Who likes BREAD?

[existential_elevator]

Freshly made bread is the best, but I've never quite been brave enough to make it myself. Apparently it's a good stress buster?

Anyway, one bread that I cannot find a recipe for is German pretzel bread. Can't even find a good picture. Next time I'm at the deli I'll have to take one. It's the nicest bread ever. I am not personally a fan of white bread.. well, this bread is a really really soft white bread, with a slightly tough, slightly crisp deep brown outer layer, and is very delicately salted. It's just perfect in every way.

[PAstrychef]

Laugenbrotten (pretzel bread) can be found! It can even be made at home. the trick to the great texture is dipping it in a lye bath before baking, so that the crust sets and the crumb can't expand everywhere.
It has small amounts of milk and butter in it to give it that slightly rich taste.
It's worth hunting down-one of the nicest loaves anywhere. Why did Europe come up with bread like this and the US create Wonder Bread?

[BlackMesa]

I love bread. I recently became a foreign exchange studendt in italy. Good bread. my favorite bread would have to be sourdough from Bodine in San Fracisco. It is quite possibly the best food on the planet.

[Bakemaster]

Boudin. Sourdough bowl full of clam chowder. Most excellent.

[niko7865]

French Bread! I recently got a bread maker and have been trying to use it to make french/artisan style breads. So far I've attempted about 10 loaves but only 2 have come out. I only use the bread machine to mix/rise, then take the loaves out at the end of the ~2 hour cycle, role them into tubes, let them rise again, slice the tops, and then bake them. Somewhere I'm going wrong, i think it might be the slicing, sometimes when trying to slice them they just get squished, but even when I haven't sliced them, they have come out flat, and very dense, and had to toss them in the trash. So, any tips on what I'm doing worn? Anyone have a recipe for bread machine french bread?

[Jebobek]

I like going to Panera bread and getting sourdough bread bowls filled with french onion soup or cream of broccoli soup. Its actually a pretty big round loaf of sourdough thats hollowed out, so you get to use the remaining Lid+innards as dipping devises. I often do not use a spoon whatsoever.

[Bakemaster]

Somewhere I'm going wrong, i think it might be the slicing, sometimes when trying to slice them they just get squished, but even when I haven't sliced them, they have come out flat, and very dense, and had to toss them in the trash. So, any tips on what I'm doing worn? Anyone have a recipe for bread machine french bread?

Regarding the slicing, make sure you're slicing in a light horizontal motion with a serrated knife, so as not to put any downward pressure on the dough, and you shouldn't squish them. Regarding the bread, sounds like a leavening problem. What kind of yeast are you using, how are you storing it, and how are you proofing it before baking?

[niko7865]

I'll have to try that, I've been using a non-serrated knife. I use just a regular jar of yeast, and I add everything as my bread machine says. Once the bread machine is done, I separate it into two rounds, place them in greased bowls covered in saran wrap, let them rise for something like 20 minutes, then kneed them into the correct shape, cover them again (with saran wrap) and let them rise, if they do rise again. I've waited several hours sometimes and no more rising. I'm fairly sure it's not too hot/cold in my apartment, so I'm thinking my recipe/instructions are just wrong somewhere. Then I bake them on a stone in a hot oven with some steam, to get a little thicker crust. It could also be because I'm trying to make garlic bread, and am doing something wrong somewhere.

[gerb]

Bread!
Baking bread smells awesome.
I hope to make bread my job one day. Once I learn all about it and stuff.
Anybody have a good cinnamon bread recipe?

[Ell]

Anybody have a good cinnamon bread recipe?

I was just considering posting this one! I've been using it a lot lately and it goes over quite well in my house (by which I mean that one loaf takes just a few hours to disappear). It's originally based on this Allrecipes.com recipe, but modified a bit to make just one loaf, without a bread machine, and double the cinnamon filling.

Ingredients:
Dough:
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
Filling:
1-2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
Warm the milk and water (30 seconds in the microwave works perfectly) and add the sugar and yeast. Allow to proof for a few minutes - it should get nice and foamy. In the meantime, grease a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Combine the egg, butter, salt, and yeast mixture. Stir in the flour until the dough comes together, work in any additional flour with hands.
Turn dough out onto floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (or your arms give out). Congratulate self on the good workout.
Form dough into a ball and place into greased bowl, rotating once to make sure the top surface of the dough gets greased as well. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and put in a warm place (in cold weather, I use the oven, set very VERY low - just make sure nobody tries to bake anything in the meantime). Let rise until doubled in size, around 45 minutes or so. While you're waiting, grease a loaf pan.
When dough has risen, punch it down and shape it into a rectangle-ish thing. Roll out flat with a rolling pin, keeping the width about the same as the length of your loaf pan. The longer/thinner you roll it, the "swirlier" the cinnamon swirl will be.
Once you're satisfied with your rectangle, spread butter fairly generously over the entire surface. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle the mixture evenly across the whole surface, all the way to the edges. It will seem like a ton of cinnamon sugar, but use all of it and you shall be rewarded with tasty cinnamon goodness in the end.
Roll the whole thing up and plop it into the loaf pan, seam side down. Cover with damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for another hour or so until doubled.
Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes. It's done when the crust is golden brown, and tapping it produces a hollow sound. Set it on a wire rack and let cool before slicing (this is the hardest part, because it will look and smell amazing).

[gerb]

Ooh. My mouth's already watering. I'll take that and see what I can do with it. The store I usually get it from puts icing on theirs. Meh. I think that makes it too sweet.

Altering recipes in general is fun...

Thank you, Ell.

[JBJ]

Altering recipes? I concur. One of the best breads I've made was a simple alteration to a plain white bread machine recipe. Substitute brown sugar for regular sugar, add a teaspoon of vanilla, add 2 tablespoons of molasses, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup dried cranberries. Makes a great breakfast bread and heavenly toast. I add the molasses during the kneading cycle after the dough ball is mostly formed. That way a good portion of it stays on the outside and it makes a beautiful dark brown crust.

[superglucose]

Boudin. Sourdough bowl full of clam chowder. Most excellent.

Sourdough, seconded. My favorite place in the world is Fisherman's Warf, and not because of the seafood, but because it has the best bread in the WORLD. Pick a place and get their sourdough.

[PictureSarah]

San Francisco sourdough is one of the best things on the planet. If I had to pick only 10 foods I could have for the rest of my life, San Francisco sourdough would be one of them.

[SherryCQ]

Bread = yum.

I usually eat crackers with my soup, if anything, but I'm definitely going to try it with bread next time I make some. But the bread bowls are DEFINITELY something I'm familiar with--if I'm at any place that has them (usually boardwalks or by the coast), that is the first thing I'm going to try. I haven't eaten a chowder bowl I didn't like!

I made my own croissants once for French class, and they looked TERRIBLE but tasted all right. I'll have to try making them again, since I like them with coffee so much and I don't want to always buy them.

I've always wanted to make my own bread, but I had no time to do it until now. *makes note to find some easy recipes and get a bread pan* I'm fine with almost anything; white bread, brown bread, sourdough, baguettes, croissants, and GARLIC BREAD. Good heavens, that stuff is GODLY.

[jgcrawfo]

Re: Croissant
-Use high-gluten bread flour. Helps muchly.
-Observe at least 20 minute stops in the refrigerator between each turn.
-Use butter. Jesus christ that tastes so good.
-Keep them covered as they rise, you want them to keep their moisture in (this was already mentioned).
-Seriously do not use shortening use butter. Shortening croissants are 'meh' butter croissants are 'Gee Willikers'.
-Do not rush it, do not half-ass it. Croissant take a lot of time to make and if you cut corners it will end up in flames and tears. Well maybe just tears. Well maybe just a grimace. Well maybe just a slight frown. Well maybe whatever.
-Point being, croissant is not a simple thing, it is an elegant beautiful thing and if you want to make it work you can not be cavalier with it on your first try. Curries and stir-fries are forgiving if you improvise. Breads and buns are resilient under stress. Croissant is a stuck-up french pastry and it will not stand for your shit.

Under-done center syndrome is I think the most common ailment for croissant. Probably over-working the dough. My first croissants were like that, but I can't even reliably say what it was that caused it because I deviated so heavily off-recipe that it could of been the pastry flour, over-working, under-working, not chilling, or any manner of things.
If you get a good recipe and follow it you will be rewarded well.

[Cadvin]

BREADBREADBREADBREADBREAD

ME LIKE BREAD

Bread is life of Cadvin's world. Cuban bread=awesome. White loaf of sliced bread=disgusting. Gouda cheese good too. Cadvin put it in freezer and wait a hour then take it out and BASH SMASH POW with club. Cheese break into little tiny bitty bits that are yummy and good to sprinkle on Cuban bread that is yummy, but bad to BASH SMASH POW with club. Bread come from bread store, and cheese come from cheese store. Cadvin take it home and BASH SMASH POW cheese with club.
Thank you for reading BASHY SMASHY POW Cadvin's lesson on how to BASH SMASH POW cheese into yummy goodness, and how it goes with Cuban bread like your head to club.

(P.S. Cheese isn't actually good to BASH SMASH POW onto bread. Cadvin just like to BASH SMASH POW things.

[PAstrychef]

niko-
baguettes are actually a tricky loaf to make. It took several months of doing dozens a shift before I felt like I made a good one.
Once the dough is mixed let it rise in bulk for about an hour. Punch it down and scale it to size-cut it into the number of loaves you want to make- and make each piece nice and round, then let them rise for another 45 minutes or so. Take a piece and turn it over, so the nice smooth top is on the table. That will give you a nice smooth outside to your loaf. Flatten the round and roll it into a tube. Do this to all of your pieces.
Pick up the first loaf and roll it out, starting from the center and pulling out. Don't force the dough to stretch. If it's tight pick up the rope of dough and slap it on the table a few times like it was the rope in a game of double-dutch. Then roll it out some more.
It should end up being about 15 inches long for about 8-10 oz. of dough. It shouldn't be more than 2.5 inches in diameter.
Place the dough on a baguette flute ( the fancy pan) or on a sheet tray lined with paper that's been sprinkled with cornmeal.
Cover the tray with plastic wrap and let the loaves rise until they are are twice the size they began at. If they collapse when you try to slash them they have over-proofed. You can cover the dough, let it rest and re-roll it if you have kept it covered so that it hasn't gone crusty and hard.
Slash them in a diagonal cut, with your blade held almost horizontal to the top of the loaf. I use a single edged razor blade.
Then they go in the oven
BUT
Just before you cut them put a cake pan with some ice cubes in it on the bottom of the oven. After you cut them spray a bit of water on them from a plant mister type sprayer. They need the steam to get the proper crust.
If you really want to know how to do this, find a bakery you like and ask them if you can come watch them make some. The shaping process is fast and simple if you can see it and try it a few times. Or find a class on bread to take.

[jgcrawfo]

Instead of putting ice/water in the oven just before the bread and misting the bread, I just put a pan of water on the floor of my oven when I turn it on to pre-heat. Can you comment on why doing that instead of misting is/isn't a good idea?

[justaman]

In the spirit of a Pagan festival now celebrated as a Christian and non-secular festival. I introduce a topical bread, with a symbol that probably pre-dates the Christian interpretation:

Code: Select all

1 Tbsp dried yeast
½ pint tepid milk/water mix
1 tsp sugar
450g high grade flour
100g currants
1 Tbsp mixed peel
1 tsp salt
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
50g sugar
50g melted butter
1 beaten egg

Glaze
4 Tbsp milk/water mix
2 Tbsp sugar

Crosses
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp oil
cold water

Activate yeast in milk/water and the first measure of sugar. Allow to froth. Prewarm ~100g of the flour and all the fruit. Warm the remaining flour and dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the yeast to the bowl containing flour and fruit and mix. Allow to rise to a spongy mixture then pour into the dry ingredient mixture. Mix in egg and melted butter. Knead the dough ~ 10 minutes. Spray with a little oil and allow to double in size in a warm oven. Knock back and form the dough into buns. Allow to rise in a warm oven. Make cross mixture into a thick paste and pipe onto the risen buns.

Bake the buns at 190 deg C for 15-20 minutes.

Boil down glaze mixture while buns are baking and brush over the top of the cooked buns while still hot

[PAstrychef]

Instead of putting ice/water in the oven just before the bread and misting the bread, I just put a pan of water on the floor of my oven when I turn it on to pre-heat. Can you comment on why doing that instead of misting is/isn't a good idea?

What you want is a burst of steam in the oven, enough to set the starches in the crust but not enough to make it soggy. As long as the oven doesn't stay steamy all they way through baking any method is fine.
I guess I like the ice cubes because the hiss reminds me of the steam nozzles in the big ovens at work.

[jgcrawfo]

When leaving the pan in there, I find I get a seriously crusty crust. I will try the misting when I get my hands on a mister and see if I can see a difference.

[psyck0]

I am about to make my first sourdough and am starting with a rye sourdough, which people say is crazy! I'll be making THIS recipe, and would appreciate tips!

[The Utilitarian]

I love bread of all types but I have a special place in my heart for sourdough, especially filled with a well made spinach dip! The flavors just compliment eachother so well. To be honest though I have been known simply to devour an entire loaf of sourdough in the course of a day. I simply can't have it in the house because I won't stop eating it until it's gone!

I also hear that sourdough is ridiculously easy to make. Now that I have a less room-mate infested apartment I'm thinking of getting into baking a little bit more myself. I remember seeing this really excellent kneadless bread recipe on Chef at Home but I can't remember it now... gotta see if I can track it down.

[PAstrychef]

I have been lucky in my sourdoughs starters-they just tend to work for me. So all I can say is feed them regularly, even if you don't use them. Once well developed they live in the cooler for ages fed once a month or so if you don't have time to bake. I have some starter that's over 10 years going by now.
The No-Knead Bread can be found at the NY Times online and there's a lot of discussion about it over at the free BB for cooks illustrated.com. There are also two cookbooks on bread in 5 minutes a day with good info and recipes.

[keyguard123]

Hi.
Here is something on Honey Wheat Bread.
Ingredients
* 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup honey
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 5 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey, and stir well. Mix in whole wheat flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Work all-purpose flour in gradually. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for at least 10 to 15 minutes. When dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a well oiled bowl. Turn it several times in the bowl to coat the surface of the dough, and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
2. Punch down the dough. Shape into two loaves, and place into two well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until dough is 1 to 1 1/2 inches above pans.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.

[Decker]

I'm looking for a very easy to make, moist, dense bread. Any suggestions from anyone here?

[apex]

garlic bread... mmmmmm

[PAstrychef]

I'm looking for a very easy to make, moist, dense bread. Any suggestions from anyone here?

You'll do best with an Eastern European sourdough. Try the Bread in 5 minutes a day books, the second one has some denser varieties.

[Bakemaster]

I've got a variation of this recipe rising in the oven right now. I added flax seed and walnuts. Sarah says that bread is always better the more you knead it, but I know that there are some things you can knead too much. Are any of those things breads? And are there breads that rise only once, no punch-down and second rise? I am curious man.

[Zohar]

Sarah says that bread is always better the more you knead it, but I know that there are some things you can knead too much. Are any of those things breads? And are there breads that rise only once, no punch-down and second rise? I am curious man.

Well there's beer bread, which is almost like muffins, which you shouldn't knead too much. To my understanding, some doughs toughen up naturally and so if you knead them too much, you'll make a tighter gluten net in in and it will make the dough hard.

The most worrisome thing for me regarding bread making (and general bakery, though I love it) is anything related to yeasts. Also because I'm not always sure what every type means and if they can be exchanged. I should really work on making some more yeasty stuff, to practice.

[Amarantha]

Ooo, the bread thread.

I've never been much of a bread fiend. There are some quite pleasant breads available around here, but they're kind of hard to find.

However, I have now spent two months in Europe, three weeks of which were in France, and Gee Willikers! the bread! I now understand. I am also heartbroken, because here I am back in Melbourne and the baguettes are in Bordeaux and Carcassonne and Cassis and Marseilles and Lyon and Dijon and Chinon and Tours and Paris...

*cries*

But my awesome husband has bought me both volumes of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, because the second one reportedly has a passable home recipe for French bread. If it's good enough for Julia, I have high hopes. *seeks out a suitable quarry tile*

I should mention that Denmark also does excellent bread. Not the same as a baguette, but damn good in its own way. And the Danes reeeeealllllly know how to make sandwiches.

[Bakemaster]

Regarding the above-mentioned bread what I bakeded: proofing yeast in warm buttermilk? It does indeed work. Takes a bit longer.

[PAstrychef]

Have faith! you can make excellent bread at home, even baguettes. The tricky part of a baguette is that the dough is very plain-and so it's less forgiving than enriched doughs. But it still isn't hard. Shaping a baguette takes practice, so if you first several are lumpy log shaped loaves don't despair. You will be much happier with the results if you get a fluted bread pan.
Plenty of the no-knead breads make an excellent loaf as well.

[Amarantha]

I have made bread at home, and some of it was pretty damn good. My husband made a hungarian potato bread once (from this book) that was one of the best things I ever ate. But the bread in France had a flavour and texture that I have not experienced anywhere else. Therefore I shall try Julia's method and see how I go.

[PAstrychef]

I think it's the flour. I've used european flours and they can give very different results from american flours. I may have used some from NZ when working in Antarctica, but not much.
As for sourdoughs, what ever culture you start with will eventually be replaced with local yeasts and develop it's own unique flavor.
The fluted pans really do help make the loaf look good.

[Amarantha]

Ya, she's got some advice about American vs. European flour. Being in Australia, I figured I'd have to wing it a bit. One interesting thing she says is that lower gluten is better, like around 9%. I always thought it was the other way around; perhaps it depends what kind of bread one is making. In any case, it'll be some time before my over-committed arse gets a chance to try it.

[dubsola]

Baking is great, but, sigh, it certainly would be nice to be able to walk to the bakery and buy a fresh baguette twice a day (one for morning, one for evening).

[PAstrychef]

I've tried at bakeries where I was a baker to get them to have an afternoon baking, to capture the folks coming home. They just wouldn't do it. It would spread the schedule out too much and confuse the early morning guys, yada yada yada. Sad, really. But at least it is now possible to find quite good bread in much of the US, even if it's parbaked stuff finished off at the grocery store. Much improvement from the era of air-puffed pale gluey crud with no crust.
Having a first-generation immigrant for a father ensured I ate dark chewy bread that could fight back all of my life.

[voidPtr]

I'm a huge bread addict...

For me nothing beats a nice french baguette; or a sourdough, marbled, or dark rye bread. I could -- and sometimes do -- eat a loaf in 2-3 days.

I dont have a convenient Artisan bakery near me so I buy the "baked in-store" stuff from one of the chain supermarkets. Its concerning to me because of the amount of bread I eat and only guessing what is in it. I'm particularly concerned about the salt content and any added sugars that are completely unwanted and unnecessary in my opinion, but a reality of bread in North America. The store-baked bread is probably healthier than the mass packaged commercial bread, but they don't put labels on them so I don't really know.