Bread

Weekend sourdough was a disaster.

Haven’t made one for six months. Different flour to my usual Shipton Mill. Ended up way too hydrated. Starter also didn’t really ever get going.

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First attempt at sourdough brioche

I didn’t read the recipe properly I usually make levain with 1:1:1 starter:flour:water but this wanted a 1:2:2 drier starter.

As a result the dough was possibly too wet to then shape the brioche balls

Also I didn’t check the recipe fully as it didn’t use milk but next time I would use milk as the liquid in the main mix.

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Kept the second one of the batch in the oven for a bit longer

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Made a Babka. Choco & hazelnut.

Plaiting game needs work. Couldn't wait to cut it.

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Another no knead loaf. Couldn't resist a few warm slices with some brown butter.

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Tried your technique last week, belter of a loaf but couldn't get it looking very nice. Can't tell if it over proved? I left it on the side to prove rather than in the fridge?

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How hot was your oven / pan? I find you get better spring if its really hot.

I prove mine on the counter for between 40-120 mins.

Oven was as hot as I dared. To be honest my proving basket skills are terrible so that probably didn't help.

Where do you leave the dough overnight?

I leave mine in an airtight tupaware in the kitchen on the worktop overnight.

I generally mix it all up about 7pm. Shape 7am bake 08:30 ish.

Re proving basket I find wholemeal flour works better than white to help things not stick.

Another batch of beigels. Four closest ones turned out best with a slightly lower oven temp. Used the more traditional shaping technique this time which wasn't as difficult as I expected. Mixed up last night, overnight in the fridge then shaped, poached and baked this morning. Treacle in the poaching liquor.

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Had another go at @Saffronspokes's method and a much better result. 400g white, 200g wholemeal flour, slightly less wet dough and didn't bother with the banneton for proving

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Nice work 👍

Trying an overnight fridge prove of my usual brown loaf. 200g white, 300g wholemeal, 7g instant yeast, salt, 300g water. Will shape before taking mini_com to the childminder then bake when I get back.

Is there a forum recommend sourdough recipe? Also a rye sourdough.

For my bakers on a budget Lidl have a big 5.7 litre cast iron casserole for £35

Is there a forum recommend sourdough recipe?

foodgeek.dk
the artisan one is the best.

This week's No Knead Bake.

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Couple of recent attempts, feel like I am getting the hang of it now. Dutch oven really makes a difference, makes my loafs look like I am a better baker than I actually am.

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Latest no-knead

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Last week I had to make 4 loaves in one batch so decided to try using my kitchenaid mixer to make the dough. It worked well - mixed all the ingredients together in two batches. I probably did too many stretch and folds but the loaves had a reasonable spring and came out good.

At the time they appeared really pale compared to normal but I put that down to my usual oven not being used. I had preheated the oven but when I tried to run the steam program it gave a message that descaling was required. So I used the second oven which also steams but is slightly different spec.

I assumed the pale colour was the difference between the ovens. Picture of the 3/4 eaten loaf is from that batch. My nephews destroyed the loaf in one sitting.

Next loaf I made was back to the usual oven but was a little over proved. So I decided to reduce the starter weight by 1/6 and add more water to my usual recipe. This time I did all the mixing in the mixer for about 10 minutes until dough was elastic. Shaped it and placed back in the mixer bowl. About 90 mins later did. Pre shape and 15 mins later final shape, placed in proving basket and then refrigerated retarded prove for 20 hours.

Todays loaf had decent spring and also came out much paler. The loaf is 2/3 French stone milled organic and 1/3 home milled spelt. I don’t understand why the change in mixing has affected the colour but the other thing which has changed is a slightly thinner crust too.

My loaf now colour coordinates with my dog

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Spoils from a French baking class (2 of us).

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Where was that class? Looks good.