The Baking Thread

[leggo PE]

Welcome to the Baking Thread, @JayKay0914! I'm glad you have time to bake again.

This past weekend's exploits included two more 50/50 whole wheat sourdough loaves, which didn't have the best rise, but on which I did some neat scoring, and my first try at making whole wheat sourdough pitas. The pitas ended up being much more sturdy than the ones I would usually buy in the store, with great flavor! I'll probably never buy pitas again, unless in a pinch.

Here are the two loaves of bread...

Scored, pre-baking:

         \

After baking:

          

And the money shot (!):

 

[JayKay PE]

Ugh!!!!  I am so jealous of your crust!  I actually did bake a nice batch of baguettes when I was studying, due to the multiple longish proves, but my loaves came out kinda whitish.  I don't think I over-proved, it tasted fine, had a nice crust due to a ton of steam, but I think it's just my oven?  I have a temperamental gas, which doesn't really heat evenly, and I don't have a convection option (I wish).  Unless I have an egg wash, a really heavy one, all my breads kinda come out very pale indeed.  But that doesn't stop people from eating them, so it's mostly just me complaining about aesthetics.

Have to start planning my springerle...They take so long, so I really need to clear out a weekend before all the holiday parties start so I can get it all done.  With all the pressing using the molds, letting them dry *undisturbed* and then having to bake them.  But the end product is so worth it!

 

[leggo PE]

@JayKay0914, how do you bake your loaves? I bake in just a dutch oven, first twenty minutes with the lid on at 500 degrees, then then next ten with the lid off at 500, then 20-25 at 450 still with the lid off. I don't provide any additional steam anywhere.

This most recently batch of loaves used a levain that was overripe by an hour or two, so I didn't quite get the rise or open, evenly distributed crumb, I would like ideally. But I'm still happy with how they turned out!

I don't usually bake cookies or cakes... But I'm participating in a cookie exchange this holiday season, so I'm going to be baking up a few dozen Pfeffernesse.  Yum, I want them just thinking about them!

 

[JayKay PE]

@leggo PE I've never baked in a dutch oven (but I just bought one literally two days ago, so I am very excited to start using it)!  Usually I bake loaves that can keep their form without a dutch oven or dish.  Usually a yeast-based bread that is forgiving to my kneading/loaf forming.  My sister's BIL is actually a professional chef who used to work at a bread-specific bakery for a while, Brooklyn bread lab, and taught me how to do wet forming.  He said the most important thing when baking bread is the steam, since it makes a nice crust and keeps everything really light.  I mean, I assume you can bake without steam, especially since you're look great (!!!!), but I bought a crappy aluminum turkey basting tray for like $1 and after I throw my loaves in I throw some steaming water into the tray and close before all the moisture leaves.

You're loaves are amazing!  For me, I've never really dealt with starters (I am terrified of them) and I usually end up baking every day, or get caught up in work and then don't bake bread for a while.  Which is why a sourdough started always scared me.

I BAKE ALL THE COOKIES AND CAKES.  I only recently got into breads, which is why I think I'm having so much trouble.  Like, cookies and cakes it's about balancing your wet and dry, which means substitution can work as long as you know you basics and how it works in the oven.  Breads....I feel like if I add even a touch too much flour it comes out a mess!

 

[leggo PE]

Oh, but sourdough starters are so adaptable to baking every day or only once in a while (just stick your starter in the fridge). Though I suppose they do require a bit more advance planning. I always take my starter out of the fridge Thursday night to start forming dough on Saturday, and bake on Sunday. That's just the method I've used, based on the blog www.theperfectloaf.com, which has been a goldmine for me and my sourdough journey.

The idea of baking in a dutch oven is that by the fact that it's lidded, it itself is providing the steam. I can personally attest to this as after I've heated my dutch oven for an hour at 500 degrees, when I open the lid to put the loaf in to bake, steam definitely rises out of it! Then, of course, when the dough is put in, it emits steam that is captured by the lid and kept inside the dutch oven. All this is obviously for the rise. The crust color comes from the high heat and uncovered portion of the bake.

I should add that I also put a baking steel in the rack underneath my dutch oven, because I found the bottom crust of my sourdough loaves was getting really hard. Putting the baking steel in (at the start of the oven and dutch oven preheating, for it needs an hour to preheat too) has helped me a lot with that.

The next thing I'm considering trying is baking with a cold dutch oven. But that worries me a little bit, as I'm cautious about ruining my dutch oven somehow.

 

[knight1fox3]

Is it me or do these almost look like PE Stamps? :dunno: Looks tasty either way!

@leggo PE I've never baked in a dutch oven

So what you're saying is that you've never actually fully experienced a dutch oven then? @Supe is our resident expert on that particular activity. May have some pointers for you. :thumbs:

 

[JayKay PE]

@leggo PE Yeah, starters kinda frighten me, but I've been following/doing some of the KAF bakealongs to help me get into the mood.  My weekends are kinda a mess.  I have horseback riding on Sundays/I'm at the barn for a good chunk of time, and  I usually visit my parents on Friday night-to Sunday morning, and I don't feel like taking over their wonderful kitchen (they have a great 8'x3' peacock granite island that would be wonderful for kneading/rolling out thin pastry).  So I can really only bake/experiment during the week.  Which means longer proves/letting a dutch oven heat beforehand becomes a very calculated affair/I need to plan everything out beforehand.  

I do want to use the dutch oven!  I got a Kenmore kinda cheap due to a K-Mart closing in my parents town, and the red enamel matches my KitchenAid that I liberated from my parents.  My dad had bought it really cheap with coupons/gift cards, but then never used it.  I made sure to "steal it" in open view of my dad so he had the opportunity to complain about it.  Are you using a non-enameled dutch oven?  I know sometimes when I use my seasoned cast iron to make crepes it causes a little firmness if I don't really grease/butter it beforehand just because the heat/sugar cause a nice sticky seal?

The cold dutch oven method is something I was actually researching!  Low and slow!  It's something I'd like to tinker with, because I know some dutch ovens actually get messed up if pre-baked with nothing inside them (I've heard this, and I don't want to ruin my new one right out of the gate).

... @knight1fox3 I see what you did there.  I had a lot of strange looks discussing dutch ovens with my mom while shopping.  I'm the youngest child of a large Polish family.  I have experienced "traditional" dutch ovens too many times to count, and all under duress.

As for the cookies looking like stamps-that's what springerle are!  They're a cookie "stamp" that is pressed into a thin cookie dough, usually anise flavored, that are then left out for 24-hours to set the form before baking.  They actually don't change shape/look that much different when cooked.  My dad likes them a ton, due to it being very Ukrainian/Czechoslovakia, and they actually get better as they age (3-month old cookies are the bomb!).

 

[knight1fox3]

... @knight1fox3 I see what you did there.  I had a lot of strange looks discussing dutch ovens with my mom while shopping.  I'm the youngest child of a large Polish family.  I have experienced "traditional" dutch ovens too many times to count, and all under duress.

As for the cookies looking like stamps-that's what springerle are!  They're a cookie "stamp" that is pressed into a thin cookie dough, usually anise flavored, that are then left out for 24-hours to set the form before baking.  They actually don't change shape/look that much different when cooked.  My dad likes them a ton, due to it being very Ukrainian/Czechoslovakia, and they actually get better as they age (3-month old cookies are the bomb!).

It's important to have some sense of humor on EB.com. So it's nice to see you'll fit in nicely here. With that, I'll stop derailing this thread (another important trait of EB'ers).

Cool on the Springerle. Never heard of those but they sound great (even if they can be up to 3-months old!). :thumbs:

 

[leggo PE]

@JayKay0914, I use an enameled Staub 5.5 quart dutch oven. It is my faaaavorite to make my favorite things, bread and soup! It was also definitely a gift. Haha!

 

[JayKay PE]

@leggo PE I am a big fan of soups/chilies!  But I use a busted up, cheapo, 12-quart stockpot from Walmart for cooking stuff on the stove top.  Mostly because my oven is really temperamental, so a cast iron gets way too hot/too easily with my anger flame.  The stockpot I can kinda control/take it off the flame to quickly cool, if necessary.  Also, I am usually just cooking for myself, so I often end up freezing a ton of stuff since I can only eat so much in one sitting!

 

[leggo PE]

I also feel that cold baking would not get me the nice medium brown crust I like, due to the lower temperatures... But again, what do I know until I try it.

 

[leggo PE]

Holy moly 12 qt?! I don't know if that would even fit on my stove! Haha.

I find my 5.5 qt dutch oven can give me upwards of three dinners for two, which I consider pretty good. My freezer is too full of bread anyway, to fit more than say 6t qts of soup in it at a time.

 

[knight1fox3]

@leggo PE I am a big fan of soups/chilies!  But I use a busted up, cheapo, 12-quart stockpot from Walmart for cooking stuff on the stove top.  Mostly because my oven is really temperamental, so a cast iron gets way too hot/too easily with my anger flame.  The stockpot I can kinda control/take it off the flame to quickly cool, if necessary.  Also, I am usually just cooking for myself, so I often end up freezing a ton of stuff since I can only eat so much in one sitting!

Finally something that I can relate to and comment on. You should consider upgrading to an Instant Pot. It will forever change your life. And the quality of food produced by I.P. is equivalent to that of a stockpot. :thumbs:

 

[leggo PE]

Finally something that I can relate to and comment on. You should consider upgrading to an Instant Pot. It will forever change your life. And the quality of food produced by I.P. is equivalent to that of a stockpot. :thumbs:

I've got a 6 qt IP too. Just made this and had it twice last week, it was so good: https://www.101cookbooks.com/spicy-instant-pot-taco-soup-recipe/

Also, you can apparently bake in the IP, but I think it's maybe only for like cakes and stuff... Haven't tried baking in it at all.

 

[JayKay PE]

I also feel that cold baking would not get me the nice medium brown crust I like, due to the lower temperatures... But again, what do I know until I try it.

https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2017/07/05/baking-in-a-cold-dutch-oven/

Check this out.  It turns out that the shape of the vessel you are baking in has a greater effect on the outcome than the temperature of the dutch oven you have the bread in.  Also states that cold dutch ovens lead to a lighter bottom crust.  

As for the 12-quart....It's what I grew up with!  My mom was one of those people who was really, really good at cooking (a meal every night), and she always made big batches of chicken soup once the weather turned using a whole boiled chicken, a ton of peppercorn, and lots of veggies!  But this means I end up cooking like I'm cooking for a hearty family, not just me, so anything I cook can usually feed me at least 4-5 days.  When I make chili...It usually can feed me for 2-weeks, if I didn't freeze it.

@knight1fox3 You have named one of the few things I fear in life.  IP scare me so much, mostly due to a improperly opened pressure cooker while in college (my friend was an *****, opened it before it was done depressurizing, and killed the ceiling/spilled steaming hot beef stew everywhere).  I'll stick to my stockpots/crockpots.  They'll never hurt me.

 

[knight1fox3]

^ LOL, the power outlets in your home also have the "potential" to electrocute at any given time. There's also a label on most toasters not to put anything metallic inside while the unit is energized. It's all about following the directions so one doesn't become a statistic. :thumbs:

BTW, the new IPs, self-depressurize and alert you once completed. Stockpots/crockpots also cause more house-fires in the U.S. than any other appliance. Just saying.

 

[leggo PE]

https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2017/07/05/baking-in-a-cold-dutch-oven/

Check this out.  It turns out that the shape of the vessel you are baking in has a greater effect on the outcome than the temperature of the dutch oven you have the bread in.  Also states that cold dutch ovens lead to a lighter bottom crust.  

Ohhh I'm going to have to read through those comments some time! This looks so interesting.

 

[JayKay PE]

@knight1fox3 I'm just going to eat cheese sandwiches the rest of my life to avoid all microwaves.  All canned soup is pre-cooked anyway.  I'll just eat it cold.  My life will be a cautionary tale.

As for the IPs...I know I could understand them if I read the directions, but I'm also of the Alton Brown-mentality of "Why should I buy another piece of technology for my kitchen when the stuff I have does what I need it to and I don't need to buy something new?"  I am a cheapo at heart and my kitchen is tiny, so why buy something new that would take up more space?

@leggo PE DEF CHECK OUT ALL THEIR STUFF.  I love KAF; they do a lot of bread/baking experiments and are always playing around in their test kitchen.  They also show you how to do neat bread braiding/displays that look awesome!

 

[kevo_55]

With respect to a dutch oven, we bought a le creuset and we simply love it. Yes, they are very expensive but once you have one it will last you forever.

Basically, the only way you can crack the enamel is to shock it. 

My wife bakes with it every now and then and it works out great!

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

Staub?? Le Creuset?? You EBers must be rich!!