Ross's Maryland Bakery

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 07:10

ssorllih wrote:Ray click the button that gives the cups, ounces, grams option and it will give you weights. The recipe is quite similar to the eggs/milk/water recipe. Bob K's method of topping with savory will also work here.

I saw that button and clicked it on arrival, that all seems easy enough. While the recipe is similar in most regards the salt to sugar ratio appears to be miles apart. 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of salt to a quarter cup of sugar? That's nowhere near 1 & 1/2% salt to 2% sugar regardless of how it's presented, not even on the same planet. I'm beginning to tire of baking failures now that I'm becoming the butt of jokes and ridicule. I've got about 15 pounds of flour to find what's right, I was always happy with Columbo and Francisco breads before I tried to copy their products, especially the Crustini rolls.
RAY

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 20:40

Ray it should be some comfort to know that once in a while I do something boneheaded and end up with bread that is what I call desperation bread. We eat it out of desperation because there ain't anything else.

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 16:33

There's no substitute for experience, I wish I had some of yours. All I know to do is follow a recipe and see how it goes. I don't know the little tricks of adjusting this or that, or have anything in my past to tell me what something should feel like. I'll just keep plugging along till I get it right. RAY

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 17:32

Ray with each batch make mental note of how the dough feels in your hands and remember that when is comes from the oven.
For adjustments if the bread feels too stiff and the batch is less than a pound of flour you can ad a tablespoon of water and knead it in. Such a little bit of water shifts the percentage a point or two.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sat Aug 17, 2013 22:21

Back around the first of May we had a spring festival at church and I made sausage, egg, and pancake sandwiches. I prepared a pancake mix using two parts all purpose flour and one part whole buckwheat flour, and for each two cups of mix one tablespoon of baking powder and one teaspoon of salt. I made about five pounds total. To use this I measure out about a cupful and add an egg and enough milk to make a batter. Thick batter makes thick pancakes and thin batter can make very thin pancakes to use as wraps or as crepes.
This same method can be used well with flour and cornmeal, or oatmeal, or rye flour. Adding sugar and berries makes a nice breakfast pancake and I often make the plain as a flat bread.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Aug 18, 2013 00:58

Tonight I was rather at a loss as to supper so I scooped out a 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup of AP white flour and 2 teaspoons baking powder and a teaspoon of salt to make a biscuit dough with about 3 tablespoons of lard rubbed into the flour and enough milk to make a dough. I dumped that out onto some flour on the table and flattened it to about a quarter inch and moved it to a baking sheet. I topped it with some tomato sauce, a sliced yellow squash, a sliced onion and a bell pepper. I topped all of that with pepper jack cheese, sprinkled it with good olive oil and Italian seasoning and baked it at 425 for 25 minutes. It was good.

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Sun Aug 18, 2013 21:57

Whipped up a batch of buns last night that were perfect, light and fluffy, tasty too! Now if I can only remember what I did right, tho I am beginning to get a bit of a feel for things. RAY

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Aug 18, 2013 22:41

Ray you have made a lot of progress in a short time. Remember your first batch.

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 19:16

Yep, I remember! My wife thought the bread would go better with mortar than butter. All your help and advise has really panned out for me, thanks a ton Ross. RAY

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 19:43

This is quite the improvement in a short period of time

I've really stepped up my game on the pizza front too

I made a dough adjustment to accommodate the new 15" pizza stone. The stone made the bottom of the dough crispy, not soggy in the least. After forming the dough I let it sit covered for 45 minutes before constructing the pizza, the crust thickened to perfection. I'm feeling like I'm finally starting to get the hang of this baking stuff. RAY

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 21:11

WOW!! I'll say you have gotten the hang of it! That work looks perfect. Fit for the finest company. When you feel ready to try a loaf that is wonderfully different, olive bread made with calamata olives is a true pleasure. I will find the recipe and post it unless someone gets there ahead of me.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 21:30

Ray, through some sort of an internet hiccough your pictures let me into your Photobucket album. I looked at all of your bread pictures and every batch shows improvement. Your efforts could be published as proof that diligence and practice pays big dividends.
It is a fine thing that you have posted your work. The good, the bad and the beautiful.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 23:01

Your efforts could be published as proof that diligence and practice pays big dividends.

I'll say! That is gorgeous work Horse Saaazz!

Congrats!

Krakowska · Post by **Krakowska** » Wed Aug 21, 2013 22:57

Informative baking terminology

http://www.pizzamaking.com/pizza_glossary.html

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 01:28

Great reference! Thanks Fred.
(Topic moved to this forum by request of ssorllih) 8.21.13@18:26

Ross's Maryland Bakery

Pancake mix

Biscuit crust pizza

Pizza Glossary Pizza Making Terms & Definitions