Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 07:47:02 GMT -------------- BEGIN bread-bakers.v108.n034 -------------- 001 - Epwerth15@aol.com - Re: Hamburger bun recipe 002 - Roel Wyman Subject: Re: pizza flour Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:20:56 -0400 Many commercial pizza flours contain dough enhancers, relaxers and extenders. They offer different modifications to the taste and handling qualities of the dough. Domestic pizza flours may contain some or none of these additives. This is not to say that pure (wheat-only) flours are inferior for pizza, it's not as simple as that; in fact, it's too complex to go into detail here. One of the relaxers that turns some people off is L-cysteine hydrochloride also known as E920 or E921. This product is often made from hydrolized human hair (don't believe me? search the internet!). Minute quantities in the range of tens of parts per million help soften the dough and thus reduce processing time. If additives bother you, don't use any commercial (that is, for professional bakers and pizzerias) pizza flour. There are many alternatives that give excellent results, but you may want to closely check the ingredients on the manufacturer's web site before committing. Roel --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v108.n034.3 --------------- From: "Steve Gomes" Subject: stones Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:53:13 -0600 I was making colzones and decided to slide four of them on the stone. I was distracted and didn't pound the dough out like I should have - just stretched it. The other three were fine but that one when I put it on the stone made a lot of sizzling so stuff came out at the bottom and the stoned cracked. I can't keep breaking these stones. I have been thru four of them in about 20 years. This one broke right away. Are some better than others? I guess you absolutely can't get any liquid on them or they crack. Any ideas? --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v108.n034.4 --------------- From: "Sam Holloway" Subject: Re: Hamburger buns Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:49:51 +1000 Hi Steve, A great hamburber bun recipe is this : 500 g flour - unbleached, whole wheat, or a mixture of the two 4 Tablespoons powdered milk 4 Tablespoons sugar 4 Tablespoons oil 1 Tablespoon yeast 1 Tablespoon Baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups water Mix all. Knead well. Let proof until doubled. Divide into 12-14 portions. Shape (this is very important as your final product will look better, the better your shaping technique). Let proof until almost doubled and slightly squish with the back of a spatula, so they don't come out round like a dinner roll. You'll get a soft and light bun from this recipe, and don't forget to spray with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds before baking. Cheers, Sam. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v108.n034.5 --------------- From: "Werner Gansz" Subject: High Hydration Focaccia Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:01:55 -0400 This focaccia recipe uses ingredients from Peter Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice" Sicilian Bread recipe, hydration levels from "Cooks Illustrated" recent high hydration pizza dough and mixing and proofing procedure from Joe Ortiz's "The Village Baker" Genoa Focaccia recipe. I've done many focaccias and have never been satisfied with the texture of the final bread. Most are dry and have a "bready" texture. I started using BBA's Sicilian Bread dough (a mixture of white flour and semolina flour) for pizzas and we like it very much. I tried the Cooks Illustrated high hydration pizza procedure and the pizza was excellent but had more of a focaccia thickness and texture. The pizza dough is too wet to roll or stretch so it just gets poured and pushed into a rough pizza shape. I looked up my old "Village Baker" Genoa Focaccia recipe in Ortiz and decided that I would merge the three sources into one, a very high hydration semolina Genoa Focaccia. Focaccia's don't have to be shaped so a high hydration dough that is "pourable" is quite practical and workable. Ortiz doesn't add toppings to his Genoa Focaccia but Reinhart has several in BBA and American Pie. I used a simple topping of soft cooked diced onion, diced sun dried tomato, and grated parmesan. Before you read further, Ortiz's focaccia rises in a herbed olive oil bath and absorbs a lot of oil. The final bread is delightfully oily so you will need to keep a napkin handy. If you think focaccia is just thick pizza dough than you may not like this version. The texture of this high hydration bread has the classic uneven holes and shiny crumb but there are no oversize voids to cause burning of the crust. The crumb is not bready nor is it pasty. High Hydration Genoa Focaccia Poolish - 100% hydration 5 1/4 oz. All Purpose Flour 5 1/4 oz. Water Pinch yeast - approx 1/8 tsp in winter, 1/16 tsp in summer Semolina Dough - 90% hydration All of the poolish above 5 oz. All Purpose Flour 6 oz. Semolina Flour 2 tsp sea salt 2 tsp Instant Yeast (Bread Machine Yeast) 9 1/4 oz. water - slightly warmed 1 Tb. olive oil 2 tsp. honey Olive Oil Bath 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 4 finely diced garlic cloves 8 sage leaves, coarsely chopped or coarsely shredded by hand 1 tsp sea salt. Toppings - your choice or none Remember that there are already garlic and herbs in the oil bath. Lightly sauteed diced onion and diced sun dried tomatoes, plus a sprinkling of parmesan. Both BBA and "American Pie" also have toppings You can also use coarse salt as a topping If you start in the morning, the focaccia should be done in time for your pasta dinner. Mix the poolish in the early morning and let is rise until very bubbly, about 4 to 5 hours. I always dissolve the instant yeast in the water first. It can't hurt and it distributes the tiny amount of yeast very efficiently. While the poolish is rising, mix the ingredients of the olive oil bath together. For the dough, mix the yeast into the water, then add the honey and olive oil, stir until the honey is dissolved. Pour the yeast mixture into the poolish and stir until the poolish is dissolved. Measure and mix the flours and salt into the bowl from an electric mixer. (This is an electric mixer job. I have no idea how long it would take to mix this dough by hand with a spoon. The procedure comes from Carol Field's "the Italian Baker".) Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and blend using the flat beater on "STIR" speed for two minutes. Stop and let everything hydrate for 15 to 20 minutes. Still with the flat beater, mix on speed 2 for at least 12 to 13 minutes. Speed 2 on my Viking is one speed above "STIR". Every 3 minutes or so, lift the head to let the dough (or batter) fall back into the mix. Somewhere around minute 11 you should see the batter tighten up and start to draw away from the sides of the bowl. After 12 to 13 minutes the dough should be clinging to the flat beater but with a large puddle in the bottom of the bowl. It still won't look like dough, it never will. Pour 1/3 of the Olive Oil bath mixture into the bottom of a rising bowl and spread it around. The rising bowl should be big enough to allow for tripling of the dough. Pour the dough out of the mixing bowl into the rising bowel (a plastic dough scraper helps here). Pour the remainder of the herbed oil bath over the top of the dough and spread with a brush (carefully, it is very sticky) to coat the entire dough surface. Cover and let rise until tripled (3 to 4 hours). There will still be some oil bath under the dough but you will be surprised how much has been absorbed. Use a bit more olive oil or PAM to grease the inside of a 4-sided 11" X 17" sheet pan. Pour the dough into the pan but try to keep as much of the unabsorbed oil bath in the rising bowl. Spread the dough as evenly as possible. It may take a few "rests" before you can get it into the corners. (At this point the dough is very slimy and unappetizing. Take heart!) Pour the remaining oil bath from the rising bowl onto the dough and spread as evenly as possible. Try to spread large puddles as their weight will prevent the dough from rising. Add toppings now. This very soft wet dough can't handle heavy, meaty toppings, it won't lift them. If you put them on later it will collapse. Be gentle. Cover the dough with a second 11 x 17 pan upside-down. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Use a baking stone if you have one. After one hour the dough should be at the rim of the pan, about double. Prick any obvious large bubbles. If puddles have prevented rising in one area, use a soft brush to spread the oil out. Most of the oil should now be gone and the dough should have a shiny surface. (Some procedures say to gently push the dough down slightly with your open, oiled palm. I tried but this dough is too sticky. Bake on the stone for 25 to 30 minutes, until the crust turns a light tan. Remove the focaccia from the pan using a 1 sided cookie sheet as a spatula and place it on a cooling rack with paper towel under it. The finished focaccia is still fragile and will break easily if you try to lift it without support. This focaccia is fun to make. You get to grease up your hands, your cloths and everything you touch with garlicky olive oil. You can't eat a piece without getting oil on your hands but the taste and texture are excellent and, I believe, authentic. Once you have made one you can adjust the type and quantity of herbs and garlic to taste. Rosemary focaccia is also excellent. --------------- END bread-bakers.v108.n034 --------------- Copyright (c) 1996-2008 Regina Dwork and Jeffrey Dwork All Rights Reserved