Sourdough English Muffins...

[Breadhead]

Ok new experiment... I decided we need to increase the hydration (water/milk content) to make this dough pourable, like a pancake batter - 110%/120% hydration. Because it is sourdough I think we need to bake it hotter, like 450°. I tried it and it came out better.😜

Tomorrow I'm going to mix a batch of dough at 120% hydration (almost like a pancake batter) and pour it into the ring molds and bake it at 500°. The project is progressing nicely.😎

[Breadhead]

LOL... There is a waiting list. However there is an opening now. My 38 year old son has officially resigned as one of my taste tester. He complained that he had gained 20Lbs from testing my food and bread. He said all of my taste tester's gain about 30lbs and he needs to resign now before he joins the 30lb overweight club.😆

[smarkley]

where do I sign up to be a taste tester????

[Breadhead]

Breakfast has been served...

My taste tester's loved the sourdough English muffins and the Egg's Benedict. I cheated on the hash browns though.😎

All went well.

[Danjohnston949]

Drizzled with Butter, topped with a slice of ham or bacon and an over medium fried egg and I don't beleave I would notice the slight imperfection in the muffin!

[Breadhead]

Getting closer to fine tuning our Sourdough English Muffin formula and processes. We're getting the taste profile we want but we are not quite there in visual appearance. Stay tuned my friends.😎


Tomorrow I'm going to serve these English muffins to my taste tester's with Egg's Benedict. I think they will like them.🙈

[chudzikb]

Oh, I get that one, but, I am working on a terminal case of the "fatass" can't do that by eating a lot of fat, sad, but, true.

[Breadhead]

Sometimes it's better ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.😎

[chudzikb]

Another high fat content effort. Damn, another thing my wife will not let me make...sadly...

[Breadhead]

Huskee .

I think you're slowly stepping toward becoming a Breadhead.😎

Maybe you need to make some pretzels. That would be a good first bake.

[Huskee]

Breadhead Interesting, thanks for the info. I coulda Googled it I suppose but always better to ask a person in the know.

[Breadhead]

Yes... Sugar helps brown the crust of bread, the maillard effect. But yeast/sourdough starters love sugar. If you overproof your dough the yeast will deplete the sugar content and you will end up with a blond loaf, very little browning in the oven.

However those dark brown crust colors of Pretzel buns was mostly caused by mopping the final shaped dough with just the yoke of an egg right before you put it in the oven. Using just the yoke will give you a darker shiny finish. Using just the egg white or just milk will give you the light brown finish like the hamburger buns you buy at the grocery store.

On my Brioche buns I use just the yoke of an egg and I top that with both light and dark sesame seeds. That gives you a dark shiny finish and the light and dark sesame seeds give it a pretty visual appearance.

If I were making soft Pretzels or Pretzel shaped buns I would baste it with just egg yoke and then top it with coarse ground Sea Salt. The brown sugar in the dough will give it a slight sweetness but the coarse ground Sea Salt will give it the kick.

[Huskee]

Breadhead so the extra sugar helps give it that characteristic extra dark brown look, from Maillard, which then assuming is what gives it it's unique taste?

[Breadhead]

@Huskee

You might be surprised how little difference there is in bread recipes. Pretzels have sugar and course salt. That gives you the sweet but salty taste.😎

Pretzel recipe:
2 1⁄4 teaspoons yeast
1 1⁄4 cups warm water
1⁄4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups bread flour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon baking soda
coarse salt (optional)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (optional)

[Huskee]

Breadhead but pretzels have a unique flavor. You're saying it's not a special dough?