Isand66's blog

I really like the effect that using a Tangzhong has on the bread. It helps the bread stay fresher longer and I find the crumb to be a little more moist.

I usually use water to make the Tangzhong which is typically 5 parts water to one part flour. I decided to try something new and used a nice Merlot wine in place of the water. It worked out great and gave the final dough a subtle wine flavor but not overpowering.

This was a very high hydration dough I probably could have cut the water down 20% and still had an excellent overall bake.

Dec

I made a couple different versions of this bread several years ago and decided to change it up a bit using a Tangzhong. Making a Tangzhong is simple and it really helps make a super soft crumb.

I made a version of this before but never posted it. It is a pretty wet dough, but not so wet that you couldn’t do a traditional braid. I made one of these plain to use for stuffing, and the other one was a request for one of my friends’ families.

Most of the flour used was KAF bread flour and I mixed in some fresh milled Butler’s Gold whole wheat and spelt both from Barton Spring Mills.

I used dark chocolate chips and Chukar brand air-dried Rainier cherries which were rehydrated in water before adding to the dough.

Dec 14

I love adding beer to sourdough bread. I’m not a big beer drinker but the malty flavor it imparts is amazing and Guinness is one of my favorites to use.

The sour cream added extra moisture to the crumb, and the caramelized onions imparted a wonderful sweet onion flavor.

I used King Arthur high-gluten flour since I didn’t have any first clear flour, along with some fresh-milled Danko Rye (milled from Barton Springs Mill berries).

Oct

I adapted this from my porridge bread formula but used a small % of starter and soaked the grains overnight instead of cooking them as a porridge. I used fresh milled and sifted Butler’s Gold WW and Danko Rye with some KAF bread flour.

The Harvest Grain mix from KAF consists of Whole Oat Groats, Rye Flakes, Wheat Flakes, Sunflower Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Flaxseed, Poppy Seeds, and Hulled Millet.

Oct

It almost feels like fall here on Long Island if you don’t count the 70 F-degree days we had this week. Well, anyway, here is a nice pre-Thanksgiving type of bread made with roasted purple sweet potatoes and cranberries along with fresh milled whole wheat, spelt, and KAF bread flour.

In honor of my 16 Year old  Mookie! This one was made with high extraction freshly milled whole wheat, spelt and rye with a little bread flour mixed in.

The crumb was nice and open and it tastes amazing.

I like using the whole potato skin and all and just chop them up in my mini food processor. It makes for a soft crumb and the bread will stay fresher longer.

I needed some nice semi-soft rolls for burgers and hot dogs. These are not like those air-whipped supermarket rolls that are so soft and tasteless but are the perfect consistency to hold a juicy burger or some natural casing hot dogs.

I decided to follow my new method of taking the dough temperature, measuring the rise for bulk, and then shaping and refrigerating for at least 12 hours before baking. The dough was allowed to rise to 30% at 80 F.

I used fresh milled and sifted Butlers Gold whole wheat along with some KAF bread flour, egg yolks and butter.

I made a version of this a week before and completely over-hydrated the dough and ended up with an unintended super sized ciabatta :).

This is another experiment with trying to find the right timing for bulk fermentation using mostly fresh milled flour. It ended up pretty good but still a little over-proofed.