Bread advice?

[TarotBunny]

Im attempting to make bread (in general).. does anyone have any general advice with baking bread? Things I should pay attention to or tips for things to work better? I dont bake a whole lot so Im not too familiar with the common problems and whatnot. And the reason I don't bake a whole lot is because I can't bake (with flour) a lot. Like I'll do savoury things (bake fish lol..meats..) and whatnot and I'll be fine, but usually when its something like cake..cookies..whatever..it'll flop one way or another without me knowing what I really did wrong. Also I cant make sweets that much because it seems a bit excessive when its just for me and just a handful of other people.

So I figured I should try doing a staple that we use a lot, bread. So baking has its purpose for me suddenly. /Unneeded backstory

Im not using a bread maker by the way. The breads Im trying to make as we speak is a beer bread and the second one is ciabatta bread. (Both no-kneads) The ciabatta is gonna be baked tomorrow, as its still sitting around as the recipe calls for. And the beer bread is already in the oven. I'm not expecting direct advice on these particular breads but if you do then I'll take them.

But Im looking for general tips. Like how do I know if a bread dough is gonna flop before hand, like can you feel it? I tried poking it because I heard that the dough is supposed to spring back up or something. --And what do you do if it doesnt? does it become dense or something? And how do you know how a dough should feel like for that certain bread? Can you overknead it? How about where you place your bread in the oven? ; A ; Guhhh

XD Lots of questions. Anyway if anyone can educate me a little or just point me in the right direction.

[TarotBunny]

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[Melodic Meaghanne]

For starters, the first thing to not messing up bread is to WEIGH the ingredients. im not sure what kind of recipe you use, but baking usually involves chemical reactions and science so your best bet is to get yourself a kitchen scale and find recipes that call for weights and not volume measurement. (ei 1lb of flour instead of 3 cups)

another easy mistake people make that will ruin bread, at least one that my own mother makes, is she buys the packet yeast and forgets to use them. they have a shorter shelf life than the jars of yeast, so if you plan on baking a lot of bread, invest in one of the jars(its usually the same brand as the packets, but biggest quantity) and keep it in the fridge. yeast is alive and will die on you if not taken proper care of.

my mother also makes the mistake of thinking EVERY type of bread goes in a loafpan, hopefully you dont do that one. lol

as for the poking question, since you are making no knead breads there really isnt a worry to make them dense. the basic structure in breads that keep them together(for the most part) is gluten. the gluten gets formed when the flour mixes with the water and gets agitated. the more you agitate the more gluten you produce. as for making breads in the future there are breads that you will attept that you WANT a lot of gluten such as french bread. in that case an easy way to tell if the dough is sufficiently stretched without becoming too dense is called a windowpane test.
here is a link to a windowpane demonstration on youtube


i have more tips i can share with you as well, but i dont want to overload you on information all at once. lemme know if you wanna hear some more.


on a sidenote, apparently gaia doesnt want me helping you, cause my captcha was the phrase "good for nothing"

[TarotBunny]

Melodic Meaghanne

Oh thank you so much! ; A ; and lol@captcha

I do have some other questions regarding the bread I had just made. (Well that I was working on when I wrote the post.) Fortunately, or unfortunately, I screwed both up somehow so I guess I could ask how I managed to screw them up.

Beer bread: Recipe I used
I've failed to make a decent crust. I undercooked the bottom..its not raw at all, its just pale..like vampire pale.(Unless its supposed to be like that) And it was softer on the surface than the rest of the bread. Whilest the outside was golden already and the slit thing that I made in the middle had opened up. I do have a feeling I probably didnt cut it as deep as I should have and my bread didnt..pull away from the baking tray thing I was using for it. Like the sides didnt round out. It was just almost like the shape it was when I put it in the oven. Minus the slit opening up. DX OTL Maybe I didnt flour it all? Im not too sure. I mean it still rose and was the same size as his or more so but it stuck to the pan.

Then the ciabatta bread: Recipe
When I checked the dough after a little past 18 hours, the dough looked exactly like it did on that video. Still messed this up cause I burnt it. Lol.. Mainly because I wanted some sort of a crust on the bottom. XD The bottom that touched the tray was pretty much black and stuck to it. ono;;


---

I actually dont have a loaf pan. XD So I probably wont do that anyway. All the breads Im curious about making dont involve one at the moment. I dont really have any other specific questions but I dont mind getting bombarded with tips or general advice.

[Melodic Meaghanne]

TarotBunny

Melodic Meaghanne

Oh thank you so much! ; A ; and lol@captcha

I do have some other questions regarding the bread I had just made. (Well that I was working on when I wrote the post.) Fortunately, or unfortunately, I screwed both up somehow so I guess I could ask how I managed to screw them up.

Beer bread: Recipe I used
I've failed to make a decent crust. I undercooked the bottom..its not raw at all, its just pale..like vampire pale.(Unless its supposed to be like that) And it was softer on the surface than the rest of the bread. Whilest the outside was golden already and the slit thing that I made in the middle had opened up. I do have a feeling I probably didnt cut it as deep as I should have and my bread didnt..pull away from the baking tray thing I was using for it. Like the sides didnt round out. It was just almost like the shape it was when I put it in the oven. Minus the slit opening up. DX OTL Maybe I didnt flour it all? Im not too sure. I mean it still rose and was the same size as his or more so but it stuck to the pan.

Then the ciabatta bread: Recipe
When I checked the dough after a little past 18 hours, the dough looked exactly like it did on that video. Still messed this up cause I burnt it. Lol.. Mainly because I wanted some sort of a crust on the bottom. XD The bottom that touched the tray was pretty much black and stuck to it. ono;;


---

I actually dont have a loaf pan. XD So I probably wont do that anyway. All the breads Im curious about making dont involve one at the moment. I dont really have any other specific questions but I dont mind getting bombarded with tips or general advice.

my first bit of advice might be harsh, but chef john is notorious for being bad at baking. the first thing that i will tell you about him is obviously, he doesnt weigh his ingredients but his stuff comes out well because different people fill measuring cups differently. also, on the ciabatta bread if you were to stick with his recipe one weigh that may fix it is to make sure the rack in the oven is in the center. i know in my oven i have two set racks one really high and one really low, it will bake better in the middle.


odd question, did you use the same pan for both breads in the oven?

[TarotBunny]

Melodic Meaghanne

my first bit of advice might be harsh, but chef john is notorious for being bad at baking. the first thing that i will tell you about him is obviously, he doesnt weigh his ingredients but his stuff comes out well because different people fill measuring cups differently. also, on the ciabatta bread if you were to stick with his recipe one weigh that may fix it is to make sure the rack in the oven is in the center. i know in my oven i have two set racks one really high and one really low, it will bake better in the middle.


odd question, did you use the same pan for both breads in the oven?

Ohhey dont worry about it I didnt know any better. XD Glad you pointed that out though.

I've tried baking both breads in the center because I wasnt too sure how it would rise or whatever and might get too high close to the heat.

Yeah Ive used the same pan. ; A ;

[Melodic Meaghanne]

TarotBunny

Melodic Meaghanne

my first bit of advice might be harsh, but chef john is notorious for being bad at baking. the first thing that i will tell you about him is obviously, he doesnt weigh his ingredients but his stuff comes out well because different people fill measuring cups differently. also, on the ciabatta bread if you were to stick with his recipe one weigh that may fix it is to make sure the rack in the oven is in the center. i know in my oven i have two set racks one really high and one really low, it will bake better in the middle.


odd question, did you use the same pan for both breads in the oven?

Ohhey dont worry about it I didnt know any better. XD Glad you pointed that out though.

I've tried baking both breads in the center because I wasnt too sure how it would rise or whatever and might get too high close to the heat.

Yeah Ive used the same pan. ; A ;

thats strange then that you used the same pan because usually when i have a too light or too dark bottom its because of overseasoned pans. my advice is to just give it another go and see if just a few tweaks might fix it. it may just be first bake nerves and tiny mistakes.

[TarotBunny]

Melodic Meaghanne

o uo By overseasoned do you mean like overused pans or did you mean like putting too much cornmeal or whatever on top? Just checking. XD

And I'll try that. I get a bit paranoid with baking because it seldom yields consistent results. But I guess its cause I dont use weight measured recipes like you pointed out.

I have another question though if you dont mind. ; A ;

After you're done baking a bread, does it need a rest period before cutting? Like if you cut it too early does it really affect anything?

And also whats the best way to store homemade bread? Or possibly just bread in general. o .o

[GS Sailor Midnight]

It's been a LONG time since I've made beer bread or ciabatta, however if you're trying to make a hard crusted bread, I have a suggestion for you. - Spray the top of the bread with water after about 5 mins since it was put in the oven. That'll help the bread have a crust, and not be so soft on the top like you were having issues with.
Not all conventional ovens will humidify with the pan of water inside of it alone to help the bread bake. (fact from experience) In fact, use the pan of water to Proof the bread first in the oven at a VERY low tempurature, then use the spray bottle while baking for the hard crust.


Also, I forgot what bread it was, but one of the instructions said to let it ferment for 2 hours....that's all up for debate depending on how hot/cold the fermenting environment is. It DOES take approx 1-2 hours for bread to ferment, but really you're just looking for the dough ball to be about x2 its original size. If you let it alone longer than that, you risk over proofing the bread and you get an alcohol smell & flavor to it. (having that on the beer bread may not be a bad thing though..lol)

Bread dough, if fermented properly does not "spring back up" when poked. If it does, it needs more time.

Um. I have yet to hear any stories off overkneading bread dough. As long as the dough is uniformed, you're good to go.

To answer your other questions, you should at least let the bread cool before cutting it. Don't wanna try to burn your hands off cutting it straight from the oven rofl

I've also heard bread should be stored at room temperature or in the freezer. Never in the fridge. (******** it though, I still think the fridge is best vs room temp)

Another cool tip about bread dough - Make a lot at once. Portion your dough after it ferments and freeze it, that way whenever you want bread, you take it outta the freezer, form it into whatever shape you want, proof it if necessary, bake, then enjoy smile

[Melodic Meaghanne]

TarotBunny

Melodic Meaghanne

o uo By overseasoned do you mean like overused pans or did you mean like putting too much cornmeal or whatever on top? Just checking. XD

And I'll try that. I get a bit paranoid with baking because it seldom yields consistent results. But I guess its cause I dont use weight measured recipes like you pointed out.

I have another question though if you dont mind. ; A ;

After you're done baking a bread, does it need a rest period before cutting? Like if you cut it too early does it really affect anything?

And also whats the best way to store homemade bread? Or possibly just bread in general. o .o

overseasoned would be like a very old pan yes. the rest would be beneficial, but i cant remember the last time i let bread cool COMPLETELY without cutting it, just enough to handle with my bare hands.

personally when i was living at home, we would store all our breads on the counter, but since i live with my boyfriend now i make smaller loaves or pop them in the freezer. though i dont know what it is about michigan, but now that i dont live in california EVERYTHING lasts a long time on the counter. i forgot to freeze a loaf and it was perfectly fine three weeks later. not hard or moldy or anything. the wonders of the midwest. lol

[TarotBunny]

Thanks guys~ o uo

Just an update I tried making ciabatta bread last night using the same recipe again (I mean it almost worked last time anyway. XD) and it worked out perfectly. I used an entirely different pan, just one I dont use a lot. I had a pan of water under to humidify the oven, (I cant actually remember if that was called for in this recipe but at that point I wanted to try stuff out. lol..) and I baked the bread at a lower heat. I didn't try to spray it, I didnt see that tip until today but the crust worked out nicely regardless. But I could try that sometime.

I'll keep all your tips in mind. ; A ; You guys have really helped me seriously. XD