Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 07:17:44 GMT -------------- BEGIN bread-bakers.v104.n046 -------------- 001 - RosesCakeBible@aol.com - The Lazy Loaf 002 - Roxanne Rieske I made the Irish Soda Bread recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Bead Bible >this morning -- with a few little twists.... thank you holly for the lovely compliment. also thank all the member of the list who showed interest the washington post article--i've gotten some wonderful feedback and requests to post it. so here it is: The Lazy Loaf A Bread That Almost Bakes Itself By Rose Levy Beranbaum Special to The Washington Post Wednesday, September 15, 2004 Why don't more people make their own bread? Are they afraid of baking, afraid of yeast or just too busy? I suspect it's the last reason. I find bread making to be the easiest, fastest and most rewarding goal in baking. With flour, water, yeast and salt, you can have a wonderful preservative-free loaf in just three hours, with no more than a half-hour of actual work -- less than 20 minutes if you use a food processor. It's a better bread than even some pricey artisanal loaves. But even with that time frame, it can still be a challenge to fit this simple creative act into a busy life. Let's be realistic. Daily bread is out of thequestion for most families. But why not get back into this wonderful ritual by making a loaf or two on the weekends? Here are some suggestions on how to make it work for you: * Mix the dough sometime on Saturday, as late as 1 p.m., and it will be ready for dinner at 6. * Refrigerate the dough until Sunday morning. Shape and bake it for Sunday dinner. * Store the baked, cooled loaf in a paper bag and reheat it for Sunday dinner in a 350F oven for five to 10 minutes to crisp the crust and warm the crumb. * Double the recipe. Slice the second loaf. Place the slices in a freezer-weight zipper-lock bag and freeze it for weekday lunches. My favorite bread recipe produces a light, chewy loaf with a crisp crust and mellow wheaty flavor. It has been my signature loaf for as long as I can remember. It is the dough from which I shape free-form hearth breads, and I also use it for sandwich loaves, dinner rolls and hot dog and hamburger buns (with the addition of a little oil to soften the crust and crumb). No Better Basic Bread Make an 8-inch round loaf or a 9-inch sandwich loaf or 16 dinner rolls or 12 hot dog buns or 8 hamburger buns If you use instant yeast (as I do in the recipe that follows) you don't have to "proof" the yeast first in warm water, a process that takes the yeast cells five to 10 minutes to bubble, an indication that the yeast is viable. The addition of honey helps the crust turn brown. 3 cups minus 2 tablespoons bread flour -or- 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for the work surface 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (may use rapid rise, bread machine or any brand) 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt 1 1/3 cups water, at room temperature 1 teaspoon mild honey, such as clover 1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil (optional for soft crust for sandwich bread or buns), plus additional for the bowl In a bowl, whisk together the bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and yeast. Whisk in the salt. Stir in the water and honey and, if desired, the oil. Using a standing mixer with the dough hook attachment or using your hands, knead the dough until smooth and springy (about 7 minutes by machine or 10 minutes by hand). The dough should be soft and just sticky enough to cling slightly to your fingers. If it is still very sticky, knead in a little additional flour. If it is too stiff, spray it with a little water and knead it. Shape the dough into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and lightly spray or rub the top of the dough with additional oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot. Set aside to rise until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour. (Gently stick a finger into the center of the dough; if the indentation remains once you've removed your finger, it should be ready. To refrigerate the bread and bake it the next day, use your hand to gently press down the dough. Place it in a large, oiled, resealable plastic storage bag, leaving a tiny bit unzipped for the forming gas to escape, and refrigerate the bread for up to 8 hours. Remove it to room temperature 1 hour before shaping. When ready to bake, have ready a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly sprinkled with cornmeal or flour. Place the dough on a very lightly floured counter and, using your fingertips, flatten the dough gently and shape it into a round ball or a football shape. Transfer it to the baking sheet, cover with an overturned large container or an oiled piece of plastic wrap and set aside to rise until the dough has almost doubled in size. (Gently press a finger into the center of the dough; if the depression fills in very slowly, it should be ready. While the dough is rising, adjust the oven rack to the lowest position and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it. Place a cast-iron skillet or a heavy baking sheet on the floor of the oven or on the rack. Preheat the oven to 475 F for at least 45 minutes. Using a very sharp knife, cut one or more long, 1/4-inch-deep-slashes across the top of the dough. Mist the dough with water and quickly but gently place the baking sheet directly onto the hot stone or hot baking sheet on the rack. Then immediately toss 3 to 4 ice cubes into the pan that is on the bottom of the oven, quickly shut the door and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 F and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the bread is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. (An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center will read about 210 F. Halfway through baking, turn the pan around for even baking. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely or until just warm. VARIATIONS Seeded: Add up to 3/4 cup of mixed seeds such as cracked flax, sesame, poppy, sunflower or pumpkin seeds to the flour mixture. (The sunflower and pumpkin seeds have the best flavor if toasted at 325 F until they are just beginning to color -- about 5 minutes.) Sandwich: Before shaping the dough, gently press it into a buttered loaf pan. It should come no more than 1/2 inch from the top of the pan. Trim any excess dough and bake it as rolls. (Use a scissors or knife; do not tear the dough.) Gently turn the dough back onto the work surface, roll or press the rest of the dough into a rectangle and, beginning at 1 long side, roll it up tightly, pinching the seam with your fingers to seal it. Place the roll, seam-side down, in the pan. Let it rise until almost doubled. Slash if desired. Bake the loaf at 375 F for 40 to 50 minutes. (The lower temperature forms a thicker crust, which supports the higher sides of the loaf.) Per serving (based on 12): 170 calories, 4 gm protein, 26 gm carbohydrates, 5 gm fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 gm saturated fat, 292 mg sodium, 1 gm dietary fiber Rose Levy Beranbaum's most recent book is "The Bread Bible" (Norton, 2003). (c) 2004 The Washington Post Company --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.2 --------------- From: Roxanne Rieske Subject: RE: Cinnamon Raisin Bread Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 08:54:18 -0600 The raisins might have had something to do with the separation. Once rolled up, there are typically little tiny air gaps in between the raisins. On the inner layers, this isn't a problem because gravity holds the layers down, but on the top layers, there's nothing there to keep the gaps from swelling up. You might want to try mixing the raisins into the dough rather than sprinkling them on the middle with the cinnamon-sugar. Roxanne Rieske (Rokzane) rokzane@comcast.net www.rokzane.bravejournal.com --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.3 --------------- From: Roxanne Rieske Subject: RE: Rose's bread epiphany and WP article Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 09:09:17 -0600 I have to concur here that fresh ground whole wheat flour makes the best 100% whole wheat loaf. I stay away from the stuff in the grocery store and instead order mine direct from King Arthur (since I don't have the space in my little condo to store bags of wheat berries), but I call Customer Service when I'm ordering and ask for the freshest stuff possible. One shipment I got was less than a week old. I also make mine with my sourdough starter, and a lot of it too. Up to 25% if I've got it. I also add vital wheat gluten PLUS active malt powder.I add enough water to it all to make a good hydrated dough, give it a thorough mixing and then let it sit in the fridge for at least 12 hours. The result has been by far the best whole wheat bread I've ever had in my entire life. Roxanne Rieske (Rokzane) rokzane@comcast.net www.rokzane.bravejournal.com --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.4 --------------- From: RosesCakeBible@aol.com Subject: Re: using 100% wholewheat flour Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 11:15:31 EDT forgot to mention that when using 100% wholewheat flour you'll need a lot more water as the bran really absorbs it. i'm using 87.8% hydration and keeping it a little sticky! i'll post the recipe in april after it comes out in food arts magazine. rose (levy beranbaum) --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.5 --------------- From: Roxanne Rieske Subject: RE: Warming refrigerated dough Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 09:18:32 -0600 Well ideally, to start rising, bread dough should be somewhere around 72-76 F for a slow, all day rise. You can find out the temperature of the dough by sticking a thermometer into the middle of the dough. Make sure you keep the dough moist and covered at all times or else it'll have trouble rising (it may not rise at all or burst out the seams or rise unevenly). After that, it's really hard to say how long any particular dough will take to rise...It largely depends on the environment: humidity, temperature of the room, draftiness, etc. Each dough can be really different on any given day. That's why you see "rise till double" all the time :). Cause nobody can tell you how long it'll actually take. I can say that once a dough has reached the ideal temperature for rising, it can possibly take anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 hours after that... Roxanne Rieske (Rokzane) rokzane@comcast.net www.rokzane.bravejournal.com --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.6 --------------- From: Diane Purkiss Subject: Re: cinnamon-raisin loaf split Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 16:25:10 +0100 >... on a cross-section, the dough was tightly wound until the top, where >it had come apart, leaving a gaping hole. Probably lots of people will reply to this; what happened to your bread is called 'shelling'. I make a raisin loaf with a cinnamon spiral that sometimes does this, and very occasionally all shaped loaves do it - batards, for example. Here's what I've found reduces the risk; nothing guarantees that it won't happen. Spread the dough with egg instead of butter before adding the filling. I worked this out and then found it in Rose's Bread Bible as well!! I was really pleased to have duplicated the thoughts of a master. Give the dough a long, cold rest in the refrigerator before shaping. Proof timing is crucial. It seems to shell more if there's huge ovenspring, or none. I tried extending my proofing time for about ten minutes each time I baked until I hit a time that seemed to leave the bread with some spring but not a huge amount. A lower-than-usual oven - again, this affects spring. I've also had better results in a cooling oven than a rising oven, but my sister-in- law says the opposite. Hope this helps, Diane Purkiss --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.7 --------------- From: "Anita" Subject: Laurie Colwins Bread Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 09:57:34 -0700 In the 1980's there was a writer by the name of Laurie Colwin, who had a column in Gourmet Magazine. One of her articles, "Four Easy Pieces" had the same message, that yes you COULD produce a wonderful meal while working, raising children and other too numerous tasks to mention. Her articles are combined into two wonderful books, "Home Cooking" and "More Home Cooking" and have a prominent place in my kitchen. One of the four easy pieces is a great bread, and one I return to each year after a summers hiatus of not baking because of temperature. "The Bread", by Laurie Colwin This recipe produces two loaves, one for sandwiches and one for the worlds best toast. 1. An hour before you go to bed, fling 1 cup oatmeal into your blender and grind. Put the oatmeal, 1 cup of wheat germ (I have always used toasted), 6 cups of white flour, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of yeast into a large bowl. About 3 cups of tepid water will make up the dough. Knead it, roll it in flour and put it right back in the bowl you mixed it up in. Cover the bowl and go to sleep. 2. The next morning, make the coffee and knock down the bread. Divide it in half and put each half into a buttered bread tin, (you can butter them the night before and put in the fridge to save time in the morning) cover the tins with a tea towel and go to work. 3. When you come home, heat the oven to 400 F, brush the loaves with milk (this is a frill and need not be done, but it makes a nice looking crust) and bake for 40 minutes, turning once. It is hard to describe the nutty, buttery taste of this bread, and it is worth the 15 minutes of work it took you to make." Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes Laurie, you touched all of our hearts and we miss you. Laurie died in 1992. Anita Flanigan p.s. I have cut this recipe in half and let the magic of the bread machine take over and knead it on manual, took it out, dusted it in flour and put in a plastic bag in the fridge overnight. Easy, easy. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.8 --------------- From: Harry Glass Subject: re: whole wheat bread, etc. Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:44:29 -0700 (PDT) Joe Tilman wrote: >Re: a light, fluffy whole wheat >I would doubt it was 100% whole wheat, probably closer to 25-30% ww / >70-75% white. Joe, First a disclaimer: I didn't read the message to which your reply below referred. If taken at face value, your reply suggests that you haven't made serious attempts at baking above average 100% whole wheat bread. If you had, you would have learned, as I did more than 15 years ago, that it is easy. All it takes is a good basic recipe (e.g., the one on the 5 lb. bag of King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour), a little research at the library for ideas in bread baking books, and a little experimentation with changes to the basic recipe. As a result of my doing the above, I have been making unbeatably light, fluffy, great tasting honey 100% whole wheat bread for years. Harry --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.9 --------------- From: Diane Brown Subject: Re: Whole wheat breads Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 14:52:52 -0500 RosesCakeBible@aol.com wrote: >what i wrote and said about bread made with 100% wholewheat flour being >dense and bitter is not true when you use freshly ground high protein >wheat berries. Glad to see you've seen the light! By the way, your pretzel recipe in the Bread Bible is super made with freshly ground hard white wheat flour. I've done it several times now and the only problem is that it gets eaten up so fast! And for Theresa, who wants to make whole grain sourdough and sprouted wheat breads, I'd suggest finding a copy of the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book as a first step. It's an excellent introduction to whole grain baking. After you're comfortable with their basic recipes, you can really substitute fresh-ground whole wheat flour in almost any recipe. I like to blend my hard and soft white wheats to try to match the protein content of the flour recommended in the recipe, and you can play with adding a tablespoon or so of gluten flour per loaf if you're not satisfied with the texture you get with straight wheat. The new hard white wheats do have a slightly milder flavor than hard red wheats, which is helpful especially if you're using recipes for flavored/spiced/fancy breads designed for white flour. I believe that the Laurel's Kitchen book also has an extensive section on sprouted wheat breads, but I've never tried their recipe so can't make a specific recommendation. I have made the amazing sprouted wheat/apricot unyeasted flatbread from Flatbreads and Flavors many times, especially to take with me on trips because it is such a great keeping bread--though quite dense and chewy and not perhaps to everyone's taste. Diane Brown in St. Louis http://www.well.com/user/debunix --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.10 --------------- From: RisaG Subject: Re: in the news Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 04:48:32 -0700 (PDT) Rose wrote about refrigerating the dough until the following day or evening before baking. I do something similar with some of my doughs - I refrigerate them overnight and then bake them the next day. What i want to know is...do you do it right out of the refrigerator or do you leave the dough to warm up to room temp before baking? I've heard that if you bake it straight out of the oven that the bread is crispier in the crust. Is this true? I've done that with pizza dough but not bread dough (straight out of the refrigerator and into the oven). I find that it makes life a lot easier when you don't have a ton of time to bake. RisaG --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.11 --------------- From: RisaG Subject: Freezing dough Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 04:51:44 -0700 (PDT) Someone asked what to do with freezing dough? How to handle it? I form breads all the time and then freeze the dough. I remove it from the freezer, let the dough come to room temperature and then form the shape and let it rise again. Then I bake it. Works quite well. In fact, I did that for one of my bubble loaves for next weeks party. I made the dough, let it rise, and then I broke it into the balls and then froze the balls. This week I will thaw them out, get them to room temperature, fill them with the magical garlic mixture, and then bake them in the wonderful loaf that they make. I did that as an experiment to see if that works. I've done it before for rolls but never for my loaf. We'll see what happens. I'll post the results. Otherwise I bake loaves and then cool them, freeze them, and then they are used as needed. I have 2 full loaves, already baked, in the freezer ready to go. Can't wait to thaw those dough balls and see what happens. Further notes on this to come. RisaG --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.12 --------------- From: Gonzo White Subject: Sprouty bread Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 06:57:17 -0500 I have had this recipe for a sprouted wheat bread for years. But it was just to much work to buy the wheat, set up trays and sprout it. Then I saw this recipe from Fleishman's for a toasted oat bread. And, I thought that sounds nice.. So I played around and made up this recipe. It really came out well.. Its very healthy, yet its light and tasty and different. I substituted Regular Soy sprouts that you can buy at any grocery store... I have to admit the dates just disappeared and I think next time I will leave them out and add one more Tablespoon of Brown Sugar.. Or maybe honey. Sprouty Bread 1 cup of soy bean sprouts (or wheat) 2 cups of white flour 1 cup of whole wheat 1 tea salt 1/3 cup of Toasted Oats.* 5 Dates, chopped up ** 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar 1 1/2 tea of yeast 1/2 cup milk (Warm a bit) 1/2 cup of water 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil (or butter) Dump everything in, in the normal order for you machine using the white bread cycle. Note.. The bean sprouts contain quite a bit of water That is released as they are mashed up in the kneading. So check the consistency of the dough after a few minutes and make sure its not to soft and sticky.. If it is add a bit more flour. * to Toast put on a sheet or pan and bake at 350 F for 10 to 15 minutes **If you don't have an open package of dates just add one more Tablespoon of Sugar. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.13 --------------- From: Bev C Subject: non-stick muffin tin sticking Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 07:53:36 -0500 Mike from Havana asked how to make a non-stick pan actually non-stick when baking muffins. I'm not sure what coating you have on your pan but if it will stand up to preheating, try preheating the pan for a few moments. When your batter is ready, pull the pan from the oven, spritz or brush it with oil and then add your batter. Some non-stick surfaces release harmful gases is heated alone but some of the non-stick muffin tins don't. I use Chicago metallic mini-loaf pans and this works great for them. Bev C --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.14 --------------- From: Ark1411@aol.com Subject: Converting Bread Machine Recipes Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 09:38:33 EDT I have always made my bread doughs by hand, not in a bread machine, just as I prefer to knit by hand. It is my therapy and love to feel the dough or yarn in my hand. There are so many bread machine recipes given and have always wondered if there was a formula for easily converting them. I usually just play with the recipe but am never sure if they come out as they are suppose to. I thought, who would be better to ask, than all the wonderful bakers on this list. Adele --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v104.n046.15 --------------- From: RosesCakeBible@aol.com Subject: Re: cinnamon-raisin bread Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 10:20:10 EDT Katie Johnson wrote about problems with a cinnamon-raisin roll: >... on a cross-section, the dough was tightly wound until the top, where >it had come apart, leaving a gaping hole. katie, i went crazy trying to get to the bottom of the separation problem, making loaf after loaf until i finally hit on the answer (and don't judge from the photo in my book--i forgot to tell the secret to the stylist!) 1) use lightly beaten whole egg instead of butter to brush on the dough before sprinkling and rolling 2) add the raisins to the dough instead of sprinkling them on. this makes a huge difference. cinnamon raisin bread is one of my favorites and i thought it was well-worth the effort to perfect! best, rose levy beranbaum --------------- END bread-bakers.v104.n046 --------------- Copyright (c) 1996-2004 Regina Dwork and Jeffrey Dwork All Rights Reserved