Bread pictures

[AndyK]

I am still learning how to bake and it’s been getting better for me.
I like to do oddball stuff to a lot of my bakes.
The first pics have clams/garlic/cheese in some and others have garden herbs w/parm.
The last few had pics had bacon/jalapeño/cheddar and one had cinnamon/raisins/honey.

I do a pretty good San Francisco sourdough mimic too.
I think I‘m able to pull that off since I have tideland‘s in my backyard.
I don’t have that many bakes in so this isn’t rocket science.
It’s just fun.
Here’s some pics.

 

[Rich G]

Some great looking loaves, Andy! You are right, it's not rocket science, and I firmly believe anyone can make bread......I will say that delivering consistent results that have your preferred style of flavor, crumb, rise, color, etc., can take some experience, but by the looks of it, you have the knack!

....and I can say that I've never thought to put clams in a loaf of bread, but now you have me thinking that would be a cool formula to make a bread bowl for clam chowder!

EDIT

I just saw your post over at TFL, and figured I'd chime in here, since I don't post much (if at all) over there. When you add inclusions like cheese, peppers, fruit, etc. to your loaves, it will always be a bit more difficult to get a super open crumb. A couple of things that I try to pay attention to with those types of loaves is to make sure that I have very good gluten development before I add the inclusions. Since they will interfere somewhat with the ability to develop a good gluten network, this step has been very helpful for me. The other thing I do is err on the side of slightly overproofing in bulk ferment as I find that my loaves with inclusions definitely seem to proceed more slowly in bulk. The last thing I'll add is that cinnamon is generally perceived as inhibiting yeast activity, so expect that any loaves to which you add cinnamon will take longer to bulk and proof. For reference, here is my Cheddar/Herb bread that has about 20% cheese (using baker's percentages, so 20% of the total flour in the formula), and I think this is a pretty nice crumb for a 20% inclusion loaf......



Keep practicing, and eating! Your family will thank you for it, even if your waistline doesn't!

R

 

[Bob Bailey]

Wow! That's bread art.
Lemme know when you start teaching classes. I'll be the first to enroll.

 

[AndyK]

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.
Rich I added the inclusions right at my last folds then did a few tighten rolls to final form them.
I didn’t have much luck adding lots of inclusions early on when doing the majority of the dough work and this way worked the best for me so far.

The San Francisco sourdough mimic bread I do is a lot less complicated.
I like to cold proof my loafs overnight and think that the SF bread might even improve with spending 2 nights in the fridge instead of one.

The timing/proofing on doing this is probably my hardest challenge and I’m still not all the way there.
l’ve studied proofing theories and hacks.
Right now it seems if I start working my dough at around noonish (with using my proofing oven) I can put the loafs in the fridge at suppertime and they are ready to bake when I wake up.

 

[Rich G]

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.
Rich I added the inclusions right at my last folds then did a few tighten rolls to final form them.
I didn’t have much luck adding lots of inclusions early on when doing the majority of the dough work and this way worked the best for me so far.

Yeah, that's the approach that works best for me, too! That and usually some extra proofing if for no other reason than the inclusions typically drop the dough temp some (or a lot in the case of my cold cheese!)

The San Francisco sourdough mimic bread I do is a lot less complicated.
I like to cold proof my loafs overnight and think that the SF bread might even improve with spending 2 nights in the fridge instead of one.

Sounds like you need to do a two-loaf batch, and give one an extra 24 hours in the fridge to compare!

The timing/proofing on doing this is probably my hardest challenge and I’m still not all the way there.
l’ve studied proofing theories and hacks.
Right now it seems if I start working my dough at around noonish (with using my proofing oven) I can put the loafs in the fridge at suppertime and they are ready to bake when I wake up.

I find that I can start my dough anywhere between 8a and 1p without any noticeable differences in end product. My bulk is typically 4-5 hours (I try to keep the dough temp between 78-80F), sometimes 15-60 minutes of RT proof after shaping, and then into the fridge until the next morning. Your mileage (or starter) will, of course, vary, and it sounds like you have tweaked the schedule that works for you!

 

[Brian_D]

My mom always said that she had a "brown thumb" when it came to growing plants. Apparently, I inherited it. I tried making a sourdough starter during covid - I killed it