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[drloafmd]

challah 5

... there was a challah 4, but i don’t want to rewrite it 😬

challah 5 is my best-textured loaf yet! :D here’s what i did:

around 4 cups bread flour, and the remaining 2-3 unbleached all purpose

1 3/4 cup water at 109ºF

honey

1 hour bulk fermentation near an electric stove on low heat or until 1.5-2 times in size 

punch down, fold around, 30 mins, then shape 

froze for 16 hours

take out 5 hours prior to baking 

last 30 mins i left the cold loaf near a gas stove on low heat and the bloomed 150%

rolled out the braids and put oil+cinnamon+sugar in 3 of the 6 braids

re-used a disposable loaf container 

baked for ~45 mins at 350ºF, foil technique for the first 15 minutes

results 🍞🥖😍

very fluffy, chewy, a little bit shaggy in the crumb. the cinnamon and sugar made the loaf extra fun to eat 🎉

very poofy loaf that went out of the disposable container 

many happy coworkers 😄

did well and do again:

soft, fluffy, tall, voluminous

freeze a loaf. it produced a softer, fluffier, and tastier loaf than the one i baked right after the last rise at room temp

stick with canola

try for next time:

7 cups of flour. best flavor yet was in the very first challah i made-- it was too dense due to lack of water, but the eggy flavor came through beautifully. i think i’m overhydrating the dough and that’s somehow messing with the flavor development; overhydration can also make your bread too soft and not springy. next time, use 7 cups of flour. the dough is supposed to be tough and hard to knead by the end.

chill the braided dough for the last rise for 2 hours in the fridge, and take the other loaf and freeze it. compare flavors. i’ve been letting the braids rise at room temp every single time, save the first time i made this loaf 🙈and i think that’s been messing with the flavor development. the fridge slows yeast down and allows flavors to develop for longer without overproofing.

start weighing things. try using King Arthur’s weight measurements next time and tweak from there.

measure temp of your oven at different places. record. where is it different?

[drloafmd]

banh mi 1, 2

(this was actually attempt #3 and 4. i made it twice before for practice, so for the sake of efficiency, i’m only going to post about my learnings from the most recent attempts)

i hosted a banh mi party today and made everything, except the 叉烧肉. Meats make me nervous 😂

i followed Helen’s Youtube recipe, and now I’m convinced this is the best way to learn a new recipe. You can actually SEE what they’re doing, duh. 

what i did for set 1:

2.5-3 cups flour, water adjusted for flour content

2 hr and 10-20 min sponge fermentation

stovetop on heat level 2. rotated counterclockwise every now and then

moved to stove top, but not on a burner. center space between burners for more heat. this made the sponge extra bubbly and jiggly. (did i overproof?)

1 hr proof

they grew quite a bit! dry on the top, wet underneath, as expected

chopped dough into 3, flipped inside out

10 min rest

shape into loaves - 2 thick and short, one long and skinny

very elastic and a little difficult to slap out

tried to fold it so there was more surface tension

1 hr final proof

steam method: water heater water, put it in directly after that

wasn’t steaming and boiling immediately 

sprayed the loaves and oven a few times

oven preheated at 450º for at least 30 mins prior (made cauliflower butternut squash salad) 

baked for 8 mins

baked for 12, sprayed again and rotated the bread 

vs. set 2:

2+ cups of flour, water adjusted accordingly

1 hr 20 min sponge fermentation

placed on stove top the whole time, shrink wrap

1 hour proof

chopped dough into 3, flipped inside out

<10 min rest

shape into loves - 3 narrow, shorter

still not very elastic 

1 hr final proof

steam method: the same 

oven still 450º for around an hour

baked for 8, sprayed and rotated

baked for 14, sprayed again near the end 

results

unfortunately i didn’t take many photos -- busy with people! 

set 1: 

#2 tasted the best - the crust was crunch and the interior was super soft. 

final result- bread was dense, but had a ton of the delicious, warm, yeasty flavor of good banh mi bread. 

set 2: 

same crust development issue. dull gold

bright side: the slashes busted open much more nicely! bigger color contrast between the slash and the rest of the bread 

did well:

yeasty, warm, savory bread for banh mi

the cut bust open for a final oven spring! finally! 

change for next time:

i have a few ideas to improve browning and rising: 

make dough more elastic by adding less flour

look for a goopier consistency before proofs

trying the steel bowl method during baking 

what happens if i don’t spray? 

move the breads down a level or 2 to be closer to the water, and make sure the water is truly boiling + pan has been preheated with the over too for max steaming 

[drloafmd]

challah 2

- mar 12 2018 -

i attempted challah again this past weekend. after lazing around all saturday, i rolled into busy sunday by seeing a friend and preparing this dough. i followed the NYT recipe again, but this time with modifications that i hoped would improve my loaf: 

modifications

used king arthur bread flour instead of king arthur all purpose

3 egg white and 1 whole egg (recommended by NYT commenter) 

1 hr bulk fermentation in my largest bowl 

1 hr secondary fermentation

got thermometer. kept dough at a consistent 75º during kneading by turning the nearby stove top to a 3

21 hour final fermentation, fridge overnight (9am - 6pm next day) because i ran out of time sunday to bake the bread 

bulk fermentation in a preheated oven (150º) and a hot bowl of water underneath it for moisture.

oven cracked open a little bit to prevent the bread from proofing too quickly (producing gas and alcohol too quickly, which stumps flavor development) 

1 3/4 cup water when activating yeast (the right amt the recipe called for)

only used 5 1/4 cup flour

let the dough sit out for about 30-40 mins after the fridge and then shaped the loaves

i may have underbaked these loaves. the loaves were extremely soft and squishy, like a bath sponge or a teddy bear. 

super fluffy and squishy! not as dense as last time. 

braided these ones well, but the sides aren’t browning to the same degree as the top! 

the more i look at these, the more i think i can improve my strand-rolling technique. the strands aren’t even when i roll them out. 

the braids fused together in this loaf, unlike challah 1, where the strands were distinct. i also remember the dough being very sticky so that could be part of it? 

what happened: BFP (bulk fermentation period)

150º preheated oven and bowl of flora’s water heater water underneath, oven slightly cracked open because i read an article about warm proofs and got psyched out

1 hour long

rising dough started touching the saran wrap. big boi. i’m pleased with how much he’s risen.

what happened: secondary ferment

1 hour long but didn’t reheat the oven. no water underneath this time. 

this time he bust out of the wrap. i noticed a slight alcoholic scent when i took him out-- this was the warning sign i missed. 

what happened: final ferment

rose 4 inches out of the bowl 😵

since the poor plastic wrap couldn’t contain it, the exposed parts formed crusty plates that were kind of gross to work with and difficult to rehydrate. instead, i picked the scabs out by hand. 

super alcoholic scent. i thought all was lost, then realized the alcohol would evaporate out when baked. 

results: flavor

OVERPROOFED TO HELL 🔥🔥🔥

yeast ate up all the sugar in the honey and starting overproducing alcohol through cannibalization. the loaf had a slightly bitter aftertaste. 

results: texture

the nice thing? it was fluffy like a pillow or a cloud ☁️

a little dense but not as dense as last time.

overproofing probably compromised gluten development, which allowed gas to escape. 

results: appearance

browning on the top but barely on the sides (probably from baking 2 loaves on 1 small pan?)

DID GOOD

☁️texture! so soft ☁️

keep all other proportions, except the ones below, the same

maintain 75º

CHANGE FOR NEXT TIME

i think the BFP and secondary periods were a bit much. so,

1 hr - 30 min - 2 hr proof for 1 loaf

1 hr - 30 min - 4 hr proof for the 2nd, see what happens

try the poke method (www.sauerteig.de) to see if the bread is ready: 

1. The dough feels firm and elastic: “I’m just getting comfortable in my basket, please leave me alone!”

2. The dough feels already a bit spongy, but springs right back: “I have enough pressure to stand for another half hour.”

3. The dough is nice and fluffy, but still springs back into his old shape: “I’m barely proofed, and can go into the oven, if you really want the slashes to crack wide open.”

4. The dough keeps the dent for a while, and then slowly comes back: “I’m ready for baking – now or never!”

5. The dough moans, caves in a bit where it was poked, and doesn’t recover again: “Now! Please now!”

6. The dough turns to dust – even at the slightest touch. “I already was with Ramses and Tut-Ankh-Amun – let me die in peace….”

read roundhaybaker’s response here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/42295/over-proofing-what-it-looks-and-why 

OIL THE SHEET!!

bake separately (perfect since one needs to proof longer anyway)

try adding sesame seeds

even further out

olive oil orange juice challah: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/dining/challah-bread-recipe-video.html

[drloafmd]

challah 1

feb 24 2018 

this was the first time i attempted making challah. after 2 years of hmming and hahing I finally put my foot down and bought all the ingredients. 

what i did:

followed this NYT cooking recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6697-my-favorite-challah?regi=1&join_cooking_newsletter=true&login=google&login=google 

started 4pm, finished ~9pm

3 loaves

1/4 cup water (misread and didn’t add an entire cup of water!)

proofed for 45 min, then 30 min, then chilled for 2 hours in the room temperature of my kitchen (probably under 75º) 

sugar for 2 loaves, honey for the 3rd 

6 entire eggs

baked the loaves on the same pan 

results: 

hard egg browning on the outside of each loaf. shiny and maintained shape well.

aerial view. 2nd egg wash 15-20 min in helped brown the inside folds. 

close up of a funny shaped loaf. the knots pushed each other away, resulting in a deformed loaf. 

DID WELL/DO AGAIN

whole egg wash resulted beautiful browning 

45-30-2hr chilled resulted in on-point flavoring 

CHANGE NEXT TIME

not enough water resulted in very dense dough!! 

try increasing the initial proofing period to about 1 hour