Bread Baking

[thaigerd]

Just had a nice baking demonstration yesterday here in Phuket:

Gerd

[siam2007]

Just had a nice baking demonstration yesterday here in Phuket:

Gerd

looks very nice indeed. who did that demonstation and is such demonstration available to the public ?

I always wanted to bake some bread, even had a small machine a few years back, but in fact I never started using it (as I dont have a clue how to do such thing....)

[Daren]

Hey siam2007,

I've just recently started making bread here in LoS myself! It's easy to get sick of Thai "bread" and making it is like a cool hobby. I'm getting so into it I'm starting to see the signs of addiction. When there's a loaf in the over, I can't sit down. I spend hours online looking for new recipes. I get cold sweats at night....

... ok, well maybe not.

But I have been having a lot of fun and it's because making bread is piss easy and very satisfying. There was a big bread-fad (if that's possible) that started in NYC about two years ago. Bearing an appropriate name, "No Knead Bread" shocked and awed many amateur foodies, homemakers and college students with its simple, virtually brainless procedures:

1. Mix flour, salt and yeast then water.

2. Wait.

3. Make ball and bake.

You can surprisingly good bread with this and other similar recipes. Just start exploring! No knead, improved no knead, artisan bread in 5 minutes a day are some of the methods I've used and all have interesting merits and drawbacks.

Some of the things I've learned recently:

- Cut liquids by at least 10%. I live in very hot and humid, S. Thailand.

- A big toaster oven works fine to bake in! I bake almost everything inside a preheated glass bird roasting pan with a lid. It helps distribute heat and forms crusts wonderfully!

- There are probably good substitutions for all of the stuff you can't get here. Goog'n is your friend.

- Bread dough rises FAST down here, actually much too fast. The yeast will exhaust themselves and make a tired dough if I use rise times listed in most recipes. So I retard their growth in the fridge after a first rise of about 45 minutes. Dough can be kept for quite a while and used when convenient for you. Just shape a loaf and allow it warm up to room temp. completely before baking.

Baking is fun.

[thaigerd]

Hey siam2007,

I've just recently started making bread here in LoS myself! It's easy to get sick of Thai "bread" and making it is like a cool hobby. I'm getting so into it I'm starting to see the signs of addiction. When there's a loaf in the over, I can't sit down. I spend hours online looking for new recipes. I get cold sweats at night....

... ok, well maybe not.

But I have been having a lot of fun and it's because making bread is piss easy and very satisfying. There was a big bread-fad (if that's possible) that started in NYC about two years ago. Bearing an appropriate name, "No Knead Bread" shocked and awed many amateur foodies, homemakers and college students with its simple, virtually brainless procedures:

1. Mix flour, salt and yeast then water.

2. Wait.

3. Make ball and bake.

You can surprisingly good bread with this and other similar recipes. Just start exploring! No knead, improved no knead, artisan bread in 5 minutes a day are some of the methods I've used and all have interesting merits and drawbacks.

Some of the things I've learned recently:

- Cut liquids by at least 10%. I live in very hot and humid, S. Thailand.

- A big toaster oven works fine to bake in! I bake almost everything inside a preheated glass bird roasting pan with a lid. It helps distribute heat and forms crusts wonderfully!

- There are probably good substitutions for all of the stuff you can't get here. Goog'n is your friend.

- Bread dough rises FAST down here, actually much too fast. The yeast will exhaust themselves and make a tired dough if I use rise times listed in most recipes. So I retard their growth in the fridge after a first rise of about 45 minutes. Dough can be kept for quite a while and used when convenient for you. Just shape a loaf and allow it warm up to room temp. completely before baking.

Baking is fun.

Yes, baking is fun!

Some points I want to explain:

-Use cold water for mixing your dough, otherwise it rises too fast

-Make some steam into your oven a few seconds before baking(some ice cubes into the oven)

-When you dough is rising cover it with a big plastic foil to avoid skimming.

-start with a high temperature and slow down after 10 minutes

Gerd

[Daren]

Good tips, Gerd!

I find with my baking pan inside a pyrex roasting dish, I don't need the ice in the oven. But I'm also only trying to bake one thing at a time.

Will try the cold water tomorrow.

[Sarge]

it looks good, what type of flour/s and yeast are they using?

[inthemode]

using a two day fermentation method with a soka and a biga makes a great multigrain bread, at least 15 hours before mixing them together.

you have to refrigerate one to slow down the process and then chop into small pieces and add the extra yeast to create an "epoxy" method. then put in the mixer.

Scald the milk before mixing to make the biga.

Proofing takes less time in Phuket than other locations.

Work it hard to get the gluten going

Edited May 4, 2009 by inthemode