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I've been getting into breadmaking lately, and have been using a stand mixer to knead the bread for me. Bread turns out lovely, it's always light, airy and fluffy. Had a lovely stand mixer I bought for £60 two years ago, it finally went bust (I only really used it a total of 20 times, and this past week and a half I've used it daily). I've always wanted to get a Kitchenaid stand mixer, but I have no idea which one to get. For the price they sell at, I want to get the best value for my money, but I don't want to go overkill. Which one would you all recommend?
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Aug 8, 2019 15:31
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get a lift model with like a hp. look into the boch or arkensarum or w/e too. the KA is nice for cheaper attachments and for doing whisky things, but if you're just doing bread the other mixers may be worth a look.
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Aug 8, 2019 15:33
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Alternately, try experimenting with no knead/FWSY style  Or get good guns from all the hand kneading. and good therapy too!
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Aug 8, 2019 18:49
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Qubee posted:I've been getting into breadmaking lately, and have been using a stand mixer to knead the bread for me. Bread turns out lovely, it's always light, airy and fluffy. Had a lovely stand mixer I bought for £60 two years ago, it finally went bust (I only really used it a total of 20 times, and this past week and a half I've used it daily). I've always wanted to get a Kitchenaid stand mixer, but I have no idea which one to get. For the price they sell at, I want to get the best value for my money, but I don't want to go overkill. Which one would you all recommend? I have a tilt-head mixer. We got my sister the Professional 5 qt model with the lifting bowl for Christmas. I like mine fine, but I have to pull it forward on the counter to make sure I can tilt the head without hitting the underside of the cabinets. I also think my sister's has a better bread-hook. We got her mixer at Best Buy on Black Friday for $220 because there's no way we'd have paid the full price; I don't know what poo poo's gonna cost you over there, though.
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Aug 8, 2019 21:08
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There are 2 types of dough hook the regular one that's kinda c shaped and the spiral one. The spiral one works better but unless your mixer was designed for it KA doesn't recommend you use it. Something about the upward pressure the dough exerts as it's mixing puts too much pressure on the bearings.
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Aug 8, 2019 21:21
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toplitzin posted:Alternately, try experimenting with no knead/FWSY style I bought the FWSY book on Amazon, so will definitely be trying it out. Pham Nuwen posted:I have a tilt-head mixer. We got my sister the Professional 5 qt model with the lifting bowl for Christmas. I like mine fine, but I have to pull it forward on the counter to make sure I can tilt the head without hitting the underside of the cabinets. I also think my sister's has a better bread-hook. We got her mixer at Best Buy on Black Friday for $220 because there's no way we'd have paid the full price; I don't know what poo poo's gonna cost you over there, though. poo poo, I may as well just wait for Black Friday and hand knead til then.
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Aug 8, 2019 21:22
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KA does refurb sales every quarter or so. You can snag a pro bowl lift for $250 or less.
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Aug 8, 2019 23:54
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iirc KA has a specific black friday cheap model. just like everything else. Look for a sale pro one with a big model number.
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Aug 8, 2019 23:58
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Qubee posted:I bought the FWSY book on Amazon, so will definitely be trying it out. Nearly all my dough is no-knead now! It's so easy and doesn't aggravate my wrists. Plus I get to leave dough to sit around until I'm ready to bake it, saving me a lot of time on baking day. Check out Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day's master recipe (can be found online on their website) too.
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Aug 9, 2019 00:56
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They've got refurbished 6 series for $199 and $399 for the 7-qt 'proline'.
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Aug 9, 2019 00:56
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effika posted:Nearly all my dough is no-knead now! It's so easy and doesn't aggravate my wrists. Plus I get to leave dough to sit around until I'm ready to bake it, saving me a lot of time on baking day. Check out Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day's master recipe (can be found online on their website) too. This only works for non enriched. You need a mixer for sane brioche or anything butter heavy.
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Aug 9, 2019 01:09
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Just get an Ankarsrum
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Aug 9, 2019 03:12
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Just get an Ankarsrum This is the right answer if you're gonna use it primarily for bread.
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Aug 9, 2019 03:17
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plester1 posted:This is the right answer if you're gonna use it primarily for bread. There isn't anything that my sister's lift bowl kitchen aid does better than my Ankarsrum, and there are lots of things that my Ankarsrum does better
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Aug 9, 2019 03:24
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:This only works for non enriched. You need a mixer for sane brioche or anything butter heavy. I did make brioche about a month ago and didn't knead it, actually. Mixing was a chore but with a wet enough dough and a long enough rise anything is possible!
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Aug 9, 2019 03:44
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I’ve tried the overnight country blonde recipe from FWSY a few times now with natural leavin and while it tastes pretty good I can’t seem to get the shape to hold after I remove it from the proofing basket. It just kind of spreads back out. I can’t figure out if it’s too high of hydration (possibly from my starter?), not folding enough, or something else like proofing temp (my house is around 78F). I think I’m following the recipe as close as I can but I think the last thing I’m struggling with is figuring out how the dough should feel throughout the process. Reading from a book and watching videos seems to only go so far. Overall it’s not that big of a deal because the bread still tastes good but I’d like to figure out what I’m doing wrong.
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Aug 9, 2019 06:03
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Pham Nuwen posted:I have a tilt-head mixer. We got my sister the Professional 5 qt model with the lifting bowl for Christmas. I like mine fine, but I have to pull it forward on the counter to make sure I can tilt the head without hitting the underside of the cabinets. I also think my sister's has a better bread-hook. We got her mixer at Best Buy on Black Friday for $220 because there's no way we'd have paid the full price; I don't know what poo poo's gonna cost you over there, though. I highly prefer the lift-bowl style because it lets you get under it with a torch when you're doing fondant or frostings.
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Aug 9, 2019 07:18
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slave to my cravings posted:I’ve tried the overnight country blonde recipe from FWSY a few times now with natural leavin and while it tastes pretty good I can’t seem to get the shape to hold after I remove it from the proofing basket. It just kind of spreads back out. I can’t figure out if it’s too high of hydration (possibly from my starter?), not folding enough, or something else like proofing temp (my house is around 78F). I think I’m following the recipe as close as I can but I think the last thing I’m struggling with is figuring out how the dough should feel throughout the process. Reading from a book and watching videos seems to only go so far. Overall it’s not that big of a deal because the bread still tastes good but I’d like to figure out what I’m doing wrong. it spreads out and doesn't recover during baking? can you post a photo? if you're getting basically zero oven spring, my guess would be that you're either over- or under-proofing it. mine usually pancake a bit after i dump them out of the basket but rise back up during baking.
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Aug 9, 2019 19:59
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Where can I go to get a decent assortment of flours? My large superstore doesn't really stock much other than premade mixes and basic white / wholemeal flour. I want rye and spelt and maybe dabble in different kinds of yeast (or is active dry yeast adequate?).
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Aug 9, 2019 22:41
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I don't know if it's a local thing, but all the dollar stores and discount stores sell a wide variety of this guys poo poo: https://www.bobsredmill.com/ for REAL cheap. It's where I get almond flour. And semolina flour for pasta.
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Aug 9, 2019 22:44
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:This only works for non enriched. You need a mixer for sane brioche or anything butter heavy. I disagree. effika posted:I did make brioche about a month ago and didn't knead it, actually. Mixing was a chore but with a wet enough dough and a long enough rise anything is possible! Mixing wasn't bad, I'm going to try again with an autolyse and see what i get.   https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-knead-challah-recipe
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Aug 9, 2019 23:30
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Mr. Glass posted:it spreads out and doesn't recover during baking? can you post a photo? if you're getting basically zero oven spring, my guess would be that you're either over- or under-proofing it. mine usually pancake a bit after i dump them out of the basket but rise back up during baking.  Here is a pic after the bake. Don’t seem to have one after the final proof. It was more or less the same shape as it went in. It maybe had a little rise but not much. Taste was still decent. Other thing I noticed was almost no indentation from the banneton rings.
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Aug 9, 2019 23:59
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slave to my cravings posted:I’ve tried the overnight country blonde recipe from FWSY a few times now with natural leavin and while it tastes pretty good I can’t seem to get the shape to hold after I remove it from the proofing basket. It just kind of spreads back out. I can’t figure out if it’s too high of hydration (possibly from my starter?), not folding enough, or something else like proofing temp (my house is around 78F). I think I’m following the recipe as close as I can but I think the last thing I’m struggling with is figuring out how the dough should feel throughout the process. Reading from a book and watching videos seems to only go so far. Overall it’s not that big of a deal because the bread still tastes good but I’d like to figure out what I’m doing wrong. slave to my cravings posted:
what's it like when you're dividing and shaping? is it sloppy and juicy feeling? that's how you'd know the hydration is too high. most sourdough problems are from not having an active enough starter though. i'd experiment with that first. if it's not that, they look to lack tension or be overproofed. it's normal for dough to deflate and spread a bit once it's been scored, but not right after you turn it out.
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Aug 11, 2019 01:47
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Thanks - I’ll keep fiddling with it. I don’t think it’s over hydrated but I honesty don’t know for sure. I think the hydration of my starter has probably not been exact and that may be throwing it off. I also need to work on my shaping technique too. I haven’t gotten the hang of cupping and dragging the dough right before the final shape. I might switch over to commercial yeast for a bit so I don’t have to wait 24 hours or more to be disappointed (mostly by the look) of the final bake. I got Bread Illustrated by America’s test kitchen and while I haven’t made any recipes out of there yet I like it because it does seem to have quite a bit more pictures of the process. It also has a lot more recipes using commercial yeast instead of natural leavin. Might be worth getting a copy of if anyone else is getting started. ATK seems to put their books on sale pretty regularly too.
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Aug 11, 2019 02:07
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For the shaping of wet sourdoughs: I found it much easier to use my metal scraper to push/pull the dough against the work area from underneath. You’ll have to gently pick up the dough and bring it back to the center, but it allows you to create the surface tension needed for a good spring without getting too much dough sticking to you. Are you testing your starter by floating some of it in water? That’s a good way to see if it’s got enough yeast activity.
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Aug 17, 2019 03:56
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Thanks for the info on shaping - my guess is my starter hydration level is out of wack. For that particular starter I only used AP flour and it tends to soak up less water than whole wheat. My other whole wheat starter is a lot easier to work with. I’m pretty sure both starters have good activity, but I’ve never actually done the water test. For this last batch I put a camera on time lapse to watch it over night. The AP starter triples in volume after about 8 hours at 78F while the whole wheat doubles. I thought the time lapse was cool: https://imgur.com/gallery/fctdTOs I made the AP batch the same day and I put the whole wheat dough in the fridge and let it ferment for a few extra days. Here is the AP I made Monday (it’s still a bit flat but I will try and adjust the hydration ratio now):  Here is the whole wheat levain country blonde that came out extra tangy today: 
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Aug 17, 2019 04:42
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Very cool idea to do time lapse on your levain! Fwiw, use the 50/50 wheat/white starter formula from Tartine. Just add equal parts water and flour mix after discarding all but 1/8th of your starter. It’s very predictable in its feeding cycle. The recipe is 90/10 white/wheat, and I believe 70% hydration. After you bench rest before final shaping, give it another fold and rest if it’s too fluid. It should spread out slightly, but the edges should be fat, not flat. Are you baking in a combo cooker or Dutch oven? I get more spring when I use that instead of the steam pan technique. 
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Aug 17, 2019 05:44
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Tilt-head kitchenaid bowls are held in with an interrupted-thread type lock on the bottom of the bowl. Heavy use (particularly kneading dough,) will wear the ring in the base out, requiring replacement. They’re cheap, though. The lift-bowl models are awesome if you can’t justify an Ankarsrum. (I can’t justify an Ankarsrum  )
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Aug 18, 2019 19:32
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Bosch is also nice if you can't afford an Ankarsrum, but scour Craigslist! I found mine for $80 with a 3-hour drive each way, but I got to spend the day in a different city so that was fun.
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Aug 18, 2019 21:42
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I’m sick of paying $7 for a loaf of sourdough or $5 for something else. I’ve made no knead bread before in my Dutch oven, but I want to do better. My favorite bread is usually some kind of sourdough or white bread-something with a decent crisp crust on it, with the bread being a bit chewier than white bread-something with a decent chew I guess? I like cutting a piece off and then putting an egg over medium on top of it and eating it just like that. I have no problem doing a starter or something like that-I just need to be pointed in the right direction. I’ve got a decent stand mixer so that should be a problem, and I’ve got a baking steel and a Dutch oven, but I can go buy a loaf pan or something special if needs be. Help?
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Aug 19, 2019 02:47
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nwin posted:I’m sick of paying $7 for a loaf of sourdough or $5 for something else. Forkish is the place you want to go from here. Flour Water Salt Yeast is an incredible book. See here for next steps. Here is another account of the same dough. Feed the levain at 7 am, feed it again at 10 am, mix the final dough between 2 pm and 3 pm, shape into loaves at 8 pm, proof the loaves in the refrigerator overnight, and bake around 8 to 10 am the next morning. First feeding: 25g mature, active levain 100g white flour 25g whole wheat flour 100g water at 95°F Second feeding: 125g levain from the first feeding 200g white flour 50g whole wheat flour 200g water at 95°F Dough: 660g white flour 40g whole wheat flour 540g water 20g salt 2g yeast 540g levain 1a. Feed the levain: About 24 hours after your last feeding, discard all but 25g of levain. Add 100g white flour, 25g whole wheat flour, and 100g water at 95°F and mix until incorporated. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 3 hours. 1b. Feed the levain a second time: After 3 hours, discard all but 125g of levain from the first feeding. Add 200g white flour, 50g whole wheat flour, and 200g water at 95°F and mix until incorporated. Cover and let rest 4-5 hours before mixing the final dough. 1c. Autolyse: After about 4 hours, mix 660g of white flour and 40g of whole wheat flour in a 12q tub. Add 540g of 90-95°F water and mix until incorporated. Cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes. 2. Mix the final dough: Sprinkle 20g of salt and 2g of yeast on top of the dough. Tare a container with a bit of water in it to minimize sticking, then transfer 540g of levain with wet hands to the container. Of note, the amount of levain quoted is 575g, so you could just scale everything else up half a percent. Or just maybe not worry about a tiny bit of extra levain. Transfer the levain to the mixing tub with the dough, then mix by hand, making sure to keep your hands wet. Use the pincer method and fold the dough to incorporate everything. 3. This dough needs four folds, one every 30 minutes for the first two hours. You can double it or do a letter fold. I prefer letter folds. After the last one, rest until the dough is about 2½ times its original volume, which should be about 3 hours. 4. With floured hands, gently ease the dough out of its fermenting tub and onto a lightly floured work surface. With your hands flour, pick up the dough and ease it into a more manageable shape. Dust the middle of the top about halfway down and cut it in half. 5. Dust two bannetons with flour (rice flour works really well). Shape each piece into a ball - look up YouTube videos about bread, there's no way to describe it adequately in text form. Place each one seam side down in its proofing basket. 6. Place each basket in a plastic bag or completely cover it in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, they should be ready to bake straight from the fridge. Leave them in until you're ready to put them in the oven. 7. An hour or so before baking, put a rack in the middle of the oven with a baking steel and two Dutch ovens. Preheat to 475°F. You can do this one at a time by keeping the other loaf in the refrigerator, then reheating the Dutch oven for 5-10 minutes at a time. 8. You know the deal, be very careful with your body and don't get burned. Place the bread in the DO using wet hands, seam side up. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover. Bake 15 minutes longer, then check it. Another 5-10 minutes may be necessary. 9. Remove the DO and tilt it to turn the loaf out onto a kitchen towel so you don't burn your hand. Cool it on a rack. Rest the loaf until just warm to the touch before slicing - the steam inside is continuing to cook it, and you'll ruin its texture if you cut into it before the steam is gone. SymmetryrtemmyS fucked around with this message at 04:07 on Aug 19, 2019 |
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Aug 19, 2019 03:45
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Get Carl's starter: https://carlsfriends.net/source.html I've been using it for... maybe 6 months now? It's worked well. I like to start a sponge the night before with 120g starter, 170g water, 180g flour. Then the next morning I knead in 120g of flour, let it rise until afternoon, shape a loaf and bake at 500F in the Dutch oven. No yeast required.
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Aug 19, 2019 03:57
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Pham Nuwen posted:Get Carl's starter: https://carlsfriends.net/source.html That’s a pretty small loaf, isn’t it? Assuming around 60g flour in the starter you’ve got around 360g flour. I usually use 500g.
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Aug 19, 2019 06:58
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Forkish is the place you want to go from here. Flour Water Salt Yeast is an incredible book. See here for next steps. Here is another account of the same dough. This is great and seems to be exactly what I’m looking for. I’m not entirely sold on the ‘sweet’ part but it seems like they mean it’s just less sour that other breads. I’m fine with sour but am willing to give this a shot. One entirely basic question-is levain the same as a starter? Also-what size banneton do you recommend? It looks like amazon has 10” ones for fairly cheap. Finally, can this recipe be halved? It’s just my wife and I and we usually only get through 3/4 of a normal loaf we buy before it starts to get stale (4-5 days I would think). nwin fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Aug 19, 2019 |
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Aug 19, 2019 12:21
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therattle posted:That’s a pretty small loaf, isn’t it? Assuming around 60g flour in the starter you’ve got around 360g flour. I usually use 500g. Yeah, it's pretty small. We have some with dinner and then a slice or two for breakfast and that finishes it off before it gets stale.
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Aug 19, 2019 13:36
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nwin posted:This is great and seems to be exactly what I’m looking for. I’m not entirely sold on the ‘sweet’ part but it seems like they mean it’s just less sour that other breads. I’m fine with sour but am willing to give this a shot. Levain is just a fancy French way of saying starter. You should be ok with halving it but maybe make the full recipe once first it's surprising how quickly you can go through a loaf of really good fresh bread 
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Aug 19, 2019 15:51
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Catte watches over cooling sourdough loaf. Mixed wholemeal/strong white/milk combo.  
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Aug 19, 2019 16:52
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nwin posted:This is great and seems to be exactly what I’m looking for. I’m not entirely sold on the ‘sweet’ part but it seems like they mean it’s just less sour that other breads. I’m fine with sour but am willing to give this a shot.). It's not sweet as in "American sweet". There's no sugar added in the recipe, you won't really get very sweet bread without resorting to an enriched dough. As you say, it's just because it's not as sour as sourdough can sometimes be. Sourness entirely depends on your culture, when you last fed it before using, etc. so you can have some perfectly acceptable bread with a single feeding. Using double feeding is just a method to hedge your bets and make sure you don't get an insanely tart loaf. I personally like to use it because I don't bake that often, so I'll usually be reviving my levain from a 2-4 week rest period in the fridge, after which it tends to be on the overly sour side.
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Aug 19, 2019 17:08
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Anyone have a good dough formula for a fougasse? I wanted to try one stuffed with roasted peppers.
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Aug 20, 2019 16:11
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booack posted:Anyone have a good dough formula for a fougasse? I wanted to try one stuffed with roasted peppers. The traditional method of fougasse making is honestly not worth the effort. Go with Beranbaum: 425°F oven 750g loaf 454g AP flour 5.6g yeast 10g salt 295g skim milk, scalded and cooled 1/2 cup oil, divided (use something flavorful!) Add-ins, optional, about 3/4 of a cup? Mix together flour and yeast, then add salt. Add the milk and 2 tablespoons of oil, then mix until a rough dough is formed. Knead until elastic and barely tacky, then rest for 15 minutes. Empty onto a counter and knead in the add-ins, like nuts or peppers. Oil a fermentation tub and roll the dough to coat all sides, then rise until doubled, about an hour (but check after 45). Flatten the dough gently and knead in another tablespoon of oil. Return the dough to the rising tub and double again, about 30-45 minutes. Repeat this process for a total of 3 rises. Preheat the oven to 425°F during your third rise. After the third rise has doubled, turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and pat it into a rectangle. Give it a letter fold, cover it with plastic wrap, and rest for 30 minutes. Oil a baking sheet, then set the dough on it. Press out the dough to about 9 by 15 inches, which should be about 1/2" thick. The thickness matters more than the other dimensions. Using a sharp knife, score 7 slashes, one in the center and 3 on each side. Use scissors to cut through to the bottom of the pan. Push the slashes open wide - they'll shrink as the bread expands while baking. Rise for another 15 minutes, then make sure the openings haven't closed. If they have, spread them with your fingers. Bake the fougasse for 20-25 minutes, turning the pan around after 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Use a fish scraper or other tool to loosen and lift the bread from the pan.
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Aug 20, 2019 16:30
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