Making prosphora

  • Thread starter Thread starter ConstantineTG
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
ConstantineTG said:
jakasaki, we should have the same traditions. I know this is not the case all the time, but if we Eastern Catholics do our best to mirror what our Orthodox brethren are doing, then we have followed the Pope’s mandate that we return to our authentic Eastern traditions. 👍
Click to expand...
I come from a family who half is Greek Orthodox and the other half is Catholic… 😛

We all share everything - regarding…

We are Polish Catholics
We are Italian Roman Catholics
We are Irish Catholics
We are Greek Orthodox
We are Russian Orthodox
We are Albanian Orthodox
We are Ukranian Orthodox
We are Romanian Orthodox

This is my family… 😃 Love them all…!!!
 
ConstantineTG said:
I’m thinking if I would buy this: thegiftedpan.com/order.html
Click to expand...
One of our priests has one of these, but for our tiny parish it is rarely used.
Diak said:
prosphora.org has lots of recipes, stamps, etc.
Click to expand...
He also has a video which is worth you looking at, ConstantineTG.
I think we may have a seal or two from there, We have a number of them from more than one source.

Our deacon likes to use at least some bread/high gluten flour, which prosphora.org also mentions using in the video. Our regular baker just uses AP flour. The deacon starts to bake in a cold oven turned on but not heated so it heats while the prosphora are in the oven. I think he’s trying to avoid “oven spring”.

I’ve baked lots of sour dough over the years and the preference there is usually large air holes- the exact opposite of prosphora texture which requires a tight crumb. The big holes in artisan breads are accomplished by a very wet dough and folding and stretching, minimal handling, rather than kneading. Prosphora crumb is in part due to the low hydration in any good prosphora recipe, and well kneaded.

jakasaki , have you ever used a Cuisinart with the blade to knead prosphora? I’d not thought about it until just now. A Cuisinart “kneads” bread dough super fast, under a minute. It’s kind of weird but true. You have to be careful not to over work the dough with it. I’ve used it many times for focaccia and other breads.

Someone else baked our prosphora recently and those were more like rubber than bread. So do practice. When we opened up the circular cutters they’d been put away with dough still on them and so the rings were all moldy. :eek: Be sure to use good clean up techniques! 🙂

We have Russian style prosphora with one about 4" base with the 2 3/4" stamp for the lamb, and then we put about 5 or 6 smaller prosphora with the 1 3/4" stamps for people to place with their written prayer intentions, which come back to us after DL.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Thanks! So the double load you put one dough on top of another prior to baking?
Click to expand...
Hi there Constatine - Good morning…!!

I too use 2 half’s to make 1 prosphora. They represent the 2 natures of Christ.

1 human and the other His divinity.

So… I take on regular dough & cut it pretty much in half.

The bottom piece will be larger and the top piece will be slightly smaller.

I flatten out the bottom piece, place it in the lightly dusted flour pan and then I take the seal and press on it.

Now, I do know that no one will see the seal on top of the bottom loaf & it will not affect the baking.

Then I take the 2nd half which will be the top and place that on top.

I then take the seal, dust it with flour and press on the top layer with all my might and say a quick prayer.

When lifting the seal, - if done right - it should sound like a vacuum suction being lifted.

I then take a toothpick or wooden skewer and poke 12 holes around the top circle of the seal.

I then let the bread sit on the counter for a few minutes and place in the 425 oven.

**

5Loaves - I love your profile name - 🙂

No… I have not tried the paddle to make the dough.

Truthfully… I’d be afraid to experiment with this process.

It took me many days & times to perfect making prosfora and I have the routine down.

If I was making foccacia or pizza dough, sure… I’d use the paddle - but not for prosfora…
 
Thanks! So the double load you put one dough on top of another prior to baking?
Click to expand...
Yes. I use two empty cans, one to cut the bottom loaf and another with a smaller diameter than the bottom to cut the upper loaf (very high tech…). The bottom loaf is never stamped, only the top loaf. A drop of water gets the bottom loaf soft and allows the top to be “glued” to it. The two loaves represent the intimate mingling of the two natures of Christ.
 
This is so wonderful! I love it! I’m excited to get started.

I love how I read in one website that he compares making prosphora to an iconographer making an icon. I’m not good with drawing or painting, so this is my work.
 
I’m trying to imagine how one loaf gets put on top of another. So shape the bottom one in a pan or can or whatever, then take it out? Then put the other on top?
 
ConstantineTG said:
I’m trying to imagine how one loaf gets put on top of another. So shape the bottom one in a pan or can or whatever, then take it out? Then put the other on top?
Click to expand...
No… 😛

Put the first loaf into the pan - now - take the 2nd loaf & place it on top of the first.

Dab the first loaf with a sprinkle of water with your finger to act as a glue for the top piece.
 
So I just need something to shape the dough and then put them on top of one another. I see.
 
I always just rolled them out, cut them, put a drop of water on the bottoms, placed the tops on the bottoms after stamping the tops and then baked them together.
 
Diak said:
I always just rolled them out, cut them, put a drop of water on the bottoms, placed the tops on the bottoms after stamping the tops and then baked them together.
Click to expand...
You can tell I’m very new to baking bread as I’m still having a very hard time picturing what you are describing here.

Pray for me that I do a good job here.
 
jakasaki said:
5Loaves
No… I have not tried the paddle to make the dough.
Click to expand...
I’m talking about the Cuisinart food processor. It’s not a paddle but a blade, like this but the dough blade is all plastic. It comes as a standard part with any Cuisinart food processor. The metal blade is great for pie dough, which is overworked if you process it for more than a matter of seconds.

I understand you not wanting to “experiment” for prosphora. I might now that I’ve thought of using it. 🙂
 
ConstantineTG said:
You can tell I’m very new to baking bread as I’m still having a very hard time picturing what you are describing here.

Pray for me that I do a good job here.
Click to expand...
Again, I strongly suggest you watch the video demo on prosphora.org. It isn’t that long and will give you a very good overview. He makes his just as we make ours, including the 5 toothpicks holes.

Enjoy!
 
5Loaves said:
Again, I strongly suggest you watch the video demo on prosphora.org. It isn’t that long and will give you a very good overview. He makes his just as we make ours, including the 5 toothpicks holes.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
I will do that by next week 😉
But it helps that I listen to others share their experience as well.

If I do have a hard time, I will reach out to the Orthodox communities in our area and see if they are willing to give me instruction.
 
5Loaves said:
I’m talking about the Cuisinart food processor. It’s not a paddle but a blade, like this but the dough blade is all plastic. It comes as a standard part with any Cuisinart food processor. The metal blade is great for pie dough, which is overworked if you process it for more than a matter of seconds.

I understand you not wanting to “experiment” for prosphora. I might now that I’ve thought of using it. 🙂
Click to expand...
Oh… I get it… 😊 Duh… !!! 😛

No, I have not used the food processor to make the bread, but I do use my mini one to make pie dough and home made pasta dough.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top