bigfish, 2 years ago

Baker’s ratios make my family think I’m a much better baker than I am.

Basic risen bread (a “60% hydration bread” ): 100 parts by weight of flour, 60-70 parts liquid, 3 parts salt, 2 parts yeast. Use grams and scale it up by 5 (500g flour), use water or beer for the liquid, knead, let rise for an hour or so, shape, rest for 30min, then bake at 400F for about an hour or until the inside is around 190-200F, and LET IT COOL to sub-120F before you cut in. Or if you’re feeling fancy, use scalded and cooled milk, add 5-10 parts sugar, and swap out 10-20 parts of the liquid for melted but not hot butter - and you get a nice rich bread, half way to a brioche. Or go to 70-75 parts liquid, including some olive oil, and kneed for a long time, and you got a solid pizza dough.

Quick breads: 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid (including sugar), 1 part beaten egg, 1 part fat (oil or melted butter). This gives you a jumping if point for banana breads, pancakes, muffins, and scones. Add or withhold a little liquid to get the consistency you want for how you’re cooking it.