The Baking Thread

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@leggo PE can i haz a basic bread recipe plz?

I'm sick of making the no-knead from KAF and I want to expand my skills.
I have: bread flour, AP, medium rye, semolina, self rising, another bag of rye from Maine Grains, and *maybe* whole wheat.
i don't have sourdough starter at this time - i am considering restarting it tho.
 
Well, unfortunately, without starter, I'm not really that much of a help... I literally use sourdough starter as the yeast in all breads that I make.

What kind of bread are you looking to make, @LyceeFruit PE? Like, a crusty loaf? A sandwich loaf? Something sweet? I can research some recipes for you!!
 
leggo PE said:
Well, unfortunately, without starter, I'm not really that much of a help... I literally use sourdough starter as the yeast in all breads that I make.

What kind of bread are you looking to make, @LyceeFruit PE? Like, a crusty loaf? A sandwich loaf? Something sweet? I can research some recipes for you!!
Click to expand...
oh whomp, i didn't know you only used starter.
i can do research and find the things for the yeast lol
 
LyceeFruit PE said:
@leggo PE can i haz a basic bread recipe plz?

I'm sick of making the no-knead from KAF and I want to expand my skills.
I have: bread flour, AP, medium rye, semolina, self rising, another bag of rye from Maine Grains, and *maybe* whole wheat.
i don't have sourdough starter at this time - i am considering restarting it tho.
Click to expand...
I've got a pretty sweet/simple rosemary bread I like to make. There are also a couple other loafs I like doing.

I am terrified of starters and have never used them.
 
JayKay PE said:
I've got a pretty sweet/simple rosemary bread I like to make. There are also a couple other loafs I like doing.

I am terrified of starters and have never used them.
Click to expand...
Please send!

I'm not terrified of starters, I'm just fecking lazy
 
I made espresso chocolate chip cookies over the weekend. I slightly messed up and forgot to add the baking soda while the ingredients were being mixed. So I added it afterwards to the dough. I think it turned out okay, they taste great although I think they were supposed to be chewy. They were chewy when I first baked them but not much after that. But still look and taste really good.
 
I made an herb bread - it's the bread on the back of the bag of KAF Bread Flour (new logo bags).
It's not bad but it isn't crusty at all. And they give you the option of braiding it but it was so sticky, idk how you would do that.

I also made chocolate pudding cookies with chocolate chips & toffee pieces
 
I'm not sure I baked enough between Friday and Sunday...

I made my normal two boules of sourdough bread on Friday, as well as some sourdough pretzels that turned out freaking awesome (I thank the barley malt syrup I finally got my hands on). Then yesterday, instead of sourdough pan de mie, I made a 100% whole grain spelt pan loaf, in the hopes that it would be a good sandwich/grilled cheese/toast bread. Let me tell you, WOW. It was freaking delicious. This is the recipe I used (I adjusted the ingredient amounts down to be an 1100g [rather than 1400g] loaf for my Pullman pan):

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/whole-grain-spelt-pan-loaf/
Were I to do one thing differently with that loaf in the future is let the final proof go longer. It rose a bit more in the oven than I would have preferred (which is ironic, because generally, when making my boules, I want a good rise), because here, I was looking for a consistent small crumb. However, the taste and texture of this bread were freaking AMAZING. It might be my favorite thing I've made recently. I mean, I love spelt flour, so I don't know why it took me so long to try a 100% spelt loaf. SO GOOD! And if you're a bread nerd like moi, then you might realize the pan provided the structure for the spelt bread, which normally isn't able to provide the same level of gluten as bread flour would.

I highly recommend this recipe, if you've got a starter around! It was super easy. Same day bake (i.e. no overnight retardation, like I normally do with my standard boules/batards) and soooo good.

Also, please don't be scared of starters, anyone and everyone! If you bug me enough, I could send you some of one of my starters... Which would stop you from having to deal with the part that annoys most people (I think?), which is making a starter.
 
IMG_7268.JPG
Made this a couple weeks ago. My first attempt at a cake build with homemade buttercream. 3 different colors inside. I was going to cover in fondant but it had already taken me several hours at that point and said screw it.
 
Um, wow! That looks awesome! I bet the frosting tasted better than the fondant anyway!

Very nicely done!
 
D6EAC86D-96B1-48FF-AFB8-FB9B3D3367E3.jpeg

That’s my standard sourdough boule. I did a very basic, quick grid scoring to aim for a very even rise. It worked beautifully! This loaf was 20% whole wheat, 10%
rye.

8AF937CE-E69C-4EC5-8BFE-CF342065515F.jpeg

The most fluffy, beautiful whole grain sourdough soft pretzels. I was super happy with this dough!

And last but not least, a not great picture of my spelt pan loaf. Sorry for the not superior lighting!

C992C135-3792-402D-B20E-5BF037E9ED2E.jpeg


Also, I’ve been here for how long and still dint know how to rotate photos when posting from my phone??
 
I have a sourdough starter that I had been keeping up with, but recently I let it go and fed it after 9 days. How do I know it's still alive? I rarely use it because my wife doesn't care for the sweet taste of sourdough bread. I usually make a "no knead" artisan loaf, the simplest kind (all-purpose flour, salt and yeast) but I put it in a baking pan to give it a typical sandwich bread shape. I tried to alter it using a combination of all-purpose, bread, and whole wheat flours, but wife just likes the all-purpose flour tasting bread.
 
DuranDuran said:
I have a sourdough starter that I had been keeping up with, but recently I let it go and fed it after 9 days. How do I know it's still alive? I rarely use it because my wife doesn't care for the sweet taste of sourdough bread. I usually make a "no knead" artisan loaf, the simplest kind (all-purpose flour, salt and yeast) but I put it in a baking pan to give it a typical sandwich bread shape. I tried to alter it using a combination of all-purpose, bread, and whole wheat flours, but wife just likes the all-purpose flour tasting bread.
Click to expand...
First question, was it kept on the counter, or in the fridge?

Either way, discard and feed like you were before. In all likelihood, it’s very hungry, and feeding it will bring it back to its former hopefully bubbles and fun self!

Of course, if it has anything that looks pink or green or gross mold on it, I would toss the top layer and discard and feed as normal. I’ve brought bake starters that were in the fridge too long without a feeding via this method, at least a few different times. If there is a brownish liquid on top that has separated from the rest of the starter, this is your starter’s hooch. It is a sign that your starter needs food, stat! You can either stir it back in or discard it (I typically discard it, personally).

Starters are pretty hardy, and support a lot of healthy bacteria in them! I have full faith you can rescue yours!
 
Okay, @DuranDuran, it actually sounds like you already fed it (sorry, I got so excited at you mentioning you have a starter that I apparently didn’t properly read your post). When did you feed it? It might be a bit sluggish getting back to its normal self. But don’t give up! I would keep it on the counter and feed it 2x a day until it’s back to it’s normal bubbly self!
 
leggo PE said:
Okay, @DuranDuran, it actually sounds like you already fed it (sorry, I got so excited at you mentioning you have a starter that I apparently didn’t properly read your post). When did you feed it? It might be a bit sluggish getting back to its normal self. But don’t give up! I would keep it on the counter and feed it 2x a day until it’s back to it’s normal bubbly self!
Click to expand...
I know there's some chemistry/biology involved here, but I'm new to the baking scene (been doing this for 2 months). My mother in law gave me some of her starter two months ago when she visited, and it's been going since 2005, so I guess there's some nostalgia to it. Anyway, per her instructions, I keep it in the fridge (jar with lid on but not tightened), and every 5-7 days I feed it and have it sitting on the counter for 8 hours minimum, then I put back in the fridge. I'll toss out a cup or at least half of it if I'm not using it that week.

So Tuesday, I realized I forgot to feed (usually I feed it Saturday or Sunday). After one feeding, I noticed a whitish ("hooch" as you call it?) floating on top, so I discarded that and fed it a second time. I'm not seeing anything green or brown, and it looks like stuff was floating/moving around as before, so I think it's ok. I'll feed it again in the next couple of days.

If anyone has a good pumpernickel recipe I can use with the starter that can also be used with a breadmaker (we have a Cuisinart CBK-200), please send it. I would love to make some pumpernickel.

@leggo PE , your spelt pan loaf AND your sourdough boule look amazing!
 

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