Bread making

[La Malice]

No bread this week, still trying to loose some weight. But a quick fry bread using just the starter.

That was quick and dirty .. but tasty a bit of butter to make it glisten and that was an easy snack.

 

[Chef455]

No bread this week, still trying to loose some weight. But a quick fry bread using just the starter.

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That was quick and dirty .. but tasty a bit of butter to make it glisten and that was an easy snack.

Hey. I could probably do that. Looks amazing!

 

[Frito Ray]

No bread this week, still trying to loose some weight. But a quick fry bread using just the starter.

weight loss ≠ buttered fried bread

But I get the temptation!

 

[La Malice]

weight loss ≠ buttered fried bread

But I get the temptation!

Well you know as we say in France, this is not the bread that make you fat it is what you put on it.

Also I am from Normandie, Blood don't run through my veins. Butter does. Gotta find a way to replace it somehow.

After loosing 30 lbs in the last year, I'll keep eating my stick of butter , I generally take me 2 to 3 weeks to finish it.

;-)

 

[Gauthier]

No bread this week, still trying to loose some weight. But a quick fry bread using just the starter.

That looks like what Americans call "French toast" and Germans call "Armer Ritter." What do you call it? It at all events looks delicious.

Cheers,

Gauthier

 

[AndyPanda]

I used to bake bread regularly but had some health issues and as an experiment I cut bread out of my diet a few years ago. I got to missing it and decided to get a sourdough starter going. I grind wheat into flour and sift off the coarsest of the bran so it's somewhere between white flour and whole wheat flour - still really hearty but a much nicer texture IMO. I always admire the pictures of you bakers with your free standing loaves - but I like to toast my slices and make sandwiches so I do my sourdough in a bread pan - I spray it with water and put a second bread pan upside down on top for the first 30 minutes so it steams a bit. Turned out really delicious!

 

[Old Hippie]

I grind wheat into flour and sift off the coarsest of the bran so it's somewhere between white flour and whole wheat flour - still really hearty but a much nicer texture IMO.

What's that? "Clear" flour? I can't remember. I've also heard it called "Type 85" because 15 per cent is removed as bran.

When I mill whole wheat I mill it twice. This makes it about the texture as pastry flour (but with more gluten). It also knocks down the bran pieces a lot, so they're less likely to cut up the gluten in the rise.

I always admire the pictures of you bakers with your free standing loaves - but I like to toast my slices and make sandwiches so I do my sourdough in a bread pan - I spray it with water and put a second bread pan upside down on top for the first 30 minutes so it steams a bit.

Looking at those "birds-eyes" on the crust I infer that you used a cold retard? Steam really helps! Keeps the dough moist while the yeast is giving up its last effort in the bake, which builds a nice oven spring.

I put a stainless bowl over my hearth loaves. My sourdough buttermilk oatmeal loaf went all Incredible Hulk and blew up to fill the bowl and then lift it off the pan. Then it grew even more after the steam phase was over and I took the bowl off...

Turned out really delicious!

Going from "Wheat to Eat" is the name of the game! Well done!

O.H.

 

[AndyPanda]

Looking at those "birds-eyes" on the crust I infer that you used a cold retard? Steam really helps! Keeps the dough moist while the yeast is giving up its last effort in the bake, which builds a nice oven spring.

Good call. The bread I start this morning (I feed the starter in the morning) will get shaped this evening and baked tomorrow just in time for lunch. My fridge is too cold - at least it is for this starter and I don't have the patience for longer retard. This time of year, my kitchen is about 55-60F overnight and that works perfectly - in the summer I let it rise overnight in a small cooler with just a few ice cubes

 

[DesertIguana]

I WAS THINK AS "BREAD" was slag for money, I spend a lot of long weeks making Bread.

 

[ChiefHA]

First time trying ciabatta this weekend, pleased with the results, cranked out some homemade butter as well.....

 

[Old Hippie]

cranked out some homemade butter as well.....

Good job! Butter's fun. Plus you get buttermilk for drinking, pancakes/waffles/aebelskiver, and buttermilk oatmeal bread.

Cultured or sweet?

O.H.

 

[ChiefHA]

Good job! Butter's fun. Plus you get buttermilk for drinking, pancakes/waffles/aebelskiver, and buttermilk oatmeal bread.

Cultured or sweet?

O.H.

Sweet, I used pasteurized cream so basically got skim milk out of the deal, but the butter is excellent.

 

[Old Hippie]

Sweet, I used pasteurized cream so basically got skim milk out of the deal, but the butter is excellent.

Mrs. Hippie makes both yogurt and skyr. We drain both of them to thicken them up a little; the skyr we drain until it's about the consistency of soft cream cheese. We save the whey drained off -- I use it as liquid in bread making. (Also quite a refreshing drink on a hot day, to have a glass of chilled whey.) When I make butter I put a quart of 38% cream into a jar and stir in a tablespoon of either yogurt or skyr. I've noticed yogurt gives me less butter yield but richer buttermilk, while the skyr gives me more butter and less rich buttermilk.

I generally let it sit on the counter for a couple of days because I like well-cultured butter, though once the days warm up I can often get to the point of churning it in one day. I realize I make butter about once a week -- it kinda vanishes into the routine and just happens when it needs to.

O.H.

 

[Frito Ray]

…When I make butter I put a quart of 38% cream into a jar and stir in a tablespoon of either yogurt or skyr…

…I generally let it sit on the counter for a couple of days because I like well-cultured butter…

Ooo, that sounds interesting.

Can one use common commercial yogurt?

How does “well-cultured” butter taste compared to standard butter?

Can it be accomplished with a stand mixer?

 

[Old Hippie]

Ooo, that sounds interesting.

It is. Especially when you see New Zealand cultured butter on sale for $25/lb.

Can one use common commercial yogurt?

As long as it has live culture in it. Some are pasteurized. Also, you'd want plain yogurt with no sweeteners. Vanilla is not plain!

How does “well-cultured” butter taste compared to standard butter?

It has a depth of flavour coming from the lactobacillus fermentation. Some people like sweet cream butter, others like a little culture, some of us like to push the boundaries. To me, cultured butter tastes more like what I had as a kid. Sweet cream butter, to me, is kinda like store white bread. Edible, but only one of several options.

Can it be accomplished with a stand mixer?

You betcha. I use a commercial KitchenAid. The paddle attachment makes a really great dasher. I know a woman who makes her butter in a Vitamix, and I've seen people who do it in a food processor. Don't need the speed, though. The KitchenAid turning on about "4" works well. As the cream gets "rocky" and starts to break I turn it down, then finish working and draining the butter with a spatula. Then I work in 1/4 tsp of salt, pack it into a butter mould and put it in the fridge to cool down (from room temperature). Later in the day I'll chuck it into the freezer, tagged by date.

O.H.

 

[Frito Ray]

The KitchenAid turning on about "4" works well.

Thank you so much, must give this a try.

 

[Doc Dan]

Now you guys have me wanting to make some butter. I should be able to use full fat whipping cream, shouldn't I? I use that to make biscuits and it works with no oil.

 

[Old Hippie]

Now you guys have me wanting to make some butter. I should be able to use full fat whipping cream, shouldn't I? I use that to make biscuits and it works with no oil.

Here in our little corner of British Columbia, we have several dairies producing cream. They tend to market it in two grades, which may be unofficial "grades." One is "Table Cream" which has more milkfat than half-and-half but not as much as "Whipping Cream." Table cream is also a bit cheaper. Whipping creams go from about 34 per cent to 38 per cent milkfat. The 38 per cent stuff is what I normally use, though if I can't find it when I want it there's another dairy's product that runs 35 per cent.

I'm aware there are creams with more milkfat than that, but they're not options I can get here. I'm also not sure I'd spend all that much time with them, as part of my reason for making butter is to get buttermilk. If I think in non-metric values I can say that a quart of 38 per cent milkfat cream, once cultured, will usually churn out to a bit more than a pint of buttermilk and about 3/4 pound of butter, for an up-front cost of $9.95. Isn't saving me a tonne of money but some, plus I get two things out of it that I use a lot.

And yeah, 38 per cent cream makes wonderful cream scones.

O.H.

 

[ChiefHA]

Now you guys have me wanting to make some butter. I should be able to use full fat whipping cream, shouldn't I? I use that to make biscuits and it works with no oil.

Yes I just used pasteurized heavy whipping cream from the dairy section and the butter is very good

 

[Old Hippie]

Yes I just used pasteurized heavy whipping cream from the dairy section and the butter is very good

I should also say: avoid "ultra-pasteurized" cream. The difference is it's heated to a higher temperature, which affects the taste. What good is a 30-day stable product that tastes like crud? Got me. I don't buy it. Also it doesn't culture well and often isn't good for whipping.

O.H.