baking bread with yeast

rje66

have made lots of different recipes lately but found some seem a bit stodgy, is this from not enough of a second prove or a bit under cooked.
how important is the temp for proving. i usually put it in the hot press till it looks like its doubled in size.
also how important is it to add warm water as opposed to cold water.

any other tips most welcome:D:D
ta

Animord

rje66 wrote: »

have made lots of different recipes lately but found some seem a bit stodgy, is this from not enough of a second prove or a bit under cooked.
how important is the temp for proving. i usually put it in the hot press till it looks like its doubled in size.
also how important is it to add warm water as opposed to cold water.

any other tips most welcome:D:D
ta

The water you add your yeast to does need to be blood temperature, I am sure that it will activate eventually in cold water, but it will work much faster in warmer water. Yeast bread is really about doing it over and over and finding out what works for you best. Some people are great at kneading and some are, shall we say, less enthusiastic? lol And everyone's ovens are different. I have never managed a good brown yeast loaf but I have great success with white bread. You could build a wall with some of the browns I have made over the years!

The temperature in your hot-press should be fine for proving.

Tree

Once the water isn't so hot that it will kill the yeast, it doesnt matter what temperature it is. Cooler water and prooving locations just make for a slower rise, I find this fits in around my day better. Water about 30-37°C is closer to what the yeast likes so it will work faster, so it depends on what you want.
Today's pizza for example, started yesterday mid afternoon with 1/4 the yeast I'd normally use. Using cold water and left on the kitchen counter. Very tasty pizza dough. Fit around work better.
Cinnamon rolls, made with warm liquid and twice the amount of yeast as you'd normally use, ready to roll in 45 mins.

rje66

thanks for replies. will give them a try.

hopefully no more soggy concrete blocks:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Dizzyblonde

There are some great bread recipes here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056972721

genuine leather

Hi rje66.
What oven temps and cooking times do you normally use?

rje66

genuine leather wrote: »

Hi rje66.
What oven temps and cooking times do you normally use?

About 230 c and for30-35mins

genuine leather

Thats good bread cooking temps and time.
There are many subtle variations with bread making that make a difference to the end bread. Just personally i have found the hotpress to be too warm for proving bread,winter more so than summer,in that the dough comes up quite fast(heading to nearly over prove)i miss the right time to take it out, and the structure of the gluten tends to be looser,that when shaped,proved and baked it wont rise as high(oven spring), but still perfectly edible.

In the many recipes you cook,what different types of ingredients and quantity/type of liquid that you use?
Which type of bread do you feel did not work out for you?
Just trying to weave my way thru your style of bread baking.

As tree mentioned 30-37 deg water is grand, but say a bread made over a day or so(much more flavour), like with trees pizza dough, small amount of yeast and room temp water is perfect, and fits around work, spot on. Bread does wait for you.

Good words from animord, what suits you best, kneading style:D(different hands make different bread so holds true), types of oven.

rje66

genuine leather wrote: »

Thats good bread cooking temps and time.
There are many subtle variations with bread making that make a difference to the end bread. Just personally i have found the hotpress to be too warm for proving bread,winter more so than summer,in that the dough comes up quite fast(heading to nearly over prove)i miss the right time to take it out, and the structure of the gluten tends to be looser,that when shaped,proved and baked it wont rise as high(oven spring), but still perfectly edible.

In the many recipes you cook,what different types of ingredients and quantity/type of liquid that you use?
Which type of bread do you feel did not work out for you?
Just trying to weave my way thru your style of bread baking.

As tree mentioned 30-37 deg water is grand, but say a bread made over a day or so(much more flavour), like with trees pizza dough, small amount of yeast and room temp water is perfect, and fits around work, spot on. Bread does wait for you.

Good words from animord, what suits you best, kneading style:D(different hands make different bread so holds true), types of oven.

I may have add cold water the last few bakes so that could be my prob.

Method is generally make up a dough as per recipe, strong white and sometimes with a bit of hovis grannary added in , I try to get in flavours from start. These could be sundried tomatoes finely cut or rosemary and garlic or thyme. Knead well for 6-10 mins getting it stretchy,( Will adding oil at beginning help with elasticity or is that just good old kneading that gets it stretchy?). Into greased bowl, cover, into hotpress let rise, knock back, prove again and bake.
Not all bakes end up doughy, just the odd one.

genuine leather

They are some lovely added ingred that you use. I get the odd curveball also when playing around with different methods
The cold water would slow the process down where you would just need to make the bread over the course of an extra few hours, or maybe try doing that prove overnight in the fridge and bake the next day after bringing back to room temp.

I have put the oil in both at the very start, and at the end of kneading( and forgot it altogether sometimes:) ) and have not noticed a dicernible difference in structure and elasticity of the bread.

A good kneading does play a big role in the finished bread.
Just it my case,i tend to knead for 5-7 mins, let rest, and stretch and fold for 5-7 mins. i find the stretch and fold incorporates plenty air into the dough.

I like to have the oven full temp for the first 10 mins of baking the bread to really get the bread expanding and adjust the temp down to suit how its cooking for the next 20 mins.