Which Bread Reigns Supreme: Dark Rye Sourdough, Focaccia, Banana, or Seeded?

[ergospherical]

and why? Dark, rye sourdough? Focaccia? Banana bread…? Seeded?

 

[fresh_42]

and why? Dark, rye sourdough? Focaccia? Banana bread…? Seeded?

To eat what?

Where shall I start? We have twice as many sorts of bread as we have breweries!

 

[phinds]

What is your favourite[sic] bread?

Good bread. I like good bread. There are all kinds of bread and sometimes it's good (of that kind) and sometimes it isn't. I like it when it is.

 

[George Jones]

Quite soft, but

 

[ergospherical]

I’m experimenting with making a bunch of sandwiches with different breads for next week; need some crazy ideas.

 

[fresh_42]

I’m experimenting with making a bunch of sandwiches with different breads for next week; need some crazy ideas.

How far from the usual triangle sandwiches at the local gas station do you want to go?

 

[ergospherical]

How far from the usual triangle sandwiches at the local gas station do you want to go?

Those do irritate me... sandwiches should be rectangular :)

I think my favourite three are probably:
- farmhouse loaf; hearty, traditional & nice with scrambled eggs
- sourdough; somewhat more nutritious and packs a bit more flavour than regular bread. However, it is a little more dense, so one cannot have too much of it.
- naan bread; no Indian take-away would be complete without it.

On the flip-side, I really can't stand the texture of seeded bread - which is a shame, because I do rather like the whole-grain/darker breads (which are the ones that are often filled with seeds).

 

[hutchphd]

I crave a Muffalata sandwich on a nice round french farmhouse Boule. Full of cured meats, cheeses and olives it is certainly not a healthful delight, but one my favorite sandwiches. Best if pressed overnight in the fridge. A spherical picnic

For just the bread you need to mention a well-made bagel, too.

 

[fresh_42]

A bun with butter, fresh ground beef (raw), onions, salt, and pepper.

 

[ergospherical]

That reminds me... I did have a brilliant salt beef bagel (w/ gherkin & english mustard) in Borough Market a few months back. I don't usually go for bagels since they're pretty highly calorific, but I think in that instance it was well worth it :)

 

[vela]

I’m experimenting with making a bunch of sandwiches with different breads for next week; need some crazy ideas.

Peanut butter and pickled onions.

 

[Bystander]

Peanut butter and pickled onions.

Sacrelige! (Spellcheck says no dice.)

 

[Astronuc]

and why? Dark, rye sourdough? Focaccia? Banana bread…? Seeded?

It depends on the fillings. I usually like dark or marbled rye with pastrami and pepperjack cheese, or with a 'Reuben'. I like Starbuck's gouda and bacon breakfast sandwich in a ciabatta roll, or a panini (focaccia) with steak and cheese, with jalapeños and pepperoncinis.

At home we use multigrain breads or rolls.

 

[PeroK]

... or a panini ...

The singular should be panino, surely?

 

[sophiecentaur]

What is it with people and Sourdough? I have made my own bread for years and years, starting off with bread-makers (I wore out two before moving on to my present one). For the past five or six years, I have used a kitchen mixer to do the hard work and it's consistent; that's important to get reliable baking results. So I think I know the business well enough.
I tried sourdough and got the starter to work after a week or so (iirc). The results were disappointing but much the same as the hyped up stuff I've bought in 'good' bakers' shops. The sour taste is not unpleasant but different from regular bread. The holes are enormous and the crust it chewy and not crisp.
If I want big holes, I make a ciabatta style. If I want 'sour', I make sandwiches with the appropriate cheese.
I think Sourdough is an example of the Emperor's New Clothes, frankly. It's just not special in any way. Faffing around with the starter is just another task and it's a bad as having to look after a pet!

 

[sophiecentaur]

On the flip-side, I really can't stand the texture of seeded bread - which is a shame, because I do rather like the whole-grain/darker breads (which are the ones that are often filled with seeds).

Seems to me you should consider making your own bread. You can choose from a whole range of flours and can go for any 'colour' / taste you like without needing to include the seeds. I usually have a regular very strong white base, for a reliable 'bubbles' and 'cut it' with more interesting flour.

People pay a fortune for anything that's not plastic and sliced in a bag.

 

[rsk]

Homemade white loaf stuffed with cheese and jalopeños. Probably a bit of thyme in there as well.

 

[hutchphd]

Peanut butter and pickled onions.

I confess to a fondness for peanut butter and dill pickle on whole wheat toast. I'm not proud of it but there it is...\

 

[Haborix]

Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread when lunch is still hours away...

and Brioche mmmmm. Basically just a vehicle for butter mmmmmm.

 

[PeroK]

I confess to a fondness for peanut butter and dill pickle on whole wheat toast. I'm not proud of it but there it is...\

I have a personal objective to try to learn to like peanut butter, so that I have a good alternative to my cheese sandwich when I'm out hill-walking.

 

[hutchphd]

Sacrelige! (Spellcheck says no dice.)

I always get this word wrong so I looked it up...it is sacrilege: from the latin legere=to steal. Now I will remember.

 

[ergospherical]

Seems to me you should consider making your own bread. You can choose from a whole range of flours and can go for any 'colour' / taste you like without needing to include the seeds. I usually have a regular very strong white base, for a reliable 'bubbles' and 'cut it' with more interesting flour.

When time permits... but perhaps more problematic is that my kitchen doesn't have an oven :)

 

[PeroK]

Life's too short to start making your own bread.

 

[fresh_42]

When time permits... but perhaps more problematic is that my kitchen doesn't have an oven :)

As tempting as it might be, please avoid open fire!

 

[ergospherical]

As tempting as it might be, please avoid open fire!

Ah, that must be why the fire-alarm's been going off at 8am pretty much every other day this past week; all the students must have for some reason decided to try their hand at baking snøbrod over makeshift campfires. I'll stick to my trusty microwave, thanks!

 

[Astronuc]

Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread when lunch is still hours away...

and Brioche mmmmm. Basically just a vehicle for butter mmmmmm.

Put an egg in it and call it breakfast or brunch.

 

[Astronuc]

Life's too short to start making your own bread.

My parents made homemade bread a family affair.

For whatever reason, one day dad decided to make bread, so he and mom made a large batch of bread dough. Kids got involved, mainly because so many loaves and kneading dough correctly took a while. We would fill several tins then fill the oven which was set to low heat. Tins that didn't go into the oven went on top of the water heater. The bread was actually very good, and we gave away loaves to friends.

Mom and dad also made homemade marmalade, with some variations with orange and grapefruit. We might have made lemon and lime one time, but it was mostly orange and grapefruit.

In my early years, we grew a lot of our own food, since we lived in two rural towns. My mom made a lot of preserves, and pies and cakes from scratch. She stopped making preserves once we moved to the suburbs of a large city, but pies and cakes continued.

 

[Bystander]

I always get this word wrong so I looked it up...it is sacrilege:

The one combination I didn't try...the root isn't "religion," at least as I was thinking.

 

[vela]

I tried sourdough and got the starter to work after a week or so (iirc). The results were disappointing but much the same as the hyped up stuff I've bought in 'good' bakers' shops. The sour taste is not unpleasant but different from regular bread. The holes are enormous and the crust it chewy and not crisp.
If I want big holes, I make a ciabatta style. If I want 'sour', I make sandwiches with the appropriate cheese.
I think Sourdough is an example of the Emperor's New Clothes, frankly. It's just not special in any way. Faffing around with the starter is just another task and it's a bad as having to look after a pet!

The idea behind sourdough isn't so much to make sour bread, but to use wild yeast to leaven the bread. Wild yeast takes a lot longer than commercial yeast to get going, so the dough takes longer to ferment, which generally means better flavor. A side effect of the longer fermentation time is that the bacteria have more time to produce acids, making the dough sour if given enough time.

You can make sourdough that isn't sour. That's usually what I do since I don't care for sour bread. And if you make it right, the crust will come out crispy, though I haven't had much luck with my last few loaves.

 

[fresh_42]

You can make sourdough that isn't sour.

None of you guys seem to know how good sausage has to taste. It requires sourdough bread. These white limb slices you call bread are at most suited for jam.

 

[vela]

I'm not saying there isn't a place for bread with a sour tang. I was just pointing out sourdough isn't equivalent to sour bread. You can make good sourdough that has a pleasant sour tang, but you can also make quite tasty sourdough bread that isn't sour.

 

[sophiecentaur]

You can make sourdough that isn't sour.

Wow. How do you do that? I'm not sure of an advantage to using the wild microbes - except to say you can do it (which is not a bad thing, actually).

It requires sourdough bread. These white limb slices you call bread are at most suited for jam.

I already used the term "false dichotomy" this weekend. I agree that there are alternative breads that are a lot better than the "white limb slices" you refer to but they don't all involve wholemeal flour.

Fresh, home baked bread is such heavenly stuff.

 

[fresh_42]

Fresh, home baked bread is such heavenly stuff.

Fresh from the oven is always best!

I looked it up for this thread. We have 3,000+ sorts of bread here. It really depends on what you want to eat it with. The standard bread is rye-wheat mixed, peeled corn; I prefer rye-sourdough bread.

 

[sophiecentaur]

Fresh from the oven is always best!

Difficult to cut until it's cooled down to near room temperature. But tearing a bit off can be a temptation.

It really depends on what you want to eat it with.

You're probably right but, with only two of us. A loaf won't be eaten in one meal so we usually need an all purpose bread. Seeded makes a nice change and half and half rye and wheat is nice.
Bread's a lot like home brew in that the stuff you make yourself tends to be your favourite and you can get into a rut. (Allowed when you reach my age, young man.)

 

[vela]

Wow. How do you do that? I'm not sure of an advantage to using the wild microbes - except to say you can do it (which is not a bad thing, actually).

It comes down to controlling the dough's fermentation. As a dough ferments, its flavor develops, but the bacteria in the dough are simultaneously producing acids increasing its sourness. You're looking to strike the right balance.

I make La Brea Bakery's country white loaf. Nancy Silverton describes how to make it in her book Breads from the La Brea Bakery. I didn't make a starter the way she instructs, which is an incredible waste of flour. I use my usual 50-50 starter and adjust the amounts of flour and water for the dough.

 

[geordief]

What is it with people and Sourdough?

Have made my own bread fairly continuously for some 50 years.

True, making sourdough bread seems a lot of hassle but I respect the bakers who put out good sourdough bread even if my own attempts have never managed to equal what is ,in my eyes a very superior product.

I am happy with my own product (not normally sourdough) but happy to acknowledge the superiority of that of others

Am still baffled as to how they achieve it** as this excellence is fairly widespread but any fresh bread is normally pretty good no matter how it is done.

** have had many stabs at it over the years

 

[fresh_42]

Btw., did anybody ever realize that - with the exception of places where it isn't possible (polar regions, Australia, very high mountains) - we as a species always primarily cultivated and ate grass? Grain (Europe, Africa), rice (Asia), corn (Americas). All are sweet grasses. Bread and beers rule the world.

 

[sophiecentaur]

any fresh bread is normally pretty good no matter how it is done.

To right! Once you get it to rise and cook it roughly right (+/-), it's satisfying for a beginner.

happy to acknowledge the superiority of that of others

I'd like to come across an example of that. The sourdough I have bought has never impressed me and (worse than that) the sourdough that I have been given when eating out has not been special. The stuff they give you when you first sit down would, I'd hope, be selected to impress.

Chunks of good French Baguette or Pain (in rural France), on the other hand are an experience to die for. (My efforts are pathetic except when they have just come out of the oven.)

continuously for some 50 years.

Respect!
My experience is not much more than 30 years. I am getting there though.

 

[ergospherical]

Btw., did anybody ever realize that - with the exception of places where it isn't possible (polar regions, Australia, very high mountains) - we as a species always primarily cultivated and ate grass? Grain (Europe, Africa), rice (Asia), corn (Americas). All are sweet grasses. Bread and beers rule the world.

The ancient Egyptians even used tiny scraps of crusty, yeast-rich bread to make beer, by sieving it into heated vats and then leaving it to ferment.

 

[sophiecentaur]

The ancient Egyptians even used tiny scraps of crusty, yeast-rich bread to make beer, by sieving it into heated vats and then leaving it to ferment.

Alcohol has been used in Western Cultures for millennia to suppress bacteria. I understand that boiling water for tea making etc. was a common solution in the East.
It's a pity that modern brewing has allowed the production of increasingly strong beers and wines. So much so that high alcohol level has become synonymous with 'good' for beers and wines. The really classy 3% locally produced beers of the past are not worth producing these days; they require more skill and experience than the 5.5%+ that 'real men' want to drink.

 

[geordief]

I'd like to come across an example of that. The sourdough I have bought has never impressed me and (worse than that) the sourdough that I have been given when eating out has not been special. The stuff they give you when you first sit down would, I'd hope, be selected to impress.

Chunks of good French Baguette or Pain (in rural France), on the other hand are an experience to die for. (My efforts are pathetic except when they have just come out of the oven.)

That would also be my criterion but generally when I do (rarely) buy a loaf it passes with flying colours.

I would normally buy from a delicatessen of some stripe .

I hardly ever eat out in restaurants or hotels.

 

[sophiecentaur]

when I do (rarely) buy a loaf it passes with flying colours.

For me, that has only ever applied in France. The British version - even when it sports a French tricolour on the label - is close but no cigar.

I hardly ever eat out in restaurants or hotels.

Same for us. We are semi-rural in Essex and it's a trek to get anywhere apart from the two local eateries which are very nice but pricy.

I wish we could find a decent local delicatessen but they only succeed in places with enough population to support them. (Herne Hill and Dulwich, with loads of rich residents; my son appreciates it there)

 

[fresh_42]

The ancient Egyptians even used tiny scraps of crusty, yeast-rich bread to make beer, by sieving it into heated vats and then leaving it to ferment.

Whenever I see or read something about colonizing Mars and it is discussed what has to be done first, I cannot but think: "They will brew beer. Somehow, but definitely."

On my search for the number of different bread we have in Germany, I also looked at the number of breweries for comparison. That gave an interesting fact: Number one in Europe is Great Britain with about 2,000 breweries, followed by France with about 1,600 and then Germany with 1,500+. Isn't it strange that it is us who are associated with beer?

 

[ergospherical]

On my search for the number of different bread we have in Germany, I also looked at the number of breweries for comparison. That gave an interesting fact: Number one in Europe is Great Britain with about 2,000 breweries, followed by France with about 1,600 and then Germany with 1,500+. Isn't it strange that it is us who are associated with beer?

To some degree I'm not even surprised, given the popularity of craft ("hipster") beers with all these crazy, fruity hops (no doubt influenced by the USA...).

 

[jtbell]

Dark, rye sourdough?

Because of my Finnish-American heritage, I know this as ruisleipä and have considered it as characteristically Finnish. It's very common in Finland.

https://www.nordickitchenstories.co.uk/2021/02/24/finnish-sourdough-rye-ruisleipa-recipe/

Is it common in other cultures?

I made it a few times when I was a graduate student a long time ago. Now that you've got me thinking about it, maybe I'll try it again.

 

[fresh_42]

Because of my Finnish-American heritage, I know this as ruisleipä and have considered it as characteristically Finnish. It's very common in Finland.

https://www.nordickitchenstories.co.uk/2021/02/24/finnish-sourdough-rye-ruisleipa-recipe/

Is it common in other cultures?

I made it a few times when I was a graduate student a long time ago. Now that you've got me thinking about it, maybe I'll try it again.

Yes. My standard choice.

 

[Jarvis323]

To some degree I'm not even surprised, given the popularity of craft ("hipster") beers with all these crazy, fruity hops (no doubt influenced by the USA...).

I agree. Why do we need fruity hops. Just add fruit to the beer.

 

[fresh_42]

To some degree I'm not even surprised, given the popularity of craft ("hipster") beers with all these crazy, fruity hops (no doubt influenced by the USA...).

German consumers still stick to the oldest food law we have (1516). It is only allowed (maybe EU regulations changed this, but it doesn't matter, people won't buy others) to use water, barley, hops, and yeast. That's it.

 

[Twigg]

My favorite is tiroler schwarzbrot ("Tyrolean blackbread" is the literal translation). It's a rye sourdough mix, very filling! It could be my imagination, but I feel like the best rye breads are noticeably heavier. I could just be crazy though.

If I could go back in time and do some things over, I would've spent less time solving differential equations and more time learning how to make delicious bread

 

[gmax137]

I agree. Why do we need fruity hops. Just add fruit to the beer.

View attachment 292350

ugh... A friend had something like that at his place. I told him "I like beer flavored beer."