Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 06:19:23 GMT -------------- BEGIN bread-bakers.v105.n005 -------------- 001 - RisaG Subject: Maple syrup sources Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 05:20:08 -0800 (PST) Also, King Arthur catalog also sells pure maple syrup, as does Stonewall Kitchen. bakerscatalogue.com stonewallkitchen.com RisaG --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.2 --------------- From: "mike fuller" Subject: Moist Bran Muffins? Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:36:54 -0500 Does anyone have a good trick to get very moist bran muffins? I've been using this recipe as a base and its OK but lacks real moisture: BRAN MUFFINS 1 cp fl 1 cp bran 1 egg 1 cp mlk 2 tbs but splash vanilla sprinkle cinammon 1 tsp bak powd 1 tsp bak soda 1/4 cp sug 1/ tsp slt Thanks so much for your wonderful comments. Mike in Havana PS. Try this: "Sprouted lentil-carrot honey loaf" It's full of Vit C, A, iron and fructose. People love it... --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.3 --------------- From: "adam tenner" Subject: Bagel Help - Montreal bagels Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 22:24:58 -0500 Speaking of bagels, there is actually a third kind - the Montreal kind. These littler, sweeter, sesame-er bagels are AMAZING. my step-mom is from Montreal and she always has some in the freezer when I visit her in Florida. If you're visiting Montreal, don't miss going to some of the great bagel shops on St. Viateur, like the (believe it or not) "La maison du Bagel". I'd love to find a good recipe if anyone has one. -Adam Tenner --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.4 --------------- From: "adam tenner" Subject: re: looking for 3 loaf mixer Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 22:49:47 -0500 We have an Electrolux mixer: http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/items/item5022.html It's crazy expensive but holds up to 8 quarts. I made a pretty tough rye bread the other day and it had no problem. It's a bit strange as the bowl turns instead of the beaters. -Adam Tenner --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.5 --------------- From: LHruska816@aol.com Subject: "Golden" bread Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 08:21:49 EST St Andrews Church in Port Isabel, Tx is celebrating its 50th anniversary this winter, kicking off with a luncheon on February 13 at which they want to serve "golden food". My contribution is to be bread. I seem to be the only Winter Texan who still enjoys making bread. I do not have a bread machine. Does anyone have an idea for making bread "golden"? I am considering rolls or loaves to accompany chicken, vegetables, and salads, not a sweet quick bread. Thanks. Lois --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.6 --------------- From: "Philip Seitz" Subject: Why poke the dough? Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 09:57:11 -0500 I am interested in technical aspects of breadmaking, and have appreciated the increasing inclusion of "why" explanations in recent publications. However, I still haven't found a good explanation of the test for adequate rising--that is, poking the dough with a finger to see if the dough remains indented, or bounces back. Even if we accept that this works, what has happened to the bread that has resulted in its change in response? My only thought is that the maturing dough may have reached the end of its tolerance, and therefore needs to be baked fairly soon to avoid collapsing. Any other thought and/or footnotes out there? Phillip R. Seitz Curator of History Cliveden of the National Trust, Inc. 6401 Germantown Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19144 V: 215-848-1777 F: 215-438-2892 --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.7 --------------- From: The Lawrences Subject: Carol Field's Cocodrillo Bread Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:33:26 -0500 From her "The Italian Baker" book, this bread is a pain to make but my wife loves it so I make it once a month just for her (okay, I like it too). When we get our bakery up and running in the next few months this bread will be offered. I haven't any idea how to make this bread in a commercial setting and was hoping someone on this list might descibe how they do it or at least some helpful suggestions. The dough is very wet and handling is very difficult. Maybe if someone had Ms. Fields email address I could ask her how the Italian bakers did it. Thanks for any help. Douglas Lawrence Millstone Bread Castleton, Ontario Ph: 905-344-7016 --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.8 --------------- From: Robert Turnbull Subject: Moist abm bread? Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 21:27:02 -0500 Mar wrote: >I bake all my bread in the abm. It tastes great but is a little dry and >sometimes crumbles easily. Any suggestions as to how to get the moist, >springy quality I admire in deli bread? My solution is to mix the bread with the machine but to bake it in the oven. First, I use the dough cycle to mix the bread. Then I remove the dough from the machine, shape the loaf, place it in a bread pan and allow it to rise. Finally I bake the bread at 350F for 30 minutes. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.9 --------------- From: "Michael C. Zusman" Subject: Bagel Talk Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 21:59:02 -0800 I appreciated Mike Avery's discussion of bagel baking, but offer a few comments of my own based on about 8 years of baking them (and an embarrassing number of compliments from transplanted easterners): 1. There is only one authentic style of bagels, and they aren't big and fluffy. We can call those impostors either doughnuts or round-shaped breads--but they aren't really bagels in any true sense of the word. Mike makes 4 ouncers; I keep mine to about 3.5 oz. And Mike is right about another thing--anything called a bagel that isn't boiled is a fraud. This also relates to baking time and temp. The big fluffy fakes also tend to be real pale, as though someone was trying to get those babies in and out of the oven as quickly as possible. (You can figure out why high volume, chain bakeries would want to do it this way.) Baking dark--as Mike suggests, around 425F for 15+ minutes--yields a well-caramelized, blistered, crunchy crust. This is what the exterior of a real bagel is all about. 2. Another point well made by Mike is the benefit of using sourdough. In one respect, sourdough is nothing more than fermented flour. Fermentation means flavor development (not necessarily, or desirably, sour taste). So, using sourdough gives you a jump start on pulling as much flavor as possible out of the wheat. This is all the more important when using higher gluten flour which may yield a flatter taste than lower gluten flours. I use about 1.75 pounds of 100% hydration sourdough culture to every 2 pounds of flour. 3. I disagree with Mike about limiting dough hydration levels to 50%. Totally unnecessary. I still get a great, jaw-tiring chew from about a 60% dough. The other benefit is that after rolling out the ropes of dough (I don't use the punch-a-hole method), they will readily adhere when rolling the ends over one another to form the rounds. At 50%, I used to have a helluva time and messing with drops of water on the bench to get the ends to stick was a royal pain in the. . .neck. All that and a 60% dough is so much easier on your mixer. 4. Boiling time: I read in one of my books the wisdom attributed to an old Jewish baker that you never boil more than 10 seconds a side. This is what I do: put it in the vigorously boiling water, count to 10, flip it over with my stir fry tool, count to 10, then remove. I don't see the point of keeping the bagels in the water any longer. After 20 seconds, the proteins on the exterior of the pre-bagel are well gelatinized, ready to turn into a lovely dark crust. 5. Barley malt: I agree with Mike that this is a critical ingredient in both the dough and the boiling water. My only difference with Mike is that I prefer barley malt syrup to the powder. The syrup seems to have a cleaner malt taste; the powder is a little bitter. I use about 4 oz. in my basic small batch of dough (to 32 oz. of flour). 6. Retarding: Overnight, as Mike suggests, is good; 24 hours is better. In addition to more flavor development, the long retard allows a nice thick skin to form on the bagels, once again promoting that crispy crust you want. BTW, I place my formed rounds on pieces of parchment paper sprinkled generously with semolina and cover the rounds with linen (or other relatively fiber free) dish towels. I have not had any difficulty with sticking. 7. One other thing. With all due respect to those who enjoy their breads with fruit or cheese or jalapenos or cinnamon or chocolate chips or any other items sitting idly in the panty, bagels with these additions would make old man Mosler (the last great Jewish baker here in Portland) spin in his grave. I limit my choices to plain, salt, poppy and sesame. If I'm feeling daring, I make pumpernickel dough with a little caraway. And I can understand onion or garlic on top too (though these are better used in a fine bialy or pletzel--but that's a whole other subject isn't it?). I should probably leave it at that. Happy baking. --mcz --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.10 --------------- From: "Gardner, Meryl" Subject: pita bread Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 09:22:39 -0500 Hi -- My family enjoys pita bread, and we were wondering what causes it to form its characteristic pocket. Any explanations would be much appreciated. I'd love to try to bake some pita, especially if I can make the dough in my bread maker. If you have an easy recipe, please share it with us. Thanks and have a great weekend -- Meryl --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n005.11 --------------- From: "Valmai Barbala" Subject: Baker's percentage Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 03:40:35 +1030 Hello, I know I am being cheeky, but I am very confused, and I thought you may be kind enough to help me. I sent away for the book The Bread Builders, by Daniel Wing and Alan Scott. I have started to make the leaven on page 58 and understand that, but when I have made the leaven, how do I calculate how much flour, water etc to use? They write of Bakers percentage, but that only confuses me further. I would ask the authors, but there is not an e - mail address. Thank you, Sincerely, Valmai --------------- END bread-bakers.v105.n005 --------------- Copyright (c) 1996-2005 Regina Dwork and Jeffrey Dwork All Rights Reserved