New To Site and Breadmaking

[whodunit]

Been lurking alittle on this subject and look forward to learning more. I have lots of questions.

Lots of great advice here!

[Shamrock1121]

Welcome and fire-away with those questions. ;)

-Karen

[whodunit]

Actually, not completely new. I was registered a few years back, but haven't participated much lately.

First question...I have soaked flour bread machine recipe that I'm very satisfied with.

I want to try to use it for hamburger/hotdog buns.

DW says that I should remove the dough from the machine after the second rise, punch it down, form my buns, then let it rise again. If this is correct, when I form the buns do I anticipate them doubling in size to get the right final result?

Another question...I also want to try making the same recipe into a tortilla-like bread that I can wrap things in.

My recipe starts with flour, yogurt and water, then I add all the other ingredients when I place the dough into the machine 18-24 hours later.

What I'm thinking of trying is to leave out the yeast, honey, molasses and just add salt and butter, then letting it knead before forming tortillas and either baking them or grilling them.

Do you think these ideas would work?

[Shamrock1121]

Actually, not completely new. *I was registered a few years back, but haven't participated much lately.

First question...I have soaked flour bread machine recipe that I'm very satisfied with.

I want to try to use it for hamburger/hotdog buns.

DW says that I should remove the dough from the machine after the second rise, punch it down, form my buns, then let it rise again. *If this is correct, when I form the buns do I anticipate them doubling in size to get the right final result?

Another question...I also want to try making the same recipe into a tortilla-like bread that I can wrap things in.

My recipe starts with flour, yogurt and water, then I add all the other ingredients when I place the dough into the machine 18-24 hours later.

What I'm thinking of trying is to leave out the yeast, honey, molasses and just add salt and butter, then letting it knead before forming tortillas and either baking them or grilling them.

Do you think these ideas would work?



1. Your soaked flour recipe will work just fine for hamburger and hot dog buns. My suggestion...

- Remove the dough from the bread machine after it has completed the kneading. NO RISING IN THE BREAD MACHINE! Place it in a dough rising bucket for the first rise - to just under double. Punch down. With oiled hands, form the dough.

You'll find my how-to form the dough in this old thread:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/yabb/forum.pl?board=foo-bread;action=display;num=1226970509

You NEVER allow the dough to rise to the size you want the finished product. The rule of thumb is:

-The dough ball is approx. 1/3 the size of the finished item (loaf, burger bun, hot dog bun, dinner roll, etc.).

- Allow the dough to double - which equals approx. 2/3 of the finished size.

-The last third of the rise occurs in the oven - which is called oven-spring. That's the amount the dough continues to rise when it hits the heat of the oven before the yeast die.
------------------------

For tortillas, here's the recipe from Sue Gregg's (www.suegregg.com) book - Whole Grain Baking - using a soaked-flour method. I wouldn't make this dough in the bread machine - it might burn the motor out because it's so stiff.

For a Q&E mixing method, I'd use the zip-lock bag method in this recipe: http://kansaswheat.org/general.asp?id=332

TORTILLAS or CHAPATIS
Yield: 1 doz. 5"-6" tortillas

STAGE 1
1. Place butter in bottom of liquid measuring cup, add whey or culture milk and water to the 3/4-cup mark:

1 T. melted butter (option: coconut oil)
2 T. whey or cultured milk (option: I'd use whey from homemade *kefir or drained yogurt)
filtered water up to 3/4 c. mark

2. Place flour in medium mixing bowl:

2 c. Kamut grain flour or spelt flour or hard red or hard white wheat flour

3. Stir liquid ingredients into flour with a table fork until all the liquid is mixed in. Gathere dough together in your hands, squeezing it together to make an evenly moist ball of stiff dough.

4. Wrap ball of dough in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 12-24 hours.

STAGE 2
5. Work in 1/2 t. salt, sprinkling it evenly, more or less, over flattened dough; work it in while kneading dough on smooth surface for 2 minutes. If dough sticks, use as little flour as possible on surface and hands. [Karen Note: If you work the dough on a Silpat and knead it with oiled hands, you won't need any bench flour.]

6. Cover with a damp towel and let dough rest 30 minutes. This will make the dough easier to roll out without sticking.

7. Divide into 12 pieces of about equal size (larger pieces for larger tortillas). As you shape each piece, keep the remaining pieces covered with a damp cloth.

8. SHAPING
a. Place flour in a bowl to assist in the shaping.
b. Shape dough piece into a smooth ball, pinching together on the bottom (helps keep round shape of tortilla).
c. Flatten ball in palms of hands. Use flour as needed to prevent sticking. Dust it with flour in the bowl.
d. Roll out from center outward with a light touch with rolling pin. Flip over frequently to continue rolling thin. Dip in flour again as you go, just to prevent sticking, or sprinkle flour under and over it as you roll it out.
e. Continue rolling until quite thin.

9. BAKING
a. Preheat griddle until water drops sizzle on the pan, as for pancakes. Grease lightly with a little coconut oil or non-stick spray, if needed; probably will not be needed, especially when using a well seasoned pan.
b. Place tortilla on hot griddle and then immediately flip it over.
c. With a crumpled up piece of cheeas cloth, press lightly into surface in several places, but not to the edgtes. This assists in forming pockets. Don't dispair if you don't get any!
d. Bake about a minute until a few golden brown spots begin to form
e. Flip over to bake on second side.
f. Stack on a plate or in a cloth-lined basket or tortilla warmer.

Variations:
- Replace 1-1-1/2 cups flour with other, less glutenous flours such as brown rice, barley, triticale, corn, or rye. The ease of shaping will change depending on the type of flour.

- Add an egg, keeping the total liquid to 3/4 c.

- Add ground sesame or sunflower seeds in place of 1/2 c. of the flour. A coffee bean mill is ideal for grinding seeds.
----------------------------

*KEFIR - If you haven't experienced the wonders of making kefir at home and using it instead of yogurt, you're missing out... Easier to make than yogurt, and MUCH better for you.

Dom's Kefir In-Site:
http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

[whodunit]

Thanks!

I also have a question about sour dough starter.

I began one about 8-9 days ago and it has finally gotten a nice pleasant smell.

Prior to this, it was kind of a bad smell, but didn't have any signs that anything bad was growing, just the "hooch" on top.

As far as bubbles, I see some at the very top, but don't really see much throughout.

Think it's done? Should I refrigerate it and start feeding just once a week or whatever?

When I try to make a sponge for bread, what should the sponge look like and how long should it take?

This is a wild yeast with mostly store bought whole wheat, but with some store bought unbleached, and from now on fresh ground whole wheat.



Thanks in advance!

[Shamrock1121]

Thanks!

I also have a question about sour dough starter.

I began one about 8-9 days ago and it has finally gotten a nice pleasant smell. *

Prior to this, it was kind of a bad smell, but didn't have any signs that anything bad was growing, just the "hooch" on top.

As far as bubbles, I see some at the very top, but don't really see much throughout.

Think it's done? *Should I refrigerate it and start feeding just once a week or whatever?

When I try to make a sponge for bread, what should the sponge look like and how long should it take?

This is a wild yeast with mostly store bought whole wheat, but with some store bought unbleached, and from now on fresh ground whole wheat.



Thanks in advance!

whodunit -

Did you figure out what to do with your starter? We've been occupied with a death in the family and I haven't been on-line much.

Sourdough isn't just one thing, type, combination of ingredients, or method. The one I like is called Everlasting Yeast, and it's a method that was started about 100 years ago. So in the big scheme of things, it's a newcomer to starter. I only need to use the starter once every 2-3 weeks to keep it active.

If you do a Google search on - care and feeding of sourdough starter - you'll start to gather information for use and how to keep it going. You'll also note there are all kinds of contradictions. Lots of ALWAYS and NEVERS and you'll find exceptions to all those rules.

-Karen