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Homesteading: Loaves and Lessons
Jan. 27th, 2016 07:17 amI have been learning things about bread!
If you are an experienced bread baker, most of these things will probably not be news to you. Some of them are not /recent/ news to me but I still find them interesting.
What I have been learning recently is about tenderness, crispness, and longevity.
My normal go-to loaf is Oatmeal Toasting and Sandwich Bread. It's got milk and honey in it, it's got whole wheat flour in it, it's tender, it's got a small, fine crust, and it's great for toasting.
But I was making baked brie, and that needs a bread that can hold up to dipping.
(this, which I ended up using, is not really quite french bread. But it works).
Take away most of the sugar and all of the fat, and you end up with a crisper loaf. Increase hydration and reduce kneading in the proofing stage, and you end up with bubbles in the bread. These things I knew, but it was neat to see them in process.
What I didn't know but learned fast was that if you take away all that fat, the bread goes stale much, much faster. That was a learning experience!
And it did, by the way, work great dipped in a drippy baked brie with fig spread. And just as great with fancy butter, toasted on top the wood stove.
Next up? Brioche!
If you are an experienced bread baker, most of these things will probably not be news to you. Some of them are not /recent/ news to me but I still find them interesting.
What I have been learning recently is about tenderness, crispness, and longevity.
My normal go-to loaf is Oatmeal Toasting and Sandwich Bread. It's got milk and honey in it, it's got whole wheat flour in it, it's tender, it's got a small, fine crust, and it's great for toasting.
But I was making baked brie, and that needs a bread that can hold up to dipping.
(this, which I ended up using, is not really quite french bread. But it works).
Take away most of the sugar and all of the fat, and you end up with a crisper loaf. Increase hydration and reduce kneading in the proofing stage, and you end up with bubbles in the bread. These things I knew, but it was neat to see them in process.
What I didn't know but learned fast was that if you take away all that fat, the bread goes stale much, much faster. That was a learning experience!
And it did, by the way, work great dipped in a drippy baked brie with fig spread. And just as great with fancy butter, toasted on top the wood stove.
Next up? Brioche!
