The digital scale I use

This is the digital scale I use for making bread. Barry Harmon asked what it was and it seem to have no model number unless 9V is the model. (I think it is the battery.) There is also a minute timer with a beeper. I don't use the timer as we have several others. The scale displays a "H" in the upper left corner when nearing the upper limit of 2 kg or 4.5 lbs. I suppose that is a warning device since it has no other obvious purpose. The scale turns itself off after several minutes unless it is used again. A touch will keep it going if you don't want it to shut off. I don't remember how much it cost, but it was in the $10 range. Our e-mail exchange is below the pictures.



Barry Harmon wrote:
>> I found a nice digital kitchen scale at Home Goods. Now I always weigh my ingredients. I even weigh when doing volume recipes. That way I can adjust intelligently if I need to.
>>
>> My wife likes the scale, too. It is easy to use, tares out the weight of the dish holding the ingredient, weighs in grams our ounces/lbs, and turns itself off if not used. I can weigh 2 lb of flour in the mixer bowl with no trouble.
>>
>> If you have a Marshals, Home Goods, or TJ Max nearby, these may have these from time to time. Keep your eyes out for them.
>>
>> For those unfamiliar with these store, they are purveyors of leftover merchandise from other stores that have sold out dated or overstock or bankrupt type merchandise. Lots of clothing, glassware, fancy stuff and kitchen articles. I love to browse there.
>>
>> John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee
>>
>
> John,
>
> What is the make and model of your scale? I've been on the lookout for a new scale for some time now, but haven't found one that is much of an improvement over my current, horrible, one.
>
> Barry

My scale is a Polder with no model number. I will post a picture on my bread blog so you can see it. See http://johnsbread.blogspot.com/.

John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee

Piadina

While discussing turkish pita on alt.bread, I went browsing and found Pam's site here: http://backyardpizzeria.blogspot.com/search/label/bread. She has a recipe for piadina that I tried. Look there for the recipe. I followed the instructions most of the way, but tried baking it from a cold oven. I baked it for 25 minutes in a convection oven set to heat to 500 deg F which in my oven is 475 deg. Here is what it looked like.


Mrs. A and I snacked on the warm bread dipped in herb olive oil with a couple of glasses of inexpensive but good wine. Mmmm, good.

Ciabatta from Martha Stewart Living, Jan 2008

The January 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living has a series of photographs and recipes for artisan breads. I made the multigrain boule and was dissapointed with it. This ciabatta, on the other hand was just right. The recipe makes 2 small loaves, just right for Mrs. A and me. The instructions in the magazine are detailed on how to make the dough and knead it properly. I tried to follow them as much as I could. The results were tasty. I liked it very much.

Ciabatta is a very wet dough and difficult to handle. I did the kneading directly on the stone counter, not on my bread board. As a result, I had no trouble with the dough sticking or needing to add additional flour.

The recipe uses a preferment so I started that the night before. It was ready the next morning. Here is the recipe as I made it:
Preferment
6 ounces bread flour
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
4 ounces cool water

Dough
8 ounces bread flour
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
6 ounces cool water
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Cooking spray

Make the preferment mixing with your hands, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature overnight.

Make the dough by adding the preferment and the other ingredients EXCEPT THE SALT and OIL, mixing to just combine, then let stand for 20 minutes. Turn out the dough onto an unfloured surface and add the salt and drizzle with the oil. Knead the salt and oil into the dough stretching and folding according to the detailed magazine instructions. It even had nice pictures of the sticky dough. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 45 minutes. Stretch and fold. Return to the bowl until doubled, about 75 minutes.

Turn out the dough, divide into half, cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Shape into two loaves by carefully stretching in to a rectangle and folding into thirds. Don't deflate the dough. Place the dough loaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I didn't use my stone or peel. Cover and let rise again for 40 to 50 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 deg F. Prepare the cast iron frying pan on the bottom of the oven for steam. (1/2 cup of water ready to go.)

Before baking stretch each loaf into a 10 x 4 inch rectangle. Dimple the surface with your fingers. Slide the bread into the oven. I baked directly on the baking sheet. Add the 1/2 cup water to the pan (careful) and close the oven door. Turn the oven down to 450 deg F.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cool before eating it all.

Multigrain boule

When Living magazine came in I was delighted to find some neat recipes for bread with nice pictures and great detail on how to do it. I decided to make the multigrain boule. The loaf was somewhat overdone and the crust was thicker than it should be. The flavor was not as expected. The bread was dense and relatively tasteless. My wife didn't like it either. Since I should not eat bread, I gave it to the birds.



Here is the recipe for multigrain boule.

For the preferment, make the day before:
4 ounces bread flour (1 cup)
2 ounces rye flour (1/2 cup)
2 ounces whole wheat flour (1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
12 ounces cool water (75 to 78 deg F; 1-1/2 cups)

Stir the preferment ingredients together in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 12 to 15 hours.


For the dough
12 ounces bread flour (3 cups)
2 ounces rye flour (1/2 cup)
2 ounces whole wheat flour (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
2 Tbs toasted sunflower seeds
2 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbs flaxseed
1-1/2 tsp active dry yeast
8 ounces cool water (75 to 78 deg F; 1 cup)
3-1/2 tsp sea salt
Vegetable oil cooking spray

Make the dough. Whisk together the flours, wheat germ, seeds, and yeast. [No salt yet.] Add water and preferment. Stir together until the mixture comes together in a ball of dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for 20 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto an unfloured work surface. Sprinkle with salt.

Knead the dough stretching and folding until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Dough will be very sticky, but avoid adding more flour until the end when it may be necessary to add a very small amount. Form dough into a ball.

Place the dough into an oiled bowl. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise at cool room temperature for 1 hour.

Turn out the dough and stretch and fold once. Stretch the dough into a rectangle. Fold into thirds, then in half. Place back into the bowl. Cover and let rise again for 40 to 50 minutes.

Turn the dough onto lightly flowered work surface. Form a rectangle and then fold into thirds. Roll up tightly and form into a tight round shape. Gather edges and tuck them underneath. Place the dough on the work surface. Cup hands around the dough and rotate it in circles until a smooth, taut ball forms.

Place dough smooth side down into a colander lined with a well floured linen towel. I use a basket sprayed with Crisco oil with flour and heavily floured. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 40 to 50 minutes.

Prepare the oven with the baking stone. place the iron frying pan on the bottom of the oven and prepare 1/2 cup of water to provide steam. Preheat the oven to 425 deg F.

Turn the boule out onto a parchment lined peel. Slash the top of the boule with four slashes like a # sign. I use the tomato knife for this. Slide the bread on the parchment onto the baking stone. Immediately add the water to the hot frying pan. Watch out for the steam. I use a small watering can for this.

Reduce the heat to 400 deg F. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, rotating half way through the bake period, until the loaf is deep golden brown and the interior is 205 deg F. Let cool on a rack before slicing.

Martha Stewart Living magazine, January 2008, pp 152-4.

Note: The article covers the kneading process in great detail with pictures not included in this recipe.

Almost No Knead Bread

These pictures are of the first try of the Almost No Knead Bread recipe as found in the January-February 2008 issue of Cooks Illustrated. Kenje Alte was not impressed by the No Knead Bread recipe given in the November 2006 New York Times by Mark Bittman based on a recipe by Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery in Manhattan. We have all seen this recipe and I tried it with distinct failing results. My endeavour had huge holes, didn't rise and didn't taste all that good. When I got the Cooks Illustrated magazine (I subscribe) it was the first one to try.

The Almost No Knead Bread recipe uses beer and white vinegar to make the bread taste better with somewhat of a sourdough flavor. The recipe was made using Gold Medal Harvest King flour which I like for the artisan breads. I used part of a bottle of Tyskie beer, a lager much like Budweiser, but with a slightly fuller flavor. The beer was part of a package of European beers I got for the Thanksgiving holidays. I don't normally drink anything this good. The remainder of the bottle did not go to waste! For the vinegar, I used plain white distilled vinegar.

The recipe produces a dough with a lower hydration than the original. For the 15 ounces of flour, I used 197 grams of water and 93 grams of beer. I kneaded the bread for about 3 minutes after the first rise. The dough felt right. Then I dropped it into a pan lined with a large sheet of parchment and let it rise for another 2 hours.

I heated my new dutch oven (without legs that get in the way) to 500 oF, and then slashed and transfered the loaf into the hot kettle, covered it and put it back into the oven, and reset the temp to 425 oF for 30 minutes. When that time was up, I followed the instructions to remove the lid and continue to bake the loaf uncovered until it is deep brown and the instant read thermometer reads 210. I used a remote thermometer and it did not reach 210 oF before the loaf got too brown. The second picture shows the bottom of the loaf. My thermometer read 205 oF.

When I removed the lid and inserted the thermometer, it read 203 and the loaf was nicely browned, but not dark brown. I should have removed it from the oven at that time.

The crumb is what I expected, nicely formed with relatively large holes. It has a chewy texture and a good flavor. The dark brown crust was too hard. (It knocked off a couple of small pieces of a tooth that broke three days ago and now has a temp filling waiting for a new crown. My teeth are getting older than I am.)

This bread is good. I will make it again.

I would give you the recipe, but you should buy the magazine for it. Cooks Illustrated, No. Ninety, Jan-Feb 2008. There are oranges on the cover.

English Muffins with Sourdough

Since we will have a bunch of people for breakfast on Thanksgiving (2007) I decided to make some English muffins. I followed the recipe on the box for the rings with enough to make 8 muffins. I added 200 grams of my starter which is equivalent to 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour. The resulting dough was smooth and easy to handle. I allow them to rise in the rings in a floured baking sheet with a greased plastic sheet over them and another baking sheet on top. This forces the dough to rise sideways in the ring to fill the ring. These were baked for about 15 minutes without the top sheet in place.

Sourdough Potato Bread

Recently my wife and I and my sister ate dinner at a nice restaurant in Chattanooga, St. Johns, I think. They served a very nice sourdough potato bread. I decided to try to make some. My sourdough starter is sitting on the counter ready to use.

I used Google to find recipes on the internet and found several that were all the same. The one I choose was www.basic-recipes.com/bds/potato.htm. It calls for instant mashed potato, so I used my favorite instant potato, Hungry Jack. These are flakes of russet potato. I followed the recipe and at the end, no bake temperature or time was given. So...I turned on the convection oven to 450, put a cup of water into the cast iron frying pan on the bottom, and put the bread in to bake, essentially a cold oven start. I set the timer for 30 minutes. Then turned on the oven light. The bulb was burned out! I used a flashlight to monitor the bake process. After 15 minutes, the bread was browning a little quickly, so I turned the oven down to 350 and continued. At the end of the 30 minutes this is what we got. The bread internal temp was 200 degrees F.






Here is the crumb. The bread has a barely sweet flavor and a soft crumb but still sturdy enough to not break when spreading the butter. I served it warm. We will have more tomorrow on Thanksgiving when everybody is here.