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Friday, November 18, 2011

Bread, part 1





Here's this bread recipe I've been working on, it's a little rough, but if you follow it closely, you should wind up with four loaves of nice fully risen bread.

You'll need a big bread bowl, 4 loaf pans, measuring cups and spoons.

Organic Wheat and white flour.
Honey
Dry uncooked oatmeal
Yeast
Salt
Sugar
Egg
Canola oil

Measure 5 cups of very warm water, pour into the large bowl.
Add two whisked eggs
Add 1/2 Cup of sugar
Add 1/2 Cup of honey
Add Two Tablespoons of Yeast
Add Two Tablespoons of canola oil

Whisk all of that together for about a minute, so it is a yeasty solution.

Blend 4 Cups of uncooked dry oatmeal in a food processor, to the consistency of flour.

Add the processed Dry Oatmeal to the starter, again, whisk this solution.
Add 4 Teaspoons of salt*
Add 6 Cups of Organic White Bread Flour
Add 3 Cups of Organic Wheat Bread Flour

A word about salt,
"It is extremely important to use salt correctly, for undersalting results in insipid flavor while oversalting alters flavor and impedes fermentation." -Maggie Glezer, Artisan Baking

This may result in a slightly wet or dry loaf. Compensate for this by adding a little flour or water as necessary - the heavier and drier the loaf is, the more difficult it will be for the bread to rise against its own density. The wetter the loaf is, the more likely it is to not maintain a shape.

Knead the loaf into a smooth large ball of dough, preferably on a cleaned and prepared workspace - a countertop or table works well for this. After kneading, place the kneaded loaf back into the large bread bowl and allow to rise for at least an hour.

After the first rise is completed, you should have a larger, more porous piece of dough. Place this onto your workspace, use some additional all purpose flour if necessary for handling or shaping the dough. Cut the dough into four equal chunks. Each chunk of dough is then sliced into three pieces, rolled out and braided.

After each of the four loaves are braided, place each into a separate bread pan and allow to rise for another hour, or until the loaves are at least an inch above the edge of the bread pans.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, bake for 32 minutes.

Congratulations, you made honey oat wheat bread.

*Another way to add the salt is to combine all of the ingredients, form a large ball of dough and knead the salt into the dough...if you're that worried about it.

Next time, a sourdough. With a levain.

Obligatory Matt Damon quote from Good Will Hunting -

"See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're going to come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: one, don't do that, and two, you dropped 150 grand on a fuckin' education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library! "

Followed by an obligatory Robin Williams quote from Good Will Hunting -

"Personally, I don't give a shit about all that, because - You know what? I can't learn anything from you... I can't read in some fuckin' book."

Love those libraries.

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