/ck/ - Food & Cooking

posting in an epic bread

>>11256590
I'm not much of a baker at all, but last weekend I put together a peach cobbler for a BBQ. Next time I take a crack at it I'll be making a couple of adjustments to improve it, but it turned out fairly well for a first attempt.

I have some grandparents that aren't really mobile anymore and they sometimes talk about the old days of always baking bread together. Is there a good recipe for someone that's taking their first crack at making bread at home? Also, ideally it would be something with a softer crust (or maybe they could just remove that part?) They don't always bother with dentures and I'd want it to be something they could still enjoy.

>>11256590
I've posted my retarded pretzels before but here.

>eating carbs

Just how fat are you?

>>11256710
fatter than you faggot lmao

>>11256637
A simple white bread would be a good start, if you can get hold of "fast action" yeast, the stuff used in bread makers, you can make a loaf quite quickly. If you have a pound (454g) of bread flour a tea spoon of yeast (fast action) you could make 6 bread rolls and to make a soft crust, wrap the rolls in a clean tea towel when they come out of the oven, the steam will soften the crust. I'm sure the method would be on the bag of flour. You could also make from this basic dough, herb rolls, put in some mixed dried herbs or mixed dried fruit for fruit rolls. Give it a go.

I make a baguette each morning as we do not buy bread. Just flour, water, salt and yeast.

>>11256590
I buy pic related in bulk. I keep it in a glass jar in the fridge. Basic recipe is this:
>2 Tbsp yeast into 1 or 2 c warm water (dep on flour amount) with 2-3 Tbsp sugar. Dissolve and let rest 5 min.
>2 tsp NON-iodized salt
>2 Tbsp oil or salt
>4-6 cups flour
>mix, knead until: smooth and NOT sticky anymore. When ready (10-15 min of kneading), it will be smooth, not sticky, and will bounce back if poked slightly
>let rise until doubled
>put into pans or shape into loaves
>let rise until doubled
>bake at 375-425, depending on type of flour (AP flour 375, rye and whole wheat 425).

Don't be a chump - get a proper bread knife. Sourdough next post.

>>11256804
Nice, thanks. And doing this I'd put it in a loaf pan to bake? It seems like I see quite a few round loaves and odd shapes and whatnot but I guess I'm looking for the best method for a novice. Crawl before I walk, right?

How long would it take to get enough active yeast to make a loaf of bread if I just mixed a starter and waited? I don't like the idea of having to keep throwing half of it away, but if it gets active enough to make a loaf of bread, I'll just do that until it develops enough bacteria to make more sour loaves before refrigerating it.

>>11256959
Also I like 100% whole wheat bread, and that's supposed to be better for sourdough, right?

>>11256906
Should be just:
>2 Tbsp oil
Salt already was added.

OK for sourdough, just replace the yeast and 1/2 to 1 cup flour with 1 cup freshly fed starter. Otherwise same recipe.

Sourdough starter:
>1/4 c bread flour (strong flour)
>1/4 c rye flour
>1/2 c distilled water or water that has sat for a few hours.
DO NOT use bleached flour
DO NOT use water straight from the tap, unless you have untreated water
>Stir and let sit for a day
>pour off any liquid (yeast waste = alcohol) and "feed" the same amount
>do this 4 days to a week
When you are ready to use the starter, feed it and wait for it to rise before using.

PROTIP: you are basically making a yeast culture, so:
>alcohol is normal
>funny smells are normal
>Mold is not normal - not enough alcohol waste left in jar
>Feed sugar, orange juice or honey to give your starter a kickstart (yeast can feed off simple sugars quickly)
>Feed AP/bleached flour for cheap maintenance of an established starter
>Feed once per week if you move your starter to the fridge (slows entire process). Feed daily if kept at room temperature
>It is a CULTURE - feed it what you want it to adapt to eating. If you are making rye, feed it rye. If you are using AP, feed it AP.
>I feed AP and then periodically give it bread flour and rye flour, or do 1/4 c AP, 1 Tbsp bread flour, 1 Tbsp rye flour.

>>11256918
Loaf pans if you are inexperienced. Better to grease them. On a stone with corn meal for a pro.

>>11256959
4 days to a week to get a decent starter going at room temp. It should double in size in an hour or two after feeding when ready.

>>11256964
You cannot get a good starter going with AP/bleached. You can feed it AP though.

>>11256975
Oops, forgot to say you should let sourdough rise as long as necessary, even overnight. The starter should double in size after feeding when ready to bake.

I love bread but the making of it seems tedious

>>11256995
>4 days to a week to get a decent starter going at room temp. It should double in size in an hour or two after feeding when ready.
>You cannot get a good starter going with AP/bleached. You can feed it AP though.
Thanks.

OK now a word on proofing and overproofing:
>Proofing/proving = rising the dough
>most doughs have 3 rises/proofs in them
>most bread recipes call for 2 rises
>If you proof the dough too long, the yeast will run out of food
>But, if you catch it soon enough, you can reshape and let rise for 20-30 min
Technically, you should be able to re-feed if you over proof, but I have never tried this. I would probably take the dough, split in half and mix it with a 1/4 batch of newly kneaded dough, also split in half for the mixing.


>>11257000
Really only takes 20 min, and 10-15 of that is kneading. Get a fucking bread machine and it literally takes 3 min with bread machine yeast. Still better than store-bought garbage.

>>11257051
np, cuc/ck/s. I try to get non-faggoty bread threads going all the time, so I'm happy to be toastin in decent bread

is no knead a prank? I've tried several recipes with different hydration levels and it always comes up dense and moist in the center. It also gets extra tough the day after

I want to make bread but I only have a toaster oven. It's the biggest one I could find, still not that big, but it goes up to 450F of course. I have no loaf pan. What type of bread should I make? I have scales to measure weight.

>>11256590

Made some cornbreas, its alright. Ill use more salt and not omit the honey from the recipe but texturally it was great

>>11257289

>>11257070
catering chef here
2 questions
what is the key to keeping cookies from spreading?
how can I make a better focaccia?
I appreciate your opinion

>>11256975
Oh fuck. I forgot you aren't supposed to use tap water. I just slammed a starter on the shelf a few hours ago. Is it just less likely to set up with tap?

>>11257282
You can make breadsticks and foccacias

anyone got that copypasta of the dude who allegedly makes bread so good it would "blow your tits clean off" and always posted a picture of arthur with a fist

>>11257245
I use a mixing machine to make my sourdough bread and I also just mix and not knead, seems to make little difference to the finished loaf

>>11257304
>what is the key to keeping cookies from spreading?
Refrigerating the dough for at least an hour so it firms up a bit and doesn't melt too much before setting in the oven

>>11256710
yuge

>>11256975
Thank you for the recipe, I've been failing at making a starter and I think it's because I've been using tap water. Should I leave my starter covered, uncovered, or loosely covered on the countertop when first feeding it?

>>11259819
yeah i usually freeze it, but that hasnt helped enough. maybe mine have too much sugar

Do you have to add salt to make bread? Why is all the store bread so fucking salty?

>>11260485
Without salt the flavour might be a little too "flat" sometimes

>>11260485

Yes. For two reasons.

1. Flavor - your bread will taste like cardboard if there isn't any salt in it.

2. Proofing - salt retards the proofing process. If you just omit salt from a recipe you're going to end up with severely overproofed dough that will fall flat and have no structure.

I like to make Jaques Pepin's one-pot no-knead bread. Just make the dough a day before you want to bake it.

4 cups flour
2 1/2 cups warm (not hot) water
1 packet dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
Note: you can add other ingredients to this base. it's good enough on its own, but a little garlic and oregano to taste helps it a lot too. DO NOT add any sugar, or it will expand too much and decorate the refrigerator.

>mix water and yeast in a 4 or 6 qt pot that you can put in an oven
>mix in flour and salt
>let it rise (first proof)
>stir it down
>refrigerate for half a day or overnight (will ride again)
>stir again (second proof)
>40 minutes at 400

Alright anons, I fucked up bad. This is a cursed image but I need help making bread.

Whenever I try to hand knead bread, it turns out like this, despite the video showing the bread being smooth and nice on top. Is it just the way i'm kneading and should I invest in a good bread mixer to make this shit? I'm getting a little frustrated cause every time I try to make bread it turns out like shit and I have to throw it away.

>>11258129
tap water is fine, even if you have hard water. Imo what's more important is water temp (I think 84 degrees is optimal)

>>11259819
>>11260472

>>11256710
I will never understand the vehement hatred that redditors have against eating carbs