| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Patricia Severson |
Posted - Dec 30 2019 : 10:08:55 AM
Hi, I'm Pat. I am in week four. The first two weeks I made waffles. On Saturday, I made my first bread. I am using brown rice flour as I am gluten sensitive. The bread came out very "sour" and dense. I liked the flavor but I wish it had risen more. I think I should have cooked it longer. I have ordered a proofer and am hoping that will help. |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ashley |
Posted - Feb 13 2020 : 08:24:06 AM
That's great news! |
| Patricia Severson |
Posted - Feb 12 2020 : 5:48:13 PM
I baked another loaf today. I reduced the milk from 2 and 1/2 cups to 2 cups. What a difference. I took the bread out at 203 degrees. The crust is good and the inside was only slightly doughy. This is the best loaf yet. I think I am on the right track. Thank you for your feedback and help. |
| Ashley |
Posted - Feb 11 2020 : 11:04:42 AM
It's good that your bread is rising. The dough for the sandwich loaf is supposed to be on the wet side, but if it's not baking all the way through in a reasonable amount of time and the crust is brick like, something isn't right. Before diving into too many changes, have you checked to make sure your oven thermostat is accurate? |
| Patricia Severson |
Posted - Feb 10 2020 : 07:43:07 AM
The bread is rising in the oven and doming. The main problem, as I see it, is that the dough is more like batter. It is so wet when I pour it into the pan (yes the sandwich loaf from the advanced section). Maybe instead of adding more flour, I should reduce the amount of milk. When I slice through the loaf, it is so overcooked that it is like sawing through wood. The flavor of the bread is good. When I toast it, it takes away some of the "doughyness". Thank you for your feedback. I will see the chat on high altitude. |
| Ashley |
Posted - Feb 09 2020 : 4:44:39 PM
It sounds like your breads do need more time in the oven, but this is tricky since you don't want to scorch the crust, and double the bake time seems excessive for it to hit temp in the center. I'm assuming you're making the sandwich loaf from the advanced breads section. Can you tell me if your breads are rising and doming as they bake?
Living at a high elevation might have something to do with the difficulty you're having, but unfortunately this is an area that I lack hands-on experience because I do not live at a high elevation. Do you typically make adjustments to cooking temperatures or cooking times for other recipes? There has been a small amount of discussion on high-altitude baking on this chatroom. You can check it out here: http://www.wildbread.net/topic.asp?whichpage=1&TOPIC_ID=99#1367
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| Patricia Severson |
Posted - Feb 08 2020 : 2:53:13 PM
I have had two bake days since my last post. Both were the sandwich loaf. The first one I kept in until the temp hit 202 degrees. The crust was nicely browned. The inside was doughy. The second one, which I just took out of the oven, had a VERY dark crust, since I was determined to keep it in until the temp hit 205 degrees. I only made it to 203 degrees as the crust was so dark. All told, this loaf was in the oven for more than double the cooking time and it is still doughy inside. Better than the first, but not right. Does my living at high altitude have any affect? Next week, I will add more flour than the recipe calls for and see if that helps. |
| Ashley |
Posted - Jan 23 2020 : 1:20:01 PM
I hope this week will be a better Bake Day than your last.
The rice flour dough does start out pretty dry, and as it conditions, relaxes. I think this is just a characteristic of rice flour. I don't know if you've ever seen recipes that call for allowing gluten-free muffin or quick-bread batter to "rest" in the pan before baking, but it's kind of the same idea—that if you wait a bit, the rice flour will relax, and let go of some of the moisture, which will create a more moist muffin or bread. This is great for recipes that are baked in any kind of pan, but shaping rice breads takes more finesse, because you're always toeing the line between too dry or wet and shapeless. |
| Patricia Severson |
Posted - Jan 23 2020 : 11:37:08 AM
Thank you. I will try adding more flour this week. The dough is pretty wet, although when I first added the flour it was so dry that not all the flour was absorbed. Through the conditioning it did get better, but when I put it in the pan, it was wet. This week I am going to make the sandwich bread. I will let you know how it goes. |
| Ashley |
Posted - Jan 20 2020 : 1:14:08 PM
Hi Pat, Can you tell me a little more about the consistency of your bread dough?
If it's sticking to the parchment paper, I want to say that your dough is too wet, which also might explain the lack of rise. I wonder if adding a bit more flour would do the trick? This is a delicate balance because you don't want to get too much flour in your loaves, because they will come out dry (especially when using rice flours). To keep the loaves from sticking to the parchment, sprinkling a little flour on the outside of the loaves, and on the parchment should help. |
| Patricia Severson |
Posted - Jan 18 2020 : 2:58:19 PM
I just spent the day baking the French loaf. I have several issues. First, the bread dough did not rise much. This is the first week of using the refrigerated mother. There were plenty of bubbles in the starter, so I know it is mature enough. Following the recipe, I lined the pan with parchment paper. Now, with the loaf baked, the paper is stuck to the loaf. HELP! I am feeling discouraged. All the breads I have baked have been dense and pretty flat. Flavor is okay. Any suggestions? |
| Ashley |
Posted - Dec 31 2019 : 1:09:33 PM
The rice breads do have tendency to be a little chewy or spongy, but it should be firm and hold together. Cooking to 205 degrees next time should help. To make your bread hold together better, on p. 38, the recipe for Beginner Batter Bread calls for adding eggs, this one might be better for you, as the eggs will bind it. We omitted the use of xanthan gum in the book, and instead rely on binder such as eggs and rice starch in the Advanced Breads Section. |
| Patricia Severson |
Posted - Dec 31 2019 : 11:33:26 AM
Yes, it was a little doughy. I did use a thermometer and it did reach 200 degrees, but next time I will leave it to 205. Also, the bread falls apart very easily. It is impossible to put a slice in the toaster. Should I add xanthan gum to the dough mix?
Thanks for your reply. |
| Ashley |
Posted - Dec 30 2019 : 12:45:58 PM
Hi Pat, and welcome to the chatroom. I'm sorry to hear your first batch of bread didn't rise enough. By nature, the rice breads are going to be a little more dense that those made with wheat flours. If the temperature in your kitchen fluctuates, the proofer might be just what's needed to keep your mother at an ideal temperature, which in turn could help with the rise as well as the strong sour flavor. As for baking your bread longer, was it doughy in the middle?
I'm looking forward to hearing about how your future Bake Days go.  |
