Pullman Bread (for Leslie)

(recipe from "bread" by hamelman"...half recipe)




Ingredients: (450 g bread flour)

• 60% water - 270 grams
• 5% butter - 23 g
• 5% milk powder - 23 g
• 100% bread flour - 450 g
• 2.5% sugar - 12 g
• 2.5 % yeast - 12 g
• 1.8% kosher salt - 8g

Steps:

1. mix for 5 minutes in machine on "sweet", then leave overnight in fridge
2. take out 4 hours before remix with bread machine
3. mix fully on "sweet"
4. roll out into 2 big balls
5. put into pan and proof covered with another pan
   
6. when proofed til near top of bottom pan, tie up the pans and preheat oven 400 degrees
7. bake 40 minutes
8. done!

Grade: B-

- has a slight yeast flavor
- not much flavor
- gluten better so better texture but still not enough
- still slightly dry if not eaten asap
- looks better than it tasted
- covered was great idea...held its shape...perfect size
- crisp edges...very tasty when hot...

next time:
- better to let the bread fully rise once before put into fridge...(because no real rise in refrigerator, gluten not allowed to mature...similar to just fresh mix and baked bread)
- autolypse can be better idea so that we don't get yeasty taste and smell
- add more sugar and salt to the recipe

6/10 - The Best Dinner Rolls!

Brushed with Butter + Honey mixture after proofed...minutes before popping into the oven



Fresh out of the oven



Sweet caramelized tops


insides nice and moist and airy...outside gives a nice bite




Ingredients:

• warm water - 278 g (64%)
  
• butter - 22 g (5%)
  
• ap flour (sifted)* - 434 g (100%)
• milk powder - 22 g (5%)
• sugar - 35 g (8%)
• salt - 8 g - 1.8%
• yeast - 9 g (2%)

for butter honey (optional)

• melted butter - 2 tbsp
• honey - 1.5 tbsp

Steps:

1. pop butter into mixing bowl
2. pour hot / warm water on the butter and allow it to soften
3. sift flour + mix all other dry ingredients in order into the mixer
4. set bread machine to "sweet" bread dough...
5. walk away for 1 hr 35 min
6. take out dough from machine onto tabletop
7. cut dough into 16 equal pieces
   
8. roll into balls and place in a 4x4 shape in a stainless steel baking pan
9. proof for 45 minutes
10. preheat oven 375 degrees
11. melt butter and stir with honey in a small bowl
12. use a brush and liberally brush entire tops of the bread incuding the intersections between doughballs (this allows for entire top to brown when it expands in the oven)
13. place into the middle of the oven and set timer to 20 minutes
14. after 10 minutes, rotate tray 180 degrees
15. when timer goes off, turn down oven to 340 degrees (tops of bread should be golden brown now but edges still light
16. microwave honey butter mixture for 20 sec and brush entire bread tops again
17. place into oven and set timer for 10 minutes
18. take out of the oven and remove immediately from pan onto a wire rack to cool completely...
19. allow 30minute to cool, then dig in
    

* sifting flour allows for lighter bread...tried it before without sifting and much denser...i didn't beleive it myself
** used double fiber Eagle Mills All Natural All Purpose Unbleached Flour from costco

Result:

• The best damn dinner rolls in the world!
  
• love the texture...very similar to pain de mie texture which has more of a bite than boring old store bought dinner rolls...
• the honey tops are very nice and just to the point of caramelisation but not burnt and bitter...
• ate one after it was cooled and it was slightly dry...so maybe increase moisture next time
• love the color and shine of the rolls
  

mistake: i did not cool it on a rack but instead left it in the baking pan and bottom got lil soggy because of the honey mixture

Next time: try to bake at 350 degree oven for 30 minutes therefore don't need to turn down oven midway...maybe the tops won't be as browned though...slightly dry if i had to be superpicky, therefore try adding slightly more water to the mix

4/4 - 2 medium pizzas

ingredients:

dough

• 300 g - bread flour
• 192 g - water
• 6 g - salt
• 4.5 g - yeast
• 25 ea - black peppercorns
• optional (15g EVOO)

pizza sauce

• 1 can chopped tomato

pizza toppings

• olive oil
• 4 handfuls of cheese (mexican blend this time because no mozzarella at home)
• precooked chicken (pan seared) - 1 pc cut into medium dice

make pizza sauce:

1. strain tomatoes, save liquid
2. reduce liquid til syrupy (10 min)
3. pour tomato back into cooled tomato juice (liquid)
4. blend til smooth
5. add pinch of salt and pepper

make pizza:

1. knead with bread machine at dough setting for sweet breads (1:30)
2. cut dough into 2 pieces + round it out...wait 10-15 to rest dough
3. shape dough into pizza
4. top with tomato sauce, then cheese, then chicken breast
5. optional: brush olive oil on the edges of crust for better color
6. bake at 500 degree oven on pizza stone at floor of oven...8-10 minutes

A+...proportions for pizza dough is great...very crusty...would be better with the optional oil but not necessary...chicken breast was great...only thing was that cheese not stringy like mozzarella...but any cheese is tasty

TV: Master Chefs - La Brea Baker

• dough is very wet after mixed with food processor (just as wet as when i do 5min bread)
  
• it is placed onto a heavily floured surface
• for rustic, not need, just onto a floured parchment paper then tea towel over to rise, then bake
• for other bread, after put onto floured surface, knead it by throwing it around...not kneading to the core..more about stretching the outside...and throwing it down...she did it with 1 hand...starts off very wet and becomes less wet on outside
• to get coils on the bread exterior, can let rise in a straw basket lined with a towel
• for the slash, use a flat razor blade and slice very deep...3/4 to 1 inch deep and lift up a little with hand even
• 500 degree oven with ceramic tile on bottom rack and preheat
• before putting bread onto tile, spray sides and back of oven with a spritzer then close oven door to trap the steam
• place break from peel to tile
• then spray sides and back of oven several more times within next 10minutes
• when bread is nice and brown on top, can flip it over out and bake a few more minutes to brown bottom better (she did this with the rustic bread)
• with focaccia, its the same dough...when done rising, cut out with a circle mold and use hardy veg like arugala to line the edge by pushing into it....can place tomatoes, rosemary, cheese, etc to flavor the bread and bake in same manner as before
• bread in done in about 30min
• she placed the olive loaf into the refrigerator for overnight then took out, checked it was back to 72-74 degrees then slashed and baked it
• to make sourdough starter, she puts 1 lb of grapes (stems and all) in a towel and wraps it then bangs its moderately til juices come out...then she submerges it in a slurry of flour and water (maybe 2 cups each, i dunno)...very watery slurry...not much flour vs water it seems...then she lets it sit for 7 days covered in the kitchen...on 7th day, she wrings out the grapes from the towel and uses it with flour, yeast, and salt into the food processor...and pours water from the spout as it all comes together...
  

12/24: Dinner Rolls

Similar to my Pani Popo recipe (http://simoncooks.blogspot.com/2009/12/1219-samoan-dinner-pani-popo-bread.html) but tweaked to take out coconut milk

My Bread Recipe: (with influence from "bread" book)

• 50% a.p. flour - 217 grams (1.5 cups)
• 50% bread flour - 217 grams (1.5 cups)
  
• 5% milk powder - 21.7 grams
• 5% sugar - 21.7 grams
• 5% butter - 21.7 grams
• 60% warm water (1/2 hot, 1/2 cold) - 260grams
• 1.8% salt - 7.8 grams
• 2.5% yeast - 10.85 grams

Procedure:

1. place all ingredients into bread machine
   
2. push "sweet" and "dough"...takes 1 hr 35 min (dough is moderately wet and sticky)
   
3. take out of machine and with only lil flour on fingers, knead dough and into a ball
4. separate into 4 pieces
5. then separate again into 3 balls...about 2 inch diameter
   
6. place in one in a greased muffin tin + preheat to 375
   
7. brush tops with egg wash + honey before place into oven
   
8. rotate after 15 minutes when slight browning and brush egg wash on again
9. bake 10 more minutes til done at 25 minutes total @ 210 degrees

Result:

• stiffer than i like
• think its best with all 100% ap flour for dinner rolls if i want it soft
• good to add slightly more liquid as i don't have the coconut milk mixture to keep it moist
• bread had a pain de mie taste more than dinner rolls
• not exactly sweet or salty...needs more of 1 or other to have a more defined taste
• think its better when all are put together than separate in muffin tin as it dries it out and won't be as moist.
  

12/19: Samoan Dinner - Pani Popo (bread)

adapted from: http://www.samoa.as/recipe9.htm

Here's the recipe for Pani Popo:

5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package yeast
2 1/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon shortening, margarine, or butter
1 teaspoon salt

Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour and yeast. In a saucepan heat and stir milk;
sugar; shortening, margarine, or butter; and salt til warm and
shortening almost melts. Add to flour mixture. Beat with an electric
mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Using a
spoon, stir in as much remaining flour as you can to make a moderatly
stiff dough that is smooth and easy to pull - 6-8 minutes.
Put some Crisco shortening on your hands. This will add moisture to
your rolls and make it easier to handle. Shape in a ball and put in a
greased bowl. Turn it on both sides to grease the whole ball of
dough. Cover and let rise in the oven on the top rack and below it in
a pan put some hot water. (The steam from the hot water will help it
to rise) about 45 minutes. Punch dough down.

Roll 18 balls and cover for 10 minutes while you make the following
milk mixture.
Mix 2 cans of coconut milk with 1 cup of sugar. (Add more sugar if
you like it sweeter.) In 2 13x9x2 pans, pour in half of the milk
mixture in each pan, put in 9 bread rolls on top (or you can make the
rolls smaller to make more rolls). Bake at 375 degrees in the oven
for 20 minutes or until bread tests done.

My Bread Recipe: (with influence from "bread" book)

• 100% a.p. flour - 434 grams (3 cups)
• 5% milk powder - 21.7 grams
• 5% sugar - 21.7 grams
• 5% butter - 21.7 grams
• 3.5 % heavy cream - 15 grams
• 60% warm water (1/2 hot, 1/2 cold) - 260grams
• 1.8% salt - 7.8 grams
• 2.5% yeast - 10.85 grams

Coconut Milk Mixture:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2/3 cup of sugar (should have used 1/2 cup if went straight from recipe...my math was wrong)

Procedure:

1. place all ingredients into bread machine
   
2. push "sweet" and "dough"...takes 1 hr 35 min (dough is moderately wet and sticky)
   
3. take out of machine and with only lil flour on fingers, knead dough and into a ball
4. separate into 4 pieces
5. then separate again into 4 balls about 1.5 inch diameter balls
   
6. pour coconut milk + sugar mixture to bottom of a baking pan
7. place dough balls on top of coconut milk mixture
8. sit for 15minutes to rise as oven preheats to 375
9. bake 25 minutes at 375
10. rotate and lower temp to 350 + bake for 15 minutes til done (tops getting dark fast so i lowered the temp)
    
11. end was 205-210 degrees...was 195 at 35 minutes total

Result:

• loved it!
• so airy and light...just like a perfect dinner roll
• coconut milk was excessive..think i can half the recipe yet again...i ate it after reheating and the bottom was soggy because of it...
• think i just want coconut milk to get soaked to the very bottom of bread, not to sit in a pool of it when its done
• ugly look at the bottom as the starch made the coconut milk thick and looking like mashed potato gravy
• everyone liked this a lot
  

Breadtopia: No Knead Bread

Ingredients for basic yeasted No Knead Method:

3 cups bread flour (the above video used 1 cup (5 oz.) whole wheat flour and 2 cups (10 1/2 oz.) white bread flour
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups purified or spring water

• Mix together the dry ingredients.
• Mix in water until the water is incorporated.
• Cover with plastic and let sit 18 hours.
• Follow video instruction for folding.
• Cover loosely with plastic and rest for 15 minutes.
• Transfer to well floured towel or proofing basket. Cover with towel and let rise about 1 1/2 hours.
• Bake in covered La Cloche or Dutch oven preheated to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Remove cover; reduce heat to 450 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes.
• Let cool completely on rack.
• Consume bread, be happy.

Further notes: This method of baking is quite forgiving if you alter the ingredients and proportions. One of the great things about a bread recipe that is so easy and involves just one loaf at a time is you don’t feel like you’re risking a lot if your experimenting goes awry.

Try using different flours and/or different proportions of flour and play around with the water measurement a little.

I’ll be posting more videos and recipes on some of my favorite variations of this basic formula over the next few weeks.

I would love to hear from anyone with their experiences using this technique, both successful and otherwise. Please share your experiences below.

(http://www.breadtopia.com/basic-no-knead-method/)

New York Times: No Knead Bread

Published: November 8, 2006

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

The Minimalist: The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work (November 8, 2006)

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html)

Bread Baking Problems + Tips

for all breads:

http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm#HOW%20TO%20GET

for bread machines:

http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm#breadproblemsmachine

Slashing: The scoring of some breads before baking is done for a couple of reasons. First, for a beautiful visual appearance and second, this scoring allows the dough to expand quickly during baking so it reaches its maximum volume. It also prevents a "blow out" from happening if bubbles appear under the crust and then burst. Slashing was used historically to also give a distinctive slash to a bread baked along with others in a French communal oven. Since the bread of each household would be mixed with others, a distinctive slash was one way to tell the loaves apart. For regular and large-sized breads: After the shaped Sourdough or Sponge dough rises, glaze and slash top 3-4 times with sharp knife, lightly sprayed with vegetable oil, to prevent dragging. Cut each about 1/4 inch deep at a 30 degree angle. To slash small breads, such as rolls, you can snip a crisscross with kitchen shears. Cut the dough about an inch deep into each roll. You can also slash it if desired.

A BREAD LOAF IS DONE BAKING WHEN: If the bread loaf is taken from the oven just because the outside looks done, the inside may be underdone. To test: My favorite and most accurate way to do test whether a bread loaf is done is to place an Instant Read Thermometer dead center in the bottom of it. If it reads between 190 - 210 degrees F, the bread is done. Another way to test for doneness is to turn the bread out of the pan and tap its bottom and side. If the interior sounds hollow, the bread is done. It should also be evenly browned and smell just wonderful !!


Some Quick Notes on Storing Bread:

If you'll be using your bread within a few days, wrap the loaf so that it's airtight and store at room temperature.

If the loaf is made with perishable ingredients, like meat or cheese, wrap the bread and store it in the refrigerator. Breads that aren't made with perishable ingredients should not be stored in the refrigerator; it will make the bread become stale more quickly.

If you'll be keeping your bread for more than a few days, seal the loaf in a freezer-proof bag. The bread will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Thawing frozen bread will take about 2 to 3 hours at room temperature, or about 6 to 8 minutes on the defrost setting of your microwave. If you slice your bread before freezing, you can toast it straight out of the freezer.

To warm bread, wrap loaf in foil and heat in a 350-degree oven for 15 to 30 minutes. Unwrap bread in the last 5 minutes to produce a crisp crust. Thaw frozen bread thoroughly before warming in oven.

(http://www.baking911.com/bread/101_bake.htm)

Bread Tips 2

(information read from hamelman's bread book)

Importance of steam in baking bread:

• reason is steam allows the bread to rise once put into oven
• bread rises only when dough's surface is moist...once it gets hard, the bread can no longer rise
• steam enhances color, gives the crust a nice sheen, and gives the bread better volume
• steam cools the surface of dough allowing for a longer time to caramelize and rise
• think my bread is denser than i want because it doesn't have enough steam...not enough steam no dough doesn't get to rise and puff up the inside to give it a better texture...
  

How to pre-steam a home oven:

1. stick a cast iron pan into oven as oven is preheating...
2. boil some water on the stovetop
3. when oven is done preheating, moisten oven by placing ice cubes onto another pan into the oven
4. score the bread and mist the surface lightly
5. load the bread into oven and pour boiling water into cast iron pan and shut door asap
6. when bread starts to show color, open a crack in the oven door slightly to allow the oven to dry up. this ensures that the crust is thin and crisp
   

Do i need to vent the oven???

• books say that it keeps the bread's crust crisp and thin...in my experience, the crust is about the same either way...just that the bread into the oven gets more even head throughout with the door open
• i feel that it depends on the amount of steam is in the oven...
• normally i just squirt some water into the sides of the oven so by the time the bread browns, its already very dry so no need.
• if i follow the above method for steaming, i think i would need to open the door a crack for atleast a few minutes to dry out the oven from all the steam
  

Bread Tips

Bread doneness test:

Continue baking for 20 to 22 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Tap the bottom of the loaves; a hollow sound means they're done. Or, insert an instant-read thermometer into the bread, and if the internal temperature is 205°F to 210°F, the bread is done.

http://www.gardenguides.com/1064-bread-ever.html

bread baking problems: http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm