Rather Odd - Bread Woes

[Mad Cook]

Last week I made a batch of ordinary white bread dough. mixed, left torise overnight and then knocked it back. Cut the batch of dough as near as possible into two equal portions, shaped it and put the two pieces into identical 1lb loaf tins. Set it to prove in a gently warm place and when they had risen baked them side by side in a reliable oven.

One was very dense in texture and not at all pleasant in flavour. The other was perfect and tasted beautiful! Weird!

Been making bead since I was 14 or 15 years old and have never had such peculiarly different results

 

[taxlady]

Could it have been something in the loaf pan?

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Things that go bump in the night.

When you say Dense, do you mean like a French bread loaf?
When you say the loaf tastes weird, Unpleasant weird, or just Different weird? Do you have Sour Dough breads in the UK, would you compare the flavor to that kind of bread.

It doesn't seem possible to create a sour dough overnight, since one needs to develop the Starter/ fermentation process over a period of time. Do you put Milk in your bread recipe Maybe the milk turned sour overnight in the one loaf.

I am so not a bread maker, If I were to do this, probably both my loaves would turn out Dense. Still, it is curious that both loaves did not turn out the same.

 

[Selkie]

Something everyone should be aware of when attempting to make bread dough. The quality of the dough is dependent upon certain strains of yeast. Using the packaged it very reliable, but left exposed to the air for long periods can be left to being invaded by wild yeast. If you make a starter from scratch, it's a hit or miss proposition as to whether it will work. Wild yeast, the kind that comes into your house from outdoors, may or may not taste good when made into bread. Strains of yeast are different from coast to coast, and normally have about a thirty mile range before another strain of yeast dominates and takes over. Either it's good or bad, and there's no way of knowing without testing it in a loaf of bread.
My home is about 1/2 mile from another house I used to live in and tried making sourdough. It never worked over there, but this house is closer to vast fields and tall grasses, which may make the wild yeast over here a much better variety. In any case, it's different and makes good bread!
Also, I never leave my dough overnight to rise. It dries out too much and the texture (crumb) goes south.

 

[CharlieD]

Been making bead since I was 14 or 15 years old and have never had such peculiarly different results

So you mean to say you've been making bread for couple of years now?



Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[taxlady]

It's still a mystery how two halves of the same lump of dough made such different loaves of bread.

 

[puffin3]

The other day I made my weekly two loaves of basic white bread using TJC recipe.
It's never failed me in years.
I can make the bread with my eyes closed.
For the first time ever I added a T of fresh squeezed lemon juice as suggested on the back of the flour bag.
The bread ended up completely tasteless. Like totally! I gave one loaf away to a family member who couldn't care less if the bread had any flavor or not.
Anyone else used fresh lemon juice and had the same result?

 

[Mad Cook]

Could it have been something in the loaf pan?

I had washed and dried them both before using them as they had been in storage since I moved. I've been just making hand formed loaves and baking them on a sheet pan since I moved house but thought I'd make tin loaves this time.

The oven is Ok as I've tested it in different areas for temperature so it isn't that.

Complete mystery. Perhaps the god of bakers was putting me in my place and teaching me not to take things for granted!

 

[Mad Cook]

The other day I made my weekly two loaves of basic white bread using TJC recipe.
It's never failed me in years.
I can make the bread with my eyes closed.
For the first time ever I added a T of fresh squeezed lemon juice as suggested on the back of the flour bag.
The bread ended up completely tasteless. Like totally! I gave one loaf away to a family member who couldn't care less if the bread had any flavor or not.
Anyone else used fresh lemon juice and had the same result?

I can't recall coming across the lemon juice trick before so I don't know. I can't see how it would affect the flavour.

The bread has it in for us!

 

[Mad Cook]

So you mean to say you've been making bread for couple of years now?



Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

So very kind of you, Charlie. A true gentleman.


(Sadly, as of last February it's 50 plus 2 years!)

 

[taxlady]

I guess the god of bakers pulled an early April Fools joke on you.

 

[Mad Cook]

Things that go bump in the night.

When you say Dense, do you mean like a French bread loaf?
When you say the loaf tastes weird, Unpleasant weird, or just Different weird? Do you have Sour Dough breads in the UK, would you compare the flavor to that kind of bread.

It doesn't seem possible to create a sour dough overnight, since one needs to develop the Starter/ fermentation process over a period of time. Do you put Milk in your bread recipe Maybe the milk turned sour overnight in the one loaf.

I am so not a bread maker, If I were to do this, probably both my loaves would turn out Dense. Still, it is curious that both loaves did not turn out the same.

It was rather solid and very close textured - stodgy even - and no the flavour wasn't much like sourdough it just tasted boring if you know what I mean.

I didn't use milk it was just strong bread flour, a little salt, dried yeast (well within date and stored as I always do in an airtight container in the 'fridge), a pinch of sugar to encourage the yeast (as per instructions on the packet), warm water and a spoonful of olive oil. Exactly the same as usual.

The kitchen is very cold unless the cooker is lit - sometimes even in our winters food takes longer to defrost on the kitchen work top than it does in the 'fridge! However it was relatively mild but not downright warm that night so it wouldn't have gone "off" while left o/night to rise.

Very odd.

 

[Mad Cook]

I guess the god of bakers pulled an early April Fools joke on you.

 

[Mad Cook]

Something everyone should be aware of when attempting to make bread dough. The quality of the dough is dependent upon certain strains of yeast. Using the packaged it very reliable, but left exposed to the air for long periods can be left to being invaded by wild yeast. If you make a starter from scratch, it's a hit or miss proposition as to whether it will work. Wild yeast, the kind that comes into your house from outdoors, may or may not taste good when made into bread. Strains of yeast are different from coast to coast, and normally have about a thirty mile range before another strain of yeast dominates and takes over. Either it's good or bad, and there's no way of knowing without testing it in a loaf of bread.
My home is about 1/2 mile from another house I used to live in and tried making sourdough. It never worked over there, but this house is closer to vast fields and tall grasses, which may make the wild yeast over here a much better variety. In any case, it's different and makes good bread!
Also, I never leave my dough overnight to rise. It dries out too much and the texture (crumb) goes south.

I haven't left it overnight until I came to this house. As I said, the kitchen here is like an ice box in winter if the stove or the central heating boiler (which is in the kitchen) isn't on as there is no radiator in there. I put the dough into a big Lock and Lock bowl with a lid or in a stoneware bowl with clingfilm over it, having first oiled my hands and smoothed a thin film or oil round the dough which stops it getting dried out. .

I must have a go at sourdough when I have time to give it the attention. I keep promising myself.

 

[puffin3]

The back of the flour bag says to use lemon juice b/c it's a "dough conditioner".
Believe me the bread did not have ANY 'bread-like' flavor when I used lemon juice.
I'm making bread exactly the same way I have for years today without the lemon juice and I'll post an update.