Homebrew Beer Blog

It finished baking sooner than the recipe said. I was to bake for 20 then turn and check in 20. I probably could have checked in 15 or even gone 15/15. Internal temp read around 200 +/5 in both loaves, so it was a bit dry. I was also not a fan of all the nuts. Next time I'd reduce the nuts by 1/4 or maybe 1/2. If it was a bit more moist, the nuts might not be as noticeable.

I bumped the Cinnamon up 50%. After baking I buttered the top of the loaf and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar for a nice crust. Next time it might be interesting to put some cinnamon sugar on the inside of the loaf before rolling.

I used more flour than the recipe called for. I would say about 1/2 cup was added. It was pretty sticky coming out of the mixer. I'll have to read the intro part of the book to see if that's typical. Ideally I'd like a consistent dough out of the mixer going just by flour weight. If I can get that, I would save time tinkering with the dough.

I covered the loaves with a towel overnight to cool, then bagged them in ziplock. I put one in the freezer. I plan to foodsaver that to see how it holds up.

Brewing is on indefinite hold, but recently I've thought exploring bread. I'm going to try working through the Bread Makers Apprentice. We'll see how long I stick with it, but it should be fun and interesting experience. I want to record my results, so figured I'd use this blog.

Some basics... I'm using SAF Instant yeast. I picked up a bread stone from King Arthur Flour. I use a Thermapen thermo. I plan to mostly mix and kneed in a stand mixer. I'd like to get a new one since mine is pretty small. I like to finish kneading slightly wet dough on the counter. I plan to use mostly Unbleached White KAF Flour.