Any Home Bakers Here?

[DigMyChicks]

I love to bake too...I give a lot away. When I bake pies my husband asks who's the pie for...I make him one also. I clean houses for a living so I try and do something special for my peoples birthdays...I'm doing a small 80th birthday party for one of my ladies tomorrow. I have done cinnamon rolls, brownies, lemon bars,etc. My favorite thing to do is rolled out sugar cookies. I have a huge container of cookie cutters for almost any occasion, when I think I have enough it seems I always find room for just one more

 

[N F C]

Hey all!

I have a question on salt...

I use that pink Himalayan salt and when I baked my Easter Babka it came out without enough salt flavor even though I used the amount called for in the recipe.
Has this happened with anyone else?
I had to add a little salt while eating the bread for it to taste normal, so then it was good.
I have been trying to learn what the various ingredients and baking styles do to the bread regarding crust and texture, and it is complicated! People will contradict one another, or changing one factor changes outcome in an unexpected manner...sigh...

I have also found that sugar sweetness varies with differs sugar types.

I did a batch of brioche from a Martha Stewart recipe and was not impressed with the bread for the amount of work it required. I'd rather just slather some of that extra butter on a regular bread!

Hi @Kikiriki ,

One thing that makes Himalayan salt different is that it is mined from mountains rather than harvested from water. It has a high mineral content in it because of that. We get our salts from Salt Works and here's a bit about it on their website:

"Ancient Ocean

Himalayan Pink Salt is harvested from ancient sea salt deposits within the pristine Himalayan Mountains. Some consider it the purest salt on earth. Up to 84 trace minerals are found within the salt, resulting in the beautiful color and providing beneficial trace nutrients essential for a balanced diet. Ancient Ocean boasts a naturally full flavor that can be used in a grinder as your everyday salt for cooking and at the table."

I've never used it for baking but one thing that will make a difference in baking is measuring ingredients rather than weighing them. Salts will come in various degrees of coarseness. One that has a coarse grain will not weigh the same as a fine grain salt. Since recipes usually call for only a small amount of salt, I don't weigh it but I do pay attention to whether a recipe calls for coarse or not (and if it doesn't specify, I use small grain).

Another thing, tastes change. What might seem just rightly flavored one day, may not taste the same another.

There are a lot of different things that affect how breads turn out and that's part of what makes it challenging (and fun).

 

[N F C]

I love to bake too...I give a lot away. When I bake pies my husband asks who's the pie for...I make him one also. I clean houses for a living so I try and do something special for my peoples birthdays...I'm doing a small 80th birthday party for one of my ladies tomorrow. I have done cinnamon rolls, brownies, lemon bars,etc. My favorite thing to do is rolled out sugar cookies. I have a huge container of cookie cutters for almost any occasion, when I think I have enough it seems I always find room for just one more

Hi @DigMyChicks , nice to have you join us! Funny you mention cookie cutters, I was looking at a cookie cutter website just the other day. It's amazing all the different cutters available. This is the site I saw (I'm sure there are plenty of others): http://www.cheapcookiecutters.com/

Do you have a favorite sugar cookie recipe you feel like sharing?

 

[Kikiriki]

Hey all!


I have a question on salt...


I use that pink Himalayan salt and when I baked my Easter Babka it came out without enough salt flavor even though I used the amount called for in the recipe.

Has this happened with anyone else?

I had to add a little salt while eating the bread for it to taste normal, so then it was good.

I have been trying to learn what the various ingredients and baking styles do to the bread regarding crust and texture, and it is complicated! People will contradict one another, or changing one factor changes outcome in an unexpected manner...sigh...

I have also found that sugar sweetness varies with differs sugar types.



I did a batch of brioche from a Martha Stewart recipe and was not impressed with the bread for the amount of work it required. I'd rather just slather some of that extra butter on a regular bread!

Hi @Kikiriki
,

One thing that makes Himalayan salt different is that it is mined from mountains rather than harvested from water. It has a high mineral content in it because of that. We get our salts from Salt Works and here's a bit about it on their website:

"Ancient Ocean

Himalayan Pink Salt is harvested from ancient sea salt deposits within the pristine Himalayan Mountains. Some consider it the purest salt on earth. Up to 84 trace minerals are found within the salt, resulting in the beautiful color and providing beneficial trace nutrients essential for a balanced diet. Ancient Ocean boasts a naturally full flavor that can be used in a grinder as your everyday salt for cooking and at the table."

I've never used it for baking but one thing that will make a difference in baking is measuring ingredients rather than weighing them. Salts will come in various degrees of coarseness. One that has a coarse grain will not weigh the same as a fine grain salt. Since recipes usually call for only a small amount of salt, I don't weigh it but I do pay attention to whether a recipe calls for coarse or not (and if it doesn't specify, I use small grain).

Another thing, tastes change. What might seem just rightly flavored one day, may not taste the same another.

There are a lot of different things that affect how breads turn out and that's part of what makes it challenging (and fun).

I think you nailed it...the salt I used is very course grained. I do prefer it, so I'll have to grind some up for using in recipes...

Thanks!

 

[BBrady]

I love to bake beer bread, and corn bread mini muffins. I can't make these very often because it goes so quickly in a house with three guys. I Am looking for a bread maker to use with regular white and wheat breads, just to do the mixing/kneading/rising part so I can roll it out for dinner rolls, bread sticks, and sandwhich buns. Any recommendations on bread makers?

i love cooking a lot too! I make dehydrated fruit and vegetables, fresh pea soup, lemonade/limeade, and I have a favorite enchilada recipe that is baked not fried.

 

[wyoDreamer]

It would be best to grind it smaller so it will distribute evenly through the bread, the larger crystals of sea salt do not dissolve in the dough and will leave much of the dough unseasoned as you found out.
FYI, I measured it out on my scale and here is what I got.
1/2 teaspoon of salt = 0.1 ounce = 3 grams
1 teaspoon salt = 0.2 ounce = 6 grams
1 1/2 teaspoon = 0.3 ounce = 9 grams

edited to add: that was plain old Morton Salt that I weighed, which is what most recipes are geared toward.

 

[Kikiriki]

It would be best to grind it smaller so it will distribute evenly through the bread, the larger crystals of sea salt do not dissolve in the dough and will leave much of the dough unseasoned as you found out.
FYI, I measured it out on my scale and here is what I got.
1/2 teaspoon of salt = 0.1 ounce = 3 grams
1 teaspoon salt = 0.2 ounce = 6 grams
1 1/2 teaspoon = 0.3 ounce = 9 grams

That is amazing that you did that! I am copying it right now!!

 

[wyoDreamer]

Your welcome! It's just the geek in me escaping this early in the morning...

 

[N F C]

Hi @BBrady , nice to have you join us!

I don't have a bread machine but there are a couple of regulars on this thread that do so hopefully one of them will get back to you.

Would you care to share your beer bread recipe? I've never made bread with beer before, could be interesting to try.

 

[N F C]

Here's a question for you bread bakers...

I need to make Kaiser rolls but I am completely out of granulated sugar. I have brown sugar, honey and some old Splenda packets (don't really like those though). Which do you think I should use? I need 4 tablespoons. I don't want the dough to be too sweet so if I substitute brown sugar or honey, would I use the entire 4 tablespoons or just a portion of it?

Thanks!