What are you baking the week of February 3, 2019?

[Mike Nolan]

When I've made them, I've used Peter Reinhart's recipe in BBA, and they rose fine with lots of holes. Some English Muffin recipes are more like a pancake batter, and a ring is a must, others are more like a dough, his recipe is the latter though I use muffin rings anyway because it makes them rise up instead of out.

My wife actually prefers the Thomas multi-grain light English Muffins to home-made ones, in large part because they last longer. We've also tried the Wolferman's ones, they're way too big.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a new cracker recipe on Saturday: Toasty Wheat Oat Crackers. I adapted this recipe, which appears in Recipes from the Old Mill: Baking with Whole Grains, a book I’ve previously mentioned. My ingredient changes were to reduce the salt from 1 tsp. to ¾ tsp., and to substitute 2 ½ Tbs. canola oil for 3 Tbs. margarine. The original recipe formed the dough into a log; after refrigerating for several hours, it was sliced 1/8-inch thick, then put on ungreased baking sheets and flattened until very thin with the tines of a fork. Instead, I formed the dough into a rectangular mass, wrapped it in saran and refrigerated for several hours. I then rolled it out as thin as I could get it by hand onto parchment paper, using saran over the top while I rolled. It filled a large flat baking sheet. I used a pizza cutter to cut it into 3x3 cm. squares. I had to bake it longer than the 15 minutes stated. I also cut the crackers apart at the end of that time, then put them back in for a few more minutes. After removing them, I emptied the parchment onto the hot cookie sheet, made sure that they were all spaced apart, and allowed to cool. The flavor is excellent, and the thinnest ones are nicely crispy.

[chocomouse]

Mike, I've used the recipe in BBA and it was OK, but no big holes -- which is my goal! I've also made both the batter and the dough versions of English muffins. I prefer the dough, but still use the rings because that makes them look more "perfect"! It also helps to flip them without deflating. I'm happy with how this batch turned out. Next batch l'l try cinnamon-raisin.

[Mike Nolan]

It has been a while since I made English muffins, but I seem to recall that if I let them rise longer, I got more holes.

I remember reading in one book on bread baking chemistry that the holes have to be formed during kneading, because they'll grow during rising but no new ones will be formed then.

[chocomouse]

That's interesting about the holes forming during kneading. I frequently hear and read that kneading puts air into the dough which makes the bread rise! My response is "then why would you bother to use yeast?" I've been told that a wetter dough yields bigger holes, and if I'm not following a recipe exactly, I do use more liquid. This recipe made a very soft dough, I don't recall the hydration. I wouldn't let my muffins rise longer - they went from a 1/2 inch "patty" to over 2 inches tall, in one hour. I suspect that is about max for rise time. The ones we made in the class at KAF only rose to about one inch, in a proofing oven, for about an hour, maybe a little less.

[Mike Nolan]

As I recall, the explanation is that the carbon dioxide released by the yeast (or other forms of leavening) makes existing bubbles grow, but the reason it doesn't form a lot of new ones has to do with the surface tension that air bubbles need to exist, because the molecules of carbon dioxide released by the leavening are too small to easily combine into a new bubble. They can be absorbed into existing bubbles, though.

Chemical leavening may produce more new bubbles than yeast.

If you've ever been to a commercial bread factory (I hesitate to call them bakeries), they use aerating nozzles to inject gas bubbles into the dough, although in many cases it's closer to a batter. That's how they get the loaves so airy.

[skeptic7]

Chocomouse;
Congratulations on a sucessful English muffin. My English muffins never had big holes but I always baked them. Laurel's Kitchen cookbook claimed that the big holes could be produced by kneading so much the gluten was weakened and then the normal holes would combine to be extra large. I never kneaded that much so I can support this idea. I don't think big holes are very important, just put more butter and jelly on top.
Its possible that English muffins originally were suppose to come out slightly gummy and undercooked since they are almost always supposed to be toasted again before eating.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm making honey wheat bread today and also the 100% whole wheat bread that was discussed in a recent thread.

[chocomouse]

Skeptic, that is what the instructor at KAF told us: they are supposed to be gummy, damp on the inside, and can be fork-split and eaten as soon as they come out of the oven -- after toasting of course - to get rid of the gumminess. We also made crumpets, which she said should be "wet" inside! You are right - more peanut butter and jelly!

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