The Rise

Hello! I am sorry to have been so neglectful of my blog lately! Not sure what happened except just life with two kids and a house to clean.

Anyhoo...

Here is a nice quick little post to show you something about bread. The last post was about bread baking and explained a little about putting steam in the oven with your bread.

In case there was any doubt, I now have some proof! I didn't intentionally create this and was pretty surprised myself at what happened when I accidentally put in this loaf of bread not quite totally over the pan of steaming water in the bottom of my oven.

Check it out!

Can you tell which side was over the steam and which one wasn't? Pretty remarkable, huh?

Mmmmmm.... makes me want to go bake some bread!

Thanks for stopping by!

Bread

Here is a quick little post to share more of one of my little obsessions: bread baking.

I love making my own bread. It's more than just the health benefits of homemade bread over store-bought bread, though there are many, not the least of which is ensuring only real ingredients are in each loaf. I just love the feel of the dough, the chemistry of it all, the smell of bread baking in the oven, and of course the taste! It still amazes me to see flour, yeast, and water come together into something so delicious.

Here are my latest loaves - honey whole wheat.

I've been reading The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. it is amazing and I am learning a lot. I've been reading about starters, which are basically preparation of part of the dough ahead of time to develop more flavor. It is working really well so far and has the added benefit of making my bread last longer before going stale.

I'm still playing around with my recipe, but I will share the version I have been using lately. It is really good! It does require a bit more work, but not much. And you need to plan ahead a little to make sure the timing works for you. Let me tell you, it is very much worth all of the effort!

Enjoy!

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Starter
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1 teaspoon honey
2 cups (9 ounces) bread flour

Bread
Starter (above)
2 cups warm milk (110 degrees)
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoon melted butter
1-1/2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups (13-1/2 ounces) whole wheat flour
3 cups (13-1/2 ounces) bread flour

Put together the starter one day before you want to bake your bread. To make the starter, first whisk together the warm water and yeast. Whisk in honey. Allow to sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour. The mixture should look and feel like a sticky bread dough. Cover loosely and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Refrigerate overnight.

To make the bread, bring the starter to room temperature. Place it in the bowl of a stand mixer. In a small bowl, whisk together the warm milk and yeast. Add the yeast and milk to the starter. Add the melted butter and honey. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours and the salt. Add to the mixer bowl and mix with the paddle attachment until everything is combined. Switch to the dough hook and knead for 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky. If the dough feels too sticky, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time while kneading, being careful not to add too much.

Lightly oil a large bowl, then place the dough in it, turning so that the top of the dough is also coated with oil. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour.

After the dough has risen, turn it out gently onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a loaf and place into lightly oiled or sprayed (with non-stick baking spray) loaf pans and let rise for about an hour or until each loaf is nicely domed.

Just before the time is up, dip a sharp paring knife into water and gently score the top of each loaf. You score the loaf by gently scratching the surface, with a paper cut motion, rather than plunging the knife into the loaf. The water will keep the knife from sticking and dragging in the dough. You can skip this step if you like, but scoring the loaf will give you a better rise in the oven and keep the loaf from splitting.

Twenty minutes before the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Place a metal pan in the bottom of the oven and allow it to heat with the oven. Use a heavy metal pan with 1-2 inch sides to do this. Do NOT use glass, which will shatter when you add the hot water later. Start 1-2 cups of water on the stove and bring it to a boil (I use a tea kettle). Have a spray bottle filled with water handy (room temperature).

When the loaves are ready, put them in the preheated oven so that the loaves themselves are in the center of the oven and directly over the preheated pan. Carefully pour the boiling water into the pan at the bottom of the oven, being careful not to touch the hot steam and not to pour water onto the loaves. Quickly close the oven. After 30 seconds, crack open the door and lightly spray water from the bottle onto the walls of the oven. Do NOT spray any glass, any lights, or the loaves. Repeat the misting two more times at 30 second intervals.

This all creates steam that will allow your loaves to rise higher in the oven and have a better crust. You can skip all of this if it seems like too much trouble, but I have found that it is worth the small effort.

After the third misting, turn the temperature on the oven down to 350 degrees F. and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the pans immediately and allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before cutting.

These loaves freeze really well. After they are completely cool, wrap each loaf tightly in plastic wrap and then tightly in aluminum foil before putting in the freezer. Otherwise, you can store the loaves at room temperature in an airtight container and they will keep for about a week.

There's Nothing Like the Smell of Freshly Baked Bread

Hello Everyone! Or should I say, "is anybody out there??" :) It has been a little while since my last post because I was on vacation! The kids and I had a great time visiting with family and friends last week. I was also able to stop by Country Kitchen SweetArt with my sister and pick up some new cake toys!

I've actually got a couple of posts ready for you. Aren't you excited! But, first things first. I know it's not cake and technically not a sweet baked item, but today I made bread. I used a no-knead recipe from the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Great book if you have any interest in bread-making but don't have a lot of time. I adapted the basic recipe from that book and turned it into my own Whole Wheat Honey Bread.

I meant to take a picture of it before I cut into it, but I couldn't help myself! It smelled sooooo good! This is a little loaf, just for our dinner. That is the nice thing about the five-minutes-a-day technique. You store the dough in the refrigerator and just pull out what you need, let it rise briefly, and then bake it up for dinner. Yum!

So, here is the recipe and the details. It really is super easy.

Whole Wheat Honey Bread
3 cups lukewarm water (around 105-110 degrees F.)
1 1/2 tablespoons dry active yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned and leveled
3 cups whole wheat flour, lightly spooned and leveled

Find a large container that you can cover, but that is not airtight. I use this container from King Arthur Flour Company. Pour the warm water into the container and whisk in the yeast and the honey. I add the honey now so that the yeast has something to "feed" it while it starts to become active. Allow to "bloom" for 5 minutes. This is just to make sure your yeast is active. It can go bad for a number of reasons, the most common being expiration. Another common reason your yeast won't work is that your water is too hot. Remember that 105 degrees F. is not that much warmer than body temperature. If you suspect that you are killing your yeast with your water temperature, use a candy or similar thermometer until you get the feel of the right temperature.

Once the mixture gets foamy, you know your yeast is active and you can add your other ingredients. Whisk in the salt, then add your flours and stir with a wooden spoon until it is uniformly moistened. Scrape the bottom of the container and any corners to make sure there isn't dry flour hiding down there. It should all be incorporated. Don't worry about kneading it. That's the beauty of this method! Put on your lid (remember, NOT airtight - the yeast needs to "breathe") and let it sit at room temperature for two hours. It should rise to about double. After this rise, you can use the dough right away if you like, but it will be harder to work with. It is better if you prepare the dough early enough to put it in the refrigerator after this first rise. Refrigerate for at least three hours before using to make it easier to work with.

After the dough, still in it's non-airtight container, has had a chance to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, pull it out and grab with floured hands a grapefruit-sized chunk of dough. Put the rest back in the refrigerator. Take your grapefruit-sized chunk and dust it lightly with flour. Form it into a ball and place it seam side down on a cornmeal-dusted pizza/dough peel. Don't worry if it's not perfectly shaped. I actually like them better if they look more homemade and rustic, instead of perfect. If you don't have a peel, you can use the back of a pizza pan or a rimless cookie sheet. Allow to rise for 40 minutes at room temperature. At this point, the dough may not rise very much and this is okay. It will still taste wonderful, I promise!

About 20 minutes into the rising time, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Place a baking stone on your rack, which should be in the middle of your oven. Make sure you leave enough room above the rack and stone for your bread to rise a little. You actually want the top of the loaf to end up right in the middle of your oven. There also needs to be enough space below the rack to place a small pan (I use a 2-inch high 9-inch round cake pan). Go ahead and put the shallow pan on the rack (or oven floor) below the stone, so that they can all preheat with the oven. Just before putting your loaf in the oven, take a really sharp, preferably serrated knife, and run it lengthwise along your loaf, making a shallow cut. Pour about a cup of hot tap water into the shallow pan in the oven, then slide your loaf off of the peel and onto the baking stone. Bake for 30 minutes or until the loaf is nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Though it is VERY tempting to cut right into that baby the second it is out of the oven, resist! It will get gummy and won't be nearly as nice. Let your nice little loaf rest for 15 or 20 minutes before slicing into it. You will be rewarded for your patience by steamy, lovely bread goodness! I like mine with the lightest spread of butter or a little honey. So good.

Here are some pics of mine in progress. Measuring the dry ingredients. Doesn't that wheat flour look nice?

The flour dumped into the yeast/water mixture. See the foam rising around the edges?

This is what the dough should look like after the flour is all mixed in. No dry spots!

I hope you enjoyed this! Too bad I can't transfer smells through this blog. There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread!