The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

welcome from buckeye-land

buckeyebaker's picture
buckeyebaker

welcome from buckeye-land

so this is my first posting, after a year almost of lurking. but the q/a with peter reinharz spurred me on, since i own almost all of his books, including the most recent.

 like many here, i've been an avid bread-baker for over 35 years. my collection includes the original Tassajara brown cover copy, now in tatters; laurel's bread book, julia child, dan leader, glazer, hammelman (a personal favorite) and many others.  i've been through the whole-grain stage, lived through 2 zoji breadmakers (used for mixing dough & proofing, not baking) was educated by my 2 kids to abandon whole grains in favor of artisan breads and foccaccia, but never gave up the attempt to sneak wheatgerm and whole grains into the recipes/formulas in the newer books.  so i was truly excited to see the new books by reinharz and leader.

but being a bit math-phobic, i've never fully worked out the 'percentage' way of baking, and have rewritten most formulas so that i can work them out intuitively.  My version of ciabatte is literally a cut/paste of 3 different versions, with sourdough added, much in the tradition of some of the forum entries here. and i am quite excited to see the q/a with reinharz, and hope lots of questions are asked. 

i've been trying out some of the new reinhartz recipes, but using my sourdough starter instead of the biga, and they seem to be working quite well.  almost a throw-back to the original methods in tassajara, interestingly enough; i guess there are only so many ways to prepare dough.

dolfs's picture
dolfs

If you look through some of the other books about Artisan baking, you'll find plenty of recipes that include a little, or a lot, of whole grain. Were your kids perhaps steering you away from the stereo-typical, old fashioned, heavy, dense, and dry "brick" loaves? If so, check out Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads. It gives recipes and techniques for making whole grain breads that share only the "whole grain" part with history, but are quit a bit nicer in terms of crust and crumb.


--dolf


See my My Bread Adventures in pictures

Cooky's picture
Cooky

Now that you've emerged from silent observation, you're going to have a great time conversing. Also: I'd be intrigued to see your tweaked ciabatta recipe, if you're of a mind to post it.

Whereabouts in the Buckeye-verse do you reside? I'm in Cincinnati, and I know we have at least a few others from around the state.

 

"I am not a cook. But I am sorta cooky."

wholegrainOH's picture
wholegrainOH

I'd enjoy seeing your ciabatta recipe also; I'm also a buckeye--in Columbus.  So where are you?  And welcome to chatting!  I've only been on for a few weeks, but am finding the forum a terrific resource.

 Alan

browndog's picture
browndog

 BuckeyeBaker, welcome. I cut my baking teeth on Tassajara. The sponge concept seemed so novel at the time, now it seems visionary. And I still can't have dough-sticky hands without recalling his almost (no, nothing almost about it) sacred approach to removing every last scrap from your fingers back into the dough.

Cooky, I grew up (til I was eleven) eating my Wonder bread and ketchup sandwiches in Delhi, my dad taught for years at the Mount. An adult brother and a passle of nephews and their progeny are still there. Where are you?

earthygirl's picture
earthygirl

At Heart and by marriage.  Hubby's from Columbus.  We are diehard Buckeye fans.  I have also only been here a couple of weeks.  So much great info!