Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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Pan-Grilled Flatbread -- back to top
I made pan-grilled flat bread from Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen. I do not know if I added too much additional water (which I usually need) or if the dough is supposed to be super sticky and wet, but this was super sticky and super wet. I kept adding flour and working it by hand but I could not get it to a point of being grabbed by the dough hook. As you can see, it is just being mixed around:
I eventually just assumed that's what it is supposed to be like. I also could barely knead it out (again, adding a lot of flour). It also rose a bit faster than I expected so I lightly pressed it down about an hour into the rise.
I decided to make six instead of four. Because I was doing the tawook at the same time, I think they sat after being balled for about 30-50 minutes.
Rolling was hard but not the nightmare I expected based on the dough. I did struggle to shape, get them up, and then onto the pan. I also tried a few different ways to spray them. Some on the counter but it wet the counter where I needed to roll more. And some in my hand but that meant that (a) I only had one hand holding the dough and (b) I had to flip it on the pan.
Keeping the pan temp was not very easy but I think I did okay. They came out pretty good. Nice structure inside and an okay flavor. I don't think they were as good as restaurant naan but I am willing to try it again!
I made no-knead brioche from America's Test Kitchen. I followed their recipe exactly. It seemed like it wouldn't make enough since it wasn't much flour but I think it was fine in the end. I started it on Thursday morning and cooked it Saturday. (I shaped it around 10:30 and cooked it around 1:15).
Final temp was 195.8°F which, while in line with the recipe, was a bit high for Albuquerque's altitude. It wasn't dry or anything so I guess that is good.
It also may have been slightly over-proofed as you can see in the cut slice. The whole were pretty big!
It was nowhere near as good or rich or soft or dense or buttery or sweet as the one from Trader Joes but it was still very good! Reminded me of challah more than the Trader Joes one. But I actually think theirs is the exception and this is closer to what I've had elsewhere.
The main use was for french toast
American Sandwich Bread -- back to top
I made American Sandwich Bread [Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen] for the week. I followed the recipe basically exactly. I was trying to speed it along a bit so I did a "proofing box" with the oven and boiling water. I may have over proofed it a bit as you can see in the pictures.
The final result was very tasty and had a good structure. Not as dense as their pictures but not too far off (though mine came out a lot taller but less brown). When I took the temperature, it was 199.9°F which should be about right for Albuquerque, though that could explain the lack of browning.
It did have a very noticeable swirl from how I rolled it up. Not sure how that happened or how to stop it.
Update: I asked my dad what he think caused it and it makes sense. I need to be more careful:
It looks to me like the dough had dried out a bit and you rolled that dried part into the body of the loaf when you were rolling the whole thing. Otherwise your texture looks really nice. You have to make sure you either keep it in an airtight container or that you keep it well oiled
Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread -- back to top
I made the Whole Wheat variation of American Sandwich Bread [Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen]. The biggest note is that I let the rise way too much in the pan. As you can see from the photos, it is way more than an inch above the pan. Also, I had some trouble shaping it because I didn't try to do it right out of rising like I was supposed to.
I think it came out ok. Maybe a bit dry. I did let it go to 199°F which is very high for this altitude. I should have taken it out a tiny bit sooner. But otherwise, I was pretty happy with it and I liked that it was "healthier" than the white-bread one.
I made brioche from Bread Illustrated. Unlike last time, I measured out how much more flour I added and tried to be conservative about it. I ended up with adding 1.5 oz of additional bread flour.
This entire loaf was the story of letting it go too long. I started it on Saturday, 2021-03-20. I meant to cook it on Monday at the latest and kept forgetting until Tuesday (today). And then I formed it and forgot it for too long. Though, to be honest, it did not seem to have risen too much more than I would have wanted.
It did rise a ton in the oven. I do not know what happened?! When I took it out at 35 min, it was around 190°F, as I wanted for this kind of bread at altitude. It also kind of split which I think was from the roll tearing a bit (maybe from rising too much?).
The final loaf was around 1.375 lbs. It still tasted good even if it had more crumb than I would have liked.
We also had some Wenner Bread Products (which I think also made it for Trader Joes). See the photo below with the commercial on the right and mine on the left. I knew mine was over-proofed but even look at the last two (2021-02-13 and 2021-02-26), mine is clearly less dense. Also, the commercial one has a much smoother top
Taste and texture wise, the commercial is much fluffier, smaller/denser crumb, and also much sweeter. Mine is more savory and is reminiscent of croissant while the commercial is more like a cake. Mine is also more addicting! You just want to keep eating it.
I am glad I got to try them together. I think I actually like mine more but I would like the denser crumb of the commercial.
I made a double batch of No-Knead Brioche [Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen]. Like last time, I measured out the amount of additional flour but this time I used 2 oz extra total so 1 extra oz each. I think I liked this more. Next time I made it, if this is what I find, I will add it to the recipe. You also need to mix (knead?) really well.
I made a double batch so one was in the slightly larger pan. On the recipe they say the times should be different; both rising and baking. I decided I didn't care enough about rising and when baking, they basically were both ready at the same time (or a bit late). Depending on where I probed, I got 190°F to 195°F. This is a bit too warm for Albuquerque altitude.
I tried really hard to have nice tops but they still came out wonky. I do not know what to do but it also doesn't matter much. I separated the larger one (larger pan, same amount of dough) since it didn't mash together as well and froze that. The other was good, as usual!
