Today I had my very first real bake - Brötchen! German type hard rolls, typical for breakfast.
I did all settings with the app. It was:
Stage 1: 230° Top/Bottom 100% Steam 8min
Stage 2: 210° Top/Bottom 0% Steam 4min
Stage 3: 190° Top/Bottom 0% Steam 8min
Stage 4: 35° Top 0% Steam 1min
Dough is nothing special, similar to baguettes > bread flour, 58% Water, 2% salt, 0.8% (dry)yeast
25% flour into a 100% poolish (place warm for 12 hours) > do the dough > some strechnfold > fridge for 24 hours
Back to the APO.
The dough come from the fridge, so it was cold. I formed the buns and set manually 35°C bottom, 30% steam for about 30 Minutes. Then started the program >>
The stage 1 temp drop when putting in the buns was quite high (>30°) partly because of the poor rack sliding. Nevertheless the color came out good (so with a smooth rack it may go a bit darker - I need to watch out!). Stage 2 isn’t really required. Just a temp down and steam out. I helped a bit with a quick door opening. Same for stage 3 (no steam left though)
Stage 4 is just a test, not required. Switch it off after stage 3!
Observations:
I had a cheaper steam oven before (just sold it) that gave me very good results already. The APO seems a bit hotter then the old one, where I started with 240°, APO 230° (more space to move = better). The old oven had no steam setting, just on/off. With ON it was 100%, probably condensing. The APO at 100% is not condensing. That means anything flour dusted will stay dusted (= better!)
For a first try I am quite impressed with the result. The came out very good! This makes it a bit difficult to look for improvements In the future will do probably just do 2 stages ~9 Minutes each.
Those look amazing and remind me of the Brötchen we would eat every morning when I lived in Germany in college. I would love to recreate those. Do you have a recipe you could recommend?
Brötchen (good for 12 pieces)
600g flour (Bread flour, 550, T55 or similar)
345g - 57.5% Water
5g - 0.8% Dry Yeast
12g - 2% Salt
𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵: (aka poolish)
150g Flour
150g water
0.15g yeast (tip of a knife, a pinch - no need to measure)
Mix, keep for 4-12h at warm place. Should be bubbly and smell sour
𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵:
Pre-dough
450g flour
195g water (57.5% hydration)
12g salt
5g yeast (~2 teaspoon)
Knead, some stretch-n-fold for about 1 hour - then move to fridge for at least 10 hours - up to 72 hours is no problem (I have a rectangular A4 size 10cm high container that doesn’t take much space)
After the fridge:
Straight from fridge, form Brötchen any way you like. Let rest in warm place for 30-45 min - if it’s cold - use the APO, set to 35°C
Baking
230°C Top/Bottom, 100% steam, 9 Minutes
200°C Top/Bottom, 0% steam, 9 Minutes
After stage 1. you can open the door for 3 Seconds to let the steam out.
𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: If the Brötchen while forming/scoring are sticky you most likely used too much water. Keep a log for everything you bake! Also keep in mind that every flour is different. You may need to adjust water
Thank you so much! I am so new to bread baking and your recipe has lots of detail, so I really appreciate the effort you made! I will also start a log. I made a rye bread the other day, and the top part of the loaf was light and springy, but the bottom of the load was dense, with hardly any holes… the bread started getting very dark in the first part of the cycle, and so I used the probe to know that it was hot enough inside to take it out… There were a few other hiccups in the preparation, so I’m not too discouraged. It tasted good!
Anyway, thanks again for your help!
That one below isn’t rye but 70% wholeweat and 30% bread flour (type 550). Total flour is 700g. No yeast, uses sourdough. Rye baking time would be the same for that size.
No.
I do a quick rough mix with the stand mixer for 1 Minutes - but without salt and yeast.
Let the rough mix rest (covered) 1 hour
Then go on kneading (it’s much smoother after the rest)
Then add salt and knead again for a Minute or so (total knead time maybe 5 Minutes)
Next it goes to a flat tray, there I stretch & fold like every 20 Minutes or so, maybe 3-4 times.
I would say on cold days maximum 2 hours, if your kitchen is warm more like 1 hour. At this point I don’t want the dough to develop too much.
Glad to get this recipe. Where I lived in Germany, we called them “Semmeln” and I looked everywhere for a recipe. However, I’d be interested to know if you have tried anything like Stollen. I make it every year – have done so for over 50 years. Today, I tried it in my new Anova, but it was not the greatest success. I couldn’t find any recipes that would be close enough that I got any hints, so I just winged it. I have thrown away my old gas stove/oven, and I have two pretty large convection ovens. I got better results there. As usual, I was making a triple recipe, so I needed more ovens than just the Anova anyway. I didn’t have the luxury of experimenting since I was late getting this done to send back East to people whose family tradition is to have my Stollen on Christmas morning. I can no longer afford express mail, so I have to send it now, and they can freeze it. Actually, the other day we discovered a loaf of Stollen from probably two years ago down in the bottom of the freezer. It was as good as “new.” Wonderful what alcohol-soaked fruit will do as a preservative! For Thanksgiving, I did bake some Brioche “turkey-bun” rolls and they turned out wonderfully. I just followed the regular recipe I had but used some steam.
In the future will do probably just do 2 stages ~9 Minutes each.
