For all you breadmakers...question

[pault]

I started again making white bread, using the artisan bread in 5 minutes a day book. Basically makes 3 lb loafs at a time and let it sit in the fridge until I use it up and make another.
Reason , I was buying arnold sourdough bread to get away from reg commercial white. It stays a long time without going bad.But is pricey.
So my loaf I made yesterday came out real good using a bread pan, I also read that absorbic acid can be added as a preservative.
In FL here, I am afraid fresh bread will go bad real quick as there is just the 2 of us.

So the question is , does anyone use or know the amount for say 7 cups flour? is it 1/8 tsp per loaf, so 3/8 a batch?
Any help is appreciated.

 

[TexLaw]

I understand that ascorbic acid is not an effective preservative in bread because an enzyme present in flour actually converts it to an oxidizing agent. Ascorbic acid is used in bread as a dough conditioner, though.

Freezing bread works pretty well, actually. It's much better than the refrigerator.

Of course, there's also baking only one or two loaves at a time.

 

[Scarry Knight]

I asked a friend who bakes a lot. She sent me this.

Creates an acidic environment for the yeast which helps it work better. It also acts as a preservative & deters mold and bacterial growth. With just a touch of ascorbic acid, your Artisan breads, the yeast will work longer and faster. French bakers add it to their French bread, baguette or boule recipe.
If you can't find pure ascorbic acid crystals you can use Fruit Fresh (canning isle) or a crushed/powdered vitamin C tablet, but measure accordingly. The footnote says 1/8 teaspoon per recipe. I have used it, albeit not lately, and used only a large pinch for per 2 lb of dough.

I use it often and put an eigtth t. or less in a large mixing bowl of water when rinsing sprouts. It doesn’t take much. A teaspoon to a bath tub full of water to consume the chlorine. a sixteenth t. to a batch of dehydrated kale chips for preservation.

 

[CurtisB81]

Sourdough keeps a little longer then plan bread..

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

500 gr flout
300 gr water
10 gram salt
yeast is dependent on type used i think 10 gr for bread yeast, 5 gr for rapid rise

this is a 60% hyration white bread.

 

[expatCanuck]

I've been baking bread for over 20 years. Sourdough most of the time. When it's just Mrs. E and me, I bake 2 cup loaves (4/3 cup white, 2/3 cup whole wheat, 60-70g of sourdough, ~220g water, 7g or so of salt). In northern VA, a loaf lasts the better part of a week without going moldy.

FWIW, I bake the dough on a baking stone -- 450 for the first 10 minutes (giving the stone at least 15 minutes to heat up after the oven has reached temperature), and drop to 440 for the final 20 or so minutes.

 

[expatCanuck]

Here's an example -- this morning's bake:

 

[Ted A]

Looks good

 

[TexLaw]

Here's an example -- this morning's bake:

View attachment 1058467

That'll do!

 

[catfish1969]

Have you considered freezing the bread after slicing it? I bake two loaves of yeast bread at a time, and freeze after slicing. The trick for me is to let it cool longer than usual, so that the bag won't accumulate condensation in the freezer. On a typical morning, I will put a frozen slice in a plastic bag. By lunch time, it is room temperature, and still very tasty. Not as tasty as just made, but still better than store-bought...

 

[Saxonbowman]

I've always frozen my extra bread. Just cut the loaf in half, or make two loaves, wrap, put in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer. It will come out fine if you don't leave it in there for months.

That reminds me. I have an extra Sally Lunn in the freezer that we need to eat up.

 

[Old Hippie]

We make a big sourdough loaf once a week in a very long Pullman pan. It's the equivalent of that 5 Minutes a Day stuff, but in sourdough and all baked at once. [shrug] Plus it's not all white flour -- we mill our own flaked grains and grind our own whole wheat flour.

Yeast tends to like a mildly acidic environment. Lactobacillus in sourdough creates that environment, so no need to add extra acid. The acid also helps to develop the gluten. We also use whey from the yogurt and skyr production lines and buttermilk from butter production as the liquid in the bread.

We don't freeze it, but we do keep it in fridge for up to a week or so. After that it'll go into fatoush or bread pudding or be cubed and dried for making dressing to go with chicken, or into "Old Bread Casserole" based on a Persian recipe.

O.H.

 

[catfish1969]

I've always frozen my extra bread. Just cut the loaf in half, or make two loaves, wrap, put in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer. It will come out fine if you don't leave it in there for months.

That reminds me. I have an extra Sally Lunn in the freezer that we need to eat up.

Homemade bread being in the freezer for months?!?!?

 

[Saxonbowman]

Homemade bread being in the freezer for months?!?!?

Yeah, most of the time its a matter of days! The Sally Lunn bread that was forgotten actually came out tasting pretty good. That bread has eggs in it so maybe that's what kept it moist.

 

[Isaac]

Sourdough is the way to go. It can easily last a week in a ziplock bag, but this will cause the crust to soften a bit.

 

[Alacrity59]

I don't know about adding things to preserve bread longer yet. I do know you can freeze bread dough and bake it later.

 

[eelhc]

As others have said sourdough lasts longer but be warned, you'd be adding another obsession to your hobby list. Keeping a jar of sourdough starter alive and well is like taking on a pet (at least you'll love eating this pet). But since you're down this path, you may as well go all in.
That said, sourdough doesn't keep as well in the fridge.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

 

[eelhc]

Sourdough is the way to go. It can easily last a week in a ziplock bag, but this will cause the crust to soften a bit. View attachment 1065981View attachment 1065982View attachment 1065983View attachment 1065984

Awesome! What's your procedure for maintaining and feeding the starter?

 

[Isaac]

Depends if I’m baking or not. If I’m not, I feed 50g I’d starter 50g of all purpose flour and water. Once I see some bubbles I fridge it’s for the week. When it’s time to feed, I discard all but 50g and do it all over again.
If I’m baking, I don’t discard as much as I’m going to need a lot more starter.

 

[steveclarkus]

I wish I hadn’t opened this thread and seen the photos. I Made bread for 50 years ang was quite good at it but last year gave up carbs and sugar. I missed bread desperately for the first few months. I don’t think about it now - except when I run into beautiful photos like these.