/ck/ - Food & Cooking » Thread #695325

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Anonymous Wed 26 Nov 2008 23:16:00 No.695325 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By:

Hi /ck/,

I'd like to start baking, crusty breads preferably. I have:

All-purpose flour
Bread flour
Dry yeast
Eggs
Water
Oil
Salted/Unsalted Butter

Where do I begin, and are there any good sites with good tutorials? Also, how do I use a starter in dough? Protips? Any help is appreciated.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 26 Nov 2008 23:28:00 No.695341 Report

Quoted By:

buy it from a store

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 26 Nov 2008 23:30:00 No.695345 Report

Quoted By:

put a pan of water in the oven with the bread to encourage a crispy outer shell. Aside from that, google recipes and just choose what you think is good and start; that's what I do whenever I want to learn to cook something new.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 26 Nov 2008 23:34:00 No.695349 Report

Quoted By:

I can give you a recipe for a very crusty bread called Poppy-seeded Bloomer that I found in this book called Cooking With Just Four Ingredients. Copying this verbatim, and it will be long:

6 cups white bread flour
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
Poppy seeds, for sprinkling

1) Lightly grease a baking sheet. Sift the flour and 2 tsp salt together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.

2) Measure a scant 2 cups lukewarm water and stir about a third of it into the yeast in a bowl. Stir in the remaining water and pour into the centre of the flour. Mix, gradually incorporating the surrounding flour, into a firm dough.

3) Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough very well, for at least 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with lightly oiled clear film (plastic wrap) and leave to rise, at cool room temperature, for 5 - 6 hours or until doubled in bulk.

4) Knock back (punch down) the dough, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it thoroughly for about 5 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl and re-cover. Leave to rise, at cool room temperature, for a further 2 hours or slightly longer.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 26 Nov 2008 23:34:00 No.695350 Report

Quoted By:

5) Knock back again and repeat the thorough kneading. Leave the dough to rest for 5 minutes, then roll out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle 2.5cm/1in thick. Roll the dough up from one long side and shape it into a square-ended, thick baton shape about 33x13cm/13x5in.

6) Place the loaf, seam side up, on a lightly floured baking sheet. Cover with lightly oiled clear film and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Turn the loaf over and place on the greased baking sheet. Plump the loaf up by tucking the dough under the sides and ends, Using a sharp knife, cut six diagonal slashes on the top.

7) Leave to rest, covered, in a warm place, for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas 8.

8) Mix the remaining salt with 30ml/2tbsp water and brush this glaze over the bread. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.

9) Spray the oven with water, bake the bread immediately for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Bake for 25 minutes more, or until golden and it sounds hollow when tapped at the base. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Now! My notes:

I didn't use the poppy seeds and it turned out fine. Bake this on the lowest of the three oven racks or it will burn on the top.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 26 Nov 2008 23:37:00 No.695354 Report

Quoted By:

The recipe I use is:

4cp (rounded) of flour (I use AP but bread flour will make a chewier bread)
1 1/3cp water (warm water, I bloom the yeast in it too)
2tbsp unsalted butter (or salted if you have no salt)
1tbsp sugar
2tsp salt (optional)

Mix yeast, warm water, and sugar, set aside for a few minutes to let it bloom (or longer if it is not quick yeast)

Mix flour, butter, salt (optional) in a bowl, and once the yeast blooms, add the water mixture to the dry, and mix (use your hands, it's easier).

Knead the dough for 15 mins, then let it rest in a warm place for 45 mins at least to rise. Knead again, shape, and let it proof on the pan you are baking it on for another 45 mins at least. Put it in the oven, and heat to 350F, letting it bake for about a total time of 1hr. If you want crusty bread, you can either brush it with oil pre-baking, or spray water on the sides of the oven every 15 mins as it bakes. This should give you the crust you desire.

Once done, let the bread sit on a cooling rack (not in the pan) for 30 mins to set up, then enjoy.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 27 Nov 2008 01:41:00 No.695466 Report

Quoted By:

here: http://www.io.com/~sjohn/bread.htm

if you want crusty bread, though, preheat the oven to a high temp (~375F or so) and place a metal pot (without any plastic parts!) in the oven while it's heating up. when it's preheated, take the pot out, place the dough into the pot, put the lid on, then put it back into the oven. bake for 30-45 min depending on the size of the loaf.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 27 Nov 2008 01:59:00 No.695484 Report

Quoted By: >>695487

Lots of good info here.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

In order to get a crunchy crust you need to spray the loaf with water and maintain a high humidty in the oven for at least half the cooking time. I use a cast iron pan, just put it on the lowest oven rack and let it pre-heat with the oven, then throw a handful of ice cubes in the pan while the bread is in.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 27 Nov 2008 02:01:00 No.695487 Report

Quoted By:

>>695484
i've done this before, and believe me, the pot method yields a much crunchier crust.

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