Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jdmessner]

The curiosity is driving me nuts, how did the bread turn out? Did it keep its shape? I decided to let mine go a little longer afterall. The sprouts are almost long enough, but I don't think it will hurt to let them go overnight. I guess my early projections were overly optimistic!

[Bentley]

So can you cook this bread using sous vide?

[hughver]

It turned out great. After 4 hours the IT was 184-187° so I turned off the oven and let it cool. The interior consistency was still like fruit cake and the exterior was a bit softer than last time, flavor was about the same (very good). I cut the loaves in half, served one half for guest last night and froze the other three halves in baggies, will vacuum pack this morning.

Bentley, I'm not sure about sous vide, I think that this bread needs to be dehydrated and being enclosed in a bag would prevent this. However, it's an interesting thought, it does not rise and the consistency would be constant through out, I'll try it on a sample when I do the next batch.

[jdmessner]

Finally got the loaf baked. Came out a lot better then the first batch. I think the improved rinsing had a lot to do with it. Towel twisting the berries after the final rinse did not remove a lot of moisture, but the dough was a stiffer consistency than before and closer to what I was  looking for. I baked it in the oven rather than the grill. Baked it at 150 for 8 hours and turned off the oven and let it sit for several more hours. I have not sliced it yet, but am very pleased so far the way it has turned out.

Sprouts after 3 days, just before grinding.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Final product
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

[jdmessner]

So can you cook this bread using sous vide?

That is an interesting question. If I had the equipment I would have given it a try. My initial thoughts were the same as hughver, but it would be fun to give it a go.

[jdmessner]

I finally cut into the essene bread. It turned out the way I remembered from decades ago, so I was pleased! I used it as an illustration. If you watch the YouTube link, the bread part starts around the 23 minute mark. Please don't see this as a shameless plug, I promise I won't keep posting these links!! I only posted it because of the bread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_teLLHIFZFg

[Bentley]

So do you all think the dry heat of the oven is needed to set the bread?  Wonder if it would be more figgy pudding like if it were sous vide?  Do you think it could hold up to vacuum or would it simply cave it in?  I guess it could be vac sealed in a form.

[hughver]

I think that you are right about the consistency, as soon as I can get to WinCo to buy more berries, I'll give it a try, maybe I can get the wife to go for me since she likes the bread. The vacuum packer would probably compress the dough too much, I think that I'll use a Ziploc bag and seal using the submersion method. I may have to weight it down to keep it from floating.

[jdmessner]

So do you all think the dry heat of the oven is needed to set the bread?  Wonder if it would be more figgy pudding like if it were sous vide?  Do you think it could hold up to vacuum or would it simply cave it in?  I guess it could be vac sealed in a form.

My guess is that you are on the right track. There was a nice crust and moist inside, so you may loose the crust. That's not a bad thing, just something different. No worries about how this will hold up. It will do just fine in the vacuum. Those loafs are about as dense at they come. There is no levening so they will not rise and if the consistancy is right they will not fall.

[hughver]

My better half got me 6-7 pounds of berries yesterday. I started soaking them last night and drained them this morning, they should sprout by tomorrow night. I've been using my food processor to grind the berries but its a pain, after a minute of grinding the berries break down and the resulting dough is moist and balls up, making it tough to achieve complete grind. I was wondering if my meat grinder with its smallest die might work? Thoughts?

[Bentley]

Are they bigger than the die?  I guess if the blade will cut them that is all that matters.

[hughver]

A picture is worth a thousand words, the berries on top have soaked for 12 hours, the ones on the bottom are dry. They get somewhat bigger after 48 hours. I think that the die is 3/16". Maybe running the grinder at high speed would increase the chance of success.

[Bentley]

I guess if will come down to whether the blade can cut something that small.  Will be interesting to see.

[hughver]

The blade and the grinder worked fine (dough came out perfect) except for one problem, after about a third of the berries were ground, the machine gummed up and stopped moving the berries. I think that the berries were too wet so I stopped, added raisins and pecans to the those I ground, formed a loaf and put it in the oven at 200°. I ground the remainder of the berries in the food processor but the resulting dough was too wet to form a loaf so I added raisins/pecans, put in a loaf pan and into the oven. Moral of the story is do not over soak your berries. If you are going to use a meat grinder, only soak for 12-16 hours, until you can just barely see the sprouts begin, if you are not ready to grind when this happens, just put them in the refrigerator to stop the growth, grind when you are ready. For a food processor, I'd guess 24-36 hours would be ok, until the sprouts are about the same length as the berry. BTW, if you use the meat grinder technique that I described, I've read that you can add a little honey and yeast to the dough, let it proof, place in a pan, let rise again and bake to obtain a regular loaf of sprouted bread (my next venture).

[Bentley]

How do you all think it would come out if you just malted the berries, then ground?  Probably just like any other dry flour I guess.  I guess the wetness is what make the bread unique.