karo on Nostr: I'm so glad I wrote such detailed notes on baking bread a year ago because I have ...

I'm so glad I wrote such detailed notes on baking bread a year ago because I have completely forgotten now.

quoting nevent1q…pcwd

#breadwithme note #2
(see below for the first note)

the next step is autolyse which is combining flour and water to get gluten formation to start. this part is vital for high hydration doughs and one could argue that I don't particular need this step.

I do it anyway because it fits my routine and it's been working for me. This process starts with washing the dishes because I want hot water from the tap. Once it gets hot (around 95-100F) or so I fill up a jar and set it on the counter until I get to a good stopping point with the dishes.

From here, I use my scale and tare out my 2.5qt pyrex glass mixing bowl. I measure 210ml water and then 300g bread flour. I've been using King Arthur Bread Flour (blue bag) it's readily available at our grocery store.



I always put water first because I want flour to be on top of the water because it mixes better. Ultimately it doesn't matter that much but I have found that flour first then water is a little more tedious to mix.

You can mix with your hands and I encourage those who are beginning to bake to use their hands here. It is sticky and messy at this stage but I think it's important to be able to feel the texture change, where it is dry vs wet, how to mix it more evenly and to feel the temp.

I use my dough spatula nowadays. The motion I use to mix is a combo of scraping and folding in. I also press on the dough like you're trying to disperse water in a sponge. That's the goal here, to get all of the flour hydrated.

Here's how it looks in the beginning. Shaggy, dry. keep going.



after a while it comes together a little more. it doesn't need to be smooth. it needs to be evenly hydrated. it takes just a few minutes before it looks more like this.



at this point, I spritz a little mist of water over it and cover it with the lid of the pyrex. the dough temp is about 85F which is high for me. I could have used less hot from the tap but it doesn't really matter because as long as I track the dough temp I can adjust timing as I go. I use an instant read thermometer to measure the temp.

And now, we wait. I usually set it on the counter for an hour but if I forget or get busy and it's two hours that's fine too. I'm gonna go clean up the rest of the kitchen and maybe get a little knitting in too.

See you for note #3 in a little while!
#breadstr