Amateur Food Porn

[Clarino]

That looks really good Spider.

[exploited]

Spider, when making bread, is there any type or brand of flour you prefer? I haven't had much luck with my bread, and the recipe I use is so simple it has to be the flour.

[Spider]

With bread you want the highest protein content you can swing. Economically, anyways. I prefer King Arthur. If you want to use a lower protein flour you can buy a small bag of vital wheat gluten flour (75% protein) and mix some in, bringing up the total amount.

[exploited]

Is the bread you make dense or soft? I am partial to soft. Does the type of flour matter for that? Or is it the yeast exposure temperature, etc?

[Spider]

[Professor]

[Professor]

[Spider]

Ya, mostly. The holes are formed by air channels as bubbles expand and steam gets blasted to the surface. Also, its the moisture content of the dough. A really slack dough is softer and easier for the steam to puff up. Plus, you're giving off like twice as much moisture. My ciabatta dough is more like batter than dough. It damn near pours.

What helps more than anything is to get a stone (I use a granite counter sink cutout) or cast iron or something. Something dense that can soak up a lot of heat, and quickly transfer it into the dough. Its why those old brick and clay ovens kicked so much ass.

Commercial ovens are nice...they go up to like 700 degrees, and some of them actually have a button you can push to blast the bread with steam. Maximizes oven spring.

[The Comrade]

i've only ever made honey whole wheat bread but it was the most delicious thing ever. dense as hell though.

[Professor]