Dr Dave's Dangerous Dough

All about bread

Dr Dave's Dangerous Dough

Postby saucisson » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:56 pm

I have been quietly deconstructing the contents of commercial bread mixes and flour improvers in order to make my own. I know exactly what is in them now, but one or two ingredients are not readily available to the layman so I have spent some time experimenting with available ingredients to reconstruct a homemade improver.

It cannot be done, not by me anyway :lol:

Sometimes you have to know when you are beat. I throw in the towel and am going to order a big batch of improver from our resident flour improver seller :)

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Postby countrybumpkin » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:21 pm

The thing is . . . . why do you want to produce a home made loaf of bread which is just like a commercial one?

Just wondering :roll:
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Postby saucisson » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:33 pm

I wanted to produce a loaf better than a commercial loaf, that my family like, such that my girls look up adoringly at me and tell me it's the best bread they've ever tasted and that I'm the best baker ever.

Not much to aspire to, but it keeps me happy :D

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Postby countrybumpkin » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:26 am

Hmmm - in my opinion (for what that's worth :D ) every home made loaf of bread is 1,000 times better than a commercially produced one*. But I do know what you are saying - You want to make a loaf that stays soft (so they don't complain about the crusts and leave them on the side), doesn't have holes in embarrasing places so when you try to make a sandwich, the butter pulls it apart. . . . :? stays soft enough to eat as a sandwhich 3 days later. . . .
I don't know - I've persevered as I prefer home made bread in whatever guise it crops up (see below) and now my son (25) has finally got to the place where he thinks it's best too (apart from the exceptions - see below) and he's now quite a good breadmaker.
I think generally children - well all humans really, prefer the easy option which is why processed foods are all soft - no chewing necessary.

*There are exceptions to this rule -
A) When your dried yeast is old
B) When you've not put enough water in the dough
C) When you've put too much water in the dough
D) When you've forgotten it's proving and it over proofs but you haven't time to knock it back and start again :oops:
But all these are human errors and can be rectified

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Postby wheels » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:21 pm

Dave

When we discussed improvers on the 'Bread Making' thread Oddley posted details of the improver he uses and a link to one of the chemicals, I think.

What type of bread is it your after exactly - something like Country Bumpkin describes?

I make a couple of breads which have 'commercial characteristics' similar to those Country Bumpkin describes and have found that imitating commercial 'Chorleywood process' bread at home is about hydration, fat content, and cooking temp. I don't use an improver but, the 'instant' type yeast that I use has an emulsifier and ascorbic acid in it. I have made the bread with all types of yeast though with similar results.

One of my neigbours thought she was complimenting me when she said that my rolls were just like the supermarket's! :lol:

Phil
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Postby johnfb » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:01 pm

I gave my sister in law a bread roll with some filling in it.
It was the Wheels recipe for white rolls, and she said ; "They even look like shop bread rolls"...what did she think they would look like????

As she ate it she said "and they even taste like shop ones".... :roll:

People are strange.
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Postby wheels » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:11 pm

I'm sure they mean it as a compliment :evil: :evil: :evil:
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Postby johnfb » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:54 pm

It was meant as a compliment for sure but it just makes me laugh when people are surprised when they taste my (our) wares and comment that they taste good....what do they expect?????
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Postby saucisson » Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:05 pm

I've tried both the improvers that Jenny and Oddley suggested and got good results with both. The thing I was having problems with was getting a decent (or any!) oven spring. I seem to be getting this with the improvers. What I haven't done is try Phil's soft rolls recipe, I must do this.

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Postby johnfb » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:24 pm

saucisson wrote:I've tried both the improvers that Jenny and Oddley suggested and got good results with both. The thing I was having problems with was getting a decent (or any!) oven spring. I seem to be getting this with the improvers. What I haven't done is try Phil's soft rolls recipe, I must do this.

Dave


I don't care what anyone says Phil's white bread rolls are the dogs dangly bits and must be tried.
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Postby saucisson » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:25 pm

I'm doing it :lol:
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Postby johnfb » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:29 pm

saucisson wrote:I'm doing it :lol:



Yeah...don't have me go over there and sort you out.... :lol:
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Postby wheels » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:00 pm

:oops: :oops: :oops:
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Postby saucisson » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:00 pm

:lol:

Image
Image

Image
Image

Not an improver in sight...

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Postby saucisson » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:13 pm

Best bread ever, according to number one son who is quietly working his way through the whole batch...

My long winded research into improvers told me that if you can't get those chemical emulsifiers 8) a natural emulsifier is Lecithin. Further research lead me to find out that Soya beans have the highest natural content of Lecithin of anything, so I used soya oil in Wheels soft roll recipe tonight:)

I had to laugh when on Market Kitchen today they said that the latest wonder toy for chefs making stable foams was powdered Lecithin.

That was my idea :twisted:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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