Try experimenting with recipes yourself instead of just copying what's popular. I think a lot of bread recipes are designed to make good looking bread, rather than bread that's enjoyable to eat.
Try experimenting with recipes yourself instead of just copying what's popular. I think a lot of bread recipes are designed to make good looking bread, rather than bread that's enjoyable to eat.
because that's what I like eating, not because that's what's pretty.
It happened to beer. Americans discovered the centuries-old brewing traditions of Britain and Belgium and then turned the characteristics up to 11. What you get is beer brewed with so much hop it's just not pleasant any more. And so much malt that it now has to be sipped like wine. And in the end you've just got yourself another hyper-optimised product.
Some of these hipster loaves have crusts so tough that I'm seriously concerned about my teeth. But, hey, the baker has been learning how to make that gluten network even stronger so it must be good. The holes are so large it reminds me of atomic structure of matter: more empty space than bread. I can't spread butter on air. Nor can I hold cheese with a something tougher than shoe leather.
At the end of the day there is one thing that matters: is it nice to eat? If you go to France and find a boulangerie on any street corner in the country you will find a baguette. I could tell you about what makes it a baguette---the soft French, unbleached flour; the Viennese steam oven, the cultured yeast, and so on---but none of that really matters. What matters is it tastes wonderful, it feels great, and it works well with other foods. In short, it's a joy.
I can't disagree with this enough. Gimme that hard, crispy crust with a good ear. And lots of good holes.
Although, my crumb always ends up even and fairly dense. No clue what to change to open it up. (Even with 70%+ hydration).
The most likely cause of a tight (but not dense) crumb is knocking too much air out during shaping. You can try varying the ratio of bulk ferment time to proofing time and see if that helps as well.
I'm certain this is it. I worked as a baker for a few years, but I was making bagels. So my feel for dough is all based on that dough. Very different stuff.
https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/troubleshoot-bad-bread-m...
I really agree with you on holes in bread, do not want.
But you may find the nut bread interesting..