Cakes & Bakes: Bottle of beer bread

A friend of ours has a micro-bar that sells an ever-changing selection of beers produced by micro-breweries all over the world. Doesn’t everyone want a friend like that?

Anyhow, we looked after their dog for them on occasion, and they thanked us with a few different bottles of beer. One of the bottles, a Buxton Brewery IPA, didn’t get drunk for ages, so I decided to use it to make a bottle of beer bread loaf.

I used my usual liquid to starter to flour ratio, but I felt the resultant dough was a little too wet, so I’ve upped the flour content by 50 grams in my recipe below. Perhaps I needed to weigh how much 330cl of beer weighs compared to 330cl of water!

The time this loaf takes to prepare can vary widely depending on the temperature of your kitchen (ours rarely gets above 15ºC… in the summer), and whether you refrigerate your dough whilst it bulk ferments. Sometimes, if it’s really cold, I shut the covered dough in the microwave (pre-warmed by leaving a mug of boiling water in there).

It is helpful to know when estimating rising time according to room temperature that the rate of fermentation, or rising, is about double for every 15°F [8°C] increase in temperature. The Bread Bible

The resultant loaf was hoppy, tangy and flavoursome. It was delicious with a bit of mature cheddar or just with butter and gorgeous a few days later toasted.

Click here or on the image below to save my bottle of beer bread recipe to Pinterest

Bottle of beer bread

2020-07-23 11:05:05

Yields 1

Cook Time

30 min

Cook Time

30 min

Ingredients

330ml bottle of beer
115g/4oz starter @ 100% hydration
175g/6oz wholemeal flour
375g/13oz white flour
8g/¼oz salt

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Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the beer and the starter, getting rid of a lot of the fizz from the beer
Mix in the flours and salt, then turn out on to a work surface (I like to use a large marble board as it's very non-stick) and knead for 5 minutes
Form the dough into a ball, put it back into the mixing bowl, cover and leave to prove until double in size (the warmer your kitchen, the quicker this will happen)
Scrape the dough out of the bowl back on to the work surface, fold and shape the dough into a round and place it in a well-floured, circular banneton (smooth-side down). Prove again until double in size
Preheat the oven to 250ºC/475ºF/Gas mark 9 (put your cloche or stone [if using] in the oven to preheat as well, at this point)
Once the oven has reached the correct temperature, carefully remove the dough from the banneton, score and bake for 30 minutes (you can take the lid off the cloche for the final 10 minutes to get a lovely brown crust)
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before attempting to slice

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Sourdough beer loaf

I’m continuing with Sourdough September this week and making a sourdough beer loaf using a dark, delicious porter from Acorn Brewery in Barnsley.

I’ve been baking with sourdough – on and off – for a few years now and it can be hit & miss with the temperature of our house. This recipe that I’ve used talks about room temperature being 22ºC; we have a thermometer in our kitchen that never gets past 15ºC at the peak of summer! I’ve picked up a couple of tricks to improve the ambient environment for bread baking. In the winter, I simply put the proofing bowl/banneton near the wood-burner. In the summer I boil a mug of water in the microwave, remove it, put the bowl/banneton in and close the door. It usually works quite well.

The web page where I found this recipe has lots of photos of the finished loaf uploaded by all the people that tried it. Lots of lovely, round boules and shapely batards. As you can tell from my photos, mine was a bit of a ‘nailed it’ attempt! It wasn’t the temperature but the consistency of my dough that was to blame.

Starter hydration is described as a percentage – e.g. 100% hydration or 75% hydration. I wasn’t at school on the day percentages were taught and I’ve still not mastered them… maths was always my worst subject too! My starter is kept at the former percentage i.e. equal weight (not volume) of flour & water at each feeding. I don’t know where it went wrong to be honest. I should have gone with my instinct and added more flour – I could tell that I would have to pour my dough out of the banneton, almost as if it was a batter. Even so, it still managed something of a rise and tastes great! I will revisit this sourdough beer loaf recipe very soon and post the results below.

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest for later!

Sourdough beer loaf

2017-09-07 12:37:00

Yields 1

Cook Time

50 min

Cook Time

50 min

Ingredients

400g/14oz strong white flour
100g/3½oz wholemeal flour
345g/12oz bottle of beer (I used most of a 500ml bottle of Old Moor porter brewed by Acorn Brewery of Barnsley here in Yorkshire)
75g/2⅔oz water
80g/2¾oz sourdough starter
12g/½oz salt

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Instructions

Pour 345g/12oz of room temperature beer into a bowl and mix thoroughly to release the carbonation
Add the 500g/17⅔oz flour mixture to the beer and mix until thoroughly incorporated into a shaggy mass
Cover and set aside (autolyse) at room temperature (22ºC/72ºF) for 2-3 hours
Combine the salt, water and starter and mix thoroughly before adding to the dough
Fold repeatedly until everything is thoroughly mixed together and the dough begins to feel smooth
Cover the mixing bowl and allow to sit for about an hour
Fold the dough 8 times (8 single folds)
Re-cover the mixing bowl and allow to sit for about 12 hours at room temperature (22ºC/72ºF) or until the volume of dough doubles (optionally stretch and fold periodically)
Turn out the fermented dough on a lightly-floured work surface and shape into your preferred loaf (boule, batard, etc.) and then place dough into a well-floured (rice flour is preferred) proofing basket/banneton; cover and allow to sit at room temperature (22ºC/72ºF) for about an hour
After 30 minutes or so, place your preferred baking vessel, stone or tray (I used my pizza steel) in the oven and preheat to 260ºC/500ºF (or your vessel's maximum safe temperature).
With the dough fully risen and oven pre-heated, gently transfer the dough from the proofing basket to the baking vessel, score the top of the loaf, and then bake at 260ºC/500ºF with top on (if using) for 20 minutes
Turn the oven temperature down to 230ºC/450ºF and bake for another 10 minutes
Remove the top of the baking vessel (if using) and bake for 20 minutes or until the colour of the crust is as desired and the internal loaf temperature is at least 90ºC/200ºF
Remove the loaf from the oven and place it on a wire rack and allow it to cool for at least an hour before slicing

By Galen Saturley

Adapted from Breadtopia

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Bookmarks: How to Make Bread

This edition of Bookmarks is a little different…

…it’s a hybrid – both book review and cookery post.

Long-time followers of this blog will know that Adelle is partial to a bit of bread baking and she squealed with delight when this book, How to Make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou, came through the letterbox!

The recipes are divided up into basic & other yeasted breads; wheat-free or gluten-free breads; sourdoughs and pastries & sweet treats.

There are also really useful chapters on the basics of bread-making and a list of suppliers & stockists of all the wonderful flours, grains and bread-making paraphernalia.

Beautifully staged photographs by Steve Painter and to die for props – Justin’s been emulating them with his breadboards, wooden spoons, herbs and dustings of flour!

The book is fantastic for a real bread beginner. It has clear, step by step images. It has inspired the resurrection of the starter that was killed in the pantry by the central heating when it was turned on last winter (that sounds like a game of Cluedo!)

After an age pouring over all the different bread and pastry recipes, she chose the beer bread as her first attempt.

Here’s the recipe…

Makes 4 rolls (Adelle made 1 large loaf from the same quantity dough)

Added notes: long proofing/dough rising basket (900g/2lbs capacity), greased baking sheet lined with parchment paper,
(warning, you’ll also need a collection of different sized mixing bowls!).

400 g/3¼ cups malthouse flour (or 2 cups unbleached bread flour, ¾ cup multigrain blend and ½ malted wheat flakes)
10 g/1 teaspoon salt
200 g/1 ⅔ cups malthouse or unbleached strong/bread flour
2g fresh yeast or 1g/¾ teaspoon dried/active dry yeast
200g/200ml/6oz organic ale or other beer (Adelle used Marston’s Oyster Stout)
4g fresh yeast or 2g/¼ teaspoon dried/active dry yeast
200g/200ml/6oz organic ale or other beer
rolled oats, for coating

…and here’s the method…

Into one (medium) mixing bowl, sift the 400 g/3¼ cups malthouse flour (or equivalent) and empty the sifted larger grains into a shallow dish. Set aside.
Mix the salt with the sifted flour and set aside. This is the dry mixture
Into another (smaller) mixing bowl, sift the 200 g/1 ⅔ cups malthouse flour (or equivalent) and empty the sifted larger grains into the dish with the rest of the reserved grains.
Into another (larger) mixing bowl, weigh out the 2g fresh yeast (or equivalent). Add the 200g/200ml/6oz ale and stir until the yeast has dissolved. This is the wet mixture. (Leave the second batch of ale in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator.)
Mix the 200 g/1 ⅔ cups sifted flour into the wet mixture until it comes together.
Cover and let ferment overnight in a cool place.
The next day, in a (smaller) mixing bowl, weigh out the 4g fresh yeast (or equivalent). Add the remaining 200g/200ml/6oz ale and stir until the yeast has dissolved. (Don’t worry if the ale has gone flat.) Pour into the fermented ale mixture and mix.
Now add the reserved dry mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together.
Cover with the bowl that had the dry mixture in it and let stand for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes knead as follows: [in the bowl, pull a portion of the dough up from the side ans press it in the middle. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat this process with another portion of the dough. Repeat another 8 times. The whole process should only take about 10 seconds and the dough should start to resist.] Cover the bowl again and let stand for 10 minutes.
Repeat this step three times, but the last rising should be for 1 hour.
When the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down. Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Transfer the ball of dough to the floured work surface.
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions using a metal dough scraper or sharp serrated knife.
Take each portion of dough and roll between your hands until you get a perfectly round, smooth ball.
Add as many oats as you like to the reserved dish of malted grains and mix.
Roll the top of each ball of dough in the grain mixture. Place, grain side down, into a prepared proofing basket/banneton.
Let the dough rise until slightly less than double the size – 30-45 minutes.
About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/Gas Mark 9 and put a baking stone in to heat up. Place a roasting pan at the bottom of the oven to preheat. Fill a cup with water.
Tip the basket upside down onto the bread peel and lift it away from the risen dough. Slide the bread onto the hot baking stone, pour the reserved cupful of water onto the hot roasting pan and lower the temperature to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
Bake for 30 minutes.
To check if it is baked through, tip it upside down and tap the bottom – it should sound hollow.
If it’s not ready, return to the oven for a few minutes. Set it on a wire rack to cool.

…and here’s Adelle’s finished loaf…

You can get your copy of How to Make Bread from the Cico website. And as usual, it’s also available from Hive, Amazon and Abe Books.

[Many thanks to Sarah at Ryland Peters & Small and Cico Books]