Bread

This is the super simple one I go with
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/no-knead-bread-56389453

Thanks dudes

Where are you based? Can a fixer skidder baker share some starter with you, or even ask on a local Facebook group.

first loaf report:

Made a super simple no-knead loaf that I left to ferment overnight and baked in a dutch oven. Didn't have quite enough strong bread flower left so make up the quantities with 00 pasta flour (which had an element of semolina in it i think). Not sure the dough was quite up to room temp when it went into the oven as it didn't quite have the open texture I was hoping for. Was very delicious though, lovely soft elastic crumb and crunchy crust.

Loaf two is doing its final rise now. Did the same super simple mix (this time with all white bread flour) and upped the ante with some sourdough style turns and a final fold and shape. It looks a fair bit more aerated than number one and will be room temp as well so I'm hopeful this will be an improvement.

pics incoming

If I have done a retarded (fridge) prove i tend to get better oven spring if the bread goes into the oven cold. If I let the dough warm up the skin loses tension and it doesn’t rise as much.

I have a question. How does one transfer the loaf after the final rise (tea towel in bowl) to Dutch oven without knackering it?

Here’s loaf the first btw

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Loaf 2

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Bit wonky

I put it on a greaseproof paper

Been away for a while trying to make linger style loaves in my oven, they weren’t rising enough when being baked, so went back to using a Dutch pot and got these two done this morning. Much more spring and some nice holeage..

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New banneton, well happy.

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Nice spring on this loaf this morning. The ambient temperature meant the dough was super aerated and springy when bulk proofing and shaping yesterday. I was slightly concerned it might have overproofed but the overnight fridge proof did the trick.

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Not quite the right thing for this thread it seems but any thoughts on bread-making machines?

Although I do enjoy making bread properly I do like the idea of lobbing all the ingredients in a machine the night before and a fresh loaf in the morning.

I used to own one many years ago and all the stuff that came out of it was a bit dense. Have they improved now?

I'm having no luck at all with avoiding pancake flat loaves

I'm using 500g flour, 300g water, 100g starter, 10g salt (so ~64% hydration)

Autolyse for > 3 hours
Add starter & salt
Stretch & fold every 30 mins ~ 3hours
Bench rest 30 mins
Shape & banneton
Prove / fridge, depending on when I started

There's loads of tension when I shape, and the poke test suggest that it's proved enough & not too much

I transfer from banneton to dutch oven with greaseproof, and then into a pre-heated oven

And then by the time I come round to taking the lid off, it's flopped.

What do I need to try next?

Are you pre-heating your dutch oven?
How long to you cook it for in the dutch oven before removing the lid?
It might not be cooking enough if it's in a cold dutch oven for too brief a time.

(Google says autolysis above 1hr long doesn't do anything additional. I cut it out altogether, doesn't seem to make a difference for me.)

Are you pre-heating your dutch oven?

Yep - to 250°C, and no faffing around once it's out.

How long to you cook it for in the dutch oven before removing the lid?

25 minutes

It might not be cooking enough if it's in a cold dutch oven for too brief a time.

If it's not hot enough, then I need a new oven, unfortunately

Try a much shorter prove. The dough might not have much energy left when you put it in the oven.

I've had a Panasonic for a decade now, and it's great; being able to whack ingredients in and wake up to a fresh loaf for breakfast/school packed lunches/etc. is a lifesaver. Before this I had a hand-me-down Morphy Richards (I think?) that worked fine until it died, but if I had to replace mine I'd 100% go for another Panasonic.

Cheers, Panasonic seems to be the way to go looking at Which. What is the bread out of it like?

I usually make white bread or sometimes granary on an overnight programme; it comes out light and fluffy. I've also done variants on no-knead bread, which is a bit denser but has more flavour.

The other thing I use it for is for making doughs to bake in the oven, whether pizza, fruit breads, or brioche, all of which work pretty well.

The other thing I use it for is for making doughs to bake in the oven, whether pizza, fruit breads, or brioche, all of which work pretty well.

Yeah this. I have 20ish-year-old panasonic that still churns out an OK loaf, though now mostly use for dough as Imma lockdown sourdough kinda guy. Kids make friday pizza dough in it every week.
When I used to use the timer for overnight breads it seemed to just sit there until ready to start so if the order of ingredients wasn't careful I'd end up with a bit of a lump. I imagine they have progressed since last century though.

What's the best book for bread recipes? I have the Tartine one but it gets on my wick.

Cheers, sounds good.

Sourdough School book is awesome lots of variations loads of nerdy science shit

Or Dan Lepard