Sally's GF3 thread

[cavemanrich]

Sally,, here is that Chili soup I promised I would notify everyone with.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...r-favorite-recipes-here.1423391/post-28942684

 

[cavemanrich]

Sally,, I made Betsy bread. Its the recipe you gave us here. I will post pix on Baking thread in a day or so. It is still cooling, and I did not have a chance to sample some with butter. You may have already figured out that I'm a Night Owl,,,,,
But what I am posting,, is a little info about how much flour, to add, and judge by looking at dough.
So here is what happened to me today.
I doubled the recipe, so I can have some bread to share with family, and friends.
So when I started to add my flour,,,,,,, I was not able to squeeze in last cup of it.
Bread turned out well.
I may have added just a tad too much instant potatoes,, so that along with my High rank flour,, was possibly my cause to run out of hydration.
My term "High rank flour" is the high protein bread flour type.
I don't call my Fine cake flour Low rank,,, because it produces some Fine Goodies for me.

 

[Sally PB]

Thanks, @cavemanrich.

My term "High rank flour" is the high protein bread flour type.

Is that your personal term, or a baking term?

I have learned a lot more about flour and baking since going GF. Before, there was white flour, wheat, rye, other-grains-made-into-flour, cake, AP, and a few others.

Now, there are So. Many. Different. Kinds!

 

[cavemanrich]

Thanks, @cavemanrich.

Is that your personal term, or a baking term?

It is my personal term. I decided on it since in Europe, they use a numbering system to classify flour type. It doesn't seem to go in 1 number increments, What I commonly use,, 390, is fine cake flour. All purpose flour is 450, or somewhere closer to 500. Bread flour is somewhere in the 600 range. Whole wheat probably in the 700 class.
So the higher the number,,, the higher the protein percentage.

You may have heard this silly term. "THE WHITER YOUR BREAD,,,, THE QUICKER YOU'RE DEAD"

Well that term doesn't scare me but its origins are probably from eating as much of the grain as possible,,,,,,, rather than just the white center portion of a grain.
Same goes for apples, and potatoes. Very much is lost when they are peeled.
When I bake my potatoes,,,,, I wash/scrub the heaven out of the skin. Of course I LUV eating the baked skin.

And when I make my apple cake. (mom's hand down recipe) I wash the apples,,, and shred them with skin on.

 

[Sally PB]

I used to soak the old fashioned oats for grownies in applesauce. Now I wash and core 4 large apples, cut them into chunks, and whiz them in the blender to make the "sauce." I add a little bit of water -- 1/4 cup? -- to make it blend easier.

You're right, @cavemanrich, most of the goodness is in the skin.

I really like the skin of baked potatoes too! Yum!!

 

[Sally PB]

Yesterday, I made yogurt in my Instant Pot. This site is where I got the information about doing it.
https://www.thekitchn.com/instant-pot-yogurt-267450

I did the prep of heating the milk to 182°F in a pot on the stove, and then cooling it to 110° in a sink of cold water before putting it in the IP.

I used a gallon of 1% milk, and added a cup of honey and a couple teaspoons of vanilla. I incubated it for 9 hours, drained it in mesh bags for 1 hour, and I have the best yogurt I've made in a looooong time! This will be my go to method from now on.

I'm pretty sure the reason this has turned out well is because the IP can keep a constant incubation temperature. My method before was to incubate in quart jars in a box lined with towels. Sometimes -- like all the time, recently! -- the yogurt was thinner and runnier, and I'd bet this was because it cooled too much for the bacteria to do its thing. The last time I did it this way, it was just about too runny to drain in the mesh bags I have.

 

[ksbkeys]

Yesterday, I made yogurt in my Instant Pot. This site is where I got the information about doing it.
https://www.thekitchn.com/instant-pot-yogurt-267450

I did the prep of heating the milk to 182°F in a pot on the stove, and then cooling it to 110° in a sink of cold water before putting it in the IP.

I used a gallon of 1% milk, and added a cup of honey and a couple teaspoons of vanilla. I incubated it for 9 hours, drained it in mesh bags for 1 hour, and I have the best yogurt I've made in a looooong time! This will be my go to method from now on.

I'm pretty sure the reason this has turned out well is because the IP can keep a constant incubation temperature. My method before was to incubate in quart jars in a box lined with towels. Sometimes -- like all the time, recently! -- the yogurt was thinner and runnier, and I'd bet this was because it cooled too much for the bacteria to do its thing. The last time I did it this way, it was just about too runny to drain in the mesh bags I have.

I will have to try that! I have a yogurt maker also, but will try it with my Instant Pot!

 

[Sally PB]

When I make yogurt, I want to make a lot. I make a gallon at a time.

If you drain it, you lose about half the volume. Don't dump out the whey! I use it in place of water when I make the chickens' mash snack, and to cook rice (also in my Instant Pot).

If I had to pick just one small kitchen appliance, it would be my IP. It's very versatile.

 

[Sally PB]

Whey has a lot of uses. Some people give it to farm animals or their dogs. You can use it in place of water in baking bread. I've never used it in soup, but that's a possibility. I've read it can be used as a marinade or in a salad dressing.

As a last resort, dump it on your compost or on acid loving plants like blueberries or azaleas.

 

[cavemanrich]

I've never used it in soup, but that's a possibility.

When I make my cheese,, I always save the whey. Most of it is used up in soups. Pickle soup,,,, bean soups.
I make my cheese from 2 sources. Yogurt culture cheese,, and sour cream culture cheese. The yogurt version is more creamy texture than the sour cream version texture.
I use both, or ether when I make my cheesecake. I also use other cheeses like Ricotta, and Cottage cheese. Each version creates different cakes, but I like to experiment.
And of course the bacteria is different for each. Yogurt grows at 110°F,,,,,,,, sour-cream culture grows at about 85°F

Sally,, since you have the yogurt perfected, consider making some cheese with it. Its similar, ,creamy,, but more firm. Probably would taste great as a topping on some of that stiff GF bread.