Sourdough (rec.food.sourdough) Discussing the hobby or craft of baking with sourdough. We are not just a recipe group, Our charter is to discuss the care, feeding, and breeding of yeasts and lactobacilli that make up sourdough cultures.

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Default Bread rating systems

I'm relatively new to the bread making process and while I think I'm
improving, I'm not sure how far, how fast and don't really know where
I'm headed. I keep making loaf after loaf and I think they're getting
better, but then my wife will have a piece and ask why I'm not doing
as well as I was 3 weeks ago. I'm trying to keep some notes, but they
aren't as descriptive as I'd like. I suppose part of the issue is
getting used to the terminology and such, but it seems like their
might be some grading process whereby you could more objectively
evaluate the results of you effort. Kind of like the 100 point scale
on wines. So, you'd know you were making 90 point bread a month ago,
but now they're all in the mid 80s. Or, I was making 50s and have
improved over the last month to 80s. Probably being too anal, but is
there anything? If no scale, what are the characteristics that
generally define good bread? Other than I like it or not?

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Default Bread rating systems

On 16 Feb 2007 04:35:17 -0800, "Monte"
> wrote:

>If no scale, what are the characteristics that
>generally define good bread? Other than I like it or not?


Howdy,

There are "styles" to bread, just as there are in brewing,
but for some reason nobody seems to mention them much when
baking.

So, suppose you are trying to make a particular flat bread,
and yours is three inches thick. You might want to figure
out why, and then make modifications to allow yours to come
closer to the type of bread you are trying to bake.

Similarly, if your "pain de mie" (a French sandwich bread)
has a very coarse crumb (large holes) you might want to try
to get the very fine crumb that is considered to be the
hallmark of that type of bread.

Beyond that sort of thing, "I like it or not" is the way to
go. It is food after all...

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."
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Default Bread rating systems

On Feb 16, 6:35 am, "Monte" > wrote:
> I'm relatively new to the bread making process and while I think I'm
> improving, I'm not sure how far, how fast and don't really know where
> I'm headed.


The wine scale you mentioned is highly suspect. Get 10 people in a
room and see how far the scores for one bottle range. (seasoned wine
drinkers are even worse) Or try three to five wines and get 10 people
to rank them <g>. It's all over the board. What I think is 88 and you
think is 80 doesn't change the wine.

Samartha and Mike Avery (google them) both have good spreadsheets.
Easy to use and easy to print. They are good for recording materials
like flour, water, stater. If you add a few words about fermenting
time, temperature, and dough handling you'd have a comprehensive log.
Take a picture and you have a complimentary visual statement.

My guess is that you are having more variability with temperature than
you realize. This affects flavor. If you read Jeffrey Hamelman's book
you'll see how comprehensive the process can be. He controls the water
temperature, the flour temperature, the dough temperature...
Temperature is taken before and after mixing... It's pretty eye-
opening. Of course... in his world as a professional baker he's got 20
breads going and each has a specific appointment with the oven. So his
dough-to-oven windows are very precise. You don't have to go that
far... but a look at his formulas should help you understand how
intricate things really are.

You might find that a bit of temperature management helps you in the
flavor department. My starter makes different bread at 60 F than it
does at 80 F. It makes better bread retarded at 50 F. overnight and
pushed to 80 F for the final proof. At least my wife says so <g>.







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