| Bread Baker's Apprentice Giveaway | | Print | |
| Monday, 25 May 2009 11:15 |
 I am thoroughly enjoying baking my way through this book with the BBA Challenge group so I thought I would share my experience with one lucky Italian Food Forever (IFF) visitor. I will give away one of Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker Apprentice books and all you have to do to enter the contest is to post a bread related comment with your name below. You can describe your favorite bread, an inspiring or funny bread baking experience, or your hopes to improve your bread baking skills. It doesn't have to be related to Italian cuisine, but can be any bread related topic you choose. The contest will run starting today for three weeks, thereby ending June 15th at which time the winner will be chosen randomly. You can enter as many times as you choose which will of course increase your chance to win, as long as you post a comment relating to bread. Once the winner is chosen, I will post their name on the site and as soon as they contact me I'll make arrangements to ship the book directly to them.
Amazon.com Review of Bread Baker's Apprentice ~ "A bread baker, like any true artisan or craftsman, must have the power to control outcomes," says Peter Reinhart, author of The Bread Baker's Apprentice. "Mastery comes with practice." As in many arts, you must know and understand the rules before you can break them. Reinhart encourages you to learn the science of bread making, but to never forget that vision and experimentation, not formulas, make transcendent loaves. The Bread Baker's Apprentice is broken into three sections. The first is an amusing tale of Reinhart's visit to France and his discovery of pain à l'ancienne, a cold-fermented baguette. The second section comprises a tutorial of bread-making basics and Reinhart's "Twelve Stages of Bread." And finally, the recipes: Ciabatta, Pane Siciliano, Potato Rosemary Bread, New York Deli Rye, Kaiser Rolls, and Brioche, to name a few. All recipes include bread profiles and ingredient percentages. Reimagined for modern bakers, these mouthwatering classic recipes are bound to inspire." --Dana Van Nest Read more about The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge May 25th, 2009 Deborah Mele |
I used http://www.random.org/ to choose the winner for this contest giveaway.
Thanks to all that tried out. I will be starting a new giveaway soon so please check back.
I found out about this site from the Pinch My Salt blog, which I found from Peter Reinhart's blog. I'd love to win the book; heard so many good things about it. Hope I'm not too late to enter.
P.S. Deb at Italian Forever --what is your favorite bread? Do you love being a baker?
It's the best. Thanks
a good cook and baker but, I'd love to expand to a great cook and baker with some more exciting foods.
lreyno5@aol.com
lreyno5@aol.com
lreyno5@aol.com
lreyno5@aol.com
lreyno5@aol.com
lreyno5@aol.com
If I had the book...I could join the challenge...wouldn't that be yummy.
lreyno5@aol.com
lreyno5@aol.com
Leigh Reynolds
He is most famous for 'youm duns' these are round rolls and when ready for the oven each roll is placed carefully on a tray ready to be baked and then he presses in the centre of each with his finger saying youm dun, youm dun, youm dun, hence it has stuck and over the years and is often asked to make some youm duns.
It's the story of when each of us were born, we all got tummy buttons - that's how you could tell we were finished off - youm dun! (he he)
It really is a great feeling to make something new for the first time and love it!
I bake every other day and really enjoy the time whilst kneading just to think, it's so relaxing.
Speaking of on-line and bread, I am so excited. Today I ordered SAF yeast from King Arthur, as well as some "load improvers." I hope they work. The reviewers there swear that the vital wheat gluten will soften whole grain loaves, even those leavened by baking soda or baking powder. I can't wait to try it. I substitute white whole wheat flour for some of the all-purpose in a lot of my quick bread recipes, but sometimes this makes them tough.
I like to make a variety of yeast breads, quick breads, starter breads....but often just want the one serving and then ready for the next! I need to find some friends/customers so that I can sample my baking and keep passing it on!
Kneading the dough is so very therapeutic that I like to create many excuses for baking it. I'm just learning though and could really use a solid book to expand my knowledge.
- Pantryraidblog.com
Fast forward ten years: there I was in Tibet, chowing down tsampa and finally getting why the rave review. I bake bread now any way I can, but it's a lot easier now that my mom has given me her stand mixer with the dough hook! My family isn't too fussy, fortunately.
I do realize their diet revolves around rice, not bread. But boy, would I miss baking. Yesterday I baked banana bread with chocolate swirls. Today I made stuffed focaccia. Yum!
I will try many of the bread recipes. I wish our local library had a copy and I would do as others have mentioned and go sign it out.
You should proof the yeast before you use it. That's the part of the recipe that says sprinkle the yeast over warm water (no hotter than 110 F or you’ll kill the yeast!); stir to dissolve, and let it rest for 5 minutes. It should get frothy on top, like the foam on a freshly poured beer. If it doesn't, most of the yeast is probably dead. I always add a little sugar (about 1/2 tsp.) to the water even if the recipe doesn't call for it. This helps the yeast along, since it can eat table sugar directly.
So what does the yeast eat if the bread has little to no table sugar? The starch in flour can be turned into maltose, which is a type of sugar. Because yeast does not make the enzymes that turn starch into maltose, it is added to the flour when it’s made.
And we want happy, hungry yeast because when yeast eats sugar, it gives off 2 waste products - CO2 bubbles and ethanol, which is a type of alcohol. The ethanol evaporates when the bread is baked. The CO2 bubbles are trapped by the gluten in the bread’s flour, so this makes the bread dough rise.
Not all yeasts are created equal. I haven't had a problem with Red Star. King Arthur Flour sells SAF Red Instant Yeast, which they say is the kind professional bakers use. People rave about it on that website, and there's no proofing required.
Belissimo!
Saludos desde Barcelona (Spain)
The first bread i baked was "Banana Orange Cherry Bread" which turned out pretty good. Only after that i was pretty confident that i could bake a good bread at home.
The best bread i have baked so far is Finnish Pulla.
Ramya Kiran
It all started with my dearly-departed Grandma's recipe for zucchini bread, which is a quick bread and not a yeast bread. So I don't think it would be addressed in the Baker's Apprentice.
Anyway, I loved that bread as a child, and I wanted to make it. But I am health conscious, so I decided to make a few "harmless little adjustments" like less oil, less sugar, and more zucchini to compensate. Then I baked it, and when I did, it would rise nicely in the oven, and then it would fall flat as it cooled. )-: Try again, try again, fall, fall, fall.
Now, I'm sure you heard that baking is a science. I didn't know this, but now I do and it is. Too much or too little of a key ingredient, and the chemical reactions won't happen and the product won't turn out.
I wanted to make this bread, but I wanted the healthier version to work. So I researched it. I used reputable websites like King Arthur Flour, a few universities, and various cookbooks. I read articles with titles like "The Functional Purpose of Baking Ingredients." And you know what. I did fix that bread AND it has way less sugar and oil than my grandma's counterpart. And I think it tastes just as good. My husband and son gobble it down.
So I guess the short answer to where I learn this is through experience and from reputable websites and cookbooks. Oh, and I HIGHLY recommend "The Heart and Soul of Baking."
In contrast, semolina flour is the milled endosperm of Durum wheat. It is very high in protein, so that means it is high in gluten. I would therefore assume it helps your bread rise well. So I don't think you are "hurting" the bread by adding it. But semolina does change the texture and flavor of bread, so it just depends on what you want your bread to taste like.
For some reason, semolina is mainly used in pastas and italian puddings, not bread. I have made King Arthur's Golden Semolina Bread recipe, and it was good. But the focaccia I make without semolina was much tastier to me.
Check out http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/FlourTypes.htm for more information.
There are 2 main reasons to store flour in the freezer.
(1) To prevent bug infestation. Freezing the flour keeps the bugs out and also kills any weevil or insect eggs already in the flour.
(2) To prevent the flour from going rancid. Flour is made from the wheat berry, and that does have oil in it. (I assume all-purpose flour has less oil, since the bran and germ of the wheat berry is not used. But I don't know.) When the oil is exposed to air, it oxidizes, and that can give the flour a rancid flavor. Freezing the flour in airtight containers helps to slow this process.
NOTE: If you don't have the freezer space, at least store it in airtight containers. Flour is very absorbent, and you don't want it to absorb a lot of moisture from the air. And it only takes about 48 hours in the freezer to kill insect eggs in it, so you should at least put it in the freezer for that long.
This night, after the man handed the plate to the woman, she blew up at him and started yelling. Something to the effect of for 50 years you have given me the heel of the bread and taken the best piece for yourself. I've had it.
And then the man looked lovingly at his wife and told her, “For 50 years, I have given you the heel of the bread because that is my favorite part.”
So all these years he had been performing an act of love, and she thought he was being selfish. I guess it's good they cleared it up before they died. Oh, I just thought of a bad pun. I bet she felt like a heel for yelling at him and thinking that!
For example, a long time ago, only rich people could afford white sugar. So white sugar was a sign of wealth. Similarly, bleached flour, which produced lighter-colored cakes and muffins, were considered more refined and therefore more a sign of wealth. (They are more expensive because it costs money to process food. Funny how destroying the nutritional content of food was considered a good thing.)
Anyway, the process for bleaching flour includes benzoyl peroxide--an ingredient in acne medicine--and chlorine dioxide, the principal ingredient in laundry bleach. Do you really want to eat that? Beginning in the 1960s, there was a growing concern in American with regard to food additives and the difference between "natural" and "unnatural" foods. So that's when King Arthur Flour really pushed its slogan -- "Never bleached, never bromated." (Bromated flour is flour which has been enriched with potassium bromate to promote gluten development in doughs. Potassium bromate, recognized as a carcinogen, has been outlawed in Europe, Japan, Canada, and California.)
Anyway, if you are asking if bleached and unbleached flour makes a difference in how the bread rises, the answer is no. But if you are asking what I would feed to my family, the answer is a flour that is NEVER bleached and NEVER bromated. I don't care if my cakes and muffins are slightly darker in appearance. And if I want good gluten development, I'll use a higher protein flour.
To be fair, I have read that bleaching does "balance liquid absorption" in flour. I have no clue what that means, but I don't think it's worth eating those chemicals. But cake flour is bleached, even King Arthur's. So there must be some reason other than to whiten the flour.
Hope this helps.
I think it's wonderful so many people in this industry or bakers at home are giving back. Thank you for sharing!
I've never met anyone else since then that could compare to her.
Many thanks to whoever has one for this. I have looked high and low and tried several times to make. I just love this sweet bread I call it.
rajesculinaryadventures.com
What is the difference between Bleached & Unbleached Flour. What makes baking different with these 2 kinds of flours. I have used Cake flour for cakes, and Semolina with Flour for Breads. I have also made my bread and broke small balls off and placed in bags to freeze. When I want to bake a loaf, I bring a bag out of the freezer, thaw and add more ingredients to it, let it rise and bake. Is this process wrong, against the rules, what could make it better?? What is the best ratio for Semolina/Flour best for breads?
That reminds me. The first time I made bread was when I was in high school. I made a French baguette. I lived in Michigan at the time. I let the bread rise in my mom's car! The car smelled wonderful, and the bread rose really well!
I don't think I could live without BREAD! The Atkins diet? No Way!! Give me liberty and give me my BREAD...I'll suffer the carb consequences! You're blog is great, I just stumbled upon it but look forward to many happy returns to see what you have cooking!
Warmest Regards from Sacramento!
--Josette
One of my favorite bread stories is the time I used an easy recipe for making bread. I thought I was getting good rolls and when they were done I had plain tasting muffins. They just did not fit with the meal.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com
All that kneading, rising, punching down, kneading, rising, punching down, and then the braiding and rising and finally the baking! Let them cool on the counter....
We had this big German Shorthair Pointer....she was ALWAYS hungry! She not only got one of those two pound breads...she took it to her bed so she could eat some now .... and save some for later!!!
We really loved that dog!!
bread makings fun
all types of bread from Foccacia to a bun
for sarnies, for toast
but for dunking the most
For sharing and tearing outside in the sun.
With dimples, with salt, with Rosemary too
with Sultanas and spices theres a bread just for you
If you don't get it right
never give up the fight
Keep trying, persevere and success will shine through.
So to all breads out there from Naan to Ficelle
from muffins to crumpets
Fougasse YUM I yell
The flops and disasters will all fade away
When you smell the bread cooking at the end of the day.
Pastry is different than bread baking but I'm starting to learn and appreciate what happens when all the elements come together in the process of bread making.
I am an Italian teacher in Melbourne, Australia! I ran a cooking workshop with my Year 8 Italian class (12 year olds) and it turned out to be a hit! The kids really enjoyed it! I needed to keep the activity simple, and the ingredients minimal - given the constraints of time and mess!
I arranged with the Food-Technology department at the secondary school where I teach to help me set-up a pizza roll workshop! Students in groups of 3 made a batch of standard bread dough between them, after I showed them how to do it, of course! They then divided the dough evenly between themselves, creating about 3 bread rolls each. We then worked at 'decorating' our mini-bread rolls with ingredients typical of particular pizzas! ie. basil, mozzarella and tomato = la pizza margherita!
The kids absolutely loved the activity! It was quick, simple and hassle-free! I then asked the students to 'present' their pizza rolls to the rest of the class (in Italian, of course!), instructing their peers how to make them!
Overall, a wonderful success! I highly recommend this activity if you're an Italian teacher! The activity opens up so many different assessment avenues, and really engages the students!
Saluti,
Jenna L.
I am making 2 loaves of banana bread today- it never lasts long in our house.
Susie
I've recently moved to the "hot" central valley. Will try bread baking before it gets too warm.
Over the course of the next several days, my house (or rather, my father's house) assumed a sour, pungent smell. This did not deter me. I trudged on, hoping my batch was not a petri dish of harmful bacteria. After about four or five days, my batch gained a life of its own. It began expanding, bubbling, and if you put your ear close enough, perhaps you might hear a SNAP-CRACKLE-POP. I had to continually feed it, taking a part away and adding another. When I returned from work, I attended to its daily needs, somewhat like a new pet or child!
Before I knew it, my starter was ready to be added in as the rising agent for my bread. Hours later, I had a hot loaf of artisan bread. It truly felt amazing to see the cooperation of a few ingredients and beneficial bacteria to create a staple food.
My experience helped me to appreciate the simple methods of baking before commercialized yeast was available. And the best part about your new creature (the starter): you can freeze it and restore it when you want sour dough bread later!
After about six months of baking all kinds of Italian breads I found a recipe for a "filocene". It was almost perfect, the only problem was that I couldn't get it to the right color. Eventually I thought about an egg wash just before putting the dough in the oven.
Lo and behold, I have finally duplicated the bread of my youth and boy is it good!!!
I don't know about the authenticity of that statement but always remember to watch my mouth around bread baking activities...
I didn't give up though and after much practice and through reading of his book became accomplished at making my own starters and keeping a sponge going for some time.
Sadly, this book has disappeared and I fear that many of his and his father's recipes are now lost. If there is a group that reproduces books on the internet or for print I would gladly give my copy (It is worn and falling apart from loving use for forty years.) to be used so that these recipes can be preserved.
I am the type that would choose bread over dessert.
My favorite was when we baked cinnamon rolls. Sprinkling the dough with lots of cinnamon, sugar, and butter. Then cutting the rolls and the heavenly aroma when they baked. I could barely wait for them to cool and Grandma to spread the icing on top.
The cinnamon rolls were wonderful, but even more the talks we shared while we ate them.
Many thanks for the opportunity to win the book, and I wish you the best of luck in the BBA challenge!
It does take some time to learn how to make a good bread. Probably only about 1/3 of what I make really turns out. BUT, practice makes perfect doesn't it? And it is so fun to practice anyway!
I have been making some really fun "Little Piggy Pizza Pops" lately. My daughter loves them! I just made a couple dozen and sold them at a Fundraiser Bake sale. My "Little Piggy Pizza Pops" caught everyones' attention! They were a huge hit! I wish I could post a picture for you to see them!
I've made my own sourdough starter by catching the naturally occurring yeast in our foothill community, mmm good! My next big endeavor is to learn how to make biga bread. I understand this to be the Italian way of bread making.
Thanks for a wonderful site! I'm off to make some more yummy bread!
JoAnn
We really are very spoilt in Europe (France, Italy and Luxembourg at least) as bread is delicious !