Bread

[AmyAmyAmy]

Anyone else bake bread? I've been making some every weekend lately from a book I've had for years. I want to try my hand at sourdough soon.

[diablita]

I bake challah often for Shabbat dinner (sometimes with sprinkles on it for fun) and other types occasionally.  I make a pretty good baguette.

[nadra24]

My mom and my sister both make amazing bread.  I know how, but haven't perfected my technique because my oven is psycho and won't stay at 375 degrees.  When I move I will probably make it more often.  I did make rolls last Thanksgiving (my psycho oven will stay at 350) and they kicked ass even if they weren't as beautiful as my mom's.

[AmyAmyAmy]

I just made some rye/whole wheat rolls. Everything whole wheat just seems way too heavy to me. I'd really like to make it lighter without adding white flour.

[nadra24]

I just made some rye/whole wheat rolls. Everything whole wheat just seems way too heavy to me. I'd really like to make it lighter without adding white flour.

So I just talked to my mom.  She says that to make whole wheat bread less dense, you need more gluten.  You can either use flour made from white whole wheat wheat (as opposed to red wheat, which makes a denser loaf) or you can add vital wheat gluten to your dough to help it rise better.  My mom grinds her own flour and uses red wheat because she has like 200 lbs in the garage for food storage, and it keeps longer.  She adds about 1/3 cup of vital wheat gluten to her batch of bread that makes 5 loaves, which translates to about 1 tablespoon for every loaf your recipe makes.  Maybe a little more if you're using rye flour as well, since rye is lower in gluten than wheat.  Bob's Red Mill sells vital wheat gluten in small packages, you can order it online or see if they have it at the store.  http://www.bobsredmill.com/vital-wheat-gluten.html  King Arthur sells white whole wheat flour http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-white-whole-wheat-flour-5-lb

[fancypants]

So I just talked to my mom.  She says that to make whole wheat bread less dense, you need more gluten.  You can either use flour made from white whole wheat wheat (as opposed to red wheat, which makes a denser loaf) or you can add vital wheat gluten to your dough to help it rise better.  My mom grinds her own flour and uses red wheat because she has like 200 lbs in the garage for food storage, and it keeps longer.  She adds about 1/3 cup of vital wheat gluten to her batch of bread that makes 5 loaves, which translates to about 1 tablespoon for every loaf your recipe makes.  Maybe a little more if you're using rye flour as well, since rye is lower in gluten than wheat.  Bob's Red Mill sells vital wheat gluten in small packages, you can order it online or see if they have it at the store.  http://www.bobsredmill.com/vital-wheat-gluten.html  King Arthur sells white whole wheat flour http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-white-whole-wheat-flour-5-lb

All I got out of that is that I want to go to Nadra's mom's house and eat bread. She probably has good butter, too.

[AmyAmyAmy]

So I just talked to my mom.  She says that to make whole wheat bread less dense, you need more gluten.  You can either use flour made from white whole wheat wheat (as opposed to red wheat, which makes a denser loaf) or you can add vital wheat gluten to your dough to help it rise better.  My mom grinds her own flour and uses red wheat because she has like 200 lbs in the garage for food storage, and it keeps longer.  She adds about 1/3 cup of vital wheat gluten to her batch of bread that makes 5 loaves, which translates to about 1 tablespoon for every loaf your recipe makes.  Maybe a little more if you're using rye flour as well, since rye is lower in gluten than wheat.  Bob's Red Mill sells vital wheat gluten in small packages, you can order it online or see if they have it at the store.  http://www.bobsredmill.com/vital-wheat-gluten.html  King Arthur sells white whole wheat flour http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-white-whole-wheat-flour-5-lb

Cool! Thanks nadra & mom!

[caribougrrl]

I just made some rye/whole wheat rolls. Everything whole wheat just seems way too heavy to me. I'd really like to make it lighter without adding white flour.

nadra's mom is smart, buiding up gluten is important... or you can make your bread softer (not less dense, but it will feel less dense) by using milk for the liquid and letting the dough rest a while before the initial kneading

I have a friend who swears that using more than one kind of yeast (dry and cake, sourdough and dry, dry and beer for the liquid) helps reduce the density, but I think it's just an idea in her head. 

[witchypoo]

I bake bread once a week.

[nadra24]

All I got out of that is that I want to go to Nadra's mom's house and eat bread. She probably has good butter, too.

Not really but she makes strawberry freezer jam and it is hella good.  She also puts potato flakes in her bread and says that makes it softer too.  Ok, now I'm getting cranky because I'm doing the WLC and I can't eat bread.  Dammit.  (I told her last night I was doing the challenge and I couldn't have bread, cheese, or Diet Coke.  She was like "why in the world did you agree to such a thing?")

[Chasing Amy]

She was like "why in the world did you agree to such a thing?")

She has a point.

I am a mediocre bread baker. I don't do it enough to really have a good technique down.

[Natasha]

I am also mediocre at bread making, but would like to get better. I like the 5 minute a day recipe.

[radial]

(I told her last night I was doing the challenge and I couldn't have bread, cheese, or Diet Coke.  She was like "why in the world did you agree to such a thing?")

 

[radial]

I can't eat it anymore, but I still make it sometimes for other people and for the aroma. 

[witchypoo]

Oooo.  someone should market a bread scented perfume.

[Kumbaya]

I can't eat it anymore, but I still make it sometimes for other people and for the aroma.

You can't eat bread? Why not?

[radial]

You can't eat bread? Why not?

Gluten.  Wreaks havoc with my GI tract.  As much as I would like to indulge, it's just not worth the consequences. 

[Kumbaya]

Gluten.  Wreaks havoc with my GI tract.  As much as I would like to indulge, it's just not worth the consequences.

This would make me depressed!

[radial]

I was depressed, and kept retesting myself periodically just to make abso-fucking-lutely sure.  I missed bread, but the loss of pasta was far more grievous.  Oh well, I recovered and nowadays it's no big deal.  Among other things, my BP went from clinical levels that required drugs to keep me alive to 120/70.  Not such a bad tradeoff all things considered. 

[seattlegirl]

I made some naan a few weeks ago, using the broiler.  Now I have two more yeast packets, so I may need to try making a loaf of something.