Blog posts

I really like the look of the rustic banneton.  It also makes (in my humble opinion) my boules easier to move.  They feel more firm.  The boule with the C is a total natural seem opening.  Not bad, it almost looks like I placed a C on my boule myself.  Well, when I do 4 boules with 2 bannetons it does provide options for those that may prefer one to the other. 

Warm Regards,

Casey

Here is what appears a normal proofing Struan.  However, I encountered a few issues.  The soaker never soaked up and turned into a stiff dough like Reinhart showed in his picture.  It remained like a watered down oatmeal.  I had some brown rice, quinoa, and  kasha mix in the fridge.  I added that and  enough wheat flour to make a somewhat dough consistency.

I have been traveling since Oct 5th. No baking but lots of eating of great breads from Canada to NYC ! I got home and found my YW and SD happily resting in the fridge. I fed everything and restored all to working order. I noted Ian's sweet potato bread and had an extra baked one so decided to try a variation using what I had on hand. Wild Yeast Blog has a formula from 2007 and I used it as a base to begin. http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/10/16/world-bread-food-day/.

  My pretzel rolls have become one of my wife's and friends favorites so I figured it was time to make some more.  I stuck to the same basic formula and procedure as before but changed up some of the flour using some potato flour in the starter and some First Clear flour in the main dough.

I decided at the last-minute to make a few rolls with a surprise inside and added some bacon cheddar cheese I had picked up while in Vermont a few weeks ago.  All I can say is...."Cheese and Bacon"..enough said!

About four months ago, satisfied with my progress with wheat breads, I decided I’d give rye breads a go. Within the week I had reviewed Hamelman’s (Bread) comments on rye flour’s idiosyncrasies, Ortiz’s (The Village Baker) near deification of Pain de Seigle, and developed a respectful fear of rye’s dreaded “starch attack”. In earlier days I’d made singular attempts at Volkenbrot and, while test baking for ITJB, Kornbroyt: each a dense-crumbed rye; both tasty, but not the rye bread I was looking for.

This was a huge success.  The boys ate this up.  What wasn't to like?  Red wine salami and provolone cheese made this a once in a great while recipe.  This Casatiello came from Reinhart's BBA.

Natural tearing; let nature do the work --it looks better.

My other experiment yesterday was a Roasted Garlic Sourdough with about 30% whole wheat flour.

I made two experimental doughs yesterday.  The winner by a landslide was the White Chocolate Apricot Sourdough.