This is the comment thread for the Breadtopia blog post originally published here:
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That seems like a very long time to bake the bread. I find more than 25 minutes at 500 results in a burnt crust.
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Now you’ve done it-I’ve got to try this bread! But I need a little help first, can you please tell me what the red fife flour is? What is a suitable substitute? And can you suggest a conversion chart for grams to ounces-do I use the same when converting the liquid amounts as the dry amounts?
Sorry not to be more self-sufficient on the grams to ounces but I’ve never cooked in grams and would rather rely on someone authoritative for an answer than to trust the Google crapshoot! Thanks much for a very tempting recipe and for indulging my ignorance.
Please, what does “Cover mixing bowl and let sit for approximately 1 hour. Fold dough 8 times.” mean? At the end of the hour, do a standard Ken Forkish “fold” (actually stretching and folding 4 or 5 times)](https://youtu.be/CQHuWDEo3SA) twice in a row? Or something else? Or at some other time?
It depends what you bake the bread in. I use a clay baker that has a top and bottom piece. Having the top on while baking keeps moisture in the vessel. This prevents the crust from drying out and burning.
Also, notice that I turn the heat down after 20min of baking. Hope that helps.
Red Fife is an heirloom wheat that grows in Canada. Good alternative wheat flours would be Turkey Red (an heirloom wheat grown in the US) or Hard Red Spring (a conventional wheat grown in the US). But really you can use any whole wheat flour.
Here is a good conversion chart:
http://startcooking.com/measurement-and-conversion-charts
Happy baking.
These are bowl covers that easily fit any bowl. Or you can use a damp towel to cover a bowl.
Ken’s “fold” will work. I don’t stretch the dough as much as Ken and that is why I fold it 8 times. Either technique will work just fine.
Thanks for the questions.
Could you work up an “almost no knead” version of this wonderful sounding recipe?
What is the hydration of your sourdough starter? Mine is 80%. Should I adjust water/flour proportions?
Thanks
I’ll put something together soon and share.
My starter is around 90% hydration but you shouldn’t need to adjust the water or flour proportions. Remember, recipes are a really good starting point for baking bread. There are so many variables that can differ from one person’s kitchen to another. Room Temp, humidity, water source, fridge temp, how active a starter is, all affect the bread baking.
Thanks much for the info. You’ve planted a seed - I work with the reasearchers in the College of Ag at South Dakota State University. One of my breeders developed a new variety of wheat for the Northern Great Plains called the Oahe Wheat. In the early 1900’s one of our researchers developed the Hope Wheat - if I have the story correct, he is credited with saving wheat as a grain since disease or bugs were threatening to wipe it out. Will be talking to my wheat guys to learn more!
Thank you for this nice recipe. I have been wanting to make beer bread for my hubbs and this fullfills the desire nicely. …2 “newbie” type questions…
Fisrt…the 80g of sd starter…is that cold or active or 12 hours from last feeding or???
Secondly…I just bought some fresh hard red wheat grain I would like to fresh grind to add to this recipe…how do you suggest I do that?
Thanks…
- You want an active starter. I take my starter out of the fridge and let it sit at room temp for about 20-30min.
- The flour amounts should be the same. Whole wheat Hard Red Spring will function very similar to whole wheat Red fife. I suspect you have a home mill, so set it to the finest setting and mill some whole wheat flour. If the bran in your flour is bigger than the head of a pencil you can try sending the flour back through your mill at the finest setting. It should mill the bran finer but that does depend on what mill you own. The other option, if your bran is too large, is just sift it out. A 40 mesh screen will do the trick. Happy baking.
I am pleased to see that someone is creating recipes from a local brewery around me. Lefthand brewery is North of Denver, in Longmont, CO. I have enjoyed Milk Stout several times. I am sure that it adds a lot of flavor to this recipe.
In regards to your comment to beer being a liquid bread, there is a microbrewery located in Hays, KS which is called, Liquid Bread Company. Being of a Catholic Religious Order of men (Capuchin Franciscans) whose roots were from friars who came to the Americas, & that area in particular to serve the Volga Germans (Russian Germans) who emigrated there in late 1800’s. They came from Bavaria & Rhine Westwalia. They brought with them their beer recipes which they drank exclusively, since Europeans did not drink water. The brewing purified the water. So every friary, house of friars, had a brewer.
Lawrence, KS is home of a microbrewery called Free State Brewery. One of their logos has been a tiny piece from the journal of our first Minister from Germany, who wrote about the struggles of living in a “dry state” who gave the friars grief over their brewing. Fr. Hyachinth Epp, OFM Capuchin wrote, “because without beer, things don’t seem to go quite as well.”
Using beers to enhance both smell & taste is an other dish, such as bread connects the dish to memories for me and gives honor to so many who came before who stove to bring joy to all they met. Thanks for creating this recipe.
Reading this recipe and seeing the accompanying photo motivated me to order the red fife wheat. I’ve been eyeing the heirloom grains on breadtopia for quite some time. I’m having a lot of trouble baking with Einkorn grains and am happy to have the choice of the variety of heirloom wheat grains. I’ll post a picture of the bread soon. I don’t drink beer any more so I’ll get a good bottle of beer from a friend who drinks beer. That won’t be hard to find.
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What does it mean until the “dough begins to feel smooth?” Like a ball or is it still liquidish? I’m afraid my measurements are all whacked out because I don’t use metric weight. Wish there were more photos.
This is so true. Thanks so much for the interesting comment. I do love brewing history.
Love this bread. It has a great taste and was fun to work with. I enjoy working with a high hydration dough and this fit the bill. I did not have Red Fife so I used regular WW. I preheated the oven to 500 but turned the temp down to 450 as soon as the bread was put in the oven and baked for 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered. We loved the taste and the texture. Thank you for a great recipe…I will be making this again.
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Thank you very much for such a nice detailed response!!! I will take your advice!
Happy Baking!
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