What does your ABIN5 dough look like right after mixing?

[housewolf]

We've seem many beautiful and impressive loaves baked from ABIN5 recipes... I'm interested in what your doughs look like after you've finished mixing them. How thin, thick or sticky is your dough? is your dough more like a batter, like a very sticky dough or like a slightly sticky dough? Have you ever weighed your flour? and if so, what is the total weight of the flour you mix into your dough and with how much water?

I'm curious as to the differences and how much this varies for each baker. If you that could post some pictures of your mixed dough, I'd be most interested in seeing them.

Thanks for any help!

(Yeah, another one of those bread-geeky things....) :rofl:


Really... I'm sort of an amateur bread scientist, you'll be helping me out.

[Tesha]

1. each mix is different...

I'm a seat-of-the-pants cook. Most recipes are meant to be just guidelines, right?

Mostly the mix looks like something between a thick, stringy pudding and a batter.

My last mix I added flax seed in place of a 1/2 cup of flour - kinda tasty it was!

[Lucinda]

2. Good timing! I'm about to mix a fresh batch. Will post pics when its done.

:)

This batch is the Artisan bread in Five minutes a Day no knead. They are scoop and level people. No weighing, though they may have them listed on their website.

[hippywife]

3. It's a sticky dough.

No doubt about it. You have to use either wet hands or throw some flour on top to dig it out of the container.

[Lucinda]

4. Here is mine just mixed and the authors video link

Artificial lighting is making it yellow-y - but you get the idea :)

You tube - you can see the authors making dough - first two minutes of videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFJZPm-_2-M

[Tesha]

5. oh, mine is much looser

more wet for sure

[Lucinda]

6. Interesting how it differs, isnt it? What kind of flour are you using?

I'm using White Lily Bread Flour.

This has a little bit of old dough worked in as well, but this is what mine usually looks like even without the extra blob of stuff.

[Tesha]

7. KAF...

King Arthur flour is my choice, but I always have a light hand with adding flour. My mix will almost pour like molasses on a coldish day.



Through experiments I've found that less flour (and less handling) produces a lighter, higher-rising, more tender baked-good.

[Lucinda]

8. Interesting. I get a much denser, dryer result with the King Arthur Bread Flour.

There are so many variables that come into play baking bread! :)

[housewolf]

12. "There are so many variables that come into play baking bread!"

That's one of the things that makes it so fascinating!

The container used for measuring the water could be a variable also, as many measuring cups on the market today are not exactly precise and people have differnt ways that they guage the volume.

[Lucinda]

15. Exactly! Measuing volume, moisture in the air, all of it.

And I'm geeky enough to want to figure it all out. :D Plus it's fun!

[Tesha]

20. Doesn't everyone...

> The container used for measuring the water could be a variable also, as
> many measuring cups on the market today are not exactly precise and
> people have differnt ways that they guage the volume.

Doesn't everyone just sight across the bottom of the meniscus
in the graduated cylinder ;) ?

Tesha

[housewolf]

11. "Through experiments I've found that less flour (and less handling) produces a lighter, higher,,,"

You wrote: "Through experiments I've found that less flour (and less handling) produces a lighter, higher-rising, more tender baked-good."

Yep, that's exactly it... the biggest mistake new bread bakers make is adding too much flour. The biggest mistake when making non-yeasted baked goods is too much mixing, 'cause that's what develops gluten which helps dough to rise but also toughens other baked goods. That's why they tell you "minimal handlingn" when it comes to pancake batter and biscuit dough. Another thing that helps is to let the dough/batter rest for a bit before cooking/baking to let the gluten relax some.

Are you using KA's all purpose or bread flour? If you are using their AP, it would absorb somewhat less water than Lucinda's bread flour, which would result in your dough being stickier than hers.

[Tesha]

19. The "All-Purpose" flour. (NT)

[housewolf]

10. Thanks for the pic and the link!

I knew I could count on you!

Very interesting... yep, sticky & shaggy are good descriptions of it

more below...

[Lucinda]

9. Ok. Side by side...Just Mixed & After 2 Hours

There is considerable rise after the two hours are up:

[housewolf]

13. Now, that's really cool! and informative...

It's so interesting to see how the dough is hydrated over time, the gluten develops and the yeast has risen the dough already. it looks much softer, elastic and extensible.

Thanks, Lucinda... I really appreciate your efforts in posting the pictures. I'm craving to understand this new method of bread baking!

[Lucinda]

14. I'm happier with the results since I started mixing the yeast.

One packet of active dry and one of rapid rise. I get a nice initial rise and then lots of good bubble and growth once it goes in the fridge.

I do make sure its got a nice warm spot to rise, but other than that, it's on its own and develops a rapid change of texture. Fascinating stuff! :D

[housewolf]

16. ABIN5 dough pics, just mixed & after 2 hrs

Had to see for myself so I mixed up a half-batch of ABIN5 dough tonight. I REALLY really really realy! wish that the book gave the flour amount by weight instead of cups... my 3.25 cups of flour for my half batch weighed out at 16 oz, whereas most bread book writers write bread recipes figuring that a cup of flour weighs about 4.5 oz whereas mine weighs just about 5. This makes a difference in the flour-to-water ratio (hydration) which affects the outcome of the bread.

Here's the picture of the just-mixed dough:




And here it is 2 hours later, just before it went into the refrigerator (same bowl, so you can see that it rose QUITE a bit). It rose so much that the plastic wrap stuck to the top of the dough, which is why the dogh is kinda torn and ragged-looking:

[Lucinda]

17. It looks great! That's a huge amount of rise! What kind of flour and yeast did you use?

Inquiring geeky minds wanna know.
:rofl:

[hippywife]

18. Wow!

Great rise! Looks fabulous! :hi: