Couldn't wait the three days for maximum flavor so I attacked the sponge yesterday and finished off the process. The sponge had developed a wonderful caraway, yeasty aroma that engulfed me when I pulled the cling wrap of of my big ceramic bread bowl. I'm going to start some more right away as this one is a definite keeper forever thanks to Mr. Clayton.
To finish the dough, add 1 cup of hot water, 1/4c. molasses, 2 Tbl. spoons of caraway (you can also add only one at this point and then sprinkle the other on top after the egg was, but I threw them both in with my dough), 1 egg, 1 Tbl.spoon salt and 2 more cups of rye flour . Next add 2 cups of all purpose white flour. Stir about 100 strokes and add 3 Tbl.spoons of olive oil. Stir that in as well. Now stir in 2 more cups of white flour 1/2c. at a time and turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Set your timer for eight minutes and knead away! This is a tougher dough, so be patient with it and don't give up before the timer goes off! Add a little flour if necessary to control the stickiness but remember, error on the side of too little flour, not too much. Finally brush the tops with an egg wash mixed with a tad of milk for shiny tops or water for unglazed tops. Bake the loaves for 40 minutes. The loaves will be dark brown. Foil tent the tops if they are browning too fast. Enjoy! Tell me how your loaves turned out, mine are super tasty and I'm going to try and post my first picture soon!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Old man Rye.....
Breaking out of my shell and starting a rye bread recipe of Benard Clayton....Old Milwaukee Rye. Benard was a bread master and I would recommend his book, New complete Book of Breads, Soups & Stews. Actually you get 2 of his books in one. First half is all bread, 2nd half soups and stews. Anyway, I thought I would blog this bread as I make it and then try and post my first picture upon completion.
The sponge on this one needs to ferment for up to 3 days or as short as 6 hours. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of Rye flour, 2 1/4 tsp. dry yeast, 1 TBL. of caraway seeds and 2 cups of warm water. Blend well with a spoon, cover tightly with cling wrap and set aside for up to three days on counter. Stir batter once per day and recover. I started my sponge last night and am going to stir it tonight after work. Remember students, let the bread work, not you...TBC
The sponge on this one needs to ferment for up to 3 days or as short as 6 hours. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of Rye flour, 2 1/4 tsp. dry yeast, 1 TBL. of caraway seeds and 2 cups of warm water. Blend well with a spoon, cover tightly with cling wrap and set aside for up to three days on counter. Stir batter once per day and recover. I started my sponge last night and am going to stir it tonight after work. Remember students, let the bread work, not you...TBC
Monday, February 8, 2010
Fresh flour, the main show...
Short of grinding your own. I would recommend Great Harvest as a source for the freshest whole wheat flour in the TC area. As each location is under different ownership, the price varies from store to store. IE. Minnetonka charges .75 cents per pound whereas the Linden Hills location is almost double that price. Tonka = great deal, not so at Linden Hills location. None the less, they grind daily and the difference can be tasted in the final product.
If you are going with store bought, King Arthur brand is a solid choice. They take their flour very seriously and I have had great results with all their varieties. Dakota Maid brand is also a decent choice and cheaper than the KA brand. I roll through over 10#/week so my flour is never around for very long. I give away 50% of my product to friends and family. I have chosen to not grind my own just because Great Harvest is so convenient and I don't want to deal with the storage of grain etc. in my house.
Reports of new bread bakers are filtering in slowly from the followers of this blog. A snowy day like today is a perfect excuse to get some loaves started. Enjoy the storm...Minnesota and its four seasons are truly something to appreciate everyday.
Tom
If you are going with store bought, King Arthur brand is a solid choice. They take their flour very seriously and I have had great results with all their varieties. Dakota Maid brand is also a decent choice and cheaper than the KA brand. I roll through over 10#/week so my flour is never around for very long. I give away 50% of my product to friends and family. I have chosen to not grind my own just because Great Harvest is so convenient and I don't want to deal with the storage of grain etc. in my house.
Reports of new bread bakers are filtering in slowly from the followers of this blog. A snowy day like today is a perfect excuse to get some loaves started. Enjoy the storm...Minnesota and its four seasons are truly something to appreciate everyday.
Tom
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Divide, conquer & freeze.....
Good morning class. Just a quick answer to the so far unasked question..."Hey Tom, may I freeze my dough?"
A resounding yes! You may, with stunning results! I have experimented recently and found that right after the 8 minute kneading session. You can take a break and finish your bread project at a more convenient time. Just divide the dough in two equal blobs, roll each one in a piece of cling wrap and shove them into hibernation for awhile into your freezer. Don't worry, those little yeasties are tough little critters. You are just putting them to into a major slumber mode from which they can not really operate at all. Asleep, but not dead.
I like to bake early morning(two loaves going right now on final rise). Before you go to bed, just take a "brick" from the freezer and toss it on your counter. When you awake, your first question is going to be..."Who let the doughs out?"
Once rewarmed, those little yeast cells come back with a vengence and burst from their cryogenic state and bust free of their cling wrap envelope. Preheat oven, final shape the dough and bake on students. Great bread awaits! Simple easy, quick and cheap tasty artisan loaves at pennies on the dollar....TJW
A resounding yes! You may, with stunning results! I have experimented recently and found that right after the 8 minute kneading session. You can take a break and finish your bread project at a more convenient time. Just divide the dough in two equal blobs, roll each one in a piece of cling wrap and shove them into hibernation for awhile into your freezer. Don't worry, those little yeasties are tough little critters. You are just putting them to into a major slumber mode from which they can not really operate at all. Asleep, but not dead.
I like to bake early morning(two loaves going right now on final rise). Before you go to bed, just take a "brick" from the freezer and toss it on your counter. When you awake, your first question is going to be..."Who let the doughs out?"
Once rewarmed, those little yeast cells come back with a vengence and burst from their cryogenic state and bust free of their cling wrap envelope. Preheat oven, final shape the dough and bake on students. Great bread awaits! Simple easy, quick and cheap tasty artisan loaves at pennies on the dollar....TJW
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A super place to begin our journey....
This recipe is a total of 15 minutes active time…..
I find that baking bread from scratch is on of my favorite things to do. I'm also lousy at following exact instructions as I don't weigh or measure my flour as precisely as many bakers think one should….With that disclaimer, I'll tell you what do to make a couple of loaves of very tasty bread.
In a large mixing bowl, ( I prefer ceramic) combine 1 cup rye flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 cup of non-salted raw sunflower seeds) , 2 tsp. salt and 3 tsp. yeast (normal type) not the super fast ones that our now being sold. Mix it all up dry with a large spoon.
Next add three cups of hot water ( I just use hot tap water, hot but not scalding!), stir with dry ingredients, about 100 strokes. Should be a fairly loose consistency. Cover bowl with dry towel and set in warm spot of kitchen. Go do something else for 60-90 minutes while the sponge does its thing.
Keep in mind, let the dough do the work!
Next, stir in 1/2 cup of honey and 4Tbl. of olive oil.
Now, you are going to need about 3-4 more cups of flour to finish the dough…+ or - a little…
Start mixing in 1/2 cup at a time until your dough ball in the bowl makes it all moist. Continue this way until you have added two of the four cups. This last four cups can be whole wheat or white or 50/50 depending on how heavy you want the bread to end up being. No more RYE! Or you will end up with a brick. Dough should still be quite sticky but definitely should a solid blob being turned as you added the flour. Let this blob rest by itself 15 minutes…..Remember, dough is doing the work, not my bread class members. This bread making deal is to de-stress your life not add more....so roll with me here!
Upon returning to the bowl, turn out fairly moist blob onto counter with the last cup or two of flour ready to mix in as you start the kneading process. Now set but don't start your kitchen timer to eight minutes…Just before you attack the doughy mess, hit the start button. This keeps the baker honest as this is the "workout portion" of the bread making "process". Can't cheat when you are being timed. Can't give up early when you think it is good enough and you have two minute left! Kneading style is a very personal thing…I like to spin the blob about a quarter turn and then fold it over on itself as I proceed to add in flour to keep from sticking to counter. Your goal is to let the dough do the work. Remember you are the Alpha baker and in charge of its final form. My rule is a little too sticky is better than ending up with a dough bomb with too much flour, just keep dipping you kneading hand into the dry flour and let the dough know that it soon will transform into a beautiful elastic dough blob swan at the end of eight minutes! Add more than a cup if you need to keep the process from sticking too much to the work surface.
Wash out bowl, then coat sides with a little olive oil. Put kneaded blob back in warm spot for another hour or so covered by a towel.
Upon return, punch down the now inflated blob and roll back out onto counter. Divide blob into two equal halves. Preheat oven to 400F. Make sure your baking stone is preheating too! Place a small brownie pan on lowest shelf with about an inch of cold water in it. Lastly, shape your loaves by kneading into a either circular or elongated form. Now score the tops with a sharp knife...a "X" in round loaves or three slashes in elongated ones. Then place loaves on a lightly corn meal dusted pizza stone or other clay cookie sheet such as the ones from Pampered Chef….Put into oven and bake 40 minutes. At twenty minutes remaining, you can brush the tops with one egg white stirred with a touch of cold water if you like, but this is not necessary. Let me know how your loaves turn out. Let's see some pix too!
Don't look at the loaves or open the oven for 20 minutes. Not only is this bad bread Karma, the bread is attaining its oven "spring" and you just might distract it at precisely the wrong moment. Good Luck!
-Tom
I find that baking bread from scratch is on of my favorite things to do. I'm also lousy at following exact instructions as I don't weigh or measure my flour as precisely as many bakers think one should….With that disclaimer, I'll tell you what do to make a couple of loaves of very tasty bread.
In a large mixing bowl, ( I prefer ceramic) combine 1 cup rye flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 cup of non-salted raw sunflower seeds) , 2 tsp. salt and 3 tsp. yeast (normal type) not the super fast ones that our now being sold. Mix it all up dry with a large spoon.
Next add three cups of hot water ( I just use hot tap water, hot but not scalding!), stir with dry ingredients, about 100 strokes. Should be a fairly loose consistency. Cover bowl with dry towel and set in warm spot of kitchen. Go do something else for 60-90 minutes while the sponge does its thing.
Keep in mind, let the dough do the work!
Next, stir in 1/2 cup of honey and 4Tbl. of olive oil.
Now, you are going to need about 3-4 more cups of flour to finish the dough…+ or - a little…
Start mixing in 1/2 cup at a time until your dough ball in the bowl makes it all moist. Continue this way until you have added two of the four cups. This last four cups can be whole wheat or white or 50/50 depending on how heavy you want the bread to end up being. No more RYE! Or you will end up with a brick. Dough should still be quite sticky but definitely should a solid blob being turned as you added the flour. Let this blob rest by itself 15 minutes…..Remember, dough is doing the work, not my bread class members. This bread making deal is to de-stress your life not add more....so roll with me here!
Upon returning to the bowl, turn out fairly moist blob onto counter with the last cup or two of flour ready to mix in as you start the kneading process. Now set but don't start your kitchen timer to eight minutes…Just before you attack the doughy mess, hit the start button. This keeps the baker honest as this is the "workout portion" of the bread making "process". Can't cheat when you are being timed. Can't give up early when you think it is good enough and you have two minute left! Kneading style is a very personal thing…I like to spin the blob about a quarter turn and then fold it over on itself as I proceed to add in flour to keep from sticking to counter. Your goal is to let the dough do the work. Remember you are the Alpha baker and in charge of its final form. My rule is a little too sticky is better than ending up with a dough bomb with too much flour, just keep dipping you kneading hand into the dry flour and let the dough know that it soon will transform into a beautiful elastic dough blob swan at the end of eight minutes! Add more than a cup if you need to keep the process from sticking too much to the work surface.
Wash out bowl, then coat sides with a little olive oil. Put kneaded blob back in warm spot for another hour or so covered by a towel.
Upon return, punch down the now inflated blob and roll back out onto counter. Divide blob into two equal halves. Preheat oven to 400F. Make sure your baking stone is preheating too! Place a small brownie pan on lowest shelf with about an inch of cold water in it. Lastly, shape your loaves by kneading into a either circular or elongated form. Now score the tops with a sharp knife...a "X" in round loaves or three slashes in elongated ones. Then place loaves on a lightly corn meal dusted pizza stone or other clay cookie sheet such as the ones from Pampered Chef….Put into oven and bake 40 minutes. At twenty minutes remaining, you can brush the tops with one egg white stirred with a touch of cold water if you like, but this is not necessary. Let me know how your loaves turn out. Let's see some pix too!
Don't look at the loaves or open the oven for 20 minutes. Not only is this bad bread Karma, the bread is attaining its oven "spring" and you just might distract it at precisely the wrong moment. Good Luck!
-Tom
Welcome to my bread blog!
Hey everyone! Class is in session finally....Creating a blog was easy with a capital E. I think this is not only going to be informative but ton of fun and tasty to boot. I think the first course of business is just to jump right in and get to the kitchen and start making some bread......The old saying is "watch one, do one, teach one...." so I'm going to do my best to be a solid teacher and just start kneading the dough and see where it takes of of us. First recipe coming momentarily.....
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