Slow rise bread

[Marthe48]

I've been baking my own bread the last 3 weekends. I've baked bread several times a year the last 50 years, but just for holidays or company. I had my own tomatoes this year, and also discovered avocado toast, so I thought, I'll just make my own bread for delights like toast and tomato sandwiches. I used half the envelope of yeast, just to see what would happen. The last 2 weekends, the process when pretty quick, but this weekend, it was slower.

The dough for the loaf I'm baking right now really took its time to rise. I let the yeast work for a couple hours before I started my dough. Even so, it took longer to rise this weekend, but rise it did and it is baking as I type. I was curious yesterday to know if it is okay to make bread with less yeast and discovered an artisan bread blog. From there I learned that slow-rise bread is a thing. So I found some patience and waited it out. I meant to bake last night, but I knew the loaf wasn't fully risen, so I stuck it in the fridge. I got it out this morning and it did its job while I was out and about. The loaf is supposed to have enhanced flavor, so we'll see.

Has anyone else experimented with the amount of yeast used in bread?

[Frustratedlady]

1. I haven't baked bread for years, but decided to start doing so this winter.

Our local bakery has almost quit baking white bread (I'm not supposed to eat wheat due to a colon problem) and I've had my fill of trying to catch a loaf whenever they get around to baking it. I would love to have a truly good recipe...particularly, for a brioche type of bread that would make great toast and/or French toast. HyVee in a nearby town makes an English Muffin Bread, which is wonderful for grilled cheese sandwiches, as well as the toasts.

Your bread may have risen more slowly because you didn't use enough yeast. Maybe a little extra sugar would have helped? Now that we are starting to cool off for Fall, I put my dough in the oven to keep it from drafts, which seems to help since the a/c is still on. Just a thought.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

3. King Arthur Flour's website has some great bread recipes.

I’ve tried quite a few with good success.

[Frustratedlady]

7. I get a "this site is not safe" notice.

I can't get into that site. Do you have a good link?

[Dr Hobbitstein]

12. .

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/

I assure you it’s a safe site.

[Frustratedlady]

20. Thanks. I'll give it a try. n/t

[Ilsa]

16. It's safe. It's wonderful.

And they'll help via email.

I use their flours because of consistent protein content, etc. Great recipes.

[Frustratedlady]

18. Thanks. I'll try again.

[Marthe48]

13. I got email from King Arthur

for awhile, but they stopped.

I have a lot of heirloom cook books, pamphlets and clippings. Lots of fabulous recipes. I am sorry I have such a small family, won't possibly bake every recipe I'd like to!

[Marthe48]

5. I think brioche has egg in it

I haven't tried making brioche, but I have a cookbook with a recipe for it.

My specialty is dinner rolls. I use a recipe from a 1940s era cookbook that belonged to my Mom. That recipe calls for milk, butter and sugar, the more you use, the finer the texture. A few years ago, my kids were interested in the crustier round loaves, so I tried making loaves with olive oil, water, a little sugar and salt. That bread, which is what I'm making lately, is great for toast, toasted sandwiches and such.

Previous times over the years, I would use more yeast, to get that rich flavor. I have plenty of free time, so I went with the idea that if I used less yeast, it might take longer for the yeast to raise the dough, but as it worked, it would happen. Like almost everything else I try, someone is ahead of me It is good, but you need plenty of time.

[Frustratedlady]

11. I'd LOVE the recipe. I buy/freeze loaves when I find them, but it would be more fun

to make them. I like the round loaves, but they don't fit in my toaster, so I have to cut them in half or toast them in the oven.

There is nothing like the aroma of homemade bread baking in the oven. It always brings a smile to my face. So does a freshly mowed lawn.

[Marthe48]

14. I just reshelved my cookbooks

I will get the book and type up the recipe.

I love the smell of bread and mown grass. And blueberry muffins!

[Marthe48]

24. Brioche recipe for savory fillings

1 TBS extra fine sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 TBS milk
1 package yeast
1 recipe egg wash (below)

TO MAKE THE PASTE: beat the butter in a small bowl with a wooden spoon until creamy. Set aside. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. Set aside.
Combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour mixture, then pour the eggs in the well. Stir the eggs in a circular motion
with a wooden spoon, and work in the flour gradually , adding milk as needed to make a smooth paste.
Beat vigorously for 2 minutes or until glistening and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Add the butter and work it into the paste until it is absorbed.
TO MAKE THE STARTER: Combine the yeast and the remaining flour in a small bowl. Mix in 2-2 1/2 TBS warm water to form a soft ball.
Cut a cross in the top of the ball of starter with scissors. Drop into a 2 qt. bowl of warm water. The ball will drop to the bottom. Let it stand for 7-8 minutes. The ball will rise to the surface and double in bulk. Lift the starter carefully from the water and drain off excess water. Place in the bowl of paste. Work in the starter, beating vigorously until the consistency of whipped cream. The resulting dough may be lumpy. Turn into a well-buttered mixing bowl. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
FORMING THE BRIOCHE: Knead the dough with floured hands, shaping into a ball. Remove 3/4 of the dough and shape into a ball. Place the ball into a well-buttered, fluted brioche mold. Snip a cross in the center with scissors and push the dough to the sides to make a well. Roll the remaining dough into the shape of a pear, and push the pointed end well into the center of the large ball. Cover and let rise in a warm place at least 1 hr. 20 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
BAKING: Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 d for 40 minutes, or until the brioche tests done. Brush with the egg wash 5 minutes before removing it from the oven. You can cover the brioche with a foil tent if it is browning too quickly. When baking is complete, remove from the oven and turn out on a wire rack. If you are filling, cut off the head, and hollow out the loaf, leaving a shell about 3/4 to 1" thick.

EGG WASH:
1 egg white
1 tsp. salt
Combine the egg white and the salt and beat until foamy. Apply with a pastry brush.

I hope this is the recipe you hope for. There is also a recipe for Brioche for Sweet Fillings. I can see why I skipped trying to bake this recipe I got this recipe from The Creative Cooking Course Edited by Charlotte Turgeon copyright 1982. I haven't tried this recipe, but I tried other recipes in the book and the food turned out great. If you make the brioche, please let us know how it turns out

[Frustratedlady]

34. Thanks a ton for the recipe.

I have it printed out to try later. I recently broke my foot and am in a boot for 3 more weeks. However, I hope to give it a try once I can safely stand for a long period of time. At my age, that won't be easily calculated, but I hope it will be soon.

That egg wash also looks interesting. Never added salt to it before. Never too old to learn new tricks.

[Marthe48]

38. Hope you heal quickly

In time for the joys of autumn baking

I noticed there is no salt in the dough, so the salty egg wash will add some zip.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

2. I use as little yeast as possible and do long, slow rises.

I usually make a starter with a little flour, water, and a small amount of yeast (1/4-1/2 tsp). I cover and let it rise for a couple hours. Then I add that to the full recipe, with no other added yeast. I let that rise a couple hours as well. If you do it right, it’ll have an alcohol smell to it. It’ll bake up to perfection, and will not mold as quickly, either.

[Frustratedlady]

6. Does this version taste like the starter bread (friendship bread) does?

I don't care for the old-fashioned starter bread, for whatever reason. Does your version reduce problems with the colon? I have been told that yeast is the culprit for excessive gas. That isn't my problem, but I know some people can't tolerate bread because of the yeast. Not the same as a gluten intolerance. Just curious.

Our local bakery's white bread has a different texture in that it is full of holes and becomes crumbly when toasted. When I have toast, I want toast not warm bread. You can hardly butter/top off the toast because it becomes a pile of crumbs and is very brittle. I'm thinking they aren't kneading it the second time before baking.

I just love the process of kneading/baking bread/wonderful aroma/taste.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

9. I don't knead with my method.

I get perfect loaves every time.

The flavor is slightly tangy, like sourdough, but not as pronounced. The crust is nice, and the crumb has a nice chewy texture. It is not a crumbly bread. Makes great sandwiches and toast.

[Frustratedlady]

17. Sounds great. I should have said sourdough, but couldn't remember the name of it.

I'd love to try it sometime and learn the method.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

19. Friendship bread and sourdough are different.

Similar in method, but vastly different taste.

I used to keep a sourdough starter. Used it for 2ish years before I took a hiatus from baking. It smelled like a boys locker room, but damn it made some tasty bread.

[Frustratedlady]

21. I didn't know that. I thought they were the same. Hmmm!

I'm getting excited about getting my hands into the dough bowl and taking out my Trump frustrations on the poor lump. Maybe I'll come up with a new Trump Lump Bread and something positive will come out of his presence on this earth. Sure hasn't worked thus far.

[Marthe48]

25. It tastes like plain white bread

Has a texture a little coarser than my rolls, because I let it rise once, then shape and put it in the pan, let it rise, and bake. It is not crummy the first few days, but as it ages, it does start to dry and crumble. I keep the uncut loaf in a plastic bag in the fridge, and I use the loaf up in a week.

When I bake rolls, I increase the butter and sugar and let it rise 2 times before I shape the rolls, then once more after they are formed on on the baking trays.

I bet you are right that the baker does one rising. A lot of people like the chewier artisan bread that results from less sugar and oil and less rising.

I've made the friendship bread and I like it ok, but it is sweet. I'd rather have actual sourdough. I have made starters in the past, but I wasn't good to them and after awhile, they died.

[Marthe48]

8. That's good to know

About the mold. I have been baking the way you describe lately. I was surprised the technique has a name. And followers I think it is good to refresh what I think I know. No one else I know bakes homemade by hand, so whoever eats what I bake thinks I am a master. But I learned something new this weekend, and I'll add it to my kitchen lore.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

15. Another good thing to do is use a baking stone.

I use a pizza peel to transfer the dough to the stone (I always preheat the stone for a good 30 mins as well).

Gives you a nice bottom crust.

[Marthe48]

26. You sound serious about baking!

I have a vintage pizza tray, but no peel or stone.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

32. It started off as being super serious about making fresh pizza.

Then it grew into an obsession that has mostly been stifled the last couple of years (my new obsession is cooking real Chinese/Thai food in a wok), although I’ll still make a loaf here and there...

I paid maybe $12 for the stone and $15 for a wooden peel.

[Marthe48]

39. When my kids were small

we made homemade pizza often. We had a Korean sister-in-law and she showed me how to make pergogi and kimchi. I had a wok for awhile, but I wore it out. When we mentored Chinese students, I learned how to make some Chinese meals.

I've been into Indian food lately, but I use pre-mixed curry and prepared tikka masala sauce. Love curry.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

42. I love tikka masala.

I make it from scratch a lot. My wife has lactose allergies, so I use a walnut-based yogurt for the marinade and coconut milk in place of cream for the sauce.

[Marthe48]

43. I made eggplant tikka misala

My kids treated me to an Indian buffet for my birthday and there was a baby eggplant curry (hyderabadi bagara baingan) that was super good.
I couldn't get baby eggplants, but I had a med. sized one, and a jar of tikka misala. My combination turned out pretty good, of course not a bit like the dish we had.
When I usually make tikka misala, I use Quorn chunks that taste like chicken. We don't have any allergies, but the kids are vegetarians and I seem to be going meatless more and more often myself.

[OnDoutside]

4. I make my own brown bread, using a teaspoon of baking soda and a teaspoon of wholemeal.

When I get to the set baking time, I take it out of the baking tin, wrap it in a tea towel, upside down on a wire rack. Turning it upside down is key.

[Marthe48]

10. The dinner rolls I make

after baking, I briush with butter and cover with a slightly damp paper towels (I used to use my dish cloths, but I have cats, and hate finding hair in the bakery) Between the butter and the wrap, the crust becomes tender and easy to eat. What does turning it upside down do?

[OnDoutside]

22. Because there isn't a lot of yeast and the mixture is quite dense

turning it upside down makes sure the mixture falls into place. When I first started baking it, I kept getting a cavity under the top of it. I was about to give up, when I remembered my mother used to turn soda bread upside down. It worked perfectly !

[Marthe48]

27. That's good to know

I make quick breads, but so far, my attempts at soda bread and salt-rising dough failed. I did ok with sourdough.

[OnDoutside]

30. Soda bread is really easy to make

I use a 2 pound baking tin.

One pound of plain flour
One teaspoon of salt
One teaspoon of baking soda

One pint of buttermilk ( trial and error... you might find three quarters of a pint or more, might work out where you live)

Optional : one egg

In Ireland, soda bread with an egg is called Soda Cake.

I use silicone inserts for the tin, or butter/oil

Preheat oven to 230 C ... Not sure what the US equivalent is.

Bake at 230 for 15 minutes, the turn temperature down to 180 for 30 minutes. Then take out oven and wrap in a tea towel until cool.

[Frustratedlady]

36. I will also give this a try. Thank you!

[OnDoutside]

45. Let me know how you get on. It will take a little bit of trial and

error. Once you get it the way you want, you can chocolate etc....but add with the dry ingredients.

[Voltaire2]

23. I use very little yeast and 12 hours

or more for rise. I actually cut back from 18 hours because I noticed the dough was inactive by that time.

By “very little” I mean 1/2 teaspoon for 20oz of flour and 16oz of liquid.

[Marthe48]

28. It took about 4-6 hrs

to rise the first 2 wks I tried. I think it was alittle cooler this weekend, or maybe I used even less yeast (not measuring, just eyeballing)
It is fun and rewarding

[oregonjen]

29. Have you made this recipe?

https://www.bobsredmill.com/blog/recipes/no-knead-artisan-bread/

Bob’s Red Mill no knead artisan bread, slow rise, about 10 hours, we’ve let it go about 12-14 hrs. before. Bake it in a dutch oven and yum, it’s so good. Doesn’t last more than a day in our house, we eat it all up!

[fierywoman]

31. There was a recipe for slow rise white bread that takes about two days

and makes two very large loaves of the most delicious bread! The recipe must be from the 70s or 80s and if my cookbooks weren't in a hostage crisis in as-yet unopened moving boxes, I'd tell you the name and author! I think the cookbook title had "Mediterranean" in the title.

[trof]

33. Try fun ice cream bread. Grandkids love to help make it.

Ingredients
2 cups of softened ice cream, any flavor
1 1/2 cups of self rising flour

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8.5"x4.5" pan. (anything from 8x4-9x5 will work).

In a mixing bowl, mix together the softened ice cream and the self rising flour, until combined. Do not over mix, just until combined.
Using a spatula, pour into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top with the spatula.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out relatively clean with just a few crumbs.
Remove from oven and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.
Remove from the pan and allow to cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack.
Enjoy warm or at room temp. Only keeps for 2-3 days.

[Frustratedlady]

35. Sounds interesting. Thanks!

[Marthe48]

40. I passed this recipe along for the grand kids to try

Thanks!

[Major Nikon]

37. Temperature, time, and the amount of yeast used all have a role to play

You can actually ferment dough in the refrigerator and some recipes call for that.

Slow rising as some distinct advantages. The dough will actually knead itself through the action of yeast slowly multiplying. You also develop more flavor because you are giving some time for the natural yeast and bacteria in the flour to develop.

[Marthe48]

41. I've let dough rise in the fridge

and I had sourdough starter a few times. We'd go through a sourdough stage and I'd take care of my starter, feeding and replenishing it. Then we'd be off it, and I'd lose my starter, or would want to use it anymore.

Yeast is a treasure for sure.

[spinbaby]

44. It's all a variant the New York Times recipe

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

I’ve been making it on and off for years.