The New York Times - A New way to make bread?

[saucisson]

Thanks Jen, I'll try that, can you define your "cup"

[Paul Kribs]

Wow, that's a bit personal Dave

Oh, I see what you mean please excuse my warped SOH..

Regards, Paul Kribs

[saucisson]

I nearly asked her to tell me her cup size and changed it rapidly, when I realised what I'd typed, seems it was still able to be misinterpreted

Dave

[Michelle]

Hi Georgie or Michelle !!!
I have made the cinnamon and raisin loaf I used 3 cups of white flour 5 tablespoons of brown Sugar plus three heaped tea spoons of Ground Cinnamon & two good handfuls of raisins I cooked it for the time on the recipe it tasted brill the only mistake I made I left it too long to Brown of the top and caught the raisins on the top of the loaf. oops:

Hi Ken Boy! Do you have some pictures of your raisin bread?I am sorry I dont know what "tasted brill" means,do you have another way to explain the taste and texture?I* hope "tasted brill" isnt a bad thing?

Michelle Aka Georgie

[saucisson]

brill is short for brilliant, sounds like a compliment to me

[dougal]

... can you define your "cup"

Its a standard volume measure. 236 and a bit cc for the US one.

But volume measures are *bad* for solids with different packing densities.

Pro bakers do their recipes in terms of how much of the other stuff in proportion to the total flour weight.
The scheme is called "bakers' percentages" and it makes a sort of sense.

A typical artisan bread would be around 70% (of the flour weight) water, 2% (again of the flour) as salt, and 2% (you know now) fresh yeast (rather less for instant).
Anyway most bread doughs would be around 70% 'hydration' (�5%).

For the NYT story the water was 406g (but only 375 in the video).
Now that volume of flour could weigh anywhere between 330 and 420g.
So we are talking about a water percentage of somewhere between 89% and 123%.

(EDIT: {before I'm corrected!} The absolute weights are from Aussie cups, but the *proportion* of water to flour by weight (of course) doesn't depend on the size of the cup... )

These are very wet doughs, but there is one heck of a possible variation.
It would seem simple and appropriate to begin experimenting with 400g of flour + 400g of flour to the quarter teaspoonful of instant yeast.

EDIT 2: Having run around the subject till I'm dizzy, these flour weights are rather too low. In the video, the cups are shaken to pack them tighter - it seems about 475g was being used.
Please see my later post. Use about 80% hydration!

Wetter doughs (other things being equal - if only!) produce more and bigger holes in the internal 'crumb'.

[jenny_haddow]

I've seen a huge variety of conversions for cups to grams/pounds. From .585 lbs to 4and3/8 oz.

So, I have a set of cup measures, I fill the cup loosely with flour and level it off, that's my cup, I sometimes add more flour if the mix is too wet, sometimes more water. It's variable, I think as long as you are consistent with whatever you measure with and keep the proportions correct it should be OK.

As to cup size, well DD would be 'brill'...but sadly!


Jen

[dougal]

I* hope "tasted brill" isnt a bad thing?

It would be if it tasted *of* Brill (a rather fine little flatfish).

[dougal]

{A cup is} a standard volume measure. 236 and a bit cc for the US one.

Its 250 cc in Canada, Aus and NZ.
And for legal purposes in the US (eg nutrition labels) its 240 cc.

And 180 or 200 cc in Japan.


For curing recipes volume ("cup") measures for salt are rubbish. We know that a standard measure of Coarse sea salt weighs less than a similar scoop of fine grain table salt. And its infuriating when they don't say what type of salt they are using in their volume measure.
With flour, its not just about how fine its milled, there's also the type of grain and the amount of wheatgerm and bran in there.

There is no "correct weight" for "1 cup of flour". It depends, rather a lot, on what type of flour is being used.
And, yes, slightly on the cup size too.

Bring back the British Standard Handful...

[saucisson]

A "DD" cup is 572g of flour.

Don't ask...

[Ken Boy]

Hi Georgie,
Yes ' Brill' is short for Brillant I would post some photo's It seems that when I have tried to post pictures on the forum before nothing ever happen's
I get lost in this computer jargon along the way. Franco said that he was going to set something up on that side to make it easy to post pictures.
All this talk about cup size has got me puzzled.

I am personaly a leg man

[jenny_haddow]

Dave

I've just weighed three and a half cups of flour, using my measure (note I refrain from references to my cup!).

It came to 589 grams, which is just over 1 lb of flour, sounds about right.

One cup = 250ml or 9fl oz. That what it says on the handle.

Cheers

Jen

[Ken Boy]

First try out of bread Goergies oatmeal recipe

[Michelle]

Looks good Ken,will you be making it again?

Michelle

[Ken Boy]

Hello Michelle
I will have another try at making the cinomon and rasin loaf
I will try not to burn it this time on the top.
Can you explain to me what potatoe water is it something you buy in bottles overthere
Or is it the water that you just boiled the spud's up in .
You made reference to it a few posts back
That your Mother-in-law was trying it out on a Bread recipe did it work out ok!!