Oat Bread

A_Sober_Paddy

Hey all,

Made some oat pat and seed bread and it tastes nice but it super dense and a bit stodgy.

Receipes I used is from odlums website.

I followed the guidelines, the outer crust is hard and crunchy, but quiet stodgy inside, any help or advice

phormium

I make it all the time, it is a dense/stodgy type bread at the best of times. However I have had a look at that recipe and the one I use has 2 teaspoons of bread soda to same ingredients, that is 2 of the measuring spoon type levelled off, the odlums one might have meant one heaped teaspoon as that is the way I usually see Catherine Leyden using them on TV 3.

While the extra spoon might not help lighten it much as it's a heavy bread so doesn't rise a lot anyway which is what makes it dense it may just make the difference between too heavy and bearable.

A_Sober_Paddy

phormium wrote: »

I make it all the time, it is a dense/stodgy type bread at the best of times. However I have had a look at that recipe and the one I use has 2 teaspoons of bread soda to same ingredients, that is 2 of the measuring spoon type levelled off, the odlums one might have meant one heaped teaspoon as that is the way I usually see Catherine Leyden using them on TV 3.

While the extra spoon might not help lighten it much as it's a heavy bread so doesn't rise a lot anyway which is what makes it dense it may just make the difference between too heavy and bearable.

Thanks, I have seen some oat breads less stodgy but mine tastes fine, just thought it might be a tad too stodgy

rubadub

Is this it?
http://www.odlums.ie/recipes/savoutoatmeal-bread/

someone posted the other day about stodgy oat bread too. I have never cooked it but know the theory behind non yeast soda bread. You usually use buttermilk as it is acidic and reacts with the bicarb to create gas and make it airy.

That recipe, and the persons the other day, both have no buttermilk and use yogurt. Which I guess may be a bit acidic but depending on brands it might not be enough. Wiki shows they should be similar at around pH 4.4

If people have no buttermilk they add lemon juice or neutral vinegar to milk to give it the acid required to work.

phormium

The yogurt is the acidic liquid needed to react with the breadsoda in these recipes, it replaces buttermilk fine, the problem is the oats, they are heavy, much heavier than finer milled brown flour. Nothing will make bread made from just oats airy, it's just too heavy for the raising agent to lift, you would have to add so much bread soda that it would be noticeable in the taste. You can substitute buttermilk for the yogurt but it won't make it any lighter.

I actually find if using the oats is not a dietary requirement then the same recipe made with half oats and half brown flour gives a very good bread, much lighter but still with high oat content.

rubadub

That makes sense, I didn't cop that it was whole oats, the first link I found was this, which showed it ground up.

http://www.tv3.ie/ireland_am_article.php?locID=1.901.924&article=144443

I make my own oat flour just sticking it in a blender. I since got a high power ninja blender and it makes much finer flours from oats & rice. Also good for making powdered salt or sugar.

Alun

rubadub wrote: »

That recipe, and the persons the other day, both have no buttermilk and use yogurt. Which I guess may be a bit acidic but depending on brands it might not be enough. Wiki shows they should be similar at around pH 4.4

Normal full fat yoghurt should be, certainly, but I think Greek style yoghurt will be considerably less, as most of the acidic whey has been taken out, so of that was used it would explain the lack of rise.

huskerdu

Thanks for the advice. My oat bread was stodgy and I was a bit disappointed by it .

I added a good squeeze of lemon juice and a handful of wholewheat flour yesterday and it is much improved.
Still quite dense but much lighter than before. Must more satisfying.

phormium

I made a double batch few days ago and used quarter of brown flour to oats and all buttermilk as that was all I had and it was still quite dense, rose a bit but nothing major. I find the best result is half and half to get a lighter bread but then of course it's strictly oat bread.

leahyl

This is a coincidence cos I made an oat bread from David Gillicks book last night which had greek yogurt and a mashed banana in it but when I mixed it with the oats and oat flour it was almost like a dough, but the recipe read like it should be a batter. Nevertheless it is very tasty even though a bit stodgy, I wonder is it because the Greek yogurt is thicker than natural yogurt....might try natural next time

huskerdu

leahyl wrote: »

This is a coincidence cos I made an oat bread from David Gillicks book last night which had greek yogurt and a mashed banana in it but when I mixed it with the oats and oat flour it was almost like a dough, but the recipe read like it should be a batter. Nevertheless it is very tasty even though a bit stodgy, I wonder is it because the Greek yogurt is thicker than natural yogurt....might try natural next time

I have been using low fat greek style yogurt. I use it because it is runnier and I thought the standard greek style yogurt was too thick. Both made really stodgy bread.

A good squeeze of lemon juice made the difference.

Sorry, I like David Gillick, but I'm not sure about adding a mashed banana at all. Thats going to make is even stodgier.

leahyl

huskerdu wrote: »

I have been using low fat greek style yogurt. I use it because it is runnier and I thought the standard greek style yogurt was too thick. Both made really stodgy bread.

A good squeeze of lemon juice made the difference.

Sorry, I like David Gillick, but I'm not sure about adding a mashed banana at all. Thats going to make is even stodgier.

Thanks for the advice! Yes, I may leave out the mashed banana in future, although it gave it a nice very subtle sweet flavour, maybe it wouldnt be too bad with a runnier yogurt....his book has some very easy, healthy and tasty looking recipes though :-)

sassyj

Here's a better recipe.

1 large tub of natural yoghurt ( low or full fat)
2 yoghurt tubs worth of oats
2 tsp bread soda
2 tblsp olive oil
Seeds, optional

Put yoghurt, oil and bread soda in a large mixing bowl and mix. Clean out yoghurt tub, fill it twice with porridge oats adding to bowl (2 tubs of oats). Mix well, add handfull of seeds if wanted.

Put into a lined 2lb loaf tin.

Oven at 200 deg for 15 minutes
Turn down to 180 deg for 30 minutes.
Tip loaf out of tin, turn it upside down and place on oven rack, cook for a further 15 minutes. Check by sticking knife in, it should come out clean.

huskerdu

sassyj wrote: »

Here's a better recipe.

1 large tub of natural yoghurt ( low or full fat)
2 yoghurt tubs worth of oats
2 tsp bread soda
2 tblsp olive oil
Seeds, optional

Put yoghurt, oil and bread soda in a large mixing bowl and mix. Clean out yoghurt tub, fill it twice with porridge oats adding to bowl (2 tubs of oats). Mix well, add handfull of seeds if wanted.

Put into a lined 2lb loaf tin.

Oven at 200 deg for 15 minutes
Turn down to 180 deg for 30 minutes.
Tip loaf out of tin, turn it upside down and place on oven rack, cook for a further 15 minutes. Check by sticking knife in, it should come out clean.

That is almost the exact recipe that I use. I also add an egg and now I'm adding a good squeeze of lemon juice.