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Best Bread Baking Pans

Aluminum pans are generally best but you can get good results many different types of pans if you make adjustments, in general the electric bread maker should bake beautifully better than most ovens.

 

The automatic bread makers problems are more with mixing, raising time, etc.

 

Overall baking is a very precise skill, over the years we get far more complaints about ovens that don't bake properly and 90% is people not knowing how to make and bake things. When I get people with BS complaints about their oven being 12 degrees off and other such crap I sometimes remind them that their grand mother baked in a wood stove with no thermostat.

 

John L.
 
complaints about their oven being 12 degrees off and other

ROFL! Ain't it the truth!!

I've gotta say, I tried a new bagel recipe and these are the easiest and, IMHO, best bagels yet (Rich said the same). The crust is there, the chew is right....

Starter the night before:
1/2c flour
1/4c water
pinch of yeast from an envelope (save the rest)

Mix, cover with Saran Wrap and let sit on the counter till the next day.

In the bowl of the KA fitted with the dough hook:

3 3/4c (aprox 450g) bread flour
1 1/4 c cool water
The rest of the yeast in the envelope
1 3/4t salt
The starter

Once it's mixed, you may need to add a bit more flour at a time until the dough doesn't stick and is kneaded by the hook. Knead 12 minutes.

Roll the dough in a touch of veg oil in a large bowl, cover, and let sit until doubled... about an hour.

Take the dough out and portion into 6 (aprox 140g each for mine). Roll each into a ball, poke a hole in the middle and stretch it out to form a bagel. Let them sit while the water comes to a boil.

Preheat oven to 400F convection and put 2T molasses in the simmering water. Using a spider, put 2-3 bagels in (they need a little room to spread) and simmer for 2 minutes. Flip them and simmer for another minute or so. Strain them to a parchment-covered pan and continue until all are boiled. Top them with your fav topping while they are still wet and the next batch is boiling.

Bake aprox 20 minutes until a little more than golden brown.

I adapted this recipe from a video I saw on FB this past week- Jennifer Garner. The link is below. She mentions that she doubled the starter so she doubled the flour etc., but the measurements didn't add up. I used the orig. recipe for her starter and backed the original 4c of flour down a tad. The video is linked below.

Good luck, and stay safe,

Chuck



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Re: Reply #329

Louie, I like aluminum pans too, but IMO the size of the pan is more important that the material its made of.  Since 1978 when I first began to bake bread I used 9.25”x5.25” aluminum loaf pans.  The bread came out fine, but I often found that I didn’t get the nice high loaves I was after.  After reading hundreds of recipes I found that the majority of the recipes called for 8.5”x4.5” loaf pans, so bought 2 of this size.  I looked for aluminum but they are hard to find now with the renewed interest in baking bread.  The pans I use are aluminized steel, something I’d not heard of before.  They are heavier than aluminum of course, but they make a perfectly rounded top and well risen loaf.

 

Something else I discovered is that if I let the loaves rise too long before baking they can have large holes in the baked loaf and be somewhat dried than I would like.  And I’ve also found that I prefer making the dough with the paddle attachment, rather than the dough hook if I use the KA, beating the soft dough on speed 6 for 2 mins, then I finish the kneading by hand for about 3-5 mins.  Since I use Rapid Rise Instant Yeast I only need to let the kneaded dough rest, covered for 10 mins, then I form the loaves, spray the tops with Pam and cover with plastic wrap and let them rise for 30-35 mins while preheating the oven.  It’s very important to keep an eye on the loaves and only let the dough rise NO MORE that 1” above the top of the pan!

 

Also, its better for the dough to be a little sticky than too dry while kneading so the finished bread is nice and moist and not dry. I use my kitchen scale to exactly weigh the dough so each loaf is equal in size, its my OCD in action,LOL.

 

I’ve attached photos of the pans I use,  and link to the recipe I’ve found works very well for white or wheat bread and the loaves I just took out of the oven.  Double the amounts for two loaves.

 

The link for the recipes has some helpful videos on bread baking and even though I’ve baked bread for over 40 years I found them helpful.  

 

HTH,

Eddie

https://www.jennycancook.com/recipes/simple-white-bread-with-egg/
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We had another couple over for a safe dinner and pool time. Tried doing Mexican-spiced chicken wings and camaron (shrimp) with rice and beans. The wing marinade needs a bit more tweaking, but all agreed it was successful overall. The lime was especially appreciated for the rice! Not shown... Hornitos margaritas brought by our guests!

Chuck

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We made

Sugo Bolagnese' and braiciole' yesterday with Fettucini. Thats San Marzano tomato sauce, braised stuffed chip top sirloin, flank or skirt steak. The filing has proscutto or soprasatta, bread crumbs, parmesano regioano, grated provolone, chopped arugala, flat parsley, garlic, carmelized onion, a few currants or raisins.
It's time intensive, the rolls of stuffed beef must be tied with string, then browned before braising in the sauce. It's so worth the time though. Rachel Ray has a 3 hour recipe, and a 45 minute short cut one. Mangia!
 
Mike-

I'm gonna have to try a few of your additions next time I make it. I usually go with bread crumb, parm-reg, romano, garlic parsley and egg. I made it once with a strip of prosciutto in each roll, but the flavor was lost. I'll do it next time but will chop the prosciutto so it travels through the stuffing! And I can back off on the other 2 cheeses if I use some grated provolone like you did! Rich's dad always puts raisins in his meatballs- maybe I'll carry that over too!

I always try to make many more than I need, but I cook them all at the same time then vac-seal the extras in meal portions with a leftover for the next day. Sounds like you make the individual ones same as me. I know it's more traditional to make a large one and slice it, but I prefer the individual ones.

Chuck
 
Hot dog Hamburger sauce

Back in the 50's thru to about 1990 we had a locally owned drive in that had its own proprietary hamburger and foolong hotdog sauce. After it closed down many people have tried to copy it often tasting nothing like the original. One local restaurant was advertising their. A few people online were saying how good it was and it was good, BUT as me and my neghbor confirmed there was no corn in the original and it zero celery, there were using chopped up cucumber instead, a definite no go, My neighbor gave me a copy of their recipe that she said she got from someone who had worked there and did I spent some time experimenting and trying to make it in smaller amounts and , well to be honest, less time consuming. I believe I got it, and have run samplings with some of the neighbors who like me well remember the taste.They love it a say it tastes just like the original The original called for using 8 pounds of peeled fresh tomatoes and salt left over night in the fridge.. I'm using a 28oz can of no salt added diced tomatoes (don't use the ones that have herb & spices added. There are TWO steps.. You make a base which yields about 5-6 cups. Then using one of those cups (you can freeze the rest) you add the Second step to make the sauce(relish) .

Base:
28 oz can of no salt added diced tomatoes (not flavored)
1/2 green pepper coarsely chopped
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
5 stalks of celery (no leaves) fine to coarsely chopped
you can chop all these in the food processor if you want.

1 24 oz can/jar of tomato sauce (I use the san marazano ones)
1/8 tsp (teaspoon) ground cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 TBSP coarse salt (you can use table salt a bit less
2.5 TBSP sugar
4 TBSP apple cider vinegar

Simmer over low/med heat while stirring occasionally all of the above in a covered saucepan for a good 3 fod hours till thickened and importantly that the celery is soft. That's your base.

STEP 2
To make 2 cups 1 jar of hotdog/hamburger relish from the above;

1 cup of the above base and add
3/4 cups green relish
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon garlic powder.

Mix together and store in the fridge overnight all though you don't have to wait I think it improves after a cold night in the fridge
that's it. It's easier that way to give away to friends and neighbors and they've been asking.. I've made 3 rounds already. T

However I use all the base at once and add the second step ingredients by multiplying them by how many cups of base I get.

I've never eaten so many hotdogs (even veggie ones) as this past month or two with all the taste testing LOL.. Was doing them on the grill, but now I just zap the hotdog for about 40 seconds on a plate , then load up the bun with sauce, stick the dog in and zap it again for about 30-40 secons,, Yum. If you go those dry Wonder Buns, get something better or at least steam them first..who don't like a steamie.
 
Getting ready for the weekend...

Taking a chance and living dangerously, 4 of us are going to a cousin's lake house a bit East of Big Rapids MI.  The three I'm going with have all hung out together on and off all summer, the other 2 at the house are a question mark, hope we are all well after the weekend.

 

Anyway I made my Lemon Curd Cheesecake to take.  Needs to ripen 2-3 days so I made it tonight.  Really a great cheesecake, 1 c. of fresh lemon curd is mixed into the  cheesecake for some tang.

 

 

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Friday was penne rigate in a light Romano sauce with chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes and basil.

Saturday was bbq country-style ribs with 2-tato salad (white and sweet potatoes). Then it was leftovers with and tomatoes and cukes from the garden.

Chuck

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Louis, I'm sorry but I don't remember what was each thing in details exactly. Those pictures were taken over the last few weeks.

Today I took my husband and daughters out to eat... Literally.

I was really happy, first time we ate in the balcony after the improvements I mentioned in a different thread.
I made a short video but I can't upload directly here (Robert, that would be a great improvement to AWO)

Today's menu was:
Sauté potatoes with fresh rosemary (first harvest from my "personal farm" YAY)
White rice
Weberized Garlic 🍞
Weberized skirt steak (that I forgot in the grill while we ate the salad and it dried so much it looked like a doormat)
IDK what brand (whatever oriental mix with dressing in a pouch and some tiny brown and crunchy things) bagged salad Darryl picked up at the store and it was delicious.

All that with a wonderful view of roofs. Oh and Downtown Los Angeles skyline on the background dressed with a golden California sunset.

I can say it was "Another day of sun", so happy I was.



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Raspberry Pie for this Weekend

This morning, before the heat started to rise, I made a Raspberry Pie, using frozen raspberries.  I used the berries frozen, so I let the pie bake an extra 20 mins to allow for the frozen berries.  I’ve also been making my pie crust with vegetable oil the last 4 pies I’ve made.  My curiosity was peaked by the Vintage Food Advertisements posted by Louie, showing the recipes for pie crust made with both Wesson Oil and Mazola.  I haven’t used this method for years.  We both quite like it.  I make a pretty good pie crust with Crisco, but this oil pie crust tastes every bit as good, just slightly less flaky.  Actually we like almost better than Crisco pie crust.

 

I also discovered Pie Crust bags, which make it easier and less messy to roll out, instead of using two sheets of wax paper.  Making a pie is much quicker too.

 

Eddie

 

[this post was last edited: 8/21/2020-12:31]

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The pie looks delicious Eddie! I was intrigued by the same vintage ad you referenced from Louie’s thread, so copied it into my Pepperplate app on the iPad a couple of weeks ago. Haven’t tried it out, yet.

Thanks for the tip about pie bags—had never heard of them. I may have to jump over to Amazon and order one. I have a large container of blueberries in the fridge that would make a wonderful pie.

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Thanks

Eugene if you buy one of these pie crust bags, get the 16” silicone, the most expensive, and it will make a crust large enough to fit a 9.5”  to 10” pan.  Also, its a heavier weight material and will last longer.  I paid $14.99 +$5.99 shipping at Bed Bath and Beyond for one delivered today. I used the recipe in the link, but increased the oil to 2/3 cup.  The extra flour in this recipe gives more dough for enough extra edge to crimp and seal it well.  Hint wet the countertop it keeps the bag from slipping while you roll the crust.

 

These bags really keep the flour mess down.  And the crusts roll out into perfect circles and hold together well when transferring them to the pan.  Just wash them with warm soapy water, rinse and dry.

 

The recipe I used is also attached.  I used unthawed, frozen 34 cups Raspberries, omitted the water, the berries have plenty of juice as they thaw.  I baked for 1 hr at 350F after the first 15 mins at 425F to allow for the frozen berry start.  It came out perfect.  The Minute tapioca with the cornstarch made it hold its shape when served.

 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12235/raspberry-pie-i/

 

 

Eddie

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12466/oil-pie-crust/
 
These pies really look good....

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Made me hungry so I made Fire Roasted tomato and Feta pasta with Shrimp.  What's the connection you ask?  None.  LOL.  When I get cravings its usually savory and not sweet but that pie really looks good.  I can imagine a piece warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  YUMM.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">We also had blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  The blueberries were on their last legs so in the pancakes they went.</span>

 

 

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File under: Cooking Basics

Tired of producing mushy white long grain rice following package directions, I gave up and started using Minute Rice Premium, which turns out beautifully, but is hella expensive. (Note: That’s Minute Rice Premium; not standard Minute Rice.)

Then I watched an episode of “What’s Eating Dan”—on YouTube— featuring Dan Souza from America’s Test Kitchen, on how to properly cook standard white rice, as well as other varieties.

The key: Use equal parts white rice and water. Then add an additional 1/2 cup water to compensate for evaporation during cooking. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover the pan, and set the time for 15-20 minutes.

Result: Perfect white rice! No glop; no mush. Individual grains.

I’m planning to make a chicken-rice casserole and a batch of Simple Fried Rice (recipe upthread), plus I wanted to have some cooked rice on hand for lunch or a snack. (Rice, some butter, a little Parmesan, a bit of black pepper or Italian seasoning.)

Stirred 3 cups of long grain rice into 3 cups of water in a 4-quart saucepan, added 1/2 cup water to cover the evaporation factor, and 18 minutes later I had about 9 cups of perfectly cooked rice.

A good electric rice cooker makes perfect rice with no guesswork, but I have no room for a small appliance that may get used once every couple of months. I don’t even have a slow cooker, anymore.

[this post was last edited: 8/22/2020-20:22]

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All I've ever used for long grain white rice is the 2 liquid to 1 dry method. Perfect rice Everytime.

I saw a cooking show some years ago with Sarah Moulton saying how she had a problem cooking rice ? A trained chef that worked for Julia Child had a hard time with rice ? What's the mystery ?
 
I also use the ratio of 1 part rice 2 parts water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover when its slow simmer ( so it doesn’t boil over) and time for 18 mins. never fails, no matter how much rice I’m cooking.

 

Eddie
 

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