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varda's picture
varda

Today,   I made a tiny little leap to no where in particular by teaching a small class to make bagels.    Since people (including me) had limited time I did a few practice rounds, taking note of the times, so we could fit in everything, including a potluck lunch, into a 2 hour period.

Despite experimenting this way and that in my practices, I decided to faithfully follow Hamelman in most regards except for a couple of simplifications.   I was pleased that this approach seemed to work.   I had started a batch of six bagels the night before and refrigerated, and we started with mixing up a second batch of six, then finishing the first batch.   This was done in time (ok, a little early) to cut, weigh, roll and shape the second batch, which the students took home to finish.   

These were not bakers (bar one) who were familiar with the use of a scale, much  baking with yeast, or what not.    Everything went well, though.   People had fun, and we had a nice lunch.   Phew!

The finished product

I brought the ham

Rinsing the bagel (in lieu of ice water)

Ready to eat with plenty of treats

 

Szanter5339's picture
Szanter5339

Yippee's picture
Yippee

 

  

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After years of dedicated service, my assistant has retired.  To celebrate this big event, we'd presented her with one of the most popular entertainments in the Asian community - a karaoke party; a Chinese style hot-pot buffet farewell lunch; and a going-away card.     Though all of these 'standard procedures' were thoughtful, they were lacking the personal touch she deserves.  Therefore, I made her a loaf of rye bread, with not only the best ingredients, but also, above all, with love. 

 

During the last couple of days of her career,  as she's going around to say goodbye to her friends in the various departments she had worked for in the past decades, I took photographs of them. A photo album capturing these precious moments will be on its way to her.  Years from now when she opens this album again, I hope, fond memories of her ex-colleagues (and my bread) will come to her mind vividly.  I will miss her dearly.

 

For photographs, please click here .

 

 

Submitted to Susan's Yeastspotting!

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

BBGA Format: Fonts, Typefaces & Colours

BBGA, "Bread Bakers Guild of America", "Bread Bakers Guild", format, HTML, "design document", design, formatting, fonts, font, typeface, typefaces, colours, colour, color, colors

The Bread Baker's Guild of America has a recommended format for publishing bread formulas.

You can find it here.

I'll post later on more functional aspects of the format.

For now, design details like fonts, font sizes, colours (because no one cares if the calculations are wrong if it looks pretty, right?).

COLORS (click image for larger size)

FONTS (click image for larger size)

FILES

1. I packaged all of the above images in one ZIP file. Download it here.

2. I packaged all of the fonts and then some into one ZIP file. Download it here. Note. Someone somewhere might own these fonts and, thus, want money from you for their commercial use. I'll leave that purchase to you. You have the font names. Buying them is a Google search and a credit card away.

UPDATE 27 APR 2012: While the Futura font is very close to the one used by the BBGA, I think it might actually be a font called Prelo. I'll let you decide, as they're very similar fonts.

3. Here's a spreadsheet that uses all of this information. It won't look like much until you have the fonts installed, but the colours should be intact and the formulas correct: Download it here.

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

My new 'Wellness Mat' I ordered it from Amazon.com.   OMG...why didn't I get one of these earlier.  I'm loving it.  They are expensive but sooo worth it...check out all the pluses on this mat.   I sometimes stand all day long in the kitchen.  What relief this mat provides.  I couldn't be more pleased.  I ordered the 2x6 and it lays across my sink and L shaped baking area perfect.  No more tired legs.

I imagine some of you already have these mats....but I just wanted to mention how great they are for bakers who tend to stand long hours on hard floors...what a relief!

What I baked today...standing barefooted on my new floor mat.

Basic Sourdough w/green garlic olives

not many olives in this crumb shot .. tasty little buggers though..nice for dipping bread in EVOO and balsalmic glaze,  one of my favorite ways to enjoy this bread.

It seems lately when I plan a WFO bake it rains! :/  

So yesterday I made my 'indoor' favorite burgers.  Lean organic beef extra thin patties, cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, red onion, dill pickles, thousand island dressing...that's it..the way I like my burger's.

I needed fresh buns...same day!  So I baked my old stand by 'Sandwich Buns' with added black sesame seeds... yummy!

 

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

Sending this to Yeastspotting.

Index for my blog entries

Can't believe that I have never baked with spelt yet, well until last weekend that is. I finally got some spelt flour and went to town with it. In my typical "jump in with both feet" way, I make a 100% spelt souroudgh. Two sources were helpful with my research:
http://www.breadtopia.com/spelt-bread-recipe/
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/13934/100-spelt-levain-bread (Shiao-Ping)
However, my ratio and fermentation schedule ended up being quite different form both of them, but the thing I learned from their posts held true: spelt has quite a bit of gluten, but not as much as wheat, and more delicate, which means it's the best to handle it gently and try hard not to over rise/proof.

Spelt Flour, 298g
Spelt Starter(100%), 105g (I started with my white starter, and fed it with spelt (1:2:2) 3 times to convert it "mostly" to spelt)
Agave, 28g (if use honey, might need more since agave is sweeter)
Water, 193g
Salt, 7g

1. Mix everything autolyse for 20 to 60min, mix by hand until even.
2. Bulk rise at room temp (~75F) for about 2.5hrs. S&F at 30, 60, 90, 120min.
4. Shape, put in basketes smooth side down, put in fridge over night.
5. Next morning take the dough out to finish proofing, about 45min for me. Score.

6. Bake in cast iron pot at 460F with lid on for 20min, lower to 430F, take away lid, bake for another 25min.

The dough is fairly wet & loose, so I chose to bake in cast iron pot to keep the height better.

I like the addition of Agave in the formula, which complements with the spelt flavor well. Honey or other sweeteners would do as well.

Crumb is quite open, and I really like the slightly "bitter"/earthy taste of spelt, no wonder it's used so often by other bakers.

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

I recently asked TFL how to score Richard Bertinet's Pain aux Olives to achieve the effect shown in his book, Dough: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/keyword/bread-scoring-score-richard-bertinet-pains-gourmands-2006-larousse-olive-bread

I made a version of it this weekend, and they were right: It's rolled and the scored on the vertical.

The original recipe is a straight dough: combine ingredients, bulk ferment, roll dough into a long, flat rectangle, spread with olive paste, roll up, shape roll into bâtard, proof, score on the vertical, bake.

I modified it to use a sourdough preferment (52% prefermented flour) and retardation. Day 1: Make preferment. Day 2: Make dough, bulk ferment, shape, retard. Day 3: Bake. I didn't change the quantities of the original recipe, only the methods.

How did I like it? A lot!

I wrote in my journal: "Favorite bread in the whole wide world = Olive Bread."

Formula.

[Click image for larger version.]

Process.

[Click image for larger version.]

Pictures.

1. Dough scored on the vertical.

2. The result after a 40-minute bake.

3. Here's a side-by-side. Bertinet's is on left. Not to scale: Bertinet's would be 1/3 the size, as he makes three small loaves out of the 875 grams of dough. I made one loaf.

4. The crumb.

Files.

1. Download a copy of the formula in PDF format.

2. Download a copy of the process in PDF format.

3. Download a copy of the spreadsheet in Excel 2007 format. The spreadsheet is editable, so you can use it to scale quantites up or down. You can edit the orange cells; all others cells are automatically calculated from formulae.

Faith in Virginia's picture
Faith in Virginia

I have always been a tool kind of person,  a female version of "Tim the Tool Man".  So I got it in my head that I wanted a sheeter.  Now keep in mind I did not say I needed a sheeter just wanted one.   I started to shop for sheeters and was stunned by the pricing. I could buy a new car for the price they want for a simple sheeter.  Used sheeters were not cheep either.  Used and abused sheeters run around three to four THOUSAND dollars.  That's price of a good used car.   So much for that idea.

Well one day I was on E-bay and stumbled on a sheeter that was no reserve and $200 an ACME 8.  This thing was ugly.  Looked like he was making mud pies with this machine.  Even as ugly as it was it still sparked my interest.  I started to do some research and found a complete parts list, operating instructions and places to purchase replacement parts.  I started to think, okay this could be good deal.  

The sheeter was located in Utah and I'm in Virginia.  That is only 2,000 miles away.  Shipping quotes were running from $800 to $1,200 then someone else bid on the sheeter and now I need $300 to win the bid.  Great, now this good deal was being trashed by shipping costs.  Fine,  I'll just drive to Utah, pick it, up drive back ,and...4,000 miles later and $1,200 or more in fuel...Yikes that dosen't work either.  Now what?

How in the world am I going to get this sheeter from Utah to Virginia and not spend a fortune?

Well...I found some very nice people that lived in Sacramento, CA.  They were having the same shipping issues that I was having.  They needed to ship a Dodge pickup truck from Sacramento to South Carolina.  I offered to fly to California and drive the truck to South Carolina for the cost of air fair and fuel.  I explained the stop in Utah and asked for permission to pick up the sheeter.  We made the deal and it was win, win for both of us.  I could now get this sheeter for $3oo and the only cost for shipping was some driving time.

Deal done and now I have this sheeter sitting in my kitchen.  Now the work begins.

I can't believe someone was using this to make food that was sold to the public.  I assume the mouse droppings were from the storage unit but the old crusted dough on everything was nasty.

This is the rollers.

This is the roller scrapers.  This was so gross.  Not long ago this machine was being used to make whole sale bread for a MAJOR national food store. Yes that's mold.   I'll never eat out again!!!

So with more time on my hands  I dismantled this machine down to "parade rest". The only parts that were not disassembled were the ones welded together.  I scrubbed and disinfected everything piece by piece.  I replaced parts that needed replacing and a few more just for good measure.  I replaced all the roller bearings, drive chain, drive belt and conveyor belt.  I used after market parts so that kept the cost down.  Then I put it all back together.

Now the kitchen table has shifted once again for this big hunk of stainless steel.   I need a bigger kitchen!

The picture at the top of the page is my first attempt at croissants using the sheeter and the first time using "Classic croissants by Jeffrey Hamelman" and first time baking them in my wood fired oven.  So I have a lot of tweaking to do.

Looking back I would do it all again for my $300 sheeter.  It also makes me think how many other people would have taken this adventure?   To what ends would you go for something you wanted but didn't need?

 

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

My series of San Francisco-style sourdough bread bakes has featured several variations of levain elaboration, leaving the final dough ingredients and procedures essentially constant. Today's variation involved using a firm starter to activate the stock starter and building the stiff levain which is mixed in the final dough in three steps, rather than two. In addition, rather than retarding an intermediate build, I retarded the stiff levain.

You may also note that the activation and intermediate builds used a flour mixture of 75% AP and 25% WW flour. Re-reading my class notes from the SFBI Artisan II workshop, I was reminded that this was the feeding mixture recommended by the SFBI instructor. I thought I would give it a try. 

Feeding the starter twice in 24 hours demonstrated a dramatic increase in the leavening power of the starter. The second feeding expanded dramatically faster than the first. And, even though the total fermentation time (not counting the overnight retardation) of the stiff levain was shorter than previous versions, it was very nicely expanded.

I started with my stock refrigerated 50% starter that had been fed last weekend. That feeding consisted of 50 g active starter, 100 g water and 200 g starter feeding mix. My stock starter feeding mix is 70% AP, 20% WW and 10% whole rye flour. 

I activated the starter with a feeding of 20 g stock starter, 25 g water, 37 g of AP and 13 g of WW flour. This was fermented at room temperature for 16 hours. I then built an intermediate starter using 40 g of the activated starter, 50 g of water, 75 g of AP and 25 g of WW flour. This second build was fermented at room temperature for 12 hours. I then mixed the stiff levain.

Stiff levain

Bakers' %

Wt (g)

for 1 kg

Wt (g)

for 2 kg

Bread flour

95

78

157

Medium rye flour

5

4

8

Water

50

41

82

Stiff starter

80

66

132

Total

230

189

379

 

  1. Dissolve the starter in the water. Add the flour and mix thoroughly until the flour has been completely incorporated and moistened.

  2. Ferment at room temperature for 6 hours, then refrigerate for 14 hours.

  3. Take the levain out of the refrigerator and ferment at 85ºF for 3 hours.

Final dough

Bakers' %

Wt (g)

for 1 kg

Wt (g)

for 2 kg

AP flour

90

416

832

WW Flour

10

46

92

Water

73

337

675

Salt

2.4

11

22

Stiff levain

41

189

379

Total

216.4

999

2000

Method

  1. In a stand mixer, mix the flour and water at low speed until it forms a shaggy mass.

  2. Cover and autolyse for 90 minutes

  3. Add the salt and levain and mix at low speed for 1-2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium (Speed 2 in a KitchenAid) and mix to get early window paning. (This took about 10 minutes.) Add flour and water as needed. The dough should be rather slack. It should clean the sides of the bowl but not the bottom.

  4. Transfer to a lightly floured board and do a stretch and fold and form a ball.

  5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly.

  6. Ferment at 76º F for 3 1/2 to 4 hours with a stretch and fold at 50 and 100 minutes.

  7. Divide the dough as desired. (Note: I had made 2 kg of dough which I divided into 1 1 kg piece and two 500 g pieces.)

  8. Pre-shape as rounds and rest, covered, for 10 minutes.

  9. Shape as boules or bâtards and place in bannetons. Place bannetons in plastic bags.

  10. Proof at room temperature (68-70º F) for 2-3 hours.

  11. Cold retard the loaves overnight (12-14 hours).

  12. The next morning, proof the loaves at 85º F for 3 hours. (If you can't create a moist, 85 degree F environment, at least try to create one warmer than “room temperature.”)

  13. 45-60 minutes before baking, pre-heat the oven to 480º F with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.

  14. Transfer the loaves to a peel. Score the loaves as desired, turn down the oven to 460º F, steam the oven, and transfer the loaves to the baking stone.*

  15. After 15 minutes, remove the steaming apparatus, and turn down the oven to 435º F/Convection. (If you don't have a convection oven, leave the temperature at 460º F.)*

  16. Bake for another 15 minutes.*

  17. Turn off the oven, and leave the loaves on the stone, with the oven door ajar, for another 15 minutes.

  18. Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack, and cool thoroughly before slicing.

*Note: I baked the two smaller boules first – 15 minutes at 460ºF with steam, then 15 minutes at 435ºF convection bake. I then baked the 1 kg boule after reheating the oven for 25 minutes – 15 minutes at 450ºF, then another 25 minutes at 430ºF.

 

San Francisco-style Sourdough, large boule

San Francisco-style Sourdough, large boule crumb

San Francisco-style Sourdough, small boule

San Francisco-style Sourdough, small boule crust close-up

San Francisco-style Sourdough, small boule crumb

San Francisco-style Sourdough, small boule crumb close-up

The appearance of the loaves was like those previously baked, as were the crust and crumb structure. However, the flavor had a prominent sourdough tang. This bread was quite similar to the bake I blogged on March 19, 2012 (See: My San Francisco Sourdough Quest, Take 4)

This is the crunchy crust, chewy crumb, moderately sour loaf I was after … at least it's close. I cannot say it replicates the “Wharf Bread” from Parisian Bakery I ate in San Francisco years ago. It has a less sweet, more whole grain flavor. The crust is thicker and crunchier. The crumb structure is more open. But it's a keeper. This is the one I'll be making from now on ... or until I can't resist tweaking it further.

I think it would go great with Dungeness crab!

David

Submitted to YeastSpotting

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