'Whole Snake' Supposedly Baked Into a Loaf of Bread, but Is It Fake?

Posted on April 18, 2013 by bilrob

snake in bread

Whole Snake Supposedly Baked Into a Loaf of Bread, but Is It Fake?

Hope you’ve already eaten your lunch, because if not, you may very well lose your appetite from hearing about the latest food scandal making headlines. Late last week, a Reddit user posted a photo of what appeared to be a snake baked into a loaf of bread. The description: “My aunt found a WHOLE SNAKE in a loaf of bread.” Whaaaat!?

The user, humanimalcracker, claimed the bread in question was from Mrs. Baird’s, which is a beloved regional bakery chain, popular in Texas and surrounding states. But it’s hard to believe that this wasn’t a hoax. Especially considering what Mrs. Baird’s press representative had to say about the accusation to The Huffington Post …

The press representative, David Marguiles, said:

These kind of claims are virtually never true. This isn’t something where you’d look at it and say, ‘Yeah, this could have happened.’ … This is a pretty bizarre claim.

He went on to note that he’s never heard of any incident like this. The company has also released their own official statement in response:

Mrs. Baird’s Bakeries has a 105-year history of baking the highest quality, freshest products for consumers. This includes responding to consumer questions in a timely manner. Our customer service team has tried repeatedly to identify the consumer who goes by the Reddit screen name “humanimalcracker” to obtain a sample of the product for analysis. According to Marshall Maddox, Vice President of Manufacturing Services, the questionable area of the bread in the picture is most likely burned, residual dough that was baked into the loaf. While this is a rare occurrence, it is not uncommon for consumers to mistake the burned dough for a foreign object. We ask that the individual who posted the picture contact us at 800-984-0989 so we can arrange for an independent laboratory to examine the material in question.

Ahh! See, this just kills me. A regional company that has been in business for over a CENTURY is suddenly having to worry that their rep is at stake, because some guy posted a pic of their bread with the outrageous claim that there’s a snake baked into it. Ooookay. I really have to wonder why someone would do something like this.

Fine, post the pic and claim it’s snake bread, but don’t attribute it to a specific company unless you really want them to take some kind of offense. I have to wonder if it was a competitor’s nasty trick? An angry customer trying to get back at Mrs. Baird’s for … who knows what?

All I’m saying is — it’s hard enough to be in the food biz without having people making wild and crazy claims or posting hoax-y photos online that are getting people in a panic unnecessarily. Usually, I’m all about the consumer, but in this case, you gotta feel bad for the bakery … and hope their consumers see through what really seems to be nothing more than a bizarre tall tale.

Do you think the pic is for real or a complete hoax?

Image via Imgur

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Dakota Bread

Posted on April 12, 2013 by bilrob

Dakota Bread

Homemade bread is a pure joy, and when it’s made even more nutritious by the addition of nuts and seeds, it’s something we could see ourselves making regularly. (Well, maybe.) This rendition of Dakota bread from Cook’s Country uses hot cereal to make it a bit less time-consuming to prepare, without any decline in bread flavor.

2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) seven-grain hot cereal mix (not cold cereal!)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups (19 1/4 ounces) bread flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
3 tablespoons raw, unsalted pepitas
3 tablespoons raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Grease large bowl. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In bowl of stand mixer, combine water, cereal, honey, and oil and let sit for 10 minutes.

Add flour, salt, and yeast to cereal mixture. Fit stand mixer with dough hook and knead on low speed until dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 6 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons pepitas and 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds to dough and knead for 1 minute longer. Turn out dough onto lightly floured counter and knead until seeds are evenly distributed, about 2 minutes.

Transfer dough to greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in size and fingertip depression in dough springs back slowly, 60 to 90 minutes.

Gently press down on center of dough to deflate. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and shape into tight round ball. Place dough on prepared sheet. Cover dough loosely with plastic and let rise at room temperature until almost doubled in size, 60 to 90 minutes.

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lowest positions and heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon pepitas, remaining 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds in small bowl. Using sharp knife, make ¼-inch-deep cross, 5 inches long, on top of loaf. Brush loaf with egg and sprinkle seed mixture evenly over top.

Place 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan on lowest oven rack and fill with 1 cup boiling water. Place baking sheet with dough on upper-middle rack and reduce oven to 375 degrees. Bake until crust is dark brown and bread registers 200 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer loaf to wire rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Serve.

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Little Caesars Pizza Premieres New DEEP!DEEP! Dish Pizza

Posted on April 3, 2013 by bilrob

Little Caesars Pizza Premieres New DEEP!DEEP! Dish Pizza

DETROIT, April 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Little Caesars Pizza, the largest carry-out pizza chain in America and home of the $5 HOT-N-READY^® pizza, is unveiling the biggest product introduction in the company’s 54-year history: the new DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza. Each delicious slice of the eight-corner, large pizza features a crunchy crust with caramelized cheese edges and is topped with pepperoni and cheese. Starting April 1, the DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza will be a fixture on Little Caesars menus nationwide for only $8 plus tax. This craveable new choice gives pizza enthusiasts big flavor, while deepening the company’s commitment to value, quality and convenience.

“For more than 50 years, Little Caesars has been all about pizza,” said Little Caesars Pizza President and CEO, David Scrivano. “When we set out to create a new deep dish, we wanted it to have an incredible taste, epitomize quality, and fit the tremendous value and convenience Little Caesars is known for. Whether you’re a Little Caesars Pizza fanatic or trying our pizza for the first time, I think you’ll be impressed by our new DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza.”

Little Caesars has a long history of innovation including pioneering a two-for-one pizza deal later known as Pizza!Pizza!®, introducing the revolutionary $5 HOT-N-READY^® concept, inventing a conveyor oven specially designed to bake pizza, and creating unique products like Crazy Bread^®. This year Little Caesars is innovating again with the DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza. A nod to Little Caesars hometown, the DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza is a Detroit-style pizza — a rectangular pizza that gets its crispy-crunchy edge and chewy inside texture from baking in a custom metal pan coated with olive oil. Styled after the assembly line trays first used to make deep dish pizza in the Motor City years ago, our modern adaptation of this pan is made in the USA exclusively for Little Caesars and is designed to deliver the same Detroit-style crunch. Little Caesars Pizza is the first national chain to introduce Detroit-style deep dish pizza to its core menu in all 50 states.

The new DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza builds on the success and legacy of the $5 HOT-N-READY^® pizza by offering a new pizza variety with the same focus on value, quality and convenience. Based on test market results, the company anticipates DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza to be the biggest new product launch (based on first week sales) in Little Caesars history.

The DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza’s unforgettable taste starts with hand-made dough, baked in custom, deep dish pans that create a unique, crispy-on-the-bottom, soft-and-chewy-on-the-inside crust. Topped from coast-to-coast with fresh, premium mozzarella and Muenster, baked to a crispy, crunchy, caramelized cheese edge. Four corners of perfection weren’t enough — so DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza gives you eight! It will also be available HOT-N-READY^®from 4-8 p.m.

Joining our popular $5 original round pepperoni or cheese HOT-N-READY^® pizza, DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza is the most recent addition to the HOT-N-READY^® lineup of products, which also includes Crazy Bread^®, Caesar Wings and other delicious selections.

About Little Caesars
Little Caesars Pizza, known for its HOT-N-READY® pizza and famed Crazy Bread®, is the largest carry-out pizza chain in America and the fastest growing pizza chain in the world*. Named “Best Value in America”** for the sixth year in a row, Little Caesars products are made with quality ingredients, like fresh, never frozen, mozzarella and Muenster cheese, dough made fresh daily in the stores and sauce made from fresh California vine ripened tomatoes.

For franchisee candidates, Little Caesars is rapidly expanding in prime markets including internationally, providing an opportunity for independence in a franchise system. In addition, Little Caesars offers strong brand awareness with one of the most recognized and appealing characters in the country, Little Caesar.

Little Caesars Pizza founders Michael and Marian Ilitch opened their first restaurant in Garden City, Michigan in 1959. In addition to Little Caesars Pizza, Michael and Marian Ilitch’s companies in the food, sports and entertainment industries include: the Detroit Red Wings, Olympia Entertainment, Olympia Development, Blue Line Foodservice Distribution, Champion Foods, Ilitch Holdings, Inc., Uptown Entertainment, Little Caesars Pizza Kit Fundraising Program, and a variety of venues within these entities. Michael Ilitch owns the Detroit Tigers. Marian Ilitch owns MotorCity Casino Hotel.

For more information about Little Caesars, visit www.LittleCaesars.com or call 1-800-553-5776.

*Fastest growing pizza chain in the world – based on net number of stores added 2008-2012.
**“Highest-Rated Chain – Value for the Money” based on a nationwide survey of quick-service restaurant consumers conducted by Sandelman Associates, 2007- 2012.

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Potato and Rosemary Focaccia

Posted on April 1, 2013 by bilrob

Potato and Rosemary Focaccia

Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients.

Focaccia is popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavoured with a number of vegetables.

Focaccia doughs are similar in style and texture to pizza doughs, consisting of high-gluten flour, oil, water, salt and yeast. It is typically rolled out or pressed by hand into a thick layer of dough and then baked in a stone-bottom or hearth oven. Bakers often puncture the bread with a knife to relieve bubbling on the surface of the bread.

Also common is the practice of dotting the bread. This creates multiple wells in the bread by using a finger or the handle of a utensil to poke the unbaked dough. As a way to preserve moisture in the bread, olive oil is then spread over the dough, by hand or with a pastry brush prior to rising and baking. In the northern part of Italy, lard will sometimes be added to the dough, giving the focaccia a softer, slightly flakier texture. Focaccia recipes are widely available, and with the popularity of bread machines, many cookbooks now provide versions of dough recipes that do not require hand kneading.

Focaccia can be used as a side to many meals, as a base for pizza, or as sandwich bread.

This version is different to other versions of focaccia with potatoes that we have published, in that is uses mashed potato in the dough as well as sliced potatoes on the top.

2 medium (about 300g) potatoes
1 tablespoon (14g) dried yeast
1/2 cup warm water
4 cups (600g) plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup warm milk
2 medium (about 300g) potatoes, extra
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
1/3 cup oil

Lightly grease 26cm x 32cm Swiss roll pan. Boil, steam or microwave potatoes until tender, drain; mash, cool.

Cream yeast with a little of the water in small bowl, stand in a warm place about 10 minutes or until mixture is frothy. Sift flour and salt into large bowl, rub in mashed potato. Stir in yeast mixture,remaining water and milk, mix to a firm dough. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Return dough to large greased bowl, cover, stand in warm place about 2 hours or until dough is doubled in size.

Turn dough onto floured surface, knead until smooth, press dough into prepared pan, cover, stand in warm place about 1 hour or until dough is doubled in size.

Peel and thinly slice extra potatoes, arrange slices overlapping on top of dough. Sprinkle with garlic and rosemary; brush with oil. Bake in a moderate oven about 1 hour or until potatoes are soft. Cool focaccia in pan.

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How to make French Bread

Posted on March 30, 2013 by bilrob

French Bread

By Kevin

It’s that time of month again; it’s Daring Bakers time. This months recipe is French Bread, Julia Child style. Making my own French bread has been on my todo list for a while and this was a great time to do it.

One of the reasons that I joined the Daring Bakers was to challenge myself. Many Daring Bakers recipes are challenging in that they include several different components. This recipe may look simple when looking at the ingredient list, but the instructions make up for it. Making French bread takes a bit of effort and time. A lot of time in fact. It includes letting the dough rise three times and letting the bread cool each of which takes 2-3 hours for a total of 8-12 hours. This is definitely something that you want to do on the weekend.

Making the bread, although time consuming was not too difficult. When I read the instructions the first time I somehow missed the third rising. By the time I finished the bread it was pretty late at night. I decided to form my bread into the classic baguette shape. The only problem that I had with the recipe was the folding stage. I could not figure out what I was supposed to be doing. Some pictures would have been helpful. I did some folding and forming and it seemed to turn out ok so it was not a problem.

When I pulled the bread out of the oven something seemed wrong. The bread seemed to be rock hard. I thought that I might have done something wrong and that I might have just wasted an entire days worth of effort. Instead of waiting for the bread to cool for the recommended 2-3 hours I immediately cracked open a loaf. The inside was so light, fluffy and just perfect. It was almost cloud like. Now that I had cracked open a loaf and seen the inside there was no way that I could not try just a piece right away. I cut off a slice and spread on some butter which started melting into the still warm bread. Despite the fact that the crust seemed a bit hard to the touch, it seemed perfectly crusty to the mouth and teeth. The bread was so good! The just one slice quickly turned into just one loaf! I really, really enjoy freshly baked bread with melting butter.

Overall the French bread was a lot of work and took a lot of time but it was worth it. It was some of the best bread that I have ever made or even had. I will be making this again but given that it takes a whole day I am not sure how often that will be.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1/3 cup warm water
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cups tepid water

Directions:
1. Mix the yeast and warm water and let sit for a few minutes.
2. Mix everything in the bowl to form a dough that should be soft and sticky.
3. Place the dough onto the kneading surface and let sit for a few minutes.
4. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes adding a bit of flour if it is too sticky. The dough should be elastic and retract into shape when you push it out. The dough should also be cleaning itself off the working surface but still be sticky to your hands.
5. Let the dough rest for a few minutes.
6. Knead for a minute. The dough should look smooth, be less sticky and remain soft.
7. Let the dough rise to triple its volume over the next 3-5 hours in a lightly greased covered bowl.
8. Pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it with your lightly floured hands.
9. Fold the dough in half and in half again and place it back in the bowl.
10. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise to triple its volume, about 3 hours.
11. Pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into the shapes that you want. If you want one big round loaf leave it alone. If you want 3 baguette shaped loaves then cut it into three long pieces. Etc.
12. Fold the dough in half, cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
13. Dust a tea towel with flour so that the formed dough can rise on it without sticking to it.
14. Form the dough into an 8-10 inch oval on a lightly floured surface with your lightly floured hands.
15. Fold the dough in half lengthwise and seal the fold.
16. Roll the dough 1/4 turn so that the fold it on top.
17. Flatten the dough into an oval again and press a trench along the fold with the side of your hand.
18. Fold the dough in half lengthwise and seal the edges.
19. Roll the dough 1/4 turn so that the seal is on the bottom.
20. Roll the dough back and forth and stretch it to form a long cylinder.
21. Place the formed dough on the floured tea towel and form the remaining two loaves.
22. Cover the loaves and let rise until they have tripled in volume.
23. Carefully lift the loaves off of the tea towel and place them on a baking sheet.
24. Using a sharp knife slash the tops of the loaves 3 times.
25. Bake in a preheated 450F oven for 25 minute. The crust should be golden brown and crisp. It should sound hollow when knocked.
26. Let the bread cool for 2-3 hours.

Recipe source:

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Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread)

Posted on March 30, 2013 by bilrob

Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread)

by Kevin

Tsoureki is a Greek brioche like bread that is commonly served for major holidays including Easter. I have been seeing tsoureki pop up around the food blogging sphere near Easter every year since I started food blogging and I have been wanting to try making it. The only that held me off for so long was that it commonly includes some ingredients that I had not come across such as mastic and mahlep. (Mastic is the crystallized resin from the mastic tree and mahlep is made from sour cherry seeds from the mahlep tree.) Since last Easter I was able to find both of these ingredients so I was all set to go!

There are many variations of tsoureki including ones with different flavouring and different toppings. One common practice around Easter is to push red eggs into the braids. Since this was my first time making tsoureki, I wanted to keep it nice and simple so I went with the basic flavourings of the mastic, mahleb and orange zest and I omitted all toppings. Several things that I found interesting about this recipe was the use of the butter, eggs and milk as most of my experience with yeast based breads so far have been pretty simple with just yeast, flour water and salt. The dough came together really easily and with the warmth that we have been having recently it rose really quickly. Braiding the bread was the hardest part, though overall it was a fun challenge and everything turned out ok.

One of the reasons that I rarely make my own bread is because freshly home made bread is so addictively good, especially when still warm from the oven. I often find myself inhaling way more than I should before it has even had a chance to cool. The tsoureki was no different! The aroma of mastic, mahlep and orange tantalized me while the bread was baking, and I could barely wait for it to cool down before digging in. The tsoureki was nice and soft and moist and yet light and fluffy with a nice bit of chew to it. The flavouring was subtle, but with the amazing aroma it was simply irresistible! I had more than a few slices topped with some melting butter.

Note: You can find the mastic resin and the mahlep at a local Greek or Turkish grocery store or order them online. If you cannot find them, you can replace them with other flavours such as vanilla and or cardamom.

Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread)

A brioche like sweet bread that is traditionally made for Easter.

Servings: makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

1/2 tablespoons dry active yeast
1/2 cup milk, luke warm
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup water or milk or orange juice
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon mahlep, ground
1 teaspoon mastic, ground
2 tablespoons orange zest
6 cups all purpose flour
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten

Directions
Mix the yeast into the milk, along with the sugar, salt and flour and let sit for 10 minutes.
Mix the water, butter, eggs, sugar, mahlep, mastic and orange zest into the yeast mixture.
Mix the flour into the yeast mixture until it forms a dough.
Knead the dough.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise to double its original size, about 2 hours.
Punch the dough down, cut it into 6 parts and form 2 braids.
Place the braid on a grease baking sheet and let rise to double its original size, about 1 hour.
Brush with the egg wash.
Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.

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Recipe source: closetcooking.com

The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread? Loaves That Don't Go Moldy

Posted on March 29, 2013 by bilrob

The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread? Loaves That Don’t Go Moldy

Bakers and eaters alike may notice a particular quirk of sourdough bread: it doesn’t go moldy like conventionally leavened bread. Now, scientists have figured out why the sour stuff is mold-resistant, and they may be able to apply it to other foods to halt the fungus among us.

Sourdough is different from traditional bread because it takes an extra fermentation step, which uses lactic acid bacteria to metabolize sugars and add that particular spunky flavor. The researchers found that during sourdough production, lactobacilli bacteria convert another acid found in bread flour–linoleic acid–into hydroxy fatty acids that resist fungus.

By harnessing special bacteria, bakers may be able to reduce the amount of preservatives from bread, making it taste better. They also may be able to create tools to control fungi in malting and plant production. Their research was published recently in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

“Our research potentially provides a very useful tool to the food industry, says Michael Gaenzle, a professor of Agricultural, Food Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta. “Mold growth limits the shelf life of bread, but also of other foods,” and the research could help extend the ability of foods to hang around for longer.

Gaenzle adds that hydroxylated fatty acids like the ones he is studying are a class of compounds that has to date not been considered as an antifungal agent in food preservation.

To move the research forward, Gaenzle must first repeat the results after replacing linoleic acid–not commonly used as food ingredient and quite expensive in purified form–with a plant oil rich in linoleic acid. Second, he wants to find out why the lactobacilli convert linoleic acid to hydroxy fatty acids. “If we understand that question, we can further optimize the conversion,” he says.

Shelf-stable food is a goal of many companies. A Texas business known as MicroZap says that it has created bread that stays fresh for two months. They zap the loaves with microwaves for about 10 seconds, which kills any potential mold spores.

The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that, food losses inside grocery stores in the U.S. totaled an estimated 43 billion pounds in 2008, 10% of all foods supplied to retail outlets. Most of those losses come from perishable items like bread.

Microzap is also examining ways to zap pet food, rendering it Salmonella-free. They are also looking into technology to rid linens and comforters of bedbugs.

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Baking artisanal loaf of bread at home well worth the effort

Posted on March 18, 2013 by bilrob

Baking artisanal loaf of bread at home well worth the effort

Whole grain breads are healthier to eat, but can be difficult to bake at home. Don’t give up, say two local artisanal bread bakers. With a few tips you’ll be able to bake a crusty, chewy, flavourful loaf of healthy bread that tastes better than what you can find at the grocery store.

“The biggest challenge when making whole grain bread is not to produce a brick,” said Carlton Adam, who sells his whole grain loaves at Renningers Farmers and Antique Market in Maxatawny Township.

Adam said the bread should be somewhat airy.

When home bakers substitute whole grain flour in their recipes and do not adjust the water content, the loaves turn out very dry and dense, said Anna Shiffler, owner of The Daily Loaf, Virginville.

Whole grain flour differs from white flour in that it still contains the bran and germ of the wheat plant, Shiffler said. The bran and germ are high in protein, fibre and vitamins and soak up much more liquid than white flour.

Adam said baking whole grain bread at home is rewarding but takes some effort.

“You would never bake bread at home to save money or time” Adam said. “The only reason is to have a better product, in terms of ingredients, than you can buy.”

Go ahead, add a little fat

Adam said he puts a little fat in the bread: an egg, a dollop of heavy cream, olive oil and a bit of lard.

“These ingredients soften the crumb and significantly extend the shelf life of the bread without the use of other less desirable additives,” Adam said. “No matter what people say or tell you about eating healthy, they still want soft bread and not a dense brick.”

Instead of fat, try fermenting

Using sourdough or a pre-ferment can aid in the taste, texture and shelf life of your bread, said Shiffler, who uses a sourdough culture for most of her breads.

Shiffler prefers not to put fats in her bread.

“I started baking predominantly yeasted breads, but over the course of time realized my preference to sourdough fermentation in texture, taste and for health,” Shiffler said. “Commercial yeast was cultivated in a laboratory, and I associate it in the same realm as fast food or processed food.”

Shiffler said the slow fermentation of sourdough bread allows for the breakdown of gluten and phytic acid, which is known to block absorption of vitamins and minerals found in wheat. Sourdough is simply a mixture of flour and water that when tended to can provide an environment for wild yeast and lactobacillus to flourish. This takes time to cultivate. It could take up to two weeks for a brand new sourdough culture to be mature enough for bread baking. Once it is mature it needs to be refreshed, or fed a bit of flour and water before adding it to your bread, Shiffler said.

Adam uses a poolish, also known as a preferment. To make a poolish, mix up a small amount of flour, water and a tiny pinch of yeast and cover with a kitchen towel. Allow it to ferment from eight to 24 hours before adding it your bread dough. You should look for lots of little bubbles on the surface.

Adam said generally the holes in true artisanal bread will be somewhat larger and irregular, the crumb will be more chewy than factory bread.

Balance flour and water

Shiffler said there a few whole grain flours that can drastically affect the texture of your bread. Whole grain rye, spelt and pumpernickel flours have lower gluten levels and can make bread too dense when not used properly.

“When using these types of flours use less than half and be sure your bread dough is not too dry,” Shiffler said.

Shiffler and Adam said they sometimes use white wheat flour.

“It behaves more like white flour,” Shiffler said. “I use a portion of it in my 100 percent whole grain breads. It is nutritionally the same as wheat flour; it just has lighter bran and a milder flavour.”

Whole grain bread does best with a higher level of hydration, she said. Higher hydration doughs aid in a good open crumb and crackly crust. This dough can be difficult to work with.

“I prefer about 70 to 80 percent water in my dough,” Shiffler said. “This creates a dough that is far too wet to knead. I use a folding technique to develop the gluten instead.”

She keeps the wet dough in the bowl, and about every 45 minutes or so, she’ll fold it onto itself like a little package, giving it about 20 folds each time over the course of four hours.

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Irish Soda Bread

Posted on March 17, 2013 by bilrob

Irish Soda Bread

What better to go with Irish lamb stew on Saint Patrick’s Day than some Irish soda bread? Irish soda bread is a quick bread that uses baking soda rather than yeast. Traditional soda bread consists of only flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. The buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to produce carbon dioxide and thus rise. I decided to go with the brown soda bread which replaces half of the flour with whole wheat flour.

I also decided to add some rolled oats for additional texture and flavour. I halved the recipe as I did not want to have too much in the way of leftovers. Soda bread would normally just be hand formed and baked on a baking sheet but I decided to put it into a loaf pan to give it a loaf shape. While looking for recipes I saw several that called for some non-traditional ingredients such as raisins, caraway seeds, etc.

The soda bread was the easiest bread that I have ever made. You just mix everything and bake it. It turned out pretty good. The crust was crispy and crunchy without being too hard and the inside was nice and soft and light. I timed it such that the bread came out of the oven at the same time that the stew was done so I got to have the bread while it was still warm from the oven. Of course I had to spread some butter on a few slices to melt into the bread. Melting butter on freshly baked bread is one of my favorite things. Given how easy this bread is to make it would be little trouble to make it for almost any meal.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt and rolled oats in a bowl.
2. Mix in the buttermilk and form a dough.
3. Shape the dough and place it on a baking sheet or in a loaf pan.
4. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 40 minutes (the top should be golden brown).

Recipe source: Closet Cooking

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$10 Billion Bread Battle: Twist-Tie Vs. Plastic Clip

Posted on March 14, 2013 by bilrob

clip.

That clip is big business.

Amy/Flickr

Fun story from Businessweek:

It’s a battle fought by the makers of inconspicuous little products that cost a fraction of a penny to produce—the ones that everyone knows and nobody thinks about, but which represent more than an estimated $10 billion in annual sales. Insiders describe the turf as the bakery bag closure and reclosure market; this is the battle of the plastic clip vs. the twist-tie. …

“I’ll be sitting next to someone on an airplane, and the first comment is always, ‘You make your living out of that one little clip?’” says Hal Miller, Kwik Lok’s vice president of sales.

“Then they think for a second and say, ‘Well, I guess somebody has to make ‘em.’”

If you regularly purchase Arnold bread, a popular supermarket brand, you may have noticed a slight tweak to the product’s packaging last summer. The little plastic clip at the end of the bag—colloquially known as a bread clip or bread tag—was replaced by a twist-tie.

Was this change driven by aesthetics or, perhaps, economics?

Nope. “Our research showed moving to bag ties from clips was a cost-effective way to meet consumer preferences,” says David Margulies, a spokesman for Bimbo Bakeries (GRBMF), the mass-market baker that owns the Arnold brand. “So we made the switch during an equipment upgrade last May.”

This was the latest move in a business war that’s been under way for more than half a century now. It’s a battle fought by the makers of inconspicuous little products that cost a fraction of a penny to produce—the ones that everyone knows and nobody thinks about, but which represent more than an estimated $10 million in annual sales. Insiders describe the turf as the bakery bag closure and reclosure market; this is the battle of the plastic clip vs. the twist-tie.

Even the combatants agree there’s no imminent sign of a clear winner. “We feel, based on surveys we’ve done, that the twist-tie is consumer-preferred, but of course the clip people will tell you the same thing about their product,” says Beth Radloff, marketing specialist for Bedford Industries, a Minnesota-based firm that’s the largest twist-tie manufacturer for the U.S. bakery market. “I think the two methods will always co-exist.”

The bag clip was created by a California inventor named Floyd Paxton, who whittled the first prototype from a piece of plastic while flying home from a business trip in 1952. Paxton soon founded Kwik Lok, based in Yakima, Wash., and still the dominant clip manufacturer today, with plants on four continents. The clips were originally applied by hand to bags of apples, but Kwik Lok began making automated machinery to apply the clips to bakery products in the early 1960s.

Around the same time, Oklahoma-based Burford developed similar machinery to apply twist-ties. Ever since, the two sides—more friendly rivals than sworn enemies—have been jockeying for position. Granted, it isn’t quite Coke vs. Pepsi or Macs vs. PCs, but it’s still a classic case of an entire industry defined by what feels like an eternal, unresolved tug-of-war.

There are no data documenting the two products’ relative market shares in the bakery aisle. Both sides, perhaps unsurprisingly, claim they’re winning. There seems to be general agreement that twist-ties have taken the lead with bread, while clips hold sway with buns, rolls, bagels, and English muffins. There are also pockets of regionalism: Everyone agrees, for example, that the West Coast is clip territory.

All the major players in the category are privately held and declined to disclose sales figures, so here is a bit of plausible extrapolation. U.S. unit sales for packages of bread, rolls, buns, English muffins, and bagels for a recent 52-week period totaled more than 7.2 billion (yes, we still eat a lot of carbs, Dr. Atkins notwithstanding). If we allocate half of those packages to clips, which sell for about $2.15 per thousand, and the other half to twist-ties, which cost about 80 cents per thousand, we’re talking about a $10.6 million market, not counting sales of the machinery that applies the closures. The annual market for the machines is hard to assess: Every set is customized for the client, and it lasts for years. In any case, not bad for a pair of utilitarian doohickeys, right?

The foot soldiers in the middle of all this are the salespeople who try to persuade commercial bakers to install one type of closure-application machinery or the other. One of them is Mitch Lindsey, who’s been selling twist-tie machinery for Burford, the industry leader, for 30 years—long enough to make him a full-throated evangelist for the cause.

“The twist-tie is less expensive, and it gives you a tighter closure, keeping your bread fresher,” he says, launching into a well-practiced and clearly sincere sales pitch. “And the bag is always secure inside the twist-tie. A lot of times you’ll see a bag that isn’t completely inside the plastic clip, and the clip can also damage or cut the bag.”

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