I constantly experiment with recipes and cooking/baking/grilling/smoking/braising techniques. This morning I'm baking my favorite multigrain, seeded loaf, something I do once a week. I have perfected the recipe for my tastes, and then I watched a YouTube video by Cooks Illustrated about incorporating a Tangzhong into the recipe. What is a Tangzhong? It is a small addition of flour and water cooked into a starch and added to the ingredients to soften the loaf, tighten the crumb, retain moisture/freshness longer, and extend shelf-life. You even increase the hydration amount. I thought, "This I gotta try."
As I stood holding my KitchenAid mixer in one place while it kneaded the dough with the Tangzhong addition, I saw a sticky mess. I thought, "No way is this going to come together." My mind immediately started figuring out how much additional flour I should add. Should it be AP or bread flour? When should I add the flour? Then I told myself to not make a single change and let the ingredients do their thing. Just because it wasn't coming together like it had dozens of times before didn't mean anything was wrong. After all, I had made a change.
Normally, my recipe reaches a smooth ball stage in about 6 minutes in the mixer. I passed 6. I passed 8. I passed 10. It was still a sticky mess but I could see gluten strands forming. By 13 minutes I had a smooth ball, the sides of the bowl were clean, and it had released from the bottom of the bowl. It was then I remembered that baking bread is no different than the one thing that worked for smoking meat to perfection...patience.
Once upon a time I constantly monitored meat temps, chamber temps, the clock, and mealtime expectations. It was much like watching that bread knead. If it didn't "meat" (sorry, couldn't resist) my expectations, I immediately went into problem-solving mode. That's stressful and often complicates the issue. Patience often solves whatever you believe might be going wrong. Patience opens the door to timing techniques for stress-free smoked meals.
The bread is rising now. I have no idea how it will turn out. But I've yet to discard a loaf that I considered a failure. It's all edible. I saved the end piece from last Wednesday's bread to compare the crumbs (internal structure) of my original recipe with the Tangzhong version. Pics to follow.
Almost done rising (cold oven with light on). BTW, the light does nothing for the temp of the oven. It only allows you to see what's happening. Trust me, I've tested it.
As I stood holding my KitchenAid mixer in one place while it kneaded the dough with the Tangzhong addition, I saw a sticky mess. I thought, "No way is this going to come together." My mind immediately started figuring out how much additional flour I should add. Should it be AP or bread flour? When should I add the flour? Then I told myself to not make a single change and let the ingredients do their thing. Just because it wasn't coming together like it had dozens of times before didn't mean anything was wrong. After all, I had made a change.
Normally, my recipe reaches a smooth ball stage in about 6 minutes in the mixer. I passed 6. I passed 8. I passed 10. It was still a sticky mess but I could see gluten strands forming. By 13 minutes I had a smooth ball, the sides of the bowl were clean, and it had released from the bottom of the bowl. It was then I remembered that baking bread is no different than the one thing that worked for smoking meat to perfection...patience.
Once upon a time I constantly monitored meat temps, chamber temps, the clock, and mealtime expectations. It was much like watching that bread knead. If it didn't "meat" (sorry, couldn't resist) my expectations, I immediately went into problem-solving mode. That's stressful and often complicates the issue. Patience often solves whatever you believe might be going wrong. Patience opens the door to timing techniques for stress-free smoked meals.
The bread is rising now. I have no idea how it will turn out. But I've yet to discard a loaf that I considered a failure. It's all edible. I saved the end piece from last Wednesday's bread to compare the crumbs (internal structure) of my original recipe with the Tangzhong version. Pics to follow.
Almost done rising (cold oven with light on). BTW, the light does nothing for the temp of the oven. It only allows you to see what's happening. Trust me, I've tested it.