Multi-Grain Hearth Bread

Building on my repertoire of Peter Reinhardt breads, I tried the hearth version of a multi-grain bread. Being a hearth style bread, it was lean (like the bagettes), but this time I used oil and honey to soften the crust slightly and lend a little sweetness. For the grains I used cooked whole grain rice, rolled oats (yes the type used for oat meal), and some corn meal. I used about even quantities of each (though slightly more rolled oats), which comprised a large portion of the soaker. As a result, the soaker was fairly drippy at first, though it did solidify somewhat overnight. For the final loaves, I chose to form two batards – baking them directly on my baking stone.

As a whole this bread turned out very well, soft interior and crisp crust (without being overly hard). It went excellently both as a sandwich bread and also just plainly with cheese. Actually goat cheese seemed to lend the perfect blend of flavor with this bread. All in all I think this was a far more successful departure into the multi-grain style of breads than the Anadama Bread I had previously made, and I plan on experimenting with a variety of different grains and possibly switching to the sandwich style (adding milk into the soaker). The only real disappointment I had was with the forming of the loaves themselves, but that is really just my ineptness as a sculptor. I think next time I make a free-standing loaf, I will just make a single batard.

Difficulty: Average

From: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor.

Tips:

1) If you plan on using larger grains like whole grain rice, it is best to precook them.
For cooking rice I was recently taught a very helpful trick. Place your hand on the rice (in the pot/rice cooker) and pour the water into the pot/rice cooker until it reaches your knuckles… then you have the perfect amount of water.

2) Smaller grains (like rolled oats, corn meal, or any type of other flour…) can all be used without precooking them.

Anadama Bread

Wanting to break free of the monotony of the constantly making 100% whole wheat, I decided to try a variation in the Reinhart book. For this bread, the soaker is made with a significant amount of cornmeal and instead of honey I used molasses. Aside from that the process was pretty much the same as the 100% whole wheat bread. The end result was tasteful, though more crumbly than a more traditional whole wheat bread. Because of the cornmeal, gluten could not form in the way that bonds normally exist in bread. I personally think that this bread would make better buns than sandwich bread. Then again I also probably didn’t hydrate the yeast properly and I used regular filtered water instead of potato water.

Difficulty: Average

from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor.

Whole-Wheat Bagettes (Peter Reinhardt)

Using yet another variation of Reinhardts 100% whole wheat bread I tried the leaner hearth style bread, forming it into 4 bagettes (mini bagettes…). In this recipe there is no milk, honey, or oil, just water, flour, and yeast. Baking at higher temperatures and using a steam pan, the crust turned out thick and nutty with a soft , creamy interior. I think I left the bread in the oven a bit too long, leading to a much thicker and harder crust than it should have had, but even over-baked, I am extremely happy with these bagettes, they are perfect for dipping in soup.

Difficulty: Easy

from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor.

Tips:
1. careful with the baking times and going by temperature alone in deciding when the bagettes are done.

Adding Potato Water

The miracles of potatoes… well sweet potatoes in this case. Returning to the whole wheat bread recipe from Peter Reinhardt I switched all the water in the recipe to water left over from boiling sweet potatoes. Aside from that I stuck with the exact same choices I made with my previous whole-wheat loaf. The end result was even better than the last time, but I am not sure if it is because I am better at making bread or the sweet potato water. As an added bonus, the crust turned out crisp and delicious from the steam/hearth technique, which performed better than ever.

Difficulty: average.

from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor.

Tips:
1) next time you boil potatoes, freeze a cup of the water after it cools.

Peter Reinhart’s - Whole Wheat Mash Bread

Disaster. That word ran through my head over and over this past weekend (and yes part of it was from watching the Eagles give away yet another game to the undeserving team whose name we will not mention). Disaster, first when the mash did not resemble the gravy like characteristics described in the book, but instead it had more of a cream of wheat texture. Then when I tasted it before and after, there was not a distinct increase in sweetness as described in the book. But I had put 3 hours into this bread already so there was no turning back at this point.

I think I should take a step back at this point, and answer the question of: why on earth would I go through the trouble of attempting to make a mash based bread. Well, for one I wanted to use a mash in order to begin to build a sour dough starter, and thus needed to learn how to make a mash. Secondly, it was supposed to taste better and have a smoother, creamier texture. To me both are good enough reasons in and of themselves, so why not give it a shot…

So, the weekend drug on and I eventually found the time to make a biga, this time using buttermilk to compensate for the lack of a starter. I woke up the next morning and was terrified to find that it hadn’t risen at all… but after pulling it out of the fridge it rose as it warmed up. So with my heart thumping, that disaster was avoided, and I was at least confident the biga was acting somewhat as expected and began to do the final mix.

Two hours and two rises later, a freshly risen panned loaf of bread sat in my hand as I opened what should have been a preheated oven… but no it was cold. Disaster. Not only had the pilot gone out, but in the process of getting that fixed another leak in the old stove was discovered and fixed as my panned/risen loaf sat in the fridge. I came back to it the following morning, hoping that it was salvageable (Disaster) only to find that it had shrunken nearly to its original size. Three hours after pulling it out of the fridge it had finally re-risen slightly, but not nearly as much as before, or as I hoped. So I slid it into the oven and waited to see what would happen.

The end result was dense, mainly because of it falling in the fridge (probably due to yeasts dying in the fridge over night), with a slightly sour flavor. But despite all of the issues and failures and miss steps, the bread still had a creamy texture. In the end, I think I need to try this again being much more careful with the initial mash, as far as the other issues – I am amazed that it did as well as it did despite being panned for over 12 hours. And I am still really happy that I was able to get that creamy texture that has been so elusive so far, even if the loaf, on the whole, was a failure.

Difficulty: Difficult

from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor.


Tips:
1. Make sure you have plenty of time – making a mash is time consuming.
2. If using a biga and active dry yeast - activate your yeast first in 2 tablespoons of water before mixing it with the flour and buttermilk.

Rustico Cooking’s Focaccia alla Ligure

This was my very first attempt at baking bread. I can not remember now how or why I stumbled upon the webpage, but after reading the introduction about how to bake and reading the simplicity of how Focaccia is made I just had to try it. (Well that and the excess flour that we had sitting around as it approached its spoilage time…) Fumbling around the kitchen, completely unsure of what I was doing, and constantly doubting every move I made I somehow got the ingredients together, the dough rose as expected (which I have to admit made me very excited), and it was in the oven after I brushed rosemary onto the top. The end result was a simple, quick and delicious focaccia: a perfect introduction to baking, or a simple compliment to any meal.

From: www.rusticocooking.com/breads


Difficulty: easy

Tips:
1) I would start with this if you have never baked before
2) I would also add in more spices next time, I found that simply brushing the rosemary on top didn’t impart the flavor they way I had desired (plus they tend to fall off).

Peter Reinhart’s 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread - Second Attempt

For my second attempt of the Reinhart whole-wheat sandwich bread, I used buttermilk instead of yogurt in the soaker (and was more careful with the addition of water in the final mix). With the extra practice of making whole-wheat pizza dough, I was able to get the soaker, biga, and final mix together in about as much time as it would take me to mix a dough utilizing a more conventional method. Though it still took two days due to the long periods of allowing the dough to rest. This time, everything behaved exactly as I expected from the description in the text, even with the biga rising slightly in the fridge over night.

Aside from using just two tablespoons of water to hydrate the yeast (and as a result keeping the proportionality of all of the elements correct), I also used an instant read thermometer to double check that the center of the bread had reached the appropriate temperature inside. Previously I had been relying on the sound of the loaf when thumped, but I realized that, having never heard freshly baked bread tapped on the bottom, I didn’t truly know what I was supposed to be hearing. I knew it should sound “hollow” but that is a rather vague description with a lot of room for error. I also limited the amount of time I opened the oven (previously I kept trying to open it to take the steam pan out, this time, I just left the steam pan in).

The end result was a thicker darker crust, which I happen to prefer. The loaf itself was airy and moist, and it tasted exactly how a slice of sandwich bread should taste. Flavorful enough to enhance everything that goes between two slices, yet not overpowering or overwhelming. Honestly, I was amazed. Had I been given slices of it without knowing they were home-baked, I wouldn’t believe they were, and especially not by a novice like me (after all it is just my fourth loaf of bread – not including the focaccia, pizza or tortillas).

Difficulty: average.

from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor.

Tips:
1) Use an instant read thermometer to check the final temperature of the inside of the loaf, it is important to make sure the bread reaches the right temperature before you pull it out of the oven.
2) I found that buttermilk seemed to work better than yogurt. Though I can not be certain if the taste difference was due to the yogurt or the myriad of mistakes I had previously made, the consistency of the yogurt made it more difficult to work with when preparing soaker. Buttermilk is also easier to measure since you can rely on the volume measurements instead of having to switch to weighing out the volume. Because of this (and the fact that buttermilk is the same price as yogurt) I would suggest using buttermilk first.
3) Every time you open the oven, it cools off a little, which, obviously, you want to avoid, so don’t open the oven to peak on your bread. Only open it to turn the loaf pan for an even bake about 20 minutes into it, and again to check the progress 40 minutes in. It took me an additional 10 minutes (50 total) to completely bake my loaf of bread.