Any Home Bakers Here?

[Pork Pie]

Quote:
I've read somewhere that the misting advice is to give your loaf a greater rise, before forming a crust but either way, I used to make lots of bread and to be honest, i did not see any real difference in either size of the loaf or crustiness.

CT

 

[sunflour]

I loved my bread maker but it died recently so now I'm using my Kitchenaid. I used the dough cycle a lot on my bread maker. The gear on the bottom of my pan that the paddle attached to broke so I would have to buy a new pan but it is quite old. I have found some pans but I think I'm just going to invest in a new bread maker. I was quite surprised how much the replacement pans cost and they don't look exactly like the one that broke but are supposed to fit.

I know what you mean. My food processor is also a dinosaur - has cracks and small breaks on the plastic parts. Ordered replacements and they would not fit - still using the old one but just to shred cheese or chop dry foods.

Don't trust the after market parts - if you do decide to try to get a replacement, make sure you can return it if it doesn't work out.

 

[mekidsmom]

I've read somewhere that the misting advice is to give your loaf a greater rise, before forming a crust but either way, I used to make lots of bread and to be honest, i did not see any real difference in either size of the loaf or crustiness.

CT

I've read a lot of articles about different ways to create the steam... as some have said here, applying water directly to the loaf is common, or putting ice cubes in the bottom of the oven, as well as a cookie sheet with water. I like the water bottle mist best. But yeah, some of it has to do with a greater rise and the steam needs to be in the beginning before the crust forms. I do see a difference, but then again, when I want a crusty bread I also use a different recipe than when I want a softer bread! So, the recipe itself may have something to do with it! I do ALWAYS try to use bread flour though. It makes a ginormous difference in the texture... my biggest issue is that I usually manage to ruin the first loaf I bake because I can't wait to cut into it! Always make two!

I have never used a bread machine. I used to roll my eyes at bread machine users, thinking, "but you're missing out on the BEST part of the baking process, the KNEAD"... however, I used to have a lot more time in my life too! Ha ha! I could see myself using one now, although my kitchenaid really does most of the work anyway (yeah, I don't hand knead my bread anymore either). I like irregular shaped loafs though, and being able to say "I did this by hand", so it would probably take me a lot to use a machine that bakes the bread too. Although, that would be mighty nice in the summer when I refuse to bake because it's already too hot in the kitchen but really want some fresh bread. You bread machine folks have a HUGE benefit right there! I haven't talked myself into it yet, though that could end up on a X-mas list in the coming years.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
So far my food processor is hanging in there. Sometimes I use it to cut cold butter or shortening into the flour. I guess you'd call it a quick and dirty way but if I'm crunched for time it works great.

 

[appps]

Well my food processor got a work out this morning. Decided it was time to cut back my basil plants that have gone to seed and freeze a heap for winter use. I only cut back two out of my six plants before I decided it might be a few at a time job. Thank goodness I stopped, has taken me long enough with just those two!

I am not really sure the best way to save it as I've never planted more than one plant before so never bothered storing. I've puréed roughly most of it and filled muffin tins then topped with water and am going to freeze then tip into a ziplock bag. Figure I can just pull one out then to use in spag bog etc.

Now I've got one more ziplock bag chock full of unprocessed leaves that I'm wondering if I can just stick in the freezer like that? Thinking if I use them quickly maybe they won't get freezer burn or what not. Or do you think they will turn to mush?

If only I liked basil pesto!

 

[theuglyduckling]

Well my food processor got a work out this morning. Decided it was time to cut back my basil plants that have gone to seed and freeze a heap for winter use. I only cut back two out of my six plants before I decided it might be a few at a time job. Thank goodness I stopped, has taken me long enough with just those two!

I am not really sure the best way to save it as I've never planted more than one plant before so never bothered storing. I've puréed roughly most of it and filled muffin tins then topped with water and am going to freeze then tip into a ziplock bag. Figure I can just pull one out then to use in spag bog etc.

Now I've got one more ziplock bag chock full of unprocessed leaves that I'm wondering if I can just stick in the freezer like that? Thinking if I use them quickly maybe they won't get freezer burn or what not. Or do you think they will turn to mush?

If only I liked basil pesto!

i think they will turn to mush if you dont process them. when they defrost they will probably be all soggy. you could also dry the leaves and grind the leaves up and store in a spice container instead of freezing.

 

[DigMyChicks]

Well my food processor got a work out this morning. Decided it was time to cut back my basil plants that have gone to seed and freeze a heap for winter use. I only cut back two out of my six plants before I decided it might be a few at a time job. Thank goodness I stopped, has taken me long enough with just those two!

I am not really sure the best way to save it as I've never planted more than one plant before so never bothered storing. I've puréed roughly most of it and filled muffin tins then topped with water and am going to freeze then tip into a ziplock bag. Figure I can just pull one out then to use in spag bog etc.

Now I've got one more ziplock bag chock full of unprocessed leaves that I'm wondering if I can just stick in the freezer like that? Thinking if I use them quickly maybe they won't get freezer burn or what not. Or do you think they will turn to mush?

If only I liked basil pesto!

Do you have a dehydrator?

 

[NCaliChick]

@apps, I LOVE basil! My 2 plants went nuts last summer. I made a few batches of pesto, separated into 1-2 tablespoon sections wrapped in plastic & froze. Then I chopped up most of the rest & let it dry in my oven on a paper towel lined cookie sheet for a few days. It's all jarred up now in the cupboard

 

[N F C]

You could try drying the basil in the oven. I've done that with a couple different herbs.

Lay them out (single layers) on a rack. Put the oven to the lowest temp it will go and just waited until they were "crispy" dried. Then crush them and store in a jar.

 

[N F C]

I recently realized I've never posted the recipe that was the start of this whole baking thread. So here you go, along with some photos...

Master Boule Recipe
(Makes 3 loaves)

3 Cups lukewarm water (about 100*)
1 1/2 Tab. granulated yeast
1 1/2 Tab. Kosher salt
6 1/2 - 7 Cups AP flour

In a 5 qt. plastic food container (with a lid that is NOT air tight), add yeast and salt to the water. Don't worry about dissolving all the yeast in the water. As you can see by the following photo, my container is larger but it's the one I have so it works.

Mix in the flour all at once, kneading is unnecessary. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist without dry patches, shouldn't take more than a few minutes. The dough will be very wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of the container:


Cover with the lid (make sure it is not air-tight). Allow to rise at room temp until it begins to collapse or about 2 hours. Longer rise times up to about 5 hours will not harm the result. This next photo shows the dough after a 2 hour rise:


You could use the dough at this point but it will be one very wet, messy dough to work with. It's much easier to work with if you stick the dough in the refrigerator at this point and leave it overnight. This is what the dough will look like in the container the next day:


When you're ready to bake a loaf, prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and liberally sprinkle with corn meal. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and flour your hands (this is about to get a bit messy). Grab a large handful of dough about the size of a large grapefruit (might need to add more flour to your hands again). Gently stretch the surface of the dough on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go, this tightens the surface of the dough and while the bottom of the dough ball might look pretty bunched up, that will flatten out as the bread bakes. The dough ball should be smooth and the shaping shouldn't take more than about 30-60 seconds to shape. Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet. Store the remaining dough back in the refrigerator for up to 14 days.


Allow the uncovered loaf to rest at room temp for 20 minutes.
Put a baking stone on the middle rack in the oven and put a pan on the rack below the stone.

When the timer goes off, set it for another 20 minutes and turn the oven on to 450*. Get water for the pan under the stone to boiling.

By this point the dough has finished rising for a total of 40 minutes, the oven is ready and the water is boiling. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour and slash with a sharp knife:


Pour the boiling water into the pan under the baking stone and very carefully slide the parchment paper off the baking sheet and onto the stone. Bake about 30 minutes or until internal temp is 190-195*. The loaf should be browned and firm to the touch. Sometimes you can even hear the bread crackle when it's initially removed from the hot oven into the room temperature. Allow to cool on a wire rack.


Once you slice into it, you can keep your bread fresh without softening the crunchy crust by turning it cut side down on a cutting board uncovered. Putting it into a plastic bag or container will make the chewy crust soft.

Note: This bread recipe took a LOT of practice. Don't give up if it doesn't turn out great-looking on your first try. You'll know you're getting good at it when you only mess up 1 out of 3 loaves, lol. But seriously, this is wonderful bread and once you get the shaping technique down, it's so simple to make a fresh loaf because you already have dough in the fridge. This is my husband's #1 favorite bread, homemade or store-bought!