BS: Bread recipes by weight

16 Mar 12 - 06:49 PM (#3323879)
Subject: BS: Bread recipes by veight
From: CET

Can any US or Canadian Catters supply any bread recipes with measurements by weight instead of volume? I would like to try N.American recipes if possible since European ingredients don't necessarily react the same.

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16 Mar 12 - 06:52 PM (#3323881)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by volime
From: CET

Title of this thread should be Bread recipes by Weight obviously. I thought I'd changed it. Is there a Mud Elf in the house?

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17 Mar 12 - 06:08 AM (#3324019)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by volime
From: Monique

"Chocolate and Zucchini" blog has a very useful convertion table. She gives her recipes in both weight and volume units, she has recipes from both sides of the Atlantic -she lives in Paris but lived in the US- her bread is great and her cookies "très gingembre" (with fresh, candied and powdered ginger) are to die for.

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18 Mar 12 - 02:14 PM (#3324681)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: CET

Does anybody have any bread recipes with metric weight measurements. I'm interested in trying some Canadian Red Fife wheat which was saved from extinction only a few years ago.

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18 Mar 12 - 04:26 PM (#3324756)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Monique

500g flour, 350ml tepid water, 10g salt, 8-10g dry yeast.
You really should try Chocolate and Zucchini bread recipe and natural bread starter.

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21 Mar 12 - 02:13 AM (#3326118)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: NightWing

All the bread recipes I have and use are by weight; only way I make it. I've transposed a few of them from volume.

So I got a scale that I can switch between metric and English measures (grams and ounces). I've never used the English measure: can you imagine trying to double, triple, or halve 4 lbs 10-5/8 oz? Wouldn't you rather do that to 2,117 g? (No, none of my recipes use that much of anything; I just made up a number as example.)

I'm at work now, so don't have any of my recipes available. I'll try to remember to post some of mine: all sourdough. (I haven't bought yeast in nearly five years.)

BB,
NightWing

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21 Mar 12 - 09:55 PM (#3326745)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: GUEST,999

I was working out tonnage when I realized the oven requirements would be something else.

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21 Mar 12 - 10:00 PM (#3326750)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: GUEST,999

Still on the job. What are hectares?

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22 Mar 12 - 06:55 AM (#3326913)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Charmion

Hectares are what the metric system has instead of acres.

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22 Mar 12 - 07:42 AM (#3326934)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: gnomad

1 hectare =      0.003 861 021 585 5 square mile
1 hectare = 11 959.900 463 square yards
1 hectare = 10 000.000 square meters
1 hectare =      1.1172508764e-28 square light years
1 hectare =      2.471 053 814 7 acres
1 hectare =      1.525 553 013 0 acres [Ireland]
1 hectare =      2.471 043 920 2 acres [survey]
1 hectare =      2.989 975 115 8 acres [suburbs]

Amazing what you can find on the net, ain't it. Of course some of it is more useful than the rest. It was a revelation how many different variants on 'an acre' are used.

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22 Mar 12 - 03:20 PM (#3327209)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Bert

You make bread by feel, not weight or volume.

There are roughly 2 1/2 cups (American) to a pound of flour but it depends on the flour and humidity.

Just put your flour in the bowl and add enough liquid until you have the right texture.

How do you know what is the right texture? You find out by getting it wrong a few times, just the same as you do if you start with a recipe.

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22 Mar 12 - 04:14 PM (#3327253)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: gnomad

That's seriously imprecise, Bert, but absolutely right. The thing to do, I reckon, is to have a go.

The ingredients are not expensive, and while I don't believe in wasting food, you learn by tweaking what you did last time. However badly you misjudge it the results are unlikely to be quite inedible, and a few mistake beats any number of recipes books.

I do understand the appeal of volume measures, but the American way has always been a bit of a puzzle - does nobody over there use scales?

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22 Mar 12 - 04:31 PM (#3327261)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Bert

Most people over here use volume measures.

My Mother-in-law has a set of scales that were left to her by a Norwegian friend and they are metric. So I am the only one whoever uses them because no one else can remember that there are 453.6 grams to a pound.

Yes it is seriously imprecise, and if I haven't made bread for a while I find it takes me a couple of times to get it right again.

Oh and it is not just feel it is also timing if you let it rise too little or too much it spoils the result.

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22 Mar 12 - 06:53 PM (#3327331)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: gnomad

Yes, nobody wants to be doing imperial>metric conversions when in mid-recipe, nor the other way round. Many British books give both sets of numbers, but the conversions are generally not too accurate. It can become important to use only one set of measures in a given recipe.

I suspect that metric weights are taking over, as that is what children have been taught for some years, so that few of those under say 30 years are comfortable with imperial measures. I have an electronic scale in the kitchen with a switch to toggle between the two. Add in the use of metric/imperial/'gas mark x' for oven temperatures and there is little wonder that text-book cookery can seem like a minefield.

Out of curiosity I just compared my two different sets of measuring cups, one thinks a cup is 250ml, the other thinks 189ml, so even cups are evidently a variable. Having checked online, I find that a metric cup is 250ml, a US cup approx 237ml, and a Canadian approx 227ml. Heaven knows where the 189ml measure comes in.

It is lucky that quantities are truly critical in only a fairly small number of dishes.

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23 Mar 12 - 03:04 PM (#3327815)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: CET

I like the Zuchini & Chocolate site, but right now I'm looking for yeast recipes rather than starter or sourdough. I also prefer to start with the liquid and gradually add the flour.

I'm looking forward to your recipes,Nightwing.

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23 Mar 12 - 03:33 PM (#3327834)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Bert

...I also prefer to start with the liquid and gradually add the flour...

Why?

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23 Mar 12 - 05:04 PM (#3327878)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Crowhugger

I make bread dough liquid first too. For me it works beautifully every time: The amount of water I start with determines the number of loaves--the water will absorbe just the right amount of flour, a greater or lesser quantity depending on the flour's moisture content.

I picked up this "sponge method" from The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown (1970, got mine in 1979, no idea whether reprinted since then) and I stick to that method with any recipe I use. It works brilliantly despite the volume measures.

The big difference in the method is that only 1/2 the flour is added in the first step along with yeast, yeast-food (sweetener) and optionally also milk powder and eggs--both can be added in the 2nd step too if one prefers. In any case, the sponge mixture is beaten well to help develop the gluten and then set to rise 30-40 minutes. To me it looks sort of bubby (rather like simmering half-cooked porridge) when ready.

Salt and oil are added now, in the 2nd stage; both make it harder for the yeast to grow, which is why they are left out of the sponge. Next add the rest of the flour by stirring in 1 cup at a time. At a certain point it becomes thick enough that obviously it's time to add the flour in smaller than 1-cup amounts, usually around the same time one must stop stirring and start patting and kneading.

As for scales, I'd say they are a fairly unusual kitchen tool in North America. Chefs, avid dieters and avid bakers may use them but most food-for-necessity folks use volume.

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24 Mar 12 - 12:36 AM (#3328012)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Bert

Thanks, I'll have to give that a try.

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24 Mar 12 - 09:32 AM (#3328086)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: CET

Liquid first is the method recommended in an old book called Uncle John'sOriginal Bread Book - ot of print for years now, bur available at Alibris.

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11 Apr 12 - 07:00 PM (#3336976)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: CET

Still hoping for some recipes. Any luck?

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12 Apr 12 - 08:46 AM (#3337183)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Crowhugger

No weight recipes from me, I just like talking about food :-].


The very first time I ever made bread was using Uncle John's Bread Book (UJBB). That was decades ago in my boyfriend's family's kitchen. The first part of the book clearly explained the roles of basic bread ingredients and their interactions with the other ingredients. The second part was recipes. By the time I'd read the first part I had almost a movie in my mind's eye of what the process should be and feel like, and why it should be that way, even though I'd never seen it done. Excellent book. Funny, though, I don't recall learning the sponge method until Tassajara.

My first-ever batch was good as far as texture etc, the only problem being that UJBB called for about 3x more salt than suted our tastes! I can't recall if that first attempt made 2 edible-but-salty loaves or 4. I do recall the result was okay as toasted tomato sandwiches, the tomatoes effectively being salted by the excess in the bread, but having that bread with salted things like cheese or ham wasn't quite as nice.

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12 Apr 12 - 09:50 AM (#3337207)
Subject: RE: BS: Bread recipes by weight
From: Monique

White bread: 1kg wheat flour, 2 pinches of salt, 500ml tepid water, 20g fresh yeast.

Whole bread: 500g whole flour, 12g yeast, 15 powdered milk, 350ml tepid water, a good pinch of salt.

Whole bread with wheat germs: same recipe as whole bread but 25g powdered milk instead, add 50g wheat germ at the end of kneading.

Farmhouse bread: 400g wheat flour, 100g rye flour or 50g rye flour and 50g whole wheat flour, 10g yeast, 350ml tepid water, a pinch of salt.

Rye bread: 140g wheat flour, 260g rye flour, 10g yeast, 350ml water, 1 pinch of salt

Bran bread: 250g wheat flour, 40g bran, 8g yeast, 1 pinch of salt, 175ml tepid water.

Italian bread: 300g wheat flour, 12g yeast, 25ml olive oil, 125ml water, 1 pinch of salt

I have a book with lots of recipes but they're bread machine ones.

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