Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
The bakers' thread
- Thread starter glasgowcyclist
- Start date
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OP
OP
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
I’m looking for some information please; does anyone have any reliable recipes for using a bread machine to bake a long-fermented dough?
A friend has been using a machine for years and has no oven but he’d like to try to achieve a tastier loaf using, say, a poolish. I’ve had a search around the usual forums but what I have been finding is recipes that use the machine for kneading and resting but with the final bake done in an oven.
Anyone got any ideas?
A friend has been using a machine for years and has no oven but he’d like to try to achieve a tastier loaf using, say, a poolish. I’ve had a search around the usual forums but what I have been finding is recipes that use the machine for kneading and resting but with the final bake done in an oven.
Anyone got any ideas?
Some machines have the capability of creating a user defined program, so you can set the duration of each phase. Ours has that capability, but with the limitation that the program total duration can not exceed 24 hours. Not sure if that would be good enough.
Alternatively, if your friend are OK to do all the other steps by hand, the bread makers have a bake mode, where they just bake. Usually you have a choice of duration, but not of temperature, at least in ours, maybe a proper posh expensive one has more capabilities.
jayonabike
Powered by caffeine & whisky
- Location
- Hertfordshire
When I bake bread I knead by hand. The wife has just bought a fancy food mixer and it comes with a dough hook which I want to try. How quick will the mixer take compared to kneading by hand?
IaninSheffield
Veteran
- Location
- Sheffield, UK
Having done it both ways, I don't recall much of a time difference. When using a machine, you don't have the same immediate 'feel' for the dough, although what you do have is two free hands to be getting on with something else. 👐
OP
OP
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
OP
OP
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
I got a lovely Kitchen Aid stand mixer as a Christmas present and although it's good for kneading, it's not ay better than doing it by hand. As IaninSheffield says, it does free you up to do other things, maybe measuring out the other ingredients you want to add to the dough.
I prefer using my hands as I can feel the dough getting to the correct consistency. It's much more enjoyable too!
Tail End Charlie
Well, write it down boy ......
- Location
- In green and pleasant hills.
This is a new one for me. Earlier this year I bought two black chokeberry bushes as I rather liked the way the stems had been twisted together and thought they would look great in a pot. At the time they were covered with buds which later blossomed into white blossom and looked fantastic.
Been watering diligently and the white blossom has turned into black berries, (which also looks stunning). Loads of them. So I Googled recipes and found one which looked interesting so I gave it a whirl. It's an upsidedown cake and the batter part has equal quantities of flour and oatmeal. All the recipes mentioned how astringent chokeberries are, so I carefully followed them (which is unusual for me).
Had to try a slice and it was delicious, I don't especially like sweet things, so the fruit is ideal for me, there is a harshness to it, but the sugar that is in counters it well. Apparently it gets better the second day, time well tell, well tomorrow will, on that one. Had some leftover topping from a previous cake (soured cream, mascarpone and a bit of sugar) which married well with it. There's easily enough on the bushes for another one over the next week or so.
I've now decided to plant the bushes in the ground, with a wire support to hold them up, as in my experience, plants and especially fruit do better in the ground.
Been watering diligently and the white blossom has turned into black berries, (which also looks stunning). Loads of them. So I Googled recipes and found one which looked interesting so I gave it a whirl. It's an upsidedown cake and the batter part has equal quantities of flour and oatmeal. All the recipes mentioned how astringent chokeberries are, so I carefully followed them (which is unusual for me).
Had to try a slice and it was delicious, I don't especially like sweet things, so the fruit is ideal for me, there is a harshness to it, but the sugar that is in counters it well. Apparently it gets better the second day, time well tell, well tomorrow will, on that one. Had some leftover topping from a previous cake (soured cream, mascarpone and a bit of sugar) which married well with it. There's easily enough on the bushes for another one over the next week or so.
I've now decided to plant the bushes in the ground, with a wire support to hold them up, as in my experience, plants and especially fruit do better in the ground.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
Some flatbread - unleavened, so super easy and quick to make;
The last decent loaf I've made recently - this was going to be sourdough, but the pre-ferment barely bubbled. Rather than waste it, I added it to a "normal" 75% wholemeal recipe and made this;
The last decent loaf I've made recently - this was going to be sourdough, but the pre-ferment barely bubbled. Rather than waste it, I added it to a "normal" 75% wholemeal recipe and made this;
Just back from a week in Dundee, the GLW's home town. Brought a stack of Scotch, steak, Balmoral pies for the freezer 
, plus a supply of individual fruit pies for me and friends who rave over them 
. Can't get anything even near them in England, even trying local bakers to give them a go, but they can't do them at a cost effective price; 97p. each. Shame. 
, plus a supply of individual fruit pies for me and friends who rave over them . Can't get anything even near them in England, even trying local bakers to give them a go, but they can't do them at a cost effective price; 97p. each. Shame. 
RoubaixCube
~Tribanese~
- Location
- London, UK
Oatmeal and raisin berry cherry cookies. My 3rd attempt.
Berries from Lidl's berry and cherry mix and cranberry and raisin mix
Berries from Lidl's berry and cherry mix and cranberry and raisin mix
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OP
OP
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
My second go at a ciabatta recipe, with a little more success in the shaping. I still find this the trickiest part.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
Had my first acceptable results from the "scrapings" sourdough starter method. Had to change my baking schedule/method a bit, but happy with these and starter feeds are a lot less wasteful now!
Seeded white loaf;
...and a Pain de Campagne type loaf (baked as a batch of two) made to use up my wholemeal flour;
Oven spring isn't quite as good as my old method, but good enough.
Seeded white loaf;
...and a Pain de Campagne type loaf (baked as a batch of two) made to use up my wholemeal flour;
Oven spring isn't quite as good as my old method, but good enough.
Tail End Charlie
Well, write it down boy ......
- Location
- In green and pleasant hills.
Been making a few clafoutis recently, using different fruits. Basically whisk up some egg yolks and sugar, fold in some whisked up egg whites and bake. Love the end result, because it bakes the mix differently depending on the level so you end up with a custardy base, a runny middle, with almost a spongy top. So far I've used, blackberries, raspberries and plums (all from the garden). The blackberry one was my favourite.
I realise it would have been helpful to take a photo of the inside to show what I mean, but I forgot.
I realise it would have been helpful to take a photo of the inside to show what I mean, but I forgot.
OP
OP
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
Anyone else here have the bread book "Crumb" by Richard Bertinet? If not, I don't recommend it.
I made his pain de mie loaf the other day, although instead of making traditional 2 x 1lb tin loafs I made a single large bloomer.
Excellent for sandwiches, fluffy soft inside, with very little crust to speak of but way too salty for my tastes. The recipe (with 500g flour) calls for a whopping 20g of salt. My usual practice is always follow a recipe to the letter on the first go, then adjust subsequent bakes as required. I have since discovered that the 20g is a misprint and should only be 10g.
It seems there are numerous errors within the book, so if you have it you might want to take a look at this page where he lists them and the corrections. CRUMB........whoops.... erratum.... - The Bertinet Kitchen Cookery School
Thirteen errors is a lot! As well as the many mistakes, the recipes are poorly written, requiring the reader to flip back to earlier references for instructions on different stages. All too messy and not something you want to be doing with doughy hands. I've made some lovely bread from it but the constant toing and froing within the book makes it too much of a faff so I haven't used it as much as I'd have liked. I prefer a self-contained recipe with everything I need to know in one place.
I made his pain de mie loaf the other day, although instead of making traditional 2 x 1lb tin loafs I made a single large bloomer.
Excellent for sandwiches, fluffy soft inside, with very little crust to speak of but way too salty for my tastes. The recipe (with 500g flour) calls for a whopping 20g of salt. My usual practice is always follow a recipe to the letter on the first go, then adjust subsequent bakes as required. I have since discovered that the 20g is a misprint and should only be 10g.
It seems there are numerous errors within the book, so if you have it you might want to take a look at this page where he lists them and the corrections. CRUMB........whoops.... erratum.... - The Bertinet Kitchen Cookery School
Thirteen errors is a lot! As well as the many mistakes, the recipes are poorly written, requiring the reader to flip back to earlier references for instructions on different stages. All too messy and not something you want to be doing with doughy hands. I've made some lovely bread from it but the constant toing and froing within the book makes it too much of a faff so I haven't used it as much as I'd have liked. I prefer a self-contained recipe with everything I need to know in one place.
