Topic: Naan bread

[romain]

I still can't get flour - or yeast

[Madrasandy]

I still can't get flour - or yeast

Me neither !

[romain]

Borrowed (begged really) a bit of flour and did manage to get some yeast.

Attempt number one. Didn't fuss too much on the recipe as I was just testing technique in a pizza oven. Fired these at around 765F. Puffed up completely so I will stick to that temp for now.

They puffed completely which I didn't really expect.

[livo]

They will do that Romain.  I've had many naan do exactly the same thing.  If you watch the videos on naan you will see that the maker often heavily uses their finger tips to give the naan bread a stippled effect just before baking. This seems to assist in the formation of individual multiple bubbles rather than the big single bubbles condition you have there.

To be honest it doesn't matter, as long as they eat well.  How did they taste? How was the texture?  That's what matters.

[romain]

I could have flattened them more as I found them a bit thick. The texture was good though.

The recipe was a quick rise with a lot of yeast so the flavour was under-developed IMO but I expected that. Managed to get some flour finally so I will be working on it now.

[SomeCurryFan]

Hmm really interesting topic, my guess is that the secret ingredient is evaporated milk, i dunno why tho.

[livo]

Hi SomeCurryFan. I've never used evaporated milk in a naan and I'm not sure it's mentioned anywhere I've seen. Milk and buttermilk, yes, but not evaporated although it is a possibility and may be worth investigation. The other dairy product commonly used is yogurt or curd, which is hardly a secret.  Then of course you have the addition or not of egg, the use of yeast or not. Self raising V plain flour and the use or not of Baking Powder.

[livo]

Are we there yet?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Are we there yet?

No, still stuck in a siding at Crewe, Livo (and "there for the duration", the porter informs me). But don't worry, you'll know when we get to Grimsby

[Secret Santa]

The recipe was a quick rise with a lot of yeast so the flavour was under-developed IMO but I expected that.

Talking of under-developed flavour I made some no-knead  bread yesterday and it was a pretty nice loaf but didn't have the right smell (in spite of the requisite 6-plus hour rise in lieu of kneading, around ten in this particular case). Now the yeast was the instant type and had been in the fridge for well over a year. Worked fine though. I was wondering, do you have to use fresh yeast to get the right loaf smell? Last time I baked with fresh yeast was at school and by God I could have eaten a hundered of those loaves it was that good. Never tasted one better since.