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Random one this. I bake bread fairly regularly, by hand, and on the whole it's pretty good stuff. All wholemeal, using a River Cottage recipe with a bit of added sugar (for the yeast).
Thing is, it often has quite a dry crumb to it. I've stopped spraying the crust before baking (River Cottage book recommends it) because it made the crust too crusty, but how can I make it a bit more moist through the loaf? Is it as simple as just putting more water into it when kneading? I'm already adding more water than suggested. At what point do you know the dough's too wet/ about right?
Cheers
you may be missing the hard fat in the bread that makes much of the moistness.
Bought bread using the Chorleywood Process relies upon loads of the stuff to aerate the dough by mechanical means, rather than more delicately through proving. You could add a bit more hard fat to your bread if you are only using oil and water at the moment. Lard will do.
TBH Mrs Stoner's bread is not "moist" either. And I usually use it for toast only as Im a sucker for soggy bread unless toasted.
Wholemeal can be tricky to get hydration right. Lots of variables.
I tried lots of variations and now it seems more natural to use a french 'wet' dough. It's messier to handle initially but doesn't really make more mess overall. Key is a scraper/spatula to bring it all back together whilst it's still wet - shuffle it round the worktop to make a gorgeous silky dough (honestly!)..
ratio's I use for a simple white (might swap 50g white for 50g rye)
350g water (quite a bit - always filtered or previously boiled here - made a difference)
500g strong flour (waitrose own brand is v. good around 13% strong - check the protein content on your labels)
10g fresh yeast (or 2/3 sachet allinsons instant)
10g good salt (maldon or good quality sea - found chip shop salt bad for bread 🙂 )
I do find some fat really helped for a granary mix (with the crumb), but it would stale much quicker.. Don't tend to use it for 'plain'.
A long prove can also help (overnight in fridge works as well but let it come back to room temp after the proving stage).
I wouldn't get to hung up about it - I never get it exactly right.
The bread you make is as personal to you as your handwriting, and sounds like you enjoy the process anyway?
steam in the oven can help as well - tip some water in a preheated tray at bottom a minute or so before bread goes in (some chuck ice cubes in or use a plant spray).
I like a jaw challenging crust personally - but if you had a dry/heavy dough to start and you want to attempt a rescue to make it more supple, wrap/cover the loaf in a dry teatowel just after it comes out the oven (5mins?).. or if you have one chuck it in big heavy pot with lid to cool.
Some bake in the pot (heavy one like lecreuset) get it really hot, slam bread in lid on for first 20mins or so, off for last 10 or so.. Can give spring to the bread and a toast like crust..
STW cookery channel!
STW cookery channel!
Get some great ideas in here. Speaking of which, I think my post earlier in an old thread could do with a cross post revival for any other cooks out there.
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/wlidflowers#post-3766302
I tend to put a little bit of extra virgin olive oil in to the dough mix. Works very well, as the yeast can feed on it without sacrificing flavour or moistness.
Hmmmm, moist....
Doublepost.
If your using just wholemeal for your loaf, then lots of water and oil (I've started using rape seed oil) and more yeast than normal. For a 500g loaf i'd use at least 30g of yeast. water should by hand hot, and knead for at least 10 minutes each time.
all wholemeal will always be a bit dry I think
I've started using rape seed oil
Me too...there's something very nice about it. And it's a UK product.
Works very well in chapatis, parothas etc too.
For a 500g loaf i'd use at least 30g of yeast
Really? That's a LOT - I generally find that 10-15g of yeast in an 800g loaf (1kg flour, 600ml water, 2 loaves) is pretty good, although it's not quite as airy as shop-bought bread.
I do use oil too - a dribble of veggy oil - but it sounds like a combination of more water and more fat would be good. The recipes that I've read that treat wholemeal/ granary and white flour as essentially substitutible are wide of the mark, too - brown flour absorbs a lot more water than white. I do use the water in the oven to try to keep it from drying out too much while baking.
A long prove can also help (overnight in fridge works as well but let it come back to room temp after the proving stage).
Do you like more of a sourdough type flavour though?
I think I'll be baking another batch this weekend, so more water, more fat and more yeast, I think.
We haven't had a proper middle class thread like this in ages. Warms my cockles, it does.
sorry, just checking recipe
340g of water
30g yeast
30g of oil
500g sifted flour
340g? What's that in British?
😉
340ml at room temperature 🙂
That's about 10% more than the River Cottage recipe I use. So definitely room for more water and more oil.
I remember from school that there [i]was [/i]a way of moistening the bread.
It started with hollowing out a bit of the middle...
I always found the resulting flavour a little salty though.
Warms my wing mirrors, it does.
FTFY DD
sc-xc
I have a recipe for seasoned biscuits you may be interested in?
It's quite simple, just replace water with milk, that'll fix it, or email me and I'll send you some recipes that work, don't start adding oil to your bread though, if you want an oil bread I'll send you a focaccia recipe as well. You could also drop the sugar and add 2g less yeast and do a slow prove for 24 hours, that's what I prefer to do so then I can bake fresh for lunch and then again for dinner.
[url= http://www.amazon.com/The-Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688 ]Proper Bread Book[/url]
Buy and read this, it explains from first principles what does what. Also explains how to tell if you are too dry or too wet by feel and texture.
try the bagels, ciabatta and Pizza in there too
(was suggested by some a seriously good baker)