My first wheat bread. Memo's Bread.
A little light colored compared to others I have seen. Very airy and light textured. A little too airy and open, but it is my first. I used really old, very shiny loaf pans that were my grandmother-in-law's. I used my Ankarsrum mixer, and it is so nice to not have to knead by hand.
I baked until the loaves had an internal temperature of 202° F.
Patti, try to make your images bigger. The way you do that is by entering a pixel width in the image upload box. For large images I use 600. You only have to specify the width, the software will calculate the height (in proportion) for you.
Dan
How are you? We haven't seen you in awhile. Hope all is well.
Carole
I didn't want to make it too large, but a thumbnail was easy.
A small picture hides my mistakes...like lopsided loaves! ?
I forgot to get a picture before I sliced it.
I couldn't spread peanut butter on the slices...way too light to hold it.
Thanks for asking, Carole. All is well. Patsy and I are in the process of a complete update of our home interior. With the exception of the flooring all work will be done by us.
We’ve been busy...
Danny
I was also thinking you were very quiet on here! I hope you're revamping the kitchen with space for a deck oven ;)
Lance
No Lance. I’m sticking with my home oven. I super strongly considered a Rofco, but space is limited.
At present, I’m on paint detail.
Rofco looks good, but only if you can work it enough to jusify the cost and, equally importantly, the space.
Lance
that you're well. Been missing your lofty bakes and wondrous experiments.
Have fun and be careful with your hands!
Carole
congrats, I like how even-textured it is (personally, I'm not so keen on large holes). Funny though, I find the kneading by hand is the best part of the process :-)
Nice tins, too. Now on to the next batch! There can't be a lot left of that first one...
Kneading is the most relaxing part of the process!
Agree also that that crumb is just calling out to be slathered with any number of things!
Keep on baking.
Carole
Thanks. It is so airy that butter or jelly goes right through to the other side. Can't really make a sandwich out of it. It just falls apart. I don't know what I did wrong...maybe I let it rise too long.
Buttermilk wheat bread is next. I am bound to do better...eventually! Tastes good though.
My fingers can't take the kneading anymore. It is therapeutic though!
and I've never used a mixer but I'm sure the more experienced loafers here can come up with ideas on why it might fall apart. Maybe the gluten network wasn't developed enough by mixing?
As for the kneading, did you ever try it this way?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dUZ0O-Wv0Q
It doesn't have to be hard on one's fingers... and in any case, this video never fails to cheer me up! Always makes me want to jump up and get doughing.
Thanks, treesparrow. I had never seen the French technique before. Sort of a slap, stretch, and fold.
I think my Ankarsrum is too gentle or I am just not letting it knead long enough.
Thanks for the video link!
firstly: her happiness. Secondly: how she says "Just accept that it sticks" and carries on regardless. Then: how she shows that the way you handle the dough matters: touch it lightly as if it was hot.
What she doesn't specifically mention: how she lets the dough rest in between. It looks like it's not intentional as she gives all those explanations but it is very intentional. In one of her recent videos she recommends to alternate three minutes of kneading and three minutes of resting the dough, four times.
So by this kind of kneading you let the dough get oxygen, you rearrange the gluten strands, and then during its rest the gluten can relax, form new bonds and make longer and longer strands. All with a minimum of effort and a maximum of fun!
Did she ever say the hydration of the dough? Did she say what kind of bread she was making in the video? White, wheat, rye, ......
But it looks like white wheat flour to me. The window pane test gives it away. Even with a mix of white and wholemeal flour you don't get a window pane test like that.
And rye doesn't need gluten development and stays sticky no matter how much you knead it, which is why pure rye bread is almost always baked in tins.
As for hydration: if after following whatever recipe I can't knead the dough like Babette because it's too dry, I simply add small amounts of water (just by wetting my hands) until I can :-)
was my inspiration for French Folding my dough rather than using a mixer or the traditional way of kneading. I use this method almost exclusively and it is very hard to over mix or overheat dough this way. I even reference her and this same video on my own Bouabsa video posted a few years ago.