Baby Hercules Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 I used to bake my own bread in college. It was amazing but now I crave something grainy, nutty, and denser--like Ezekial, etc. All the recipes I've found online don't really fit that description. Does anyone have advice on how much "stuff" I can add to the dough and when? "Stuff" like rolled oats, flax, pumpkin, sunflower, etc. Can I incorporate it without losing the rise or do I have to sprinkle everything on top just before baking? Thanks! Baby Herc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobsteriffic Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 I LOVE bread baking! I haven't done it in awhile since I don't eat much bread anymore. I used to buy this multigrain flour mix that had things like seeds and what-not already in it. It worked really well. Things like flax, sunflower seeds and stuff you can just put right in the dough when you first mix it up. I don't think it would affect the rise too much, but if it isn't rising as quickly because it's heavier or something then just give it a bit longer. Pumpkin seeds and oats I would probably put on top of the loaf, but you could try kneading them in. When I made 'denser' breads I found adding some vital wheat gluten to be very helpful in achieving a nice rise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vege Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Oh, I'm a bread master! I love to do it, but in winter months. Nothing beats a slice of home-made bread and bean soup with pumpkin, mmm... I make everything from scratch, and when I feel like a crazy person with nothing better to do, I even grind my own flour I make my own starter as well, so the whole process lasts 2 days. I always make sourdough bread, I us eno bakaers yeast. But it's worth it! Mixing flours is also nice: wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat, oat, millet... Some chopped dry tomatoes or red peppers, olives, olive oil, thyme, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, etc - those are my favorite spices for bread. Check out my baked beauties:barley and wheat breadhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2192282&id=1417307133&ref=fbx_album wheat breadhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2044913&id=1417307133&ref=fbx_album wheat and rye breadhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2076238&id=1417307133&ref=fbx_album millet flatbreadhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2189899&id=1417307133&ref=fbx_album BIG loaf of breadhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2021143&id=1417307133&ref=fbx_album corn flatbread with seedshttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3100097&id=1417307133&ref=fbx_album AND IF YOU LIKE MUFFINS:http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2332219&id=1417307133&ref=fbx_album IF you want the recipe for one of those, I can fix it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northstar Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Wow those breads look good vege... even to someone who doesn't eat bread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beforewisdom Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 I used to bake my own bread in college. It was amazing but now I crave something grainy, nutty, and denser--like Ezekial, etc. All the recipes I've found online don't really fit that description. Does anyone have advice on how much "stuff" I can add to the dough and when? "Stuff" like rolled oats, flax, pumpkin, sunflower, etc. Can I incorporate it without losing the rise or do I have to sprinkle everything on top just before baking? I completely agree. Most whole grain breads are cut with white flour. When I was in college there was a place that made true whole grain bread and from a diversity of grains. It had "stuff". Anything else is not bread to me. If it is even slightly squishy, its not bread as far as I am concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Hercules Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 Woo-HOO! Thanks for all the great info and tips, guys. I'm looking forward to those cooler days (I'm with you on that, vege) when I can fire up the oven and have sourdough for the first time in decades. Ezekial doesn't make one. (sniff!) I'm already a master baker, just say the words "vegan cupcakes" to my non-vegan hiking friends and they will get big smiles on their faces. I agree, beforewisdom, squishy bread just doesn't cut the mustard, pun intended. You make a sandwich out of it and your fingers poke through it in two bites. Anything that can be balled up, Wonderbread-style, is an imposter. Plus, I can just feel the good nutrients in a hearty bread, it has more energy on many levels. Hey, have you ever made bread in an Italian loaf shape? Do you use a cookie sheet for that? Love that chewy crust! Vege, did you say you use no yeast? Doesn't that produce a delightfully dense bread? I wanna do that! Baby Herc, having bread dreams PS: vege, I wish I could see your photos but I resist the Facebook Gods. Are they posted anywhere else? Could you tantalize us with a few pics on this thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vege Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 family size whole grain sourdough wheat breadhttp://a.imageshack.us/img404/2706/n141730713320211434171.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us whole grain sourdough wheat "bagel"http://a.imageshack.us/img340/3892/n141730713320449144764.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us whole grain sourdough wheat and barley breadhttp://a.imageshack.us/img695/8237/46051153153955170141730.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us whole grain sourdough bread "flower"http://a.imageshack.us/img18/7692/n1417307133207623810194.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us macrobiotic whole grain muffins with plums, apples, rasins and apple juicehttp://a.imageshack.us/img689/9968/58931191479673289141730.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Hercules Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 Holy Wheat-Lovin' Heaven, Batman, it's an avalanche of chewy crusts! I changed my mind, vege, you aren't King Kong, you're...Faster than a speeding bowl of sourdough starter, able to leap tall whole wheat loaves in a single bound, it's BREADMAN! Baby Herc PS: I may have to stalk you for recipes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobsteriffic Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Vege what do you do for starter? I have tried a few times to make one with 'wild yeast' but it never seems to come alive! I read on The Fresh Loaf that pineapple juice is good for this but that didn't work for me either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vege Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Lobsteriffic,it is very simple. yeast is all around us in the air. You just have to mix whole grain wheat flour with some lukewarm water, to reach the consistency of a gravy. You put that in a water glass and cover loosely with small plate or something, air has to circulate. You let that sit on your kitchen counter, covered loosely with kitchen towel, for 1 day, or 2 days (depends how warm it is in your house). Yeast forms from itself and it SHOULD smell strange and become bubbly, nothing wrong with that, it's yeast growing.Then you take whole grain wheat flour, put this starter in it (cca glass of starter on 500-700 g of flour). Kneed with some water for 10 minutes, and form a ball of dough. Then cover it and put it somewhere where there is no draft. I put it in cold oven. After few hours, the dough will rise. You kneed it once agin very very gently. Then you put loaf in a pot that you have warmed up in the oven first. Before baking it in the oven, put a lid (without plastic parts!) to completely cover the pot, so the bread can rise and rise in all that humid atmosphere, before the crust forms. After 30 minutes or so, take of the lid and let the crust form. I KNOW it sounds complicated, and believe me, you have to fail like ten times, before you figure out the right proportions and procedure. To me, bread making is a spiritual thing, and it happened very often that it turned out bad when I was in a bad mood. So, you have to be in the mood and believe in your baking power SIMPLE WAY, without starter is:Make dough a out of whole grain wheat flour and lukewarm water. Put it in warm place without draft to sit one day, or two. It will rise from itself and become smelly. Kneed it gently once again and put it in warm pot and bake as described above. ALSO, if you decide to bake every other day, save a peace of dough, and use it as a starter for the next bread. That's how village people here do. GOOD LUCK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VelvetVoices Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 vege: interesting thanks for the post, I've make a few loafs in the pass didn't like the way it turned out; now my oven isn't working correctly so haven't tried since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vege Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Holy Wheat-Lovin' Heaven, Batman, it's an avalanche of chewy crusts! I changed my mind, vege, you aren't King Kong, you're...Faster than a speeding bowl of sourdough starter, able to leap tall whole wheat loaves in a single bound, it's BREADMAN! Baby Herc PS: I may have to stalk you for recipes. do not hesitate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobsteriffic Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 Lobsteriffic,it is very simple. yeast is all around us in the air. You just have to mix whole grain wheat flour with some lukewarm water, to reach the consistency of a gravy. You put that in a water glass and cover loosely with small plate or something, air has to circulate. You let that sit on your kitchen counter, covered loosely with kitchen towel, for 1 day, or 2 days (depends how warm it is in your house). Yeast forms from itself and it SHOULD smell strange and become bubbly, nothing wrong with that, it's yeast growing.Then you take whole grain wheat flour, put this starter in it (cca glass of starter on 500-700 g of flour). Kneed with some water for 10 minutes, and form a ball of dough. Then cover it and put it somewhere where there is no draft. I put it in cold oven. After few hours, the dough will rise. You kneed it once agin very very gently. Then you put loaf in a pot that you have warmed up in the oven first. Before baking it in the oven, put a lid (without plastic parts!) to completely cover the pot, so the bread can rise and rise in all that humid atmosphere, before the crust forms. After 30 minutes or so, take of the lid and let the crust form. I KNOW it sounds complicated, and believe me, you have to fail like ten times, before you figure out the right proportions and procedure. To me, bread making is a spiritual thing, and it happened very often that it turned out bad when I was in a bad mood. So, you have to be in the mood and believe in your baking power SIMPLE WAY, without starter is:Make dough a out of whole grain wheat flour and lukewarm water. Put it in warm place without draft to sit one day, or two. It will rise from itself and become smelly. Kneed it gently once again and put it in warm pot and bake as described above. ALSO, if you decide to bake every other day, save a peace of dough, and use it as a starter for the next bread. That's how village people here do. GOOD LUCK! Yeah, I do know the basics of making a starter. I guess I was looking for more tips or something along those lines to getting it established. Thanks anyway though, I've only killed a couple so I guess I have to try and summon up my baking power again. I've had better luck with poolish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegan Joe Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 I had a sour dough pot around 30 years ago, use mostly for pancakes. I set it next to this house plant on the kitchen counter, and the plant darn near grew through the ceiling in a very short period of time. (CO2 gas is a byproduct) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeganResistance Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 vege, you inspired me. And after almost a week of waiting for, and feeding, my starter, last night I made my first ever loaf of sourdough. Absolutely brilliant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesArgotiers Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 You should check out http://www.thefreshloaf.com. It is a terrific site with tons of great artisan bread recipes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veglicious Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 I bake all my bread and try to get a good mix of flours in. I don't remember what this is, I think it's mostly whole wheat and I added the pepitas because I like themhttp://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs474.ash1/25981_380955143406_800013406_3616944_1209361_n.jpg This is no knead rye/wheathttp://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs140.ash2/40332_431687233406_800013406_4747348_4321412_n.jpg No knead spelt/wheathttp://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs193.ash2/45599_436912888406_800013406_4855865_4423678_n.jpg All purpose/whole wheat sandwich rollshttp://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs416.ash2/69402_461530663406_800013406_5262796_7816153_n.jpg Seitan sandwich on one of the sandwich rollshttp://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs291.snc4/40909_461542838406_800013406_5262902_4546140_n.jpg I'm still learning but it's really fun, tasty and cheap. I've just been getting books out from the library, so far I like Reinhart's the best. I tried to make sourdough before but never really got the starter happening correctly so I'll have to give that another shot. I'm really into seed-filled breads too so I'm going to experiment with more of that soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beforewisdom Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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