Another one from my son, I just eat 
. Pita bread:
Another one from my son, I just eat . Pita bread:
Ok, so can someone explain to me something about starter? Why is a starter thats been around a while so much more desirable than just yeast for baking? I've heard people mention flavor, but the only flavor it should have would be from what you are feeding it, no? I mean you are throwing away half of it every time.
Is it because it rises more, giving better texture? If so, why? Is it because the yeast that isn't thrown out each time matures more and more, and more mature yeast rises better?
I am understanding the process, but I don't think I understand the fundamental reason for going through this trouble.
Marjorie Suddard said:I've put my thrift store bread machine back into production for the pandemic, been fiddling about trying to perfect a nice white/sandwich loaf. Found that contrary to all bread machine instructions, actually proofing the yeast first does give a finer crumb and better crust. Here's where I'm at right now:
might up the salt to 1-3/4 T--still losing a little rise on bake. Close, though....
Margie
I used your recipe today and i was perfect. Thank you.
In reply to Katya4me :
Yay! That makes me so happy.
Margie
Katya4me said:I used your recipe today and i was perfect. Thank you.
I am trying this now. *fingers crossed*
Wow. That was awesome (fresh out of the machine anyway).
1 Issue though, it rose too much. Not sure if that is because its just too much for my bread machine or what. But I cut into the center of the loaf and there is a large central void in the middle almost like it grew so quickly it became hollow.
Suggestions?
ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:Having skimmed this thread I really want to go buy a bread machine online and add ingredients to our next shopping trip. But...The wife and I had been doing keto about a month before the crap hit the fan. I'd really like to ONLY gain back the 10lbs I'd already lost. If I buy a bread machine I will come out of quarantine shaped like a dinner roll and never be able to Keto again I fear.
Cause damn, I love bread.
I've been doing KETO since last June and have lost 48 pounds to date. I saw this thread and have purposely avoided reading through it because bread is one of my former favorite things on this planet! I succumbed to the temptation and started reading it hoping someone had posted a "keto-friendly" recipe using almond flour. Nope, nothing. DAMN!
Anybody know of a decent one? I make some quick 90 second microwave keto buns, but I would like to find a good baked recipe.
In reply to ProDarwin :
You can decrease water or increase salt. (I wouldn't go past 1-3/4 t salt, though.) The dough ball in your machine should start out pretty dry--like, you should have to scrape a dry claying flour from the corners as it comes together, and those pieces will spin around as crumblies for awhile before the dough ball absorbs them. If your dough looks sticky as it's kneading, sprinkle in flour. Again, a tablespoon at a time can make a big difference. Your dough ball should look like something you want to touch or poke.
Margie
Woo hoo, got a 25 lb bag of flour today.
I'm going to make tortillas tonight.
There's a lot of people making sourdough and there's a lot of different approaches to feeding and maintaining your starter. One of the big concerns is the potential for waste. I've found some recipes that use unfed starter, so that instead of throwing the excess starter away, I can make something.
One of the recipes is for biscuits. I've made these several times, and found them quick and easy to turn out after I upgraded my pastry cutter. The recipe uses all purpose flour, but I found that 50-60% whole wheat is our favorite. I also make them a smaller size instead of making the palm-sized sandwich biscuits. The family loves them.
I've also ordered some steel rings for making crumpets, also known as english muffins. This recipe uses only the starter itself, so it's going to be useful for when I'm trying to limit waste. I haven't tried it yet, so I'll let you know what I think.
Next, I would like to share this blog entry from the King Arthur Flour website, titled "Don't be a bread hostage; Finally, sourdough bread that fits your schedule."
The author profiles someone that doesn't discard starter, and has simplified a lot of the steps in sourdough starter maintenance and baking. It's still a lot more than what I do, I tend to want to produce my bread on the same day, and hopefully within a few hours. I also don't have bannetons, the cloth lined baskets that people use to proof their bread. I'm limited on storage space.
Finally, I'm watching a youtube channel with Foodgeek. He describes and demonstrates steps in baking (or cooking other foods), and does a lot of experimentation. The background of guitars hanging on the walls hasn't been mentioned in any of his videos that I've watched, but it makes me feel comfortable, like I'm on the GRM Zoom chats that we've been having.
CyberEric said:I started making bread recently. Loving it!
I make a mean yogurt bread. No yeast, ferments in yogurt and is super healthy.
If anyone wants any GF recipes, let me know.
Has anyone started a sourdough starter? I failed at my first attempt.
Bumping for GF recipes. I recently learned I likely have Celiac's, and my wife and I know our way around the kitchen, so I think this is in our future.
bluej said:CyberEric said:I started making bread recently. Loving it!
I make a mean yogurt bread. No yeast, ferments in yogurt and is super healthy.
If anyone wants any GF recipes, let me know.
Has anyone started a sourdough starter? I failed at my first attempt.
Bumping for GF recipes. I recently learned I likely have Celiac's, and my wife and I know our way around the kitchen, so I think this is in our future.
Please feel free to link or post any gluten free recipes. My original purpose when starting this thread was merely to open a dialogue. Sourdough, yeast, gluten free, flat breads, whatever.
Enjoy!
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:bluej said:CyberEric said:I started making bread recently. Loving it!
I make a mean yogurt bread. No yeast, ferments in yogurt and is super healthy.
If anyone wants any GF recipes, let me know.
Has anyone started a sourdough starter? I failed at my first attempt.
Bumping for GF recipes. I recently learned I likely have Celiac's, and my wife and I know our way around the kitchen, so I think this is in our future.
Please feel free to link or post any gluten free recipes. My original purpose when starting this thread was merely to open a dialogue. Sourdough, yeast, gluten free, flat breads, whatever.
Enjoy!
I don't have any yet, that's why I'm here :)
I didn't think I would make it this year, but ended up doing it anyway, so here it is: my Italian Easter Bread.
I did not add the traditional three dyed eggs because I don't have egg dye and I didn't want to waste eggs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I have to admit I haven't read through the whole thread, but I am going to drop off a couple pictures on my way through.
This morning I tried a random "beer bread" recipe off the internet with some of the hard apple cider one of my wife's friends left in our fridge. I could tell by the recipe that it was really more a drop biscuit dough, but I went with it anyway. Turned out OK, but was really only saved by the maple syrup butter going on top.
What none of you probably know about me is that I was a shift manager at the bakery/deli department of a grocery store in high school. What that means to this thread is that I have made a lifetime worth of bread already and have very little interest in doing it from scratch.
That said, I love fresh bread and am perfectly willing to cheat. My local grocery store really stepped up when we started having trouble getting regular bread deliveries, they seriously ramped up their production of fresh baked and they started packaging their dough for sale in the frozen section. I have no issues with frozen bread dough:
But if you have had issues with frozen dough in the past, or just want to give it a try, I will pass along the trick to making it both faster and better:
That is a shallow cake pan of the good drinking water from the RO system, in an oven that gets preheated to 175, with the pan inside, and shut off. The frozen dough goes in right after it's shut off, and a couple hours later when it's 1/2" or so above the pan it's ready to bake in an oven without the water. That pan of water, not even boiling just warm, makes all the difference in the world in the texture of the bread.
In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :
I made this one once, it was pretty good. It comes out the consistency of pound cake, not something you're going to make sandwiches with. It does hit the bread craving button.
From the website Delish...
Keto bread - Delish
INGREDIENTS
6 large eggs
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 c. finely ground almond flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375° and line an 8"-x-4" loaf pan with parchment paper. Separate egg whites and egg yolks.
In a large bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar. Using a hand mixer, whip until stiff peaks form.
In a separate large bowl using a hand mixer, beat yolks with melted butter, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in 1/3 of the whipped egg whites until fully incorporated, then fold in the rest.
Pour batter into loaf pan and smooth top. Bake for 30 minutes, or until top is slightly golden and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool 30 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition (per serving): 450 calories, 19 g protein, 10 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 40 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 125 mg sodium
My first attempt at scratch made bread ever. Turned out well. "Rustic" bread. Tastes like the bread from carrabbas for dipping in the olive oil and spices. 
ProDarwin said:Wow. That was awesome (fresh out of the machine anyway).
1 Issue though, it rose too much. Not sure if that is because its just too much for my bread machine or what. But I cut into the center of the loaf and there is a large central void in the middle almost like it grew so quickly it became hollow.
Suggestions?
No real suggestions that work. All of my attempts have had the same result. I increased the salt to 1-3/4T to no avail. The last batch it occurred to me that it was similarly sized to the diameter of the mixing paddle, but that didn't lead to any actionable intel. I tried to see if I could "pop" the bubble before it started baking the loaf and got distracted so it was about an hour into a 3 hour cycle which was too late to have any effect. But the resulting bread is delicious even if I can't really make sammiches with 1/4 to 1/3 of the loaf...
There are several things that can contribute to a very "open crumb" loaf, which is one with large holes in it. The first is a dough that is too wet. Try cutting back slightly on the amount of water in the recipe. The next culprit is yeast, and specifically too much of it. Cutting back slightly on the yeast will potentially lead to longer rise times, but slower rise means smaller amounts of gas released which yields smaller holes inside. Finally, make sure the place where you are proofing your bread is not too warm. Letting the dough rise in a very warm spot puts the yeast into overdrive which produces more gas which will produce larger holes.
I recommend changing only one thing at a time until you find the one that fixes your issue. Hope this helps!
I've been branching out, made some calzones. Basically an inside out pizza.
In reply to EastCoastMojo (Forum Supporter) :
It isn't a case of "open crumb" loaf, it is one big void approximately the size of a baseball in the center horizontally and near the top of the loaf while it is still in the pan. It has about 3/8" of bread and crust covering the top and 1' or so on each side (looking at it in the pan). You can't even tell the void is there until you cut the loaf. I haven't taken any pictures to post. It still tastes great and I get enough to slice and make sandwiches for lunch during the week out of the rest, so I just use this portion of the loaf to have with dinner kinda like a roll.
I've been on a Monday to Thursday work week since early 2018 (well at least before this all started) which meant I needed something to keep me busy on winter Fridays. I started messing around with bread recipes and enjoyed the process. Santa dropped off a KitchenAide stand mixer back in December so no excuses right?
In the picture is our latest favorite; oatmeal bread. A friend dropped off a break maker made loaf of this a few weeks ago, I've modified the recipe below for conventional mixing / oven methods. Note, the picture above was a double mix so we could give a loaf to the neighbors. The recipe below is a single loaf.
In a separate bowl combine the warm water and honey. Add the yeast, stir gently and allow to sit for 5 minutes while the yeast blooms.
In the stand mixer bowl combine the flour, oatmeal and salt. Use the mixer to blend well. Once blended, add the yeast / water / honey and mix for 5 minutes or so, add the oil during this time. Let the dough rest in the bowl for 10 minutes or so.
Knead the dough with the mixer (bread hook attachment if you have one) for an additional 5 minutes. If the dough appears too dry add water a tablespoon at a time. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and let sit in a warm place until roughly doubled (45 minutes to an hour). Our oven has a proofing setting and it works very well, temp is right at 100 F.
Once doubled, punch down, knead with the bread hook for an additional 5 minutes and let double again. Punch down once more and place in a lightly greased standard loaf pan. Cover with greased plastic and let rise (another 45 minutes). If you're using the proofing setting, remove towards the end of the rising session to preheat the oven.
Preheat the over to 425 F. Remove plastic, lightly score the top of the loaf. Mist the top of the loaf with cold water for a harder crust (if desired) and place in oven on the center rack. Bake for 15-20 minutes turning once. The top of the loaf should tap with a slightly hollow sound when done.
This bread has a great yeasty, slightly sweet taste and is great for toasting as well. Enjoy!
secretariata (Forum Supporter) said:ProDarwin said:Wow. That was awesome (fresh out of the machine anyway).
1 Issue though, it rose too much. Not sure if that is because its just too much for my bread machine or what. But I cut into the center of the loaf and there is a large central void in the middle almost like it grew so quickly it became hollow.
Suggestions?
No real suggestions that work. All of my attempts have had the same result. I increased the salt to 1-3/4T to no avail. The last batch it occurred to me that it was similarly sized to the diameter of the mixing paddle, but that didn't lead to any actionable intel. I tried to see if I could "pop" the bubble before it started baking the loaf and got distracted so it was about an hour into a 3 hour cycle which was too late to have any effect. But the resulting bread is delicious even if I can't really make sammiches with 1/4 to 1/3 of the loaf...
In my experience, cutting the water down fixes this. Make sure all your other measurements are the same time, and cut down on the water quantity a tablespoon at a time.
In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :
Yes, I understand your issue. I tend to think of "tunneling" as an extreme version of an open crumb bread. The steps I offered are the most common solutions for this (in my experience). You may find this article to be helpful.
In reply to Dr. Hess & EastCoastMojo :
Gotcha. I'll try cutting back on H2O with the next loaf. If that fails I'll move on to cutting back on yeast. Thank you for your guidance. 
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