Avoca Bread Confusion

taztastic

I've been making the Avoca rough brown bread from the first cookbook for some time now; the first few times I made it it was super but then the oven was in trouble so bit of a fallow time bread wise. When I went back to it I followed the instructions exactly but found that the amount of liquid they say to use is impossible - I called a halt at almost a pint and it came out like a brick (unsurprisingly). Have retried it a few times and I am now thinking the measurements are just wrong.

rubadub

Post the recipie so, people can't guess what is wrong.

CombatCow

Iv heard A LOT of complaints about the recipies in the Avoca cookbooks, i'd be interested in seeing that one too.

olaola

This is the only thing my husband can actually cook. And it always works out fine for him. The consistency should be like porridge before you put it into the oven.

taztastic

Basically the bread is;
6oz white flour & 11oz brown flour
a few handfuls of bran and wheatgerm
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1 dessert spoon treacle
And then 1 - 1 and a half pints milk.

I got nearly a pint in the mix but it was sloppy. It only works for me when I stop while the mix still gathers together in the bowl.

Magic Monkey

Bread is something that won't always be consistent if you just follow the recipe, as there will be differences in brands of flours, their age, gluten percentages, and absorbency rates: some flours need more liquid, others less.

You've hit the nail on the head yourself - stop while the mixture still gathers. That's why the recipe has an ambiguous amount of liquid listed, 1-1.5 pints, as you just have to add in enough to get the right consistency. If it's only taking in less than a pint, then it could be that your flour is less absorbent, and can only hold a certain amount of liquid - have you had the same flour since before your oven broke? Also, you could rest the dough/batter for 20mins after adding the liquid, as the bran and germ will also absorb moisture as well as giving the flour more time to soak up moisture. This won't affect the potency of the baking powder as it will only activate with heat, i.e. once it's placed in the oven.

taztastic

Thanks Magic Monkey I finally got a chance to try it out again. I have been using the same brands but as I say I'm not consistent about the measurements of liquid. Definitely takes way less liquid but like you say just go with it and do it by eye.

Magic Monkey wrote: »

Bread is something that won't always be consistent if you just follow the recipe, as there will be differences in brands of flours, their age, gluten percentages, and absorbency rates: some flours need more liquid, others less.

You've hit the nail on the head yourself - stop while the mixture still gathers. That's why the recipe has an ambiguous amount of liquid listed, 1-1.5 pints, as you just have to add in enough to get the right consistency. If it's only taking in less than a pint, then it could be that your flour is less absorbent, and can only hold a certain amount of liquid - have you had the same flour since before your oven broke? Also, you could rest the dough/batter for 20mins after adding the liquid, as the bran and germ will also absorb moisture as well as giving the flour more time to soak up moisture. This won't affect the potency of the baking powder as it will only activate with heat, i.e. once it's placed in the oven.

Ishindar

ive made this brown bread a few times and the quantaties work well for me.

Miss No Name

Could someone just confirm that it is fresh milk used in this recipe - and not butter milk which I find is normally called for in brown bread recipes. I'd live to give this a shot as it is so simple.

chickenpoo

Sorry for bumping up an old thread, but I'm also having problems with the Avoca brown bread recipe and just wondered whether anyone could shine a light on what the problem might be...

Basically the bread is coming out rock hard from the oven, even if I put a bit of tinfoil on the top of it from halfway through the cooking. The crust is insanely hard, and I'm just wondering whether it's anything to do with the change in cooking temperature (you do 20 mins at 200 degrees, and then 60 mins at a lower temperature, either 170/180 degrees). Do any of you cooking gurus have any answers for me?

lucylu

What wholemeal (brown) flour are you using?
I have noticed depending on which brand of wholemeal flour you use it will determine the amount of liquid you use.

I cook my bread at 170c for 50 mins. Take it out and wrap it in a damp tea towel to cool.

80 mins for brown bread seems a long long time to me.

chickenpoo

Thanks Lucy, I'm actually in Australia so the brand of flour I use isn't one that we have at home in Ireland. I might try cooking it for a shorter amount of time and see how I go, otherwise I'll have to change recipes.

The Sweeper

chickenpoo, the easiest way to match flours to Irish brands are to get someone who's making bread successfully to give you the protein content of the flour they use. It'll be on the nutritional information panel, in values per 100g. Try and buy a flour with the same protein content and it should do the trick.

StudentC

chickenpoo wrote: »

Thanks Lucy, I'm actually in Australia so the brand of flour I use isn't one that we have at home in Ireland. I might try cooking it for a shorter amount of time and see how I go, otherwise I'll have to change recipes.

I found a similar thing in Australia - most of my recipes that I would use here (in particular scones) just didn't work the same way with Australian flours. The Sweeper's suggestion sounds like it would be worth trying.