Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 08:05:42 GMT -------------- BEGIN bread-bakers.v107.n016 -------------- 001 - FMTZ@aol.com - Pot for "No Knead" bread 002 - "Doug Essinger-Hileman" < - Ciabatta 003 - rvh@inteliport.com - Re: Flour 004 - "Allen Cohn" Subject: Ciabatta Date: Sun, 06 May 2007 18:33:30 -0400 I've been reading the list since January; this is my first post. It is to brag a bit (I hope that isn't considered rude) and to ask a question. I made my first ciabatta last week. I used the formula given in Maggie Glezer's _Artisan Baking_ for Craig Ponsford's ciabatta as a rough guide, with the inspiration to try a poolish instead of a biga from Peter Reinhart's _A Bread Baker's Apprentice_. (To convert to a poolish, I "took" some water from the dough and added it to the biga, and adjusted the yeast based on the recommendations of Rose Levy Beranbaum's _The Bread Bible_ for a 6-hour poolish. In place of the mix of bread and all-purpose flour in Ponsford's formula, I substituted my version of wheatmeal (based on the suggestion in the American version, 1982 edition, of Elizabeth David's _English Bread and Yeast Cookery_, which says that one can approximate English wheatmeal by mixing 1 cup of whole wheat flour, 4 cups of all-purpose flour and a handful or two of wheatgerm) in both the preferment and the dough. And in the dough, I substituted four tablespoons of rye flour for 3 tablespoons of the wheatmeal, mirroring the composition of the poolish. I mixed the poolish at about noon, and mixed the dough around 6 pm. Following the directions in Glezer's book, I allowed the dough to ferment for about an hour and a half, turning it every 20 minutes. Then I put the dough into the refrigerator to allow it a retarded ferment overnight. The next morning, I allowed it to come to room temperature, shaped it, allowed it to proof for 45 minutes then baked it. I baked on my "hearth" (based on Reinhart's recommendations in BBA). And the loaves were magnificent. The crust was crackling crisp and the crumb was tender and irregularly laced with large holes. I was ecstatic, as this is the first bread I've baked where I've successfully created the irregular, large holes in the crumb. My questions are two: Glezer introduces this formula with, "This is a large, dramatic bread full of huge holes and beautifully striped with flour." Can I assume that she means that the outside is striped with flour? Secondly, the instructions suggest "using plenty of flour for dusting [the dough during turning] 3 or 4 times." I forgot to dust at all during the dusting. I assume that this led to the dough remaining fairly wet, which obviously worked out well. Would someone like to surmise what effects would result from actually using the flour to dust during turning? TIA Doug --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v107.n016.3 --------------- From: rvh@inteliport.com Subject: Re: Flour Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 20:44:49 -0400 (EDT) Finding high protein flour in the US is easy. Wal-Mart for starters usually carries King Arthur but any brand (Pilsbury, Gold Medal, etc) make bread or "better for bread" types (which means high protein). Actually any supermarket has several brands and types. All-purpose flour is lower protein. Bread flour is higher protein. I usually try and get unbleached. The instant yeast is also available everywhere, usually in bricks that are $3-5 and, if frozen, last forever. Start with Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice and Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible. Both mention specific yeasts so you'll get the right one! They'll spell it all out!!!!!!!!!! Good luck and G'Day! Rich-in-NC --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v107.n016.4 --------------- From: "Allen Cohn" Subject: RE: flour Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 22:46:44 -0700 Hi Liz, The major supermarkets should carry several brands of flour that are just fine for making dough: * General Mills Gold Medal "Better For Bread" flour is a strong (high protein) flour for those breads that require it, such as bagels. I like it for my sandwich bread, too. * General Mills also just started selling their "Harvest King" medium protein flour (very popular with many artisan bakeries) to the public. It makes a great baguette. Most supermarkets (such as Safeway) should have it. * General Mills unbleached all purpose flour (even less protein than Harvest King, but more than cake flour) is the most widely available...and the best for "no knead" bread and other crusty, rustic breads. Pillsbury's should work, too. I'd be a bit wary of stores' private label brands--the quality may not be consistent. King Arthur's all purpose flour has a bit more protein in it than I might want for these rustic breads, but it might work, too. Supermarkets also carry yeast...but at exorbitant prices. Instead go to Costco, Smart & Final or whatever the local warehouse store is and buy the one pound vacuum pack packages of Fermipan or SAF instant yeast. The cost/ounce is 1/16th the cost/ounce of the little envelopes of yeast. A pound (about $2.60) may seem like a lot, but it stores well. Put a little in a zip top bag and store in the refrigerator; put the rest in another zip top bag and store in the freezer. It will last for ages. A variety of bread improvers can be found at King Arthur's online store: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/ under "shop"->"ingredients"->"Bread Improvers & Conditioners" and "shop"->"Bread Baking"->"Loaf Improvers". But I don't think she will need any... Hope this helps. Allen San Francisco --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v107.n016.5 --------------- From: "Farnes_Quinn" Subject: Bread Flour in Carlsbad Date: Mon, 7 May 2007 07:41:40 -0700 G'day Liz, Your sister can find bread flour at: Smart and Final 2618 El Camino Real Carlsbad, CA (760) 434-5036 They should have it in 25 lb bags. 25 lbs. just fits in a 5 gallon plastic paint bucket available at home centers/hardware stores. Quinn --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v107.n016.6 --------------- From: debunix Subject: Peter Reinhart's new book Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 10:45:58 -0500 I just checked Reinhart's blog and the book should be out in September, yay! Title is _Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor_. http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/ --diane in st. louis --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v107.n016.7 --------------- From: RisaG Subject: flour Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 08:54:11 -0700 (PDT) Flour for bread making can be found at any supermarket these days. Many companies make it - Gold Medal Better for Bread King Arthur Robin Hood Pillsbury It says "bread flour" on the label or "Specifically for Bread" or something like that. Very easy to find. Also, King Arthur sells an organic bread flour too, in smaller sacks. King Arthur can be expensive but it is worth it. For even better flour, look for Wheat Montana brand. I think there are a few other specialty grain companies that make it too - Bob's Red Mill I think does too. If they can't be found in Carlsbad, I am sure they can be found online. Good luck, RisaG --------------- END bread-bakers.v107.n016 --------------- Copyright (c) 1996-2007 Regina Dwork and Jeffrey Dwork All Rights Reserved