KK Bread Making Tips and Tricks

[Pequod]

Crikey! Please tell me you still argon your wine. 

[tekobo]

  On 5/6/2020 at 11:35 PM, Syzygies said:

COVID has cost me all of my personal integrity. Stand mixer, loaf pan, no steam. At least we still grind our flour. I even ordered an upgraded loaf pan with straight sides, the Vollrath 4V.

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Ha.  My misplaced anxiety is about using yeast.  I feel like I would be straying from developing my sourdough craft. HOWEVER I love baguettes and @Pequod's (brioche) buns have got me drooling.  Another rule to be broken.  Soon. 

  On 4/25/2020 at 8:51 AM, Syzygies said:

Our favorite loaf pan bread yet. Lots of farro available from unrealized past aspirations, and it really works as a guest flour here.

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@Syzygies what do you call farro?  At first I was reluctant to buy yet another grain and then, when I asked at my local whole food shop, they had no idea what farro was and had to look it up.  From what I have read spelt, einkorn and emmer are all sometimes called farro.  The good news is I won't have to buy any different grains but it would be helpful to know if you Americans have a different/specific meaning when you say farro.  

  On 5/5/2020 at 1:41 AM, ZooBeeQ said:

I read most of this loooong thread, its tough coming late to the party, and I had some comments to add but, im tired and I dont think it would make any sense lol.

The pic of those  " spelt seedlings " is sprouted wheat berries and look pretty well modified  by the looks of them.

Bake on!

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Welcome to the thread Sue!  Hope to hear from you again soon.  Keen to know what you meant about my "spelt seedling" pack from Austria.  I did try to sprout them but had zero success so they are definitely not for making sprouts.  If they are pre-sprouted it might be the equivalent of malted grain but I really don't know and the company never answered my email enquiry.  

[Syzygies]

  On 5/7/2020 at 5:14 AM, tekobo said:

@Syzygies what do you call farro?  At first I was reluctant to buy yet another grain and then, when I asked at my local whole food shop, they had no idea what farro was and had to look it up.  From what I have read spelt, einkorn and emmer are all sometimes called farro.  The good news is I won't have to buy any different grains but it would be helpful to know if you Americans have a different/specific meaning when you say farro.

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As it happens I managed to join the Rancho Gordo bean club when it was taking members a few years ago. For those elsewhere, Rancho Gordo is the premier source of heirloom beans in the US, grown domestically and imported from Mexico. They've been slammed since the pandemic; everyone who isn't baking bread wants to cook beans. Club members get six surprise pounds of beans every quarter, plus a few bonus items such as the above Farro Grande. That's what I've been using recently.

Their facebook forum had a debate today on Farro / Spelt, exactly your question. The article About Farro on the Anson Mills site is taken to be authoritative. Anson Mills is a similarly premier source of artisan grains, without as fervent a fan base only because it lacks a visible charismatic leader like Rancho Gordo's Steve Sando or our Dennis. And one cannot name-check sources of this caliber without calling out Masienda, where I get many varieties of Oaxacan corn to make nixtamal to grind into masa for tortillas, and The Mala Market, whose ingredients elevate Sichuan cooking to transcendent heights.

Truth be told, I'll grind anything. I've noticed that what's called farro from an Italian source in the US looks different and tastes better than what's labeled spelt in a health food store bin. Spelt brings back bad memories of eating hippie bread in the 70's. But the grains are related. And I've used emmer and einkorn in my bread "guest slot", whatever I bought recently in a small bag at a farmers market, whatever looks good.

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Syzygies

[Basher]

That’s interesting Syz.
But what going on with that girl on the packet? Doesn’t look like she’s selling grain!


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[Pequod]

  On 5/7/2020 at 9:25 AM, Basher said:

That’s interesting Syz.
But what going on with that girl on the packet? Doesn’t look like she’s selling grain!


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I like spelt, but not nearly as much as she does it seems. 

[Syzygies]

  On 5/7/2020 at 9:25 AM, Basher said:

But what going on with that girl on the packet? Doesn’t look like she’s selling grain!

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This is their branding, consistent across the product line. I told you Steve Sando was charismatic. Have you seen our "Forged by the Gods" model?

[Basher]

  On 5/7/2020 at 4:10 PM, Syzygies said:

This is their branding, consistent across the product line. I told you Steve Sando was charismatic. Have you seen our "Forged by the Gods" model?

Oh is that Steve Sando swinging the hammer?
I still reckon that’s Bruce Pearson.


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[Syzygies]

  On 5/7/2020 at 5:14 AM, tekobo said:

Ha.  My misplaced anxiety is about using yeast.  I feel like I would be straying from developing my sourdough craft.

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At one point I learned the classification of Parisian bread types. At one extreme there's the white flour, yeast-raised baguette that one really should snack on during the walk home, for it will already be stale on arrival. At the other extreme are higher extraction breads featuring rye and natural leavening, and they have the longest shelf life, even in the same form factor as a baguette.

There's a similar continuum of sourdough effects. In San Francisco one expects sourdough to be sour. Not the Kaffir lime juice the Thais would use to clean engine parts, but sour. The French consider that a failing, mishandled sourdough. Sourdough should impart a more complex flavor, but by managing hydration and timing it need only be somewhat sour. Like smoke or breasts; if one is insecure about misidentifying objects of lust on the search for good BBQ, one wants obvious confirmation. The French are more subtle.

I find that with some rye and some sourdough levain, my breads keep longer, even if I also add a bit of yeast. And the yeast offers insurance.

[tekobo]

  On 5/7/2020 at 6:24 AM, Syzygies said:

Their facebook forum had a debate today on Farro / Spelt, exactly your question. The article About Farro on the Anson Mills site is taken to be authoritative. Anson Mills is a similarly premier source of artisan grains, without as fervent a fan base only because it lacks a visible charismatic leader like Rancho Gordo's Steve Sando or our Dennis. And one cannot name-check sources of this caliber without calling out Masienda, where I get many varieties of Oaxacan corn to make nixtamal to grind into masa for tortillas, and The Mala Market, whose ingredients elevate Sichuan cooking to transcendent heights.

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Wow.  I really enjoyed reading the Anson Mills article.  Tangentially, the article reminded me that I really miss Italy.  The Husband and I would laugh about the fact that a meal wasn't a meal for an Italian unless they had eaten some bread and would wonder how so many of them stayed so elegantly slim.  And now I realise how much I miss breaking bread with my Italian friends.  We have stayed in touch through the crisis by the magic of Whatsapp.  In the words of Vera Lynn, "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again, some sunny day".  No war here thank goodness, just a virulent virus.  Stay safe!

[Pequod]

Today’s loaf.

[qundoy]

Pequod, that looks delicious..

[tekobo]

Five day old sprouted rye and seeded loaf.  Looking and tasting great.  Here it is when it was first baked.  I gave away the loaf that was sitting in the space in the middle.  The Husband wouldn't let me give away any more, it is that good.

Straight out of the beeswax paper

Breakfast

 

Pssst @ckreef, @Wingman505.  See that meat slicer in the background in the first shot?  You know you want one.  

Edited May 14, 2020 by tekobo

[ckreef]

  On 5/14/2020 at 8:42 AM, tekobo said:

 

Pssst @ckreef, @Wingman505.  See that meat slicer in the background in the first shot?  You know you want one.  

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Eeekkk don't do me like that - LOL 

 

For me it's more of a space issue. If I can ever get that solved a slicer would be nice along with a vacuum chamber sealer. 

 

[Wingman505]

  On 5/14/2020 at 1:27 PM, ckreef said:

Eeekkk don't do me like that - LOL 

 

For me it's more of a space issue. If I can ever get that solved a slicer would be nice along with a vacuum chamber sealer. 

 

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He's reading my mind.  I have a meat slicer, but it's this chincy, slow blade PoS.    I also have a couple of Foodsaver vacuum sealers that have served their purpose well.  I definitely want an upgrade for both.  I just have to convince @Christinelynn because she hates things on her counters, and the mechanical envelope of both units would be even bigger than what we've got now.

[MacKenzie]

Tekobo, you bread looks full of awesome flavour. I especially like the round shape. 

[Syzygies]

  On 5/14/2020 at 1:53 PM, Wingman505 said:

He's reading my mind.  I have a meat slicer, but it's this chincy, slow blade PoS.    I also have a couple of Foodsaver vacuum sealers that have served their purpose well.  I definitely want an upgrade for both.  I just have to convince @Christinelynn because she hates things on her counters, and the mechanical envelope of both units would be even bigger than what we've got now.

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Nothing comes close to a chamber vacuum sealer. Though were I doing it again I'd get an oil pump model, despite the higher routine maintenance and the increased weight.

We keep ours in a middle shed, renovated to more "room" than "garage" status. The one issue is that these things don't work well cold; the chamber doesn't reach as full a vacuum.

When I bought my first argon tank for preserving wine, the guy at AirGas politely called me an idiot seven times for not going to double the size tank. The costs were all the same. I kept explaining that it wasn't the money, I wanted to stay married. Then the tank ended up outside, near the chamber machine. When the tank ran out after a few years, I upgraded to the larger size.

[tekobo]

  On 5/14/2020 at 1:27 PM, ckreef said:

For me it's more of a space issue. If I can ever get that solved a slicer would be nice along with a vacuum chamber sealer. 

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I guess we can't all have everything.  I am envious of your outside space and ability to fit in all that fun cooking kit.  

[tony b]

That's always the $64,000 question - where is it going to go once it's here? 

[Christinelynn]

No big clunky things on my counters @Wingman505! There is already a toaster oven that drives me absolutely nuts!!  If it fits in the cabinets, we can talk... 

[Pequod]

Sourdough demi baguettes with fresh milled, ancient grain Kamut harvested from a nearby Egyptian tomb.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Pequod