Back in the Kitchen

"What's that mysterious smell coming from the oven?" my family may have asked... but really didn't...

Motivated by how well the yard was looking, I thought I'd keep working at it through this week.  God had other plans... Apparently all of His creation in this area needed plenty of water!

So I was forced in, and probably better off for the break from yardwork.

This was Tuesday's first baking project...

I came downstairs to see that the previous night's dish doer had left one cast iron pan unwashed, and, worse, one of them soaking.  Aaargh.  Since another I have was getting pretty dry, and one lid looked rusty, I decided to do a group seasoning.  I started warming them, wiped down with Crisco, on the stove, but then moved them to a 250 oven to finish over a few hours.

Meanwhile, I hoped to improve the smell of the house, and fulfill a food need, by covering up the hot oil smell with that of baking bread.  Mostly, the smell just changed to that of oily bread, but at least the loaves don't taste like that.  

After the bread, it was on to pies.  Monday night we'd watched the TV show, Master Chef, on which they baked delicious looking apple pies.  I said, "Oh, now I want pie!"  

Prince CuddleBunny told me I could just 'make some tomorrow.'  I decided he was right, especially since last weekend, while organizing the freezer, I'd discovered some pie fillings we'd made last fall... After all, they need to be used!

Speaking of my oven... See that little silver spot in the lower left, front corner?                                                                                                          

It's supposed to be bluuuue.  But true to Wolf form, they were ready and willing to back up their product.  After I sent photos of the bare spots (1 in each cavity), the customer service rep called, and  Oven #6 (Wolf oven #3) is on the way...  He insists it's nothing I'm doing wrong, but also that this problem is unusual, especially to run into twice!  Sometimes it's not fun to be unique...  If you missed my sad oven saga, you can start at the beginning here.

Plugged it in, Turned it on... Nothin'

We were in a customary state:  Breadless.  It was early, so I was confident I'd have bread done by lunchtime, and started adding ingredients to my bread mixer bowl.  I usually mill the flour first, but got out of order that morning, which shouldn't have made any difference.


Except...


....that when I turned on the switch on my beloved-for-10+ years WhisperMill to grind the flour, nothing happened!  I thought maybe the GFCI had been tripped, but it hadn't.  I tried another outlet that I knew was on another circuit, just to be sure.  Still nothin'.


I'd noticed that the exit tube was left too full of flour, indicating it'd had a clogging problem when last used.  I remembered running out the door to a doctor appointment after filling and starting the machine for Princess Eager.  Clogs happen, but not often.  She'd never used it, so wouldn't have recognized the change in motor sound or known the steps to take.  I'd burnt up a motor that way when the machine was just a year or two old, but the company who manufactured her was still in existence, and replaced it for free.  I'd been afraid this would happen again, ever since they went out of business.


But what to do with mixer bowl already partly full of 6 eggs, butter, water, yeast, and vital wheat gluten?  It was too much to throw away and we still needed bread.  I just bought some all-purpose flour, but couldn't accept the idea of making a whole batch of bread with it.  


I checked my freezer supply of already milled flour, and found I had 4 cups of hard white wheat and quite a bit of soft white wheat flour.


First, I used the microwave, very briefly, to bring them to room temperature, so I wouldn't have the problems I described in Won't Be Doing That Again.  But soft wheat is meant for pastry, cookies, and quick breads... not yeast breads that require more gluten.  To try to make up for the soft wheat's lack of gluten, I added more vital wheat gluten... Just guessing, I added about 3/4 cup to the 1/2 cup already in the bowl.  In retrospect, there is probably a way I could have checked the amount of gluten in each and done a calculation that would have been more sure, but I was in mourning for my grain mill and not thinking quite clearly!

After the dough had done its raising, I was happy that it seemed pliable and stretchy, as if it had the good gluten development it needed.  
When I shaped it, though, I noticed that the loaf tops were not as smooth, and the surface had what seemed to be minor tears.  They didn't get too much more serious as the loaves were raising, but 

I decided to slice the tops, hoping it would decrease any unsightly tearing as they baked. 

That seemed to be a good call.  Or maybe they would've been fine without.  In any case, they looked like 'normal' bread coming out of the oven.  The inside texture looked good.                                                                                                                                                                 
They've been a little more delicate and crumbly to cut and handle for sandwiches, but I was relieved to have a usable result to tide us over the next few days.


Now, what to do about a mill... Something we need every couple of days?!  Stay tuned for that part of my saga.

Won't Be Doing That Again

I know that most recipes recommend starting with ingredients at room temperature.  I often ignore this when it comes to eggs, butter, and refrigerated dairy products.  First of all, I don't plan far enough ahead, and even if I did... How long does it take to get these things to room temp, and how long is it safe for each to sit out at 65 to 75 degrees?  I don't know, so I don't bother worrying about it.

Last Friday I needed to grind more hard white wheat in order to mix up the batch of dough for next Friday's pizza.  I knew that we were out of bread and I'd need to make some the next morning, so decided I'd just grind that flour Friday night, while I had my mill out and set up.  I then froze it to retain the nutrients, and felt satisfied I'd saved myself a bit of time and effort for the next morning's task.


The next morning I thought to set the flour out of the freezer while I gathered and prepared the other ingredients for my now-favorite bread recipe, but then dumped it in while it was still pretty cold.  


I was surprised that it seemed to take less flour to get to the consistency I usually have with the whole batch.  I have no idea if that was related to the temperature of the flour, or just the slight difference that can happen from one batch to another.


With this recipe, there is a half hour 'hydrolyzing' step, for which the dough rests and allows the moisture to really permeate the grain.  I knew after that half hour, the dough was not looking quite the same, and accepting that it was because of the temperature, allowed it to sit another half hour or a little longer.


At this point, it was time to knead, which I did, then let it sit, covered and oiled, for the usual hour to rise.  After an hour, that recipe usually looks like this:                                                                                          

Instead, this batch looked like this:                                                                                                                

I neglected to look at the time when I finally was able to see it rise to the usual level, but I think it was a couple hours later.  When I divided that dough, it felt heavier and tougher... It pretty much snapped when I stretched and divided it into loaf-sized pieces.


The rise of the shaped loaves took longer than usual, too, of course, and I had to do the guessing game of whether or not it has risen enough.  When it passed the fingertip test, I put it in the oven to bake until the internal temperature was 200 degrees.  

The bread was finally done just before 5 PM, when it normally would have been ready for a late lunch (about 1 or 1:30).  So my saving myself approximately 7 minutes of mill assembly and grinding time, added 3 1/2 hours and a lot of extra effort to my bread baking... And I got denser, 3/4 loaves to show for it.   Not a good trade!

Guest Blogger... Princess Eager

Actually, I'm still doing the little bit of writing, but this is Princess Eager's own project and she was the photographer, too.

The King Arthur Flour
Baker's Companion:
The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook

I have always wanted to try making bagels, but kept delaying, due to "all the steps."  But she recently found The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook at the library, and was intrigued enough by the process to not let the extra steps dissuade her.  









She was excited about mixing up the recipe and watching the dough rise.











She didn't remember to photograph the shaping and boiling, but here they are baking, after those steps, 




and then the result.  Crispy, chewy, and wonderful!                                                                                                                                                                         

She got creative and made some with cinnamon and Craisins inside, and a special one for me with blueberries, which was delicious, served with cream cheese on top.  :-D                                              

Gadget Report

I guess I should've waited a day, and I could've given you a fuller, new-gadget report all in one.


Today we needed bread, so it was a good time to try out the larger bread pan, and I decided to use part of the dough for buns, so that I could try out and compare the pastry brushes, also.  I had the opportunity to use the OXO cleaning brush set, too, of course, on our grain mill's flour bin, and the crevices of my bread mixer's bowl and dough hook.


Cleaning Brushes:  These simple tools did a fine job.  I was able to scrub out the most difficult areas and feel better about the cleanliness of my tools awaiting the next batch of dough.  I really liked the larger brush, but like the pointy, flexible tool on the end of the smaller brush.  
Since I need to keep one dry to deal with the flour bin, as anything damp turns the coating of flour into glue, I don't really want to use it in washing the mixer bowl and dough hook.  The pointy appendage of the smaller brush is helpful for the tiny dough-collecting spots, but the smaller brush means more work to clean the broader areas.  I will need a larger brush, or will end up using a combination of small brush and wash rag to clean the doughy items.



Bread Pan: For the bread, I decided to make one of our usual-sized loaves and one in the larger pan.  First I had to determine how much dough to put in each.  Since the new one is referred to as a 1-1/2-pound loaf pan, and it's counterpart, sized similarly to those I usually use is labeled as a 1-pound loaf pan, it was easy to figure that I needed 1 1/2 times the dough in the larger pan.  So for this maiden outing, I put 41 oz of dough in the new, large pan, while I used about 27 oz of dough in my old pan.  

I ended up with very tall loaves in both, so I will have to try this again with smaller amounts to try to get the wider, lower loaves that might be easier to slice.


The other thing I wanted to see, just for sharing my recipe with those who don't have an oven probe that will help judge doneness, is the difference in baking time.  After 15 minutes of baking, I placed the probe through the end side into the center of the loaf in the smaller pan, figuring, of course, it would reach 200 degrees first.  When the temperature was reached, I put that loaf on a rack to cool, and moved the probe to the larger loaf to see how much longer it needed to reach that same, done temperature.  


I'd set the oven a little lower than usual, at 330 degrees instead of 350, so the larger loaf's exterior wouldn't cook too fast for the heftier interior.  The smaller loaf was done (reached 200 degrees) in 37 minutes.  At that point the internal temperature of the larger loaf was 160 degrees.  In 13 more minutes, it was done, too... So it took 50 minutes to bake.

After use

For anyone concerned about ordering an uncoated pan instead of the non-stick version, I can certainly put your fears to rest.  I greased my pan using shortening instead of the usual Pam, thinking it might take some time to season and would need a little extra help this first time.  I don't think I should have worried, as the bread lifted right out and the pan looks sparkling clean inside.  

The 2 bread sizes.  Not sure that this new pan is as wide
as Hubby was hoping for.

I wipe out my bread pans with a paper or clean towel after using (no soap or scrubbing unless absolutely necessary), so expect that over time, this pan will darken a bit as some grease bakes onto it, forming its own seasoning and only getting better with age.  




Pastry Brushes:  Both of my new brushes were better to use than my curled and somewhat stiff Kitchen Aid brush.  (I know it's been through the dishwasher and otherwise somewhat abused, so it's probably not it's fault that it's as bad as it is now.  I still feel the bristles are too long for the control I'd like, though.)


I grabbed the OXO Silicone Pastry Brush first.  As I said, I was happier with it, compared to the Kitchen Aid.  However, it seemed to apply the egg wash in lines, consistent with the width and pattern of the silicone 'bristles,' and I felt I had to kind of push the liquid around the tops of my hamburger buns to get an even and thorough coverage.


For the 2nd pan, I used the Ateco 1" Flat Pastry Brush, and was much happier.  The egg wash spread smoother, thinner, and easier with this brush than with the silicone.  I didn't have to go back over areas I'd already brushed as I had to with the OXO.  I'm not crazy about the large "Made in China" sticker that graced its packaging, but the OXO was likely made there, too. (I already through out the package, so can't check.)  


The silicone brush is dishwasher and hot-pan safe, while this one is not.  Will this last like the silicone?  Will it begin to retain odors?  Will the bristles someday start shedding onto my food?  I can't know any of that right now, and there may be pluses and minuses for each that I'm not thinking of at the moment.  It will probably be nice to have both.  Today I can only say the Ateco brush performed better for me on this task.  

Grandma's Christmas Trees, Attempt #1

First try right on the counter... Was a challenge to move!

Between recollections Hubby and I drew from together, then with confirmation from my mom, I had a good idea of how Grandma shaped her famous Christmas trees we ate every year for Christmas morning breakfast.  

Wider than it is high, crosswise
across cookie sheet

The key is to roll a rectangle of yeast dough, then bring the top corners down to meet in the center bottom, forming the triangle.  







Mom said Grandma used a separate piece for the trunk, but I found it easy to cut up from the bottom in 2 snips, one to each side of the center, then roll that section to form the trunk.

Then the 'branches' are formed by snipping in toward the center along the sides of the triangle, then twisting each section slightly, so that the branches separate a bit, like I did in the wreaths last week.  

After raising 1 hour

I filled the wreaths with brown sugar, cinnamon, and candied fruit.  It was toooo sweet.  Inside these trees, I used brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins, so more like cinnamon rolls.  (Of course we had to do the requisite taste-testing!) But I still felt this wasn't right... The raisins bunched together, and were loose when the tree was cut.  Something was missing/not right.  




In an email conversation with my older sister, we determined that Grandma incorporated the candied fruit into the dough, so the sweetness was spread throughout, and the colorful fruit served as ornaments on the tree.  I will try that next...  

I recommend forming and baking on parchment, so easier to move around

Braids to Buns...Now Wreaths

I am loving this new Whole Wheat Dough recipe.  Easy to whip up in a day, and such nice results for everything I've shaped it into so far.  We were out of bread and sandwich buns again today, and I needed some treats for a family Christmas party tomorrow night.


When I was young, my grandma used to make "Christmas Trees" of sweet yeast dough filled with candied fruit.  She somehow shaped the dough into a tree shape and all was iced in green glaze.  It was our traditional Christmas breakfast treat, as she passed them out to all of her kids every year.  With that in mind, but not coming up with a clever way to shape the tree, I went another route that requires just a few, simple steps that I could envision.

After making 20 hamburger buns/sandwich rolls with the first half of the ready-to-shape dough, I divided the remaining into two equal pieces...Each about the same amount used for one loaf of bread.  

I rolled each piece of the dough thin, about 21-24 inches long by about 8 inches high.  I spread on brown sugar, and sprinkled with cinnamon.  Then I scattered candied/glazed fruit across the dough, before rolling it, as for cinnamon rolls.


After sealing the loose edge to the roll, the best I could (not perfect), I placed the roll on a parchment-lined pizza pan.  I formed a circle, stretching as I did so, and sealing the ends together.


I cut in from the outside of the ring at 1 1/4" intervals, leaving about 1/2 to 3/4 inch section at the inside, so that the circle wouldn't break.  I then stretched and pivoted each sliced section so that it faced slightly upward.


I repeated this with the other reserved piece of dough, and covered the wreaths to let them rise for 1 hour.


I baked them at 350 degrees, on convection, since I had 2 racks baking at once, for about 13 - 15 minutes, until the internal temperature was 195 - 200 degrees.  

A little glaze drizzled over, and festive sprinkles applied, and the wreaths are ready for tomorrow's party.


And this project has joined another party!... This one's at LifeinGraceblog.com:
Christmas Breads, Breakfasts and Beverages::It’s a Party!

Whole Wheat Challah Dough... and Buns

I know that I said in my post, More Dough Play, that I was planning to 'perfect' the all-purpose flour challah recipe before attempting a whole wheat, or partial whole wheat version.  But I was out of all-purpose flour, needed hamburger buns, and had the overwhelming urge to try making them out of challah dough... so dove in with both feet to make a fully whole-wheat version.


I used the whole recipe that friend, Caroline (AKA Trailrunner), had posted on the Gardenweb Kitchen forum, making 2 braided loaves out of half, and hamburger buns of the rest. --She'd shared with me that the challah recipe makes great buns, and I'd been eager to try ever since.

Wondermill

Milling 1 full batch (8 cups) of hard white wheat berries in my Wondermill produces 12 1/2 cups of flour.  That, plus 1/2 cup of vital wheat gluten, made just exactly what I needed to replace 13 cups of all-purpose flour in the recipe, with the extra gluten boost I'd need for the whole grain flour.  Since those are the amounts I use for my sandwich bread recipe, I was confident that I'd at least come out with something edible, even if it wasn't close to the traditional challah.

Whole Wheat Challah

adapted from the recipe provided me by Caroline/Trailrunner

I updated the water amount, per her instructions, and changed the type of flour

In a 13-quart stainless bowl, mix

12 1/2 cups hard white whole wheat flour 

1/2 cup vital wheat gluten

In a medium bowl, whisk together

4 cups water 

3 Tablespoons instant yeast 

1/2 cup sugar  

Completely moist this time

6 eggs 

1 cube (1/2 cup) softened butter 

1 - 1 1/2 Tablespoon Kosher salt 

then mix it into the flour with a large spoon, just until the flour is all moistened.


Cover and let sit for 30 minutes to autolyse. (The dry ingredients absorb the moisture.)


Turn out on lightly floured surface and knead for 12 minutes, plus or minus, dusting with just enough more flour, as necessary, to keep it from sticking to the counter or your hands.  (When I finished kneading, the dough was still just a little moist/sticky, but not enough to be a problem to handle)


Form into a large ball and place in oiled bowl.  Spray with Pam, or oil, then cover and let rise until double for 1 hour.

At this point, I weighed the dough and divided it in half.  I placed one piece back in the bowl, resprayed with Pam and covered it to wait as I formed the buns.   


For hamburger buns, I divided the remaining half of the dough into 15 pieces that weighed approximately 3.5 ounces each.  Pull the sides of each piece down and under, pinching on the underside and forming a ball.  

When all the balls are formed and placed with plenty of space in between on a greased baking sheet, flatten each with the palm of your hand to about 3/4" thick.  Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour.




Meanwhile, divide the other half of the dough into 6 equal pieces, form ropes of each piece approximately 18 - 20 inches long.  Braid 3 at a time into 2 loaves.  -- Or form more buns instead. Cover and let those rise for 1 hour.

Since the baking sheets were full of buns,
I tried my French Bread Pan for the loaves.
This gave them nicely browned, but rounded
bottoms, so it won't be my first choice in the future.

Preheat the oven on convection to 350 degrees.


Mix 

1 egg yolk 

1 Tablespoon cream

and brush on the tops of the doubled items.  (Make more egg wash if necessary... I did.) Sprinkle with your choice of seeds (sesame or poppy), and, for the buns, quickly slice across the tops 1/4" deep or so with a sharp knife blade... I prefer to do 2 parallel slices, or a criss-cross pattern.

Bake the buns for about 10 minutes, and the loaves approximately 25 minutes... until the internal temperature is 200 degrees.








Results/Review:


Wow.  Not being a challah expert, I can't say how they'd measure up for those of you more familiar with this bread... But, these are the best hamburger buns I've made.  

Much lighter and fluffier than previous recipes, so it didn't feel like we were eating so much bread, or that the bread was in competition with the heartiness of the meat patty.  I think this will be the family-favorite method for sandwich buns from now on.