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And then, latter on, things went to hell in a hand basket in an instant.  It is getting to the point where even my apprentice doesn’t have a clue anymore.  She never had one in the first place, so she has an excuse and has plausible deniability…. unlike some others, like me.  But, some are still blameless because we were nearly almost close enough to call it that….. if you are not paying attention while  reading this ….which could be easy enough on your part.

It all started last Saturday, the day before Father’s Day, when we decided to have Sunday Gravy on the wrong day.   We were out of a lot of home made stuff that needed replenishing but decided to blow them off in favor of some fine Sunday Gravy on Saturday thinking  a it a better thing to do ….on the wrong day.

The Ezekiel bread was a odd choice.

The gravy went well and turned out tasty even though we only had hot Italian sausage and some pork chops that we flattened out and stuffed with cheeses, herbs and sausage and then rolled up into larger tied sausages that we browned in a pan.  The tomato sauce came out tasty too, just the way we like it, spicy and dark with the crushed red pepper, chicken stock, mushrooms, onions, Cabernet and Swiss chard.

So Fathers Day was set to make or finish making all the stuff we out of like kosher dill, bread and butter and Indian eggplant pickles, apricot jam, prickly pear jam and 3 bottles of arancello that had been sitting on skins since January.  The prickly pear and arancello are two main ingredients in a fine margarita we like …..so they so they went first.  Everything turned out just great.

Yesterday, I decided to make pizza for dinner, using the left over gravy for sauce,  and wanted to try a new crust recipe that didn’t require any retarding of the dough but used yeast water form the liquid, a pinch each of desem and rye SD starters and a pinch of ADY for a poolish all mixed into one combo levain.

We decided to do a 2 stage build starting at 10 AM hoping it would be ready with pizza hitting the stone at 6.45 PM.   We used 2 hours for both builds since all the starters can double in 3 hours in the summer.  By 2 PM the levain was mixed with the rest of the ingredients that had been autolysed for an hour.

We were looking forward to this dough since it was 32% whole multigrain with toadies for the first time.  All the whole grains were packed into the levain.  This dough also had almost 30% semolina in it too making it a little more Italian.

We did 10 minutes of slap and folds and 3 sets of S&F’s 15 minutes apart.  The home made sun dried tomato, garlic and rosemary were incorporated during the first S&F. The dough came together beautifully and was ready to go after 3 hours of proofing on the counter.  It smelled terrific.

The 3 hour proof gave us all kinds of time to make the pizza fixings.  Hot Italian sausage was browned first followed by caramelized; onions, mushrooms, poblano, hatch, jalapeno and green chilies that were browned in the same pan in succession.

We chopped up some basil, olives red peppers, green and red onion, made the mojo de ajo, grated the cheeses and found the pepperoni in the freezer.  We even had time to make a nice salad - something we never do on a pizza night.

Instead of making 2 smaller pizzas I decided to make one larger one and this is where things starter going wrong.  The crust formed perfectly, extensible yet strong but it was too big for the peel.

After hand forming I had rolled out the middle with my new, mini, black and green, alligator rolling pin found at Goodwill just for this purpose - it worked beautifully.  I covered it in mojo de ajo, docked it and prepared to par bake the crust for 3 minutes as we always do – but this was a don’t.

When I went to slide it onto the stone the front hung upon the peel sticking badly and back slid quite freely making the most beautiful, brown, 3” high ribbon candy that stone had ever seen.  Just perfect if one was making ribbon candy in a 500F oven on a pizza stone,

I immediately looked at my apprentice who muttered ‘Was für ein dummer Idiot’ under her growl while wisely running out of the kitchen as fast as she could.  I grabbed the dough off the 500 F stone no longer than 5-7 seconds after it landed - but that was plenty enough time to really change it into a different kind of pizza dough.

After reforming it as best we could it didn’t really have a discernable raised edge, was twice as thick as usual and was about 3 “ less in diameter than the original but it did barely fit the stone. We par baked the blob for a minute longer than usual, 4 minutes due to its thickness.  Then we loaded it up, no pepperoni or olives for my wife and no olives for the daughter and baked it for 8 more minutes - 3 minutes longer than normal in the top and bottom stone set up.

It wasn’t a complete disaster, and I can prove it.   For those who have grown used to near perfect pizza and having it for so long, this was quite a letdown.  The crust was nicely brown on the top and bottom, crispy and very tasty but …..not at all close to being right either.  No one said this was the best pizza or pizza crust ever but, the proof that it wasn’t a total disaster is that the pizza is gone and no one touched the salad.

Can’t wait to make this crust again and see what it is really like when not final shaped into ribbon candy and scorched on a blazing hot pizza stone while loading.  The one thing I learned is that Sunday Gravy made on Saturday for a Monday pizza sauce is the way to go every time.

My wife pinched off a little bit of the salad this morning for her bag lunch sandwich.

Formula

bleeding milk loaf...

blend a whole stick of vanilla with the sugar .. infused for a couple of days.

really brings out the frangrant of vanilla.

i sprinkled lemon thyme and crystal beets as i roll the dough.

soft, fragrant and fun!

some better news. Stones dissent crackle this time around. Saw a recipe for tomato marmalade and had done burrata in the fridge and three together a few pizzas. 

A new prospect is on the horizon.

This new prospect keeps me focused, keeps me pushing, keeps me mixing and baking.

At breakfast and dinner my starter is fed freshly milled flour still warm from its transition from grain to powder. Everyday I watch, smell and taste the starter and notice how temperature and different milling techniques play a role in its development. The biggest change I have ever noticed took place this week when I changed my milling practice.

Reading an article about Dave Miller in the 2012 Spring issue of the BreadLines newsletter I noted that he considered the flow rate of grains into the stones an important factor. I have no control over the high speed of the stones in the Komo mill so perhaps I could control the flow rate rather than just filling the hopper? So began a series of experiments in slow, time consuming milling ... grains trickled into the hopper bit by bit ... and the results?

... I started producing the coolest, finest flour that my little mill has ever produced. The flour was silky to the touch and  no heat was created. The change in flour had an immediate effect on the starter feedings ... Water was absorbed more rapidly in the mixing and volume had increased by 10% at the end of a cycle with even aeration throughout.

Unfortunately there was a downside to this milling practice—one I am still to fully understand as I am not an engineer. The mill motor started to overheat quite badly when milling large amounts of grain ... noticeably ... I could smell it ... then it shut off. I had to wait for the motor to cool down before it would switch back on. (I was not even sure if it would) Needless to say I was a little stressed about this!

So I have returned to my normal milling routine of producing high speed, high temperature flour, but all the time thinking of ways to slow this process down.

I came to the idea of utilising freshly milled grains by the way of Gerard Rubaud and his unending quest for flavour. This was a completely new idea for me having only been exposed to bags of flour sitting on store shelves.

So I bought a small stone mill and from that moment when I first experienced fresh, sweet whole grain flour I knew I was hooked.

This ever increasing fascination in stone milling and how it can work within a bakery environment has been furthered along by the likes of Dave Miller of Miller's Bakehouse in Yankee hill. For Dave the mill is a necessary part of his bakery set up. His holy trinity he calls it - mill, mixer and oven. He is a one man show and for me is the epitomy of the local village baker. The wheat is grown, milled and made into bread—all locally.

In the BreadLines newsletter Dave contributed a formula for his 'Chico Nut Bread'. Chico, California where Dave sells his bread is surrounded by walnut and almond orchards ... "a natural choice for whole grain doughs" says dave. 

I was excited by this bread ... a walnut sourdough is one of my favourite breads to both make and eat.

A glance at Dave's formula can prove more daunting than the actual feel of the dough ... he uses a lot of water with his fresh milled whole grains. But remember, the formula is not the bread—feel the dough and trust that it will come together. It also seemed that only Californian walnuts were available from my local shops  ... so perhaps my bread would be closer to California than I thought  :)

Chico Nut Bread courtesy of Dave Miller

Formula 6 x 700g   

This is my adaptation of Dave’s process for home baking.

• Mix final starter and leave to ferment for 3 hours at 26°C
• Mill flour and mix with water (hold back 10% of water) and autolyse for 20 mins.
• Add starter to autolyse then mix in bowl for 5 mins. Add salt and remaining 10% of water and squeeze through bread to incorporate (dough will separate then come back together) then mix and squeeze a further 5-10 mins. The dough is very wet but should start to feel some strength by the end of this mixing.
• Add walnuts at the end of mixing.
• Place in a fridge at 4°C for 15 hours. I gave the dough a fold at 30mins and 1.5 hrs.
• Increase or decrease the number of folds depending on the strength of your wheat.
• Remove from fridge. Divide at 700g. Preshape.
• Bench rest 45–60mins. Shape and roll the dough on a wet cloth and then in sliced almonds. Proof in couche or narrow basket.
• Final proof was two hours at room temperature. Watch the dough!
• Bake in a preheated oven at 250°C for 10 mins with steam. Reduce temp to 200°C then bake for a further 40 mins.

Work quickly, utilise your scraper and be brave! This is the most alive feeling wholegrain dough I have ever made. It is a little hard at first to believe the amount of water that is being poured into the bowl and even after the autolyse I was nervous.

Mixing is the only way to describe the initial dough development. I dared not take it out of the bowl and used both hands to squeeze, fold and turn the dough … it’s not until you perform folds during bulk ferment that you feel the strength really increase.

The long cool bulk ferment also allows for maximum water absorption and makes handling the dough a little easier the following day!

The toasted almonds scattering the outside makes for beautiful looking bread bursting with texture and aromas … but it was the taste that won both Nat and myself.

The walnuts and almonds flavours almost seem to merge and it’s hard to distinguish between them—making indeed a true ‘nut bread’. The walnuts give the crumb a creamy texture and it’s characteristic purple hue. We love this bread toasted until the walnut pieces turn white within that coloured crumb.

Winter has arrived here with cool days and nights which are just perfect for baking ...

Happy baking everyone.
Phil

Focaccia is one of our favorite breads for sandwiches. We've found tuna fish salad, Italian sausage with carmalized onions and peppers, and grilled portabella mushrooms with red pepper aoili are especially good. The freezer is well stocked with lean sourdough loaves, and baguettes so for this week's sourdough bake I made focaccia. This 72% hydrated loaf is 100% KA Bread flour (17% prefermented in the levain) 4.2% extra-virgin olive oil, and 2% salt. The dough was retarded 15 hours overnight, and baked at 400°F  in a convection oven. We cut it into 4" squares, and freeze it thawing only what we need for a meal.

David G

So this was supposed to be my week off as there is a festival in town that will make going to the market chaotic. Well I got some new stones and opted to follow through with my Saturday bake and give to friends and neighbors.  

I thought I'd take advantage and improve upon my week 1 bake of Super Grain Whole Wheat Sour.

Troi au Levain (3 seed/grains 3 flours)

For 2 - 25 oz loaves

Soaker:

6 oz each millet, red quinoa, flax  toasted

18 oz H20 (I'd scale this down next time to maybe 13 oz)

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soak for 6-8 hours

Levain:

.6 oz Rye

1.4 oz Wheat

2 oz High Protein

2.5 oz H20

2 oz Mature Starter (100% hydration)

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mix let ripen 6-8 hours 

Dough:

7 oz High Protein

7 oz Malted Bread Flour

4 oz Whole Wheat

3 oz Whole Spelt

14.7oz H20

---------------------------------------------------------

Autolyse 

.6 oz Salt

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1)  Mix autolyse, levain, and salt on speed 1 until combined.  Turn to speed 2 and continue until medium devlopment. 

2)  Add soaker and mix on speed 1 to incorporate.  Finish on speed 2 for a minute

3)  Bulk ferment 4 hours with 4 stretch and folds at 30 minutes. 

4)  Shape, proof 1 hour at room temp and retard overnight

5)  Bake 480 with steam for 12 minutes and vented for about 20 more. 

Cool

*Notes

As stated above I'd decrease the water in the grain soaker by about 25% and leave the remaining formula alone.  It's quite tasty and very nutty and maybe even a touch bitter so maybe something sweet would compliment nicely.  I'll consider leaving soaker water as is and add some chopped dried cranberries on my next attempt. 

a

No bounty this week all gifts

Happy Baking All

Josh

I am just so pleased with this bread, so I had to share. It is the Vermont Sourdough recipe, only I switched it up a little. I used spelt for the starter, and added semolina, rye, and spelt to the mix in the final dough. I probably would leave out the semolina next time, but maybe not. I also added 1 1/2 oz oats, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. And a little extra water after I mixed it up and it was a little stiff. About 1 1/2 oz. I haven't sliced this particular batch yet, but I made it yesterday too and the dough performed pretty much the same so this is what I assume the crumb will look like, as this is yesterday's loaf. :

I like the taste and texture of the bread. I have never baked with seeds before so I was surprised how strong their flavor was in the loaf. I will always love white bread best, but variety is the spice of life. heh. For some reason I have an urge to add golden raisins or dried apricots to this, but I will resist for now. Anyway, I am so excited that reading this site and all my books has finally helped me improve a bit!

Three loaves all 30% Whole Wheat, one with Walnuts and Rosemary, one with Sunflower Seeds, and one Plain. The crumb is great too.

Cheers,

Wingnut

I find myself on a rare occasion of being bored, having no work to do and no bread to bake or post.  Perhaps a good opportunity to share a little about my journey to bread baking.

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Little did I know at the time, but the 'knead' to make bread was deeply rooted within my creative core long ago...

From the time I was in my early teens (good god, about 23 years ago!  I've always dreaded math), I had a creative drive within me that was itching to get out.  Luckily for me, my parents were willing and able to put me through music lessons.  I started out with piano and keyboards then moved onto the organ.  At this time, I was discovering the magic of classic rock and roll.  Listening to such bands as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Doors, to name a few.  I spent hours upon hours in my room, rewinding and listening and learning all those organ solos on my Hammond organ and Leslie speaker combo.  To this day I can still play the entire organ solo to Light My Fire by the Doors, even though I only touch a keyboard maybe once every 2-3 years.  A few good friends and school mates started a band.  I took the lead singer role and keyboards.  By the time we were 15, we played our first gig at a local club in downtown Vancouver.  Quite an experience to have at 15.  Even though we were so young, the bar tender offered us a few drinks each (parents approved of course),  All 4 of us hard rock and rollers ordered peach coolers.  Not beer.  Peach coolers.  Very rock and roll *ahem*.  Soon after, we recorded our first cassette tape of about 5 or 6 songs.  By the time junior high ended we disbanded and I took up a new instrument.  The guitar. 

In high school, when we were about 17, we started another band that would turn out to be a major part of my life for the next 7 years.  We had a good following, released an album that received some good reviews, appeared on a local TV show which aired quite a bit across Canada.  We were selling out shows and headlining in the most popular night clubs on weekends.  At one show, The Bare Naked Ladies gave us a standing ovation and wanted to meet us backstage.  This was too surreal at our age.  I was going to college and working by day, and playing shows at night.  I was having the time of my life.  My creative juices were flowing and were being spread out to family, friends and strangers to experience and enjoy.

In 1997, a few members decided to call it quits and it was the end of my music life, at least to that degree.  Over the years, I continued to pick up the guitar every once in a while, or go to a local music shop and play a piano for a few minutes.  It just wasn't the same.  By this time, I had a business degree behind me so I started working full time in management positions I was not happy with.  I did this for the next 6 years or so.  About 7 years ago I was given the opportunity to come aboard my father's painting contracting business, so I took it.  The position in the company proved to be stressful, challenging and more time consuming than I could ever imagine.  Here I am.  A manager in a high volume construction industry contracting company.  Nothing remotely close to an avenue that would allow ANY creativity to flow out of me.  It has been a very difficult last 7 years mentally and emotionally.

Last summer, I was at a cross roads.  Take over the business from my retiring father the next year, or move on and do...well, I still don't know what.  Due to the frightening unknown, I chose the former.  At that exact time, there was a major project contract I had bid on.  The bidding process was extremely gruelling and took a lot out of me mentally and physically.  I landed in the emergency room with exhaustion.  We needed this project.  Badly.  Not knowing if we landed the project or not, I had to get away for a week and try to recoup.  It was then, on that trip that I walked by a bakery cafe and was drawn to the artisan made breads stacked in the window.  I always loved and appreciated bread.  The comforting texture and flavour and look.  This feeling and urge was new to me though.  I suddenly wanted to be part of the creation of this magnificent display in the window.  The bakers in the shop were rock stars in my eyes.  I wanted to ask them questions and talk to them about the process of baking bread.  All these crazy urges, all within 5 minutes of seeing those beautiful boules, baguettes and batards.  I did not talk to the bakers, and I did not get their autographs.  Nor did I buy any bread.  I did however, come home from that trip learning that we did in fact get awarded the contract that we so much needed for the business.  But I still did not feel what I felt walking past that bakery.

That weekend I spent hours reading articles about bread and searching web pages dedicated to home bread baking.  Is it possible for one to learn how to make breads at home such as the ones I saw in the window of that bakery?  Don't you need years and years of schooling?  What about all the equipment?  Surely one would need to spend $10,000 + on an oven, no?  I stumbled on The Fresh Loaf and started reading blogs and forums as a non-member.  My questions were quickly answered that yes, it is possible that I could learn how to make bread at home.  Having never touched my hands on bread dough before in my life, I began to bake bread.  I felt that passion rise up again.  I was feeling something I had only felt when I picked up my guitar and wrote music those years ago.  This is what I needed so badly in my life.  An outlet for all that stress I deal with at my work.  Something to once again create and share with those important to me.

Yes, I decided to take over the family business.  Of course there is always the satisfaction of feeling proud in keeping my parent's hard work and determination all those years alive going into the future.  But other than that and possible financial opportunity, there is nothing more that this career will ever give me in what I truly need to flourish.  Baking bread however, has given me a creative outlet that I craved all those years after the music stopped.  A creative process where I can once again be part of from start to finish.  To make, to feel, to share.  To enjoy.  Music it is not, but it is a song of the baker.

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Here is a link to one of the bands that influenced our music, The Posies.  This is a great rendition of 'Song Of A Baker,' a song by classic rock's Small Faces.  I found it quite fitting to use a tag name inspired by a song that I loved long before I ever imagined I would be baking bread.  For all you rock and roll aficionados, turn up your speakers and enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb9Y9syHW_I

Lyrics below:

There's wheat in the field
And water in the stream
And salt in the mine
And an aching in me.

I can longer stand and wonder
Cos I'm driven by this hunger.

So I'll jug some water, bake some flour,
Store some salt and wait the hour.

When thinking of love,
Love is thinking for me
And the baker will come
And the baker I'll be

I'm depending on my labour,
The texture and the flavour

Hey!

I can no longer stand and wonder
Cos I'm driven by this hunger

So I'll jug some water, bake some flour.
Store some salt and wait the hour.

Lately I've been baking a lot, as I decided my family's appetites did not quite coincide with either the type or amount of bread that I wanted to bake.   This has led to a conundrum, as I have occasionally made a great many loaves and then ended the day with no bread in the house.   Suddenly my barely tolerated bread has become a must have, so I have to make up the difference with a few more loaves after the big bake is over.   Yesterday I made these loaves which all went to good homes by the end of the day.  

Today, to make up for the lack of bread in the house,  I made a couple more durum loaves, and then a somewhat of a mystery boule.   The mystery wasn't what was in it, but how much, as my scale bit the dust before I could weigh the ingredients.   So basically some white starter, rye sour, KAAP, water and salt.   The water must have been quite a bit, as the dough turned out to be quite wet.  

These durum loaves were the first I've made with King Midas Extra Fancy Durum.   I was pleased to taste them and find that I couldn't tell any difference between that and King Arthur, and as you can see below, the crumb color didn't suffer.  

The mystery boule dwarfs the durum one. 

It has a nice light sourdough texture and flavor.   Of course I will never be able to recreate it.   I suppose the point is just to eat it.