What do your meals look like (show me pictures)....

ddsb1111 wrote: »

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

Plain old bread.

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I hope to make bread of that quality at some point. I’m definitely struggling but enjoying the process regardless. Here’s my recent batches. I’ve had to figure out why they burn on the bottom and what to do about that (putting a cookie sheet on the bottom rack as helped somewhat). They’re also fairly dense in the middle still. I’ve also purchased a Dutch oven and I’m experimenting with different recipes, but my oven isn’t cooperating with their temperature and timing recommendations. I don’t remember making bread this hard before. Anyway, I won’t give up. I’ve recently purchase a sourdough starter from Etsy and looking forward to using that in the future. Please send your tips and tricks if you have any.

My first breads were recipes from the "artisanbreadwithstev" youtube channel about 5-6 yrs ago. Lots of good, simple advice there to start, mostly variations on a theme. He has an approx 3-hr "turbo" process which is, with some tweaks, the basic approach I still use most often for standard loaves. I also experiment with different grains, inclusions, flavorings, shapes and more. Dutch ovens or cast-iron skillets are great for certain results; I use mine occasionally. The Dutch oven could ease the quirks of your kitchen oven by creating a consistent internal environment for your bread once it reaches temperature. Sometimes for better crust when using open bake pans, I place a pan of water in the oven as the wise old French bakers used to do. Another method is brushing some water on the loaf before you put it in the oven (just a little). I do this on some batches, but didn't on the batch depicted above which yielded a normal crust. I up the water added to the flour mix a bit for breads using whole wheat flour versus only bread flour. Try experimenting with other brand flours; I tend to use King Arthur mostly. My next big leap will be to mill my own grain - I have a mill - but downsizing and moving into a retirement home this past year has kept that project at bay. There are a couple of good channels on the home milling approach.

I still don't (after all these years) have a baking stone, which helps with heat management. I often, as in this batch, invert one sheet pan, preheat it, and place my loaf pans into another, upright sheet pan on top of the first. I saw this somewhere as a way to emulate a baking stone. Steve's methods are pretty flexible about ingredients (as opposed to other sources who are rigorously precise in their measurements), but I find keeping to his recommmendations on temp (400F) and time (40 minutes) has never resulted in a burned bottom and have been successful. On a wetter dough I keep in a bit longer. I give the loaves about 10 min to sit in their bake pans after removal from the oven, then pop them out to rack cool and expel steam for a couple of hours. You may also find the "chainbaker" youtube channel useful ... he goes more into details and experiments on hydration and proofing, for instance, which might result in density fluctuations. Mine above is slightly underproofed but I think still pretty well in the groove. Good luck. Your loaves look appetizing.

Those are some of the offhand "tips and tricks" I have to offer at this time. Good luck, you're already on your way.

mtaratoot wrote: »

Be careful with that pan of water.

I spilled some room-temperature water while putting a pan in the oven for my bread crust. A tiny bit fell off the pan and hit the glass of the oven door. What a mess. My oven door has three panes of glass, so at least I was able to continue using the oven while I waited for the new glass to come in, and it took a LONG time. In fact, the stove store had to order one from a different source as the less expensive one didn't seem to arrive. Months later I got a call - they were wondering if I still wanted this glass. Uh... Yeah, I did many months ago. Sigh.

If you can find a baking stone at a yard sale or thrift shop, it's a good way to save a few bucks. I love mine. A friend found it at a yard sale for three bucks. I found a second one at a thrift shop. I didn't like it as well, but it works OK. Even now it still works even though it's cracked. I don't remember what cracked it, but I'm sure it was some liquid.

ddsb1111 wrote: »

@mjbnj0001 Thank you for that thoughtful and detailed response. I’m going to look into those YouTube channels, I’m sure I’ll spiral down the YT rabbit hole of bread making once again but I’m just fascinated, I can’t help it. I’ve tried the water approach when baking baguettes a few times but those were a total fail- I think my yeast was dead/expired. So I ordered new yeast and started buying better flour which seemed to help. Then I went to Croatia and fell in love with their bread so started making the Dutch oven round loaves. I love it so much I’m adamant about learning it no matter what. It’s a work in progress and I need to get the internal texture right, but they’re edible. I’ve found my oven is a great proving box with just the light on, and laying either a cookie sheet or aluminum foil on the bottom wrack has helped reduce the dark bottom, but I’m still making a lot of tweaks. One day I’ll nail it and it will be so worth it.

Question- the recipe I’m currently using is a No Knead recipe. What happens if I do knead it? Will it make it better or will I lose all those big air pockets that I like so much? My bread feels so dense and doughy even though the internal temp says 200f, and the outside looks great, so I’m not sure what to do about that. I thought maybe I should try kneading it to see if it would help. Current cook temp is 445 (but my oven thermometer says closer to 500) for about 40m with lid on, then 15m lid off. After removing from the oven it sits in the Dutch oven a little while longer because it still seems doughy. Maybe I should reduce the temp even more and increase cook time? Now off to YT. I need to see what milling grain is all about 😊.