat bread, but DD likes white, so I decided to treat her.

Now today's loaf is a basic whole wheat because we're running out. I've been wanting to make the challah that zinemama mentioned in the other thread, so I think I will try that next.

The pain d'epi looks good, thanks for the link.
 
#5 ·
We use the 5 Minute Artisan method, too.

Not making anything too special, but went on a dough mixing blitz Friday and froze 3 loaves sammich bread, 2 of Boule which will probably be baked as pita or pizza crust, maybe rolls, have 2 boule in the fridge for the week, baked 1 loaf sammich bread, mixed pie crust, tortilla dough, and oatmeal cookies-- double batches of everything!

I am finding big batch mixing and storing to be most efficient for providing all our bread in house. Also been "soaking" everything, or letting it sit mixed at least overnight and getting good results from that.

Time to re-up the flour supply!
 
#6 ·
I finally remembered to buy more bread flour, but I didn't get to do any baking today since we went to the farmers market in the morning and I had my book club in the afternoon. I need to start freezing dough too - it would be great to just pull some out of the freezer for fresh bread.

Tomorrow I'm going to do more pain d'epi. I'm still playing with portioning the dough for that recipe. I didn't like just the two loaves I did from it, and six loaves makes them a bit too small, so I think I'm going to portion into four this time and see how I like that. Hopefully it will be the perfect balance. And I'm probably going to do them all with bacon. If I have the time, I'd like to do some focaccia too, though I'm also doing dozens of cookies tomorrow as well. The oven is going to be on overdrive!
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcoreen View Post

I. Love pizza buns! Just roll out French bread dough, spread with your fab sauce, sprinkle with cheese. I add dried chorizo ( my new fab pizza meat) too. Roll , cut & let rise like you would with cinnamon. Buns
I have to try this - it sounds good! So glad I started this thread. :)

I finally got the store and got more yeast, so hopefully tomorrow I'll get some bread going!
 
#12 ·
I am stubborn about baking only 100% whole wheat, but I have yet to perfect it. Never light enough for our tastes. I have used ascorbic acid, and I think that helps a little. Also adding liquid whey seems to help too. Maybe I will try the mashed potatoes and see what that does. I have made 100% WW pita that is outstanding using a poolish. And my 100% WW pizza dough seems pretty good. The sandwich bread needs some help though. I *know* the perfect loaf exists, I just have to keep trying!
 
#13 ·
Ugh. For the first time this fall, I've run into my biggest challenge - finding a warm place to let it rise. We keep the house on the cool side (about 65 F), so there really aren't any warm spots anywhere. I usually use the oven for rising dough, but today I have beans baking - and they take a long time to cook. Earlier, I set the dough in a heavy Dutch oven at the back of the stovetop and hoped for the best. But after the letting the first rise last for over 2 hours, it was just a sad, sticky mess. I've just deflated it and left it for a second rise. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I suppose it's my own fault for not getting up early and baking the bread BEFORE I needed the oven for the beans. Sigh.
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree View Post

Ugh. For the first time this fall, I've run into my biggest challenge - finding a warm place to let it rise. We keep the house on the cool side (about 65 F), so there really aren't any warm spots anywhere. I usually use the oven for rising dough, but today I have beans baking - and they take a long time to cook. Earlier, I set the dough in a heavy Dutch oven at the back of the stovetop and hoped for the best. But after the letting the first rise last for over 2 hours, it was just a sad, sticky mess. I've just deflated it and left it for a second rise. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I suppose it's my own fault for not getting up early and baking the bread BEFORE I needed the oven for the beans. Sigh.
What about on top of the fridge? Though nowadays most are built-ins and that doesn't work for most people. Strange that built-in fridges are a basically a relic of our childhoods now.
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by OliveJewel View Post

I am stubborn about baking only 100% whole wheat, but I have yet to perfect it. Never light enough for our tastes. I have used ascorbic acid, and I think that helps a little. Also adding liquid whey seems to help too. Maybe I will try the mashed potatoes and see what that does. I have made 100% WW pita that is outstanding using a poolish. And my 100% WW pizza dough seems pretty good. The sandwich bread needs some help though. I *know* the perfect loaf exists, I just have to keep trying!
I remember reading this somewhere, although I've never tried it... with WW flour, you need a considerably longer kneading time to develop the gluten and a longer rising time, since the dough is heavier. Also, using WW flour, you don't want to keep adding flour until it's not sticky like you would with white, you want the dough to be sticky, or else it has too much flour in it. Which means kneading it in a bowl, with wet or greased hands, a wooden spoon or a bowl scraper. Supposedly it is possible to get a lighter loaf with just WW, but those were the authors big tricks to doing so. HTH

I'm wondering what recipes you ladies have luck freezing dough with. I would love to do some of that for my pp period. I haven't made bread in ages, but I grew up baking it weekly with my mom. My big problem is that I suck at remembering to defrost.

As for rising in a cooler house, it can be done, you can even let it rise in the fridge, which is WAY colder than you keep your house. It just takes a LOT longer. Some other good spots are on a tv tray over a heater vent, on top of the television or computer (screen if you have an old fashioned one, CPU if not - us Mac people are out of luck with this one). I know both my cable box and the XBOX get pretty darn warm, so a cooling rack placed on top of them (to allow air circulation), with the bowl on that could also work. Also, I'd go with a non-plastic bowl if using any of these, since you want the heat conducted. If you have a lamp with an incandescent bulb, get it near that. Or I stick mine in the dehydrator. I never have luck using the oven for it.
 
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#16 ·
Well, it turned out okay. Not the best loaf, but not a failure. It was a little dense but it did rise on the second and final risings and during baking so it wasn't a brick. DH actually prefers a denser bread, so he thought it was good.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've tried many of them.

On top of the fridge - I think our kitchen is too drafty. Everyone uses the kitchen door to enter/exit the house because it leads right onto the driveway. I've never had much success with this spot.

Heating vents - I used this before we got a dog, but he loves bread dough and sneaks his way to the bowl if I leave it on a vent. If I close off the room, he'll paw and scratch at the door. I learned the hard way. I had to throw out a big bowl of licked and slobbered dough, and was grateful that he didn't actually eat any and need a trip to the vet. I imagine that rising dough creates a bad GI obstruction.

Yep, I use a Mac laptop. Our t.v. is a flat screen and the components are tucked into a shelving unit. All good ideas though, thanks again.
 
#17 ·
When we lived in a cold, drafty house I would turn on the oven for just a few minutes of the preheat cycle and then turn it off again when it was about 100 degrees F. Then I would pop the bowl of covered dough in the oven to let it rise. The oven was only on for a couple of minutes and so didn't use a ton of electricity and it made the dough rise perfectly.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shantimama View Post

When we lived in a cold, drafty house I would turn on the oven for just a few minutes of the preheat cycle and then turn it off again when it was about 100 degrees F. Then I would pop the bowl of covered dough in the oven to let it rise. The oven was only on for a couple of minutes and so didn't use a ton of electricity and it made the dough rise perfectly.
Yes, the oven is definitely the best spot in this house. Sometimes I just wish we had two ovens, since it's a challenge if I want fresh bread AND anything else baked or roasted. I had hoped that the back of the stovetop would be warm enough while the beans were baking, but the drafts must have been too much even for the heavy dutch oven.

I made zinemama's challah today and it turned out yummy. I posted in her thread about it, with a note about the recipe, if anyone is interested.
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree View Post

Well, it turned out okay. Not the best loaf, but not a failure. It was a little dense but it did rise on the second and final risings and during baking so it wasn't a brick. DH actually prefers a denser bread, so he thought it was good.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've tried many of them.

On top of the fridge - I think our kitchen is too drafty. Everyone uses the kitchen door to enter/exit the house because it leads right onto the driveway. I've never had much success with this spot.

Heating vents - I used this before we got a dog, but he loves bread dough and sneaks his way to the bowl if I leave it on a vent. If I close off the room, he'll paw and scratch at the door. I learned the hard way. I had to throw out a big bowl of licked and slobbered dough, and was grateful that he didn't actually eat any and need a trip to the vet. I imagine that rising dough creates a bad GI obstruction.

Yep, I use a Mac laptop. Our t.v. is a flat screen and the components are tucked into a shelving unit. All good ideas though, thanks again.
Have you tried rising in an oiled bowl covered with a kitchen towel on top of the stove while your oven is running for other things? I'm rising a loaf of half rye just now while chocolate chip cookies bake, and it's rising in record time. I also use a heated bowl to rise in - just rinse it with the hottest water you can stand to warm it, then wipe the water out well.

I hope my half rye turns out. I love the pain d'epi recipe so much I want to make it my house bread, so I've decided to try using it in all the kinds of bread we like. I've substituted half of the bread flour with dark rye. I'm thinking I'll just shape it into four basic batons. It's on the first rise now, and I'll let it go another rise, and maybe a third if I've got the time. I really want to develop the gluten and flavor. I wanted to do five rises on it (since rye is so dense) but I didn't make the time to get it going this morning. Oh well, I'll let everyone know how it turns out.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by kitchensqueen View Post

Have you tried rising in an oiled bowl covered with a kitchen towel on top of the stove while your oven is running for other things? I'm rising a loaf of half rye just now while chocolate chip cookies bake, and it's rising in record time. I also use a heated bowl to rise in - just rinse it with the hottest water you can stand to warm it, then wipe the water out well.

I hope my half rye turns out. I love the pain d'epi recipe so much I want to make it my house bread, so I've decided to try using it in all the kinds of bread we like. I've substituted half of the bread flour with dark rye. I'm thinking I'll just shape it into four basic batons. It's on the first rise now, and I'll let it go another rise, and maybe a third if I've got the time. I really want to develop the gluten and flavor. I wanted to do five rises on it (since rye is so dense) but I didn't make the time to get it going this morning. Oh well, I'll let everyone know how it turns out.
The loaf that I was worried about when I posted was set to rise on the back of the stovetop, in a heavy Dutch oven. I think I was upset because I really hoped that spot would work - it seemed warm enough. I warmed up the Dutch oven too. I think it's the same problem as the top of the refrigerator - it's drafty, so the temperature is inconsistent. It's a small kitchen and the stove is only a few feet from the door outside to the driveway. It's in a direct line of fire for the initial blast of cold whenever the door is opened.

I'm debating whether to buy an electric blanket, but I'd prefer a more energy-efficient, greener solution. After all, one of the causal factors for this situation is our decision to keep the thermostat low.

We've only lived in this house a couple of years, so it's only been a couple of winters that I've had to deal with this challenge. I'll mostly just avoid the problem by baking bread earlier in the day. Or maybe I'll finally give the no-knead bread a try, I've had the recipe for ages.

I hope the rye bread worked out, it sounds delicious. My kids aren't fond of rye, so I don't use it, but I like it. Their idea of a treat is a nice loaf of plain white bread, because they get it so rarely, lol!
 
#22 ·
How about some of the tricks for keeping fermenting yogurt warm? If you have an ice chest big enough to hold your bowl (or can improvise something other than a bowl), a few jars of boiling water set in the bottom of the ice chest around the bowl, close the lid and walk away. A heating pad under the bowl, wrapping the whole thing in a towel. Or if you have a microwave, a rice heating pad heated in the microwave a few minutes set under the bowl and wrapped in a towel uses less electricity. I spent years trying to figure these things out for this freezing house, since we only had central heat installed last spring, after 12 years in the house. Winter was always interesting.

Don't suppose you have a fireplace?
 
#23 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by cristeen View Post

How about some of the tricks for keeping fermenting yogurt warm? If you have an ice chest big enough to hold your bowl (or can improvise something other than a bowl), a few jars of boiling water set in the bottom of the ice chest around the bowl, close the lid and walk away. A heating pad under the bowl, wrapping the whole thing in a towel. Or if you have a microwave, a rice heating pad heated in the microwave a few minutes set under the bowl and wrapped in a towel uses less electricity. I spent years trying to figure these things out for this freezing house, since we only had central heat installed last spring, after 12 years in the house. Winter was always interesting.

Don't suppose you have a fireplace?
Funny, my last couple of batches of yoghurt turned out badly too...... In the summer, I just let it sit, wrapped in heavy towels, on the counter overnight. At least I can move my yoghurt-making into the oven overnight without any competing demands for the space.

The ice chest is a good idea. I have a Coleman cooler, although right now it holds the overflow of pantry goods - different sacs of flour and cornmeal and oats etc. I can empty it out and try to find a different place for them. Again, it's the curse of the tiny kitchen
orngtongue.gif
.

We do have a fireplace, but we don't use it because it doesn't have a screen and we don't have the "utensils". When we moved in, I thought we'd be here for one winter, so we didn't bother buying all that stuff. Now that we are likely to be here for another one, I think I can justify getting them, right? I love sitting in front of a good fire during the winter. (Must remember to check the chimney first!)

Thanks for all of the suggestions!
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree View Post

The loaf that I was worried about when I posted was set to rise on the back of the stovetop, in a heavy Dutch oven. I think I was upset because I really hoped that spot would work - it seemed warm enough. I warmed up the Dutch oven too. I think it's the same problem as the top of the refrigerator - it's drafty, so the temperature is inconsistent. It's a small kitchen and the stove is only a few feet from the door outside to the driveway. It's in a direct line of fire for the initial blast of cold whenever the door is opened.

I'm debating whether to buy an electric blanket, but I'd prefer a more energy-efficient, greener solution. After all, one of the causal factors for this situation is our decision to keep the thermostat low.

We've only lived in this house a couple of years, so it's only been a couple of winters that I've had to deal with this challenge. I'll mostly just avoid the problem by baking bread earlier in the day. Or maybe I'll finally give the no-knead bread a try, I've had the recipe for ages.

I hope the rye bread worked out, it sounds delicious. My kids aren't fond of rye, so I don't use it, but I like it. Their idea of a treat is a nice loaf of plain white bread, because they get it so rarely, lol!
Meh, that sucks. Instead of buying an electric blanket, do you have a heating pad? Or maybe just use some warm towels straight from the dryer?

The rye was amazing. I'm just loving this base recipe I'm using now. I feel like I can do anything with it. It didn't turn out overwhelmingly of rye since I cut it with half white flour so it would get a good rise. It was soft and amazing - I think it'll be great for sandwiches. I just love ham and spicy mustard on rye bread. The only thing I'll add to it next time will be some caraway - it needed a little kick, and I think caraway is just the ticket.

Today I've got to do the pumpkin crescent dinner rolls. I never did a trial run on them, so hopefully they turn out well since that's the dinner roll I plan on serving tomorrow for Thanksgiving. If not, I suppose I could do my stand by bread and just shape into rolls. I've got pies going currently - did a chocolate icebox and just pulled pumpkin out of the oven. After lunch I've got to put a shoofly in, then the oven will be free for the rolls.
 
#25 ·
I use this recipe. It is a simple recipe that takes almost no time from our days. We can make bread daily, or every other day, or several times a day. Four ingredients and no kneading: it's perfect for a family as busy as we are.

Oh, and because it sits for days, it has a mild sourdough flavor and never has trouble raising (a problem we have here, as well).
 
#26 ·
I decided to try a new recipe for a holiday bread each week leading up to Christmas. This week it was Finnish Pulla.

I wasn't entirely happy with the results, although the cardamom flavour was awesome. I would be happy to post the recipe (which I clipped from a magazine many years ago, but never tried) if anyone wants it. I'm hoping someone has a "tried and true" version that they'd be willing to share instead. I'm pretty sure I know what to tweak in the recipe I have, but I'd rather spend my time on something more reliable. Thanks!!

Next, if I can find dried pears, I'm going to make Swiss Birnbrot.
 
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