Bread

[Sheryl]

I would like a recipe or some tips on how I can make a chewy bread. I am not interested in a bread machine recipe. I will be using a kitchen aid mixer hook to knead my dough and be baking it in an electric oven. I hope someone can help.
Sheryl

[mudbug]

Sheryl,

You can browse chewy bread recipes here.

Are you looking for anything more specific? French or Italian artesian breads? White American breads? etc?

[momoreg]

Chewiness can come from a lot of factors, including what type of flour you use, how long you knead the dough, and what your proportions of ingredients are. First and foremost, make sure you use a high gluten or bread flour. Check out the many bread related threads in the Baker's Dozen Forum. It's nice to have you here on Cheftalk, Sheryl.

[Kimmie]

As Momoreg mentioned, search on our Bakers Dozen Forum. You will find lots and lots of info there.

Welcome to Cheftalk, Sheryl!

[Sheryl]

Thank you for the great tips. I will check out the sites and will be a happy baker. I will let you know if I find a great recipe. I am sure I will be trying many. Thank you for replying to my message.
Sheryl

[Athenaeus]

Hi Sheryl!

Baking Bread is some culinary adventure! I bake mine every second day.
I am sure you will find many recipes.
He is the recipe for the starter because I do not use yeast.
I have many reason to bake with starter AT HOME.
So, for your record here is the starter recipe

Recipe for starter.

Place in bowl 150gr of flour for bread and add some (let's say 1/2 of cup ) of hot water. Work with your hands softly until you get a soft dough.
Make a ball out of this dough grease it with OLIVE OIL and leave in this bowl covered by a towel.
Make sure that your ball stays away from airstreams or chill.
As for the greasing you can put some olive oil in your palms rub each other and "caress" the dough!

Next day add to this dough some flour ( as much as you can get in your palm) add the same 1/2 cup of water and work the dough for a while.
Grease it again with olive oil and leave it for another day.
Third day you repeat the same process.
Fourth day it will be ready

To be certain that you have a starter, the fourth day must be fluffy and if you cut a piece with your finger the dough must be filled with many air bubbles.
Those air bubbles are your "yeast"

I suggest you to leave it for another couple of days to let it "mature" as we say.

How to bake with starter.
When you have decided on the quantity of flour you want to use , take the 1/3 of this quantity and add it to your starter.
Add slowly slowly some lukewarm water and start kneadding it
Grease the surface of your dough, cover it with a towel and leave it there for 10-12 hours.
After 10 hours your dough must be double in quantity.
Then you add the rest of the flour , add the needed salt and start kneading until you have an elastic dough.
If at the beginning is very sticky, don't panic and don't add more flour!!! Have some patience and work it for a while

Bread with starter much be baked in a medium oven.
In order to be certain that it's done, remove it from the oven and hit it a cuple of times underneath. If it makes an echo it's done

REMEMBER to keep some starter for the next time.
It can be kept in fridge for 5-6 days

Baking with starter has nothing but for.
The only against thing is the time you need.
But everything that worths the pain needs time anyway

[Sheryl]

Thankyou Athenaeus for taking the time to explain the way you make bread. I will have to venture into making me some like yours. I bet it is very good. Do you have the flour and salt amounts you put into your recipe? Do you add any sugar to yours? Do you cook the bread in pans or just form loaves? I have a baking stone do you bake yours on a stone? Is 350 degrees considered a medium oven temperature? I am enjoying making my own bread the last few days and am trying many recipes. What type of flour do you use? Thanks again.
Sheryl

[kokopuffs]

I increased oven temp from 400 to 475 and obtained a far crunchier crust than even before. So much for "steaming". The bread wasn't burnt, either.

[Sheryl]

Kokopuff, Thankyou for the tip. Do you have to tent your bread with tinfoil at that temperature? I was going to try and bake my bread at 425 degrees the first 10 minutes and than turn down to 350 degrees. With my oven I have to watch it doesn't burn. I haved a stainless steel interior in my oven and it reflects the heat.
Sheryl

[kokopuffs]

Dunno' about the tent. I baked the loaf at 475 for 10 minutes and reduced the temperature to 450 and continued baking for an additional 50 minutes. Try it and see.

ALL OF THIS STUFF IS EMPIRICAL, based on personal experience.

[KyleW]

Welcome to ChefTalk Sheryl I love to bake bread. Like my Hellenic friend, Athenaeus, I too bake primarily with "wild" yeast. As Momoreg suggests, use high gluten bread flour (around 12% protien). I think you will be best served using a "Hot" oven. I start my breads off @500º. There are tons of tidbits in the baking forums and you will find no shortage of opinions. I wouldpick up a copy of The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. Do lots of reading and lots of baking

[Svadhisthana]

Sheryl,
First of all- Welcome to Chef Talk!. Second, be sure to check out kyle's web page. He has a teeny tiny NY kitchen and he creates some beautiful bread. It's quite an inspiration.

[KyleW]

Aw shucks

[Athenaeus]

Sheryl.

For I kilo of flour I use I pintch of salt and no sugar at all.
I bake my bread in pans but after having read Kylie's and Kokopuffs posts about the baking stones I have started having serious thoughts about this.

Baking, needs practice and here they are people that are very serious about baking bread at home.

I have used Kylie's site too. It's good because he talks about things he has tried in his house.

If only he posted his recipe about the bread with olives...



Skip with me the oven's temperature because we use Celsius scale.

[Sheryl]

Kyle,

Thankyou for your nice welcome. I checked out your website and found it very interesting. I am going to try the White Loaves from "Baking with Julia" tomorrow. I have a question before I bake it. Can I use salted butter instead of unsalted? If I do use the salted butter. Do I cut down on the salt and use less than a Tablespoon?

I will soon venture into the starters. I used one a few years ago for the breadmachine bread. It made a great loaf. I will try and find the starter recipe and try and make oven bread with it. I will let you know how well it turns out. Sheryl