Keep that good stuff coming

My fifth bread is delicious with the beautiful combination of Piave cheese, garlic and sun-dried tomato.

1.25 tsp salt: good, could be even less as the cheese is salty

cheese is broken into roughly 1/2 inch pieces, roughly 1/2 cup

5 cloves garlic, chopped

7, 8 sun-dried tomato, soaked and chopped

Kick it up a notch

My fourth bread with olives and thyme

1.5 cups of all-purpose white, 1.5 cups of whole wheat

1.5 tsp salt: could reduce a bit to compensate for the saltiness of olives

20 kalamata olives, chopped

thyme: liberal

Third time is the charm

My third bread: perfect!

2 cups all-purpose white, 1 cup whole wheat

1.5-1.75 tsp salt

18 hours first rising time, 2 hours second rising

slightly oiled the pot half way thru pre-heating to prevent sticking: still not certain whether this is necessary (perhaps heating the pot piping hot is enough), but just in case. A lot of smoke came out when the pot was taken out as expected particularly with olive oil; Will do the oil ~5 min before the baking to avoid the smoke.

30 minutes pre-heating time for the oven

30 minutes at 450F with lid, 15 minutes at 400F without lid

汤和面包

很多年前去巴黎，那时对自己胃的脾性还不太了解。长途飞行后，到了旅店扔下背包就上了街，迷迷糊糊地在街上逛，跟个zombie似的。刚在一石阶上坐下来，就有人来聊天，聊聊又请喝咖啡。左右是换个地方坐着，我就跟了去。进咖啡馆里深吸一口气，人就醒了大半——香浓的咖啡正是我需要的。可是等离开了咖啡馆，我的困意再次上来时，胃也跟着翻江倒海起来。那个晚上我就一条街一条街地走，在每个餐馆前驻足看一看，饿的不行可是一看见真正的饭菜胃就又更加难过起来，什么也不能吃。也不能饿着回旅店睡觉，睡不着。

那时节最需要的是一碗粥，可哪里去找。最后决定喝一碗汤试试吧。随手进了家餐馆，要了一大碗浓汤，就着面包。虽然饿我也不敢吃的太快。一勺热汤，就一口浸透了浓汤的柔韧的面包，我能感觉到它们在我的食道里下滑的蠕动，暖暖的。。。那折腾了我一整个晚上的胃一下子就熨帖了。唉，那真是我记忆里吃过的最好吃的汤和面包。最后我用面包把汤碗擦了个一干二净。走出餐馆径直回到旅店一觉睡到天亮。

Bread composition and chemistry

Baker's Percentage
The amount of water and flour are the most significant measurements in a bread recipe, as they affect texture and crumb the most. Professional bakers use a system of percentages known as Bakers' Percentage in their recipe formulations, and measure ingredients by weight instead of by volume. Measurement by weight is much more accurate and consistent than measurement by volume, especially for the dry ingredients.

Flour is always 100%, and the rest of the ingredients are a percent of that amount by weight. Common table bread in the U.S. uses approximately 50% water, resulting in a finely-textured, light, bread. Most artisan bread formulas contain anywhere from 60 to 75% water. In yeast breads, the higher water percentages result in more CO2 bubbles, and a coarser bread crumb.

Proteins and Gluten
The quantity and quality of the proteins contained in the flour serve as the best indicator of the quality of the bread dough and the finished bread. While bread can be made from all-purpose wheat flour, for quality bread a specialty bread flour, containing more protein, is recommended.

Wheat flour in addition to its starch contains three water-soluble protein groups, albumin, globulin, proteoses, and two non-water soluble protein groups, glutenin and gliadin. When flour is mixed with water the water-soluble proteins dissolve, leaving the glutenin and gliadin to form the structure of the resulting dough. When worked by kneading, the glutenin forms strands of long thin chainlike molecules while the shorter gliadin forms bridges between the strands of glutenin. The resulting networks of strands produced by these two proteins is known as gluten. Gluten development improves if the dough is allowed to autolyse.

Proofing
During proofing, yeast converts glucose and other carbohydrates to carbon dioxide gas which gives the bread rise and alcohol which gives it flavor. Bacteria which coexists with the yeast consume this alcohol, producing lactic and acetic acids.

Proofing is divided into a number of different categories including fermentation, proofing, retarding, autolyse. Fermenting is any stage of proofing which is completed prior to the shaping of the bread. Often a third of a bread's rise will occur during this stage. Proofing is the general term for allowing a bread to rise while at room temperature after it has been shaped. Retarding is the stage in which bread is placed into a dough retarder, refrigerator, or other cold environment to slow the activity of the yeast. The retarding stage is rarely found in recipes with commercial yeast but often used in sourdough bread recipes to allow the bread to develop it characteristic flavor. Autolyse is a period of rest allowed for dough to relax. After the initial mixing of flour and water, the dough is allowed to sit. This rest period allows for better absorption of water and allows the gluten and starches to align. Breads made with autolysed dough are easier to form into shapes and have more volume and improved structure.

Sourdough
The sour taste of sourdoughs actually comes not from the yeast, but from a lactobacillus, with which the yeast lives in symbiosis. The lactobacillus feeds on the byproducts of the yeast fermentation, and in turn makes the culture go sour by excreting lactic acid, which protects it from spoiling (since most microbes are unable to survive in an acid environment).

All yeast-leavened breads used to be sourdoughs, and the leavening process was not understood until the 19th century, when with the advance of microscopes, scientists were able to discover the microbes that make the dough rise. Since then, strains of yeast have been selected and cultured mainly for reliability and quickness of fermentation. Billions of cells of these strains are then packaged and marketed as "Baker's Yeast". Bread made with baker's yeast is not sour because of the absence of the lactobacillus.

-from wiki

My second bread

Beautiful top crust, nice crumb texture, except... I lost the bottom crust... it stuck on the pot, 555...

What have changed?

1 cup whole wheat, 2 cups white

2.25 tsp salt: a bit too much, will try 1.5 tsp

I did not try to pack the measuring cups, so with the same measurement, the hydration is in fact higher, resulting in a much wetter dough: better crust, better texture, but much harder to handle, and worse, it stuck on the pot while last time the bread just came out without any effort.

21-hour rising time: a slightly sour-dough effect, good

Baking time is 30min with cover, 15min without: perfect

The oven was preheated for 15-20min instead of recommended 30min: do not know whether that the pot was not heated long enough contributed to the sticking or not. The 450F temperature was reached however (oven light went off).

What have I learned?

Measuring by weight instead of volume would be more accurate indeed but I have not a food scale.

Proper baking time, check if not sure.

Wetter dough results in more crispy and less hard crust and better texture; longer rising time results in better texture and a bit of sour-dough effect.

Either dust the dough with flour really well, or oil the pot to prevent sticking, even though this pot is not supposed to stick.

Kosher salt, sea salt, & table salt

For the cook's purposes, the main difference between salts is in their texture. Table salt's fine granules dissolve quickly, making it the preferred salt of bakers. Sea salt and kosher salt possess larger, irregular grains that add a delightful crunch and hit of briny flavor when sprinkled on food at the last minute. Generally, savvy cooks prefer kosher salt when cooking, since its coarse texture is easier to take a pinch of when seasoning savory dishes.

Chemically there is little difference between kitchen salts. All are at least 97 1/2 percent sodium chloride. But there are significant differences in the provenance and processing of these salts.

Table salt is mined from underground salt deposits, and includes a small portion of calcium silicate, an anti-caking agent added to prevent clumping. It possesses very fine crystals and a sharp taste. Because of its fine grain a single teaspoon of table salt contains more salt than a tablespoon of kosher or sea salt.

Sea salt is harvested from evaporated seawater and receives little or no processing, leaving in tact the minerals from the water it came from. These minerals flavor and color the salt slightly. However, because these salts often come at a dear price, it is worth keeping in mind that they lose their unique flavor when cooked or dissolved.

Kosher salt takes its name from its use in the koshering process. It contains no preservatives and can be derived from either seawater or underground sources. Aside from being a great salt to keep within arm's reach when you are cooking, it is particularly useful in preserving, because its large crystals draw moisture out of meats and other foods more effectively than other salts.

–Food Network Kitchens

My virgin bread

Finally made a bread from scratch for the first time! Of course it is all hand-made. Why not? It is so simple.


I followed the NYT's no-knead bread recipe with the following deviations and imperfections:

1.5 cup of water instead of 1 5/8 cup (tip from Rose): good, so the dough is not too wet to handle.

12-18 but preferably 18 hours rising time (see here). I let it sit for 15 hours: not long enough, the bread is a bit on the dense side. The dough probably didn't rise enough.

1.5 cup white all purpose flour and 1.5 cup whole wheat flour instead of 3 cups white: not bad except that the color is a bit yellowish. Another reason to give the dough more time to rise.

1.25 tsp salt as in the recipe: not enough, will try 1 Tbsp next time

I followed the recipe's baking time 30min with cover and 30 without: too long, the top crust is slightly burnt. Should cut the time without cover to half perhaps.

The video showed 500F baking temperature. I used 450F: good, otherwise the bread would be burnt even more.