FrugalBaker's blog

Hey everyone, 

It's a long weekend here and I am glad am able to report back on my baguette baking journey. First of all, I would like to thank Alan (Alfanso) for taking the time and guided me to baking Bouabsa's Baguette. I must admit I got a little lost along the translation when going through the formula. And out of curiosity, went to Youtube and search for some visual guidance and bing.....here comes Alan with his comprehensive video, bravo Alan. Should have told me earlier : )

As usual, the formula serves only as a guideline when it comes to baking in my kitchen and I am always on the look out of hot and humid environment here. Another hurdle would be the types of flour and sourcing of equipment too. Getting things on Amazon is possible but not always practical as shipping fees usually cost more than double of the price of the item itself, so I gave up! And therefore, am always looking for some alternatives.

Just last week, I was really crazy looking for some terracotta tiles around the neighbourhood but none suits my requirement as they were all glazed. My husband was kind enough to drive me to another part of the town and finally got what I wanted. I wasted no time that afternoon and jumped straight into the baguette baking bandwagon.

Below are a few method I tried out and of course, the results came in few variations too...

Same formula as Bouabsa's but with a lower hydrarion, 65%.

  Crumbs are fairly open for a 65% hydration dough.     The bottom was my 1st attempt on this formula but it was                                                                                                 under-proofed!

Method : Mix all ingredients with ice-cold water till homogenous.

               Set aside for 3-4 hours.

               Stretch and fold 3 times on every 20 mins.

               Preshape and bench rest for 8-10 mins.

               Final Shaping.

               Proof for about 30 mins.

               Place dough in freezer for 5 mins.

               Score dough and bake (with steam) till cooked.

Verdict :

• Easy and fuss free.
• Everything can be done on the same day should you need a quick fix.
• Dough at that hydration is easy to score. 
• Not a tasty bread if one is used to sourdough breads.

Bouabsa's Baguette Formula at 75% hydration 

Verdict :

• Gluten was difficult to develop because of hydration (could be the use of type 550).
• Scoring and shaping was tad difficult (again because of hydration issue).
• Open and airy crumb, so it is visually satisfying.
• Improved flavour due to long and cold fermentation but not significant (could be flour issue here).

All in all, I can say that my baguettes are looking decent but am still on a long journey to perfect it. 

p/s : Thanks Alan for your word of encouragement and your baguettes and batards remain inspirational to me. 

Regards,

Sandy

Hello, everyone! It's been ages since I posted something. Nothing much or new happening (in terms of baking) lately except that I am still learning to bake a lot and experimenting some recipes. I have had some fair share of success on baking my sourdough bread and pastries too of late. Though, the fact of not being able to make a decent looking piece of Baguette disturbs me a great deal. A recent trip back to France really encouraged me to pick up from where I left and started to think of what I could do to make things better, despite having a very small home oven without any steam injection, no baking stone or a piece of good quality baking pan here, sigh!

So alright, a normal person would have given up at this point but I have this obsession of really wanting to get things done till like well, am happy with it and once again, did the best that I could. The following are the details and I hope someone could provide some pointers for me to improve on...

I started off with a very simple recipe.

Note : Average room temperature is 29-31dc and humidity is around 90% here.

• Flour (type 550) - 100%
• Water (Iced-cold as my room temp is around 29dc) - 60%
• Instant Yeast - 2%
• Salt - 1%

1. All ingredients are mixed by hand and formed into a ball. No further kneading. 
2. Dough temp is at 26 dc at this point.
3. 1st S&F after 40 mins. Dough temp is 26dc.
4. 2nd S&F at 40 mins interval. Dough temp is 27dc.
5. 3rd S&F at 40 mins interval. Dough temp is at 29dc almost.
6. Divide and pre-shape dough.
7. Bench rest - 10 mins
8. Shaping
9. Final proving for 30 mins.

I made a total of 2 loaves but the first did not turn out great as It was over-proofed, yike!  

The one in the pic is actually the 2nd loaf which I think is ok but still, have plenty of room for improvement. This loaf was retarded in the fridge while waiting for the 1st to come out from the oven. Not to mention scoring a piece of cold dough is way easier than a room-temp dough.

My verdict : 

• The crust isn't too bad since I tried my best to introduce steam during the initial stage of baking. 
• Flavour can be improved by retarding the dough overnight in the fridge after all the S&F session.
• or place the dough in the fridge during final proofing till its ready for the oven.
• Stretch and fold intervals could be shortened to 30 mins.

Either way, it is for me to find out what works the best with my tiny oven and busy schedule. I would definitely appreciate some pointers, or even some constructive criticism for as long as I can be a better baker : ) Happy Baking everyone!

Regards,

Sandy

It's been close to 3 months since my last post and I hope all TFLoafers are doing fine. While the sales of my baking business have improved a fair bit....and as the saying goes....you win some...you lose some. 

Am sure you'll be puzzled on the title of my post today. Who is Alice? Alice....as much as I would like to call her my mother-in-law but she is not. She is just a long time partner of my father-in-law. And if I'd would want to be formal about it....she is not even considered a relative but she has a very special spot in my heart. Of late, I have been searching for some whole grain to sprout or malt but living in Asia....to have those stuff is impossible. I search high and low and still to no avail. Finally, I found a shop....which is located on the other side of the town, selling some malted grain flour. Just like a kid in a candy store, I bought what I could and was ready for my next adventure/experiment. And just when I was done with making this bread, I received a phone call from across the continent that Alice has passed on Thursday. I could stop thinking about her ever since, never baked a bread for her either and hence I think dedicating this bread to her would be the least I can do. This bread is very much like her (not that she's dark), she's petite and looked unassuming but if you get to know her better....she is one of a kind, like an unpolished gemstone! I hope she is in a better place now. R.I.P.!

Anyhow I bought a total of 4 types of flour that day and I guess I'd be busy in the kitchen once again but am not complaining at all. Hope I'll churn out some good loaves and keep posting.

Malted Grain Sourdough                                          Crumb Shot                                                   

as compared to the usual sourdough made with unbleached bread flour :

Although one might say they do not notice a stark difference between the two breads but I can assure you that the flavour profile is almost worlds apart. A must-have bread for the hardcore bread enthusiast in my opinion!

Comments and suggestions are all welcome here. 

Happy Baking, 

Sandy

The year end is approaching once again and it is time to reflect on what I have done and have not. Though, this time around, I chose to count on all the blessings instead and TFL is definitely one of them as I have benefited so much from the helpful community around here.

Many thanks to Abe, dabrownman, Alan, Minioven, Gordon and so many more people out there...

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and as always....Happy Baking : ) 

Warmest Regards,

Sandy

And just when I thought I have to settle with toying between bread and all purpose flour ratio, I, happened to find this fantastic German Bread Flour Type 550 the other day at one of the bakery ingredients supply shop.

I was hesitate to even buy it at first, let alone using it for my usual SD as I have a handful of local clientele who really enjoy my sourdough bread of late. Though, I had a couple of hiccups with my sluggish starter but I got that fixed in the end. That was actually a very good lesson to learn as I was keeping too much of starter (now you know why I called myself Frugal Baker?). 

Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. As usual, I am my own guinea pig. I took the plunge of using this flour solely, without any other kind of flour and it paid off handsomely. Anyhow, was really glad that I followed my instinct and gave it a try. My bakes are coming out nice consistently, which is oh so important! 

Baking bread is really rewarding and I am still learning something new, each and every time I bake :)

As usual, please feel free to comment. Thank you.

Crumb Shot

Happy Baking,

Sandy

In order to celebrate World Bread Day, I have decided to bake something special, just to move out of my comfort zone. So I have baked something unusual, an Activated Charcoal, Sunflower Seed and Walnut Sourdough Bread! 

I was intimidated with the colour at first but it was something that I wanted to try, something about it that really piqued my interest. Finding the charcoal powder was not easy but I got them at last and I bought a few bottles. Not knowing what to expect either, I went ahead and bake it anyway. Below is a short journey of my Activated Charcoal Sourdough journey and I hope you would enjoy reading through.

Charcoal Powder                                                               Autolyze stage....messy job, please wear an apron!

Sticky business despite being at 65% hydration                Line canvas with lots of flour and off to the fridge

And finally, the customary crumb shot. The bread as it turned out, has a very mellow taste profile. Just don't get intimidated with the colour, it's all good and worth the work.

Last but not least, a homemade Red Velvet Cupcake to reward myself : )

As usual, all comments and suggestions are welcome. Happy baking everyone!

Best Regards,

Sandy 

Just realised that I have not been posting anything for more than a month now. Am still baking a couple of times a week but have been so caught up with my recent busy schedule, hope all TFL members are well. 

Abe had shared about his Tomato SD recipe about 3 weeks ago and I promised to post should it come out looking ok. (thanks for sharing, Abe)

I had a go at it two weeks ago but the dough was over-proofed, still edible but I was expecting it to be better. Of course the current climate didn't help either (with over 30 dc in the shade). Persistent I was....had another try and this time I reduced the levain a bit. Also, I had scaled down and tweaked the recipe to suit the local climate and availability of some ingredients too.

Recipe 

Preferment - 40gm of 100% hydration levain  : 100gm water : 100gm bread flour (total = 240gm)

• 240gm     Bread Flour
• 80gm       All Purpose Flour
• 8gm         Salt
• 1.5 tbsp   Chopped Rosemary
• 1 tbsp      Black Sesame Seed (toasted)
• 20gm       Sunflower Seed (toasted)
• 160gm     Water
• 1 tbsp      Olive Oil / Extra Virgil Olive Oil
• 32gm       Tomato Paste

1. Make preferment and wait till it is triple or quadruple of its original volume. Mine rose 4 times of its size within 5 hours as it is really hot here nowadays.
2. Stir in olive oil, tomato paste,water and preferment in a bowl and mix well.
3. Combine all the dry ingredients including seeds and herbs.
4. Combine both wet and dry ingredients in a stand mixer for about 5 mins till homogeneous. 
5. Bring the dough out and perform slap and fold for about 8-10 mins or till good gluten formation is evident.
6. Oil a container and place the dough in it.
7. 2 sessions of stretch and fold with 30 mins interval.
8. Shape and place dough in banneton.
9. Refrigerate dough overnight and bake the next day
10. Bake at 230dc for 25 mins in a dutch oven with the lid on and at 220dc for another 10-15 mins with lid off or till crust is golden brown.
11. Lastly, please wait for the loaf to be cooled completely before slicing.

Note : I have baked with this recipe twice and all I could say is the dough can be tacky at times but do not be tempted to add in more flour, oiled or wet hands should be good enough to tackle such issue. Also, with the large proportion of preferment, the dough can ferment rather quickly than one could expect from an SD,so watch out, it is summer after all in most part of the world except Australia. As usual, all comments are welcomed!

Dough in a banneton. The colour is similar to cooked salmon.

1st attempt and it was slightly over-proofed.                       2nd attempt.....better : )

Happy Baking,

Sandy

Hi everyone, have not been posting much lately due to the busy schedule I was having. Though, that does not mean I have not been baking. I have been wondering on why my bakes are still lacking on the optimum oven spring like most of the gorgeous loaves on TFL. Then one day, I tried out a recipe given by one of the active member in here, Abe. It was a Tartine Bread recipe from My Weekend Bakery. Stuck to the recipe anyway (except that I had to cut short on stretch and fold time due to the hot weather in here). The bread was not bad but it was too chewy and not much of an oven spring....it was because of this, I found out the local bread flour was simply too strong.....so I have decided to embark on yet another experiment!

My Verdict :

• 50% bread flour : 50% all purpose flour = Too soft, not enough of gluten to hold its shape
• 60% bread flour : 40% all purpose flour = Slightly better, but still not good enough
• 70% bread flour : 30% all purpose flour = It's getting there but the bread needs to be more chewy for my liking
• 75% bread flour : 25% all purpose flour = This is the right ratio to work with...finally.

Here are some of my recent bakes with modified bread flour usage....am just loving the alteration I made and enjoying using the Dutch Oven too....not looking back at all!

With whole rye grain (hope this is the right term to use,LOL)       Accidentally In Love : )

This is by far, my most gorgeous bake....my friends told me it's poster worthy! Hope to have more in the future.

Crumb Shot (Denser texture due to the buckwheat that I added, I believe some of them got mashed!)

Suggestions and comments are all welcome...happy baking everyone!

Best Regards,

Sandy

Over the last 2 weeks, I bought a couple of things to fulfill my curiosity in bread making. First off, I bought 'Bread Revolution' by Peter Reinhart. It is an interesting book, lots of explaination and beautiful bread pictures too. Though, there was one particular chapter that caught my attention, Sprouted Flour Bread. 

I know dabrownman is the godfather on TFL when it comes to sprouted grain bread. Read his blog a couple of times, impressive indeed but never felt adventurous enough to wade into that territory. So with this book in tow, I too, have decided to sprout my own grain. Went to the health food store but only able to find some oat groat...no rye or wheat berries either. With my inexperienced eyes, I only realised that those groats are actually hulled. Not wanting to dampen the spirit, I went ahead and tried sprouting them but to no avail. Followed the sprouting process like how Mr Reinhart advised and ground the groats into flour. 

Then came Tuesday...my spanking new toy for the kitchen, my beloved Dutch Oven arrived, yay! The result of those two things ended up as a very tasty loaf of tartine bread indeed. I got what I have always hoped for in a loaf, brown crunchy thin crust, good oven spring and open crumbs! What else could I ask for? 

Crumb shot...I can see an ear!

Breakfast time : )

Please feel free to comment. Happy Baking!

Regards,

FrugalBaker

A friend of mine, threw the question of "How could she introduce seeds and grains in bread" to her 11 year old daughter? So I told her, your life saver would be nothing but NUTELLA! (This is what every French kid is eating in France, every morning. My niece was so crazy about it that she basically ate Nutella for breakfast, lunch, tea break and dinner too! I hope she has grown out of this, phew!

Her question inspired me to change my style of baking a bit this week as I needed to show her my ideas on an actual loaf. At this point, am not sure if her daughter would be open enough to accept such concept but when my bread was out of the oven this morning....I was happy with the result. 

Not much of  wild activities this time (ears,stretch marks,etc)....everything looked so uniformed, a bit bored to look at.            

So I named it 'An Obedient Brunette'.

Crumb Shot (Sorry, could not resist on having a bite before snapping a shot, it would be a crime not to eat it right there, right then!)

p/s: Baked with a stainless steel pot. Amazon told me that I needed to wait for 2 weeks before I could get my hands on the DO I ordered, bummer! Could hardly wait any longer....