The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

What no runt ?

kendalm's picture
kendalm

What no runt ?

All loaves shaped up pretty nicely. Ok so this is just another usual bake nothing special, no levain or anything fancy just a bake to make sure not to 'lose it' ... As one wise tfler reminds us, 'if you don't use it you lose it' - most exciting part here is that I usually have one loave considerable malformed which has been convenient at least for choosing a crumb model for disection but today the question becomes which one of you goes to the lab for analysis ?

Comments

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

You are definitely seeing some consistency there. Well done!

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

you are so consistent it is scary! we can wait till it gets eaten for the analysis if you like. we can be patient :)

Leslie

kendalm's picture
kendalm

As usual crumb is somwwhat of a surprise and although not disappointed it was kinda sponge-like to a degree.  Good flavor as usually expected - the flour I use smell great just in the bag and always delivers great taste - today's buffet included kippered salmin, chives, cream cheese and tomato - what else could make a sunday better ? 

kendalm's picture
kendalm

Took the opportunity for a 10 minute mark snap (with burn to the arm) - the first 5-10 minutes always blows my mind watching these things transform - dunno whats more enjoyable - scoring or just observing - isnt wheat and yeast insane ! 

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

I take the lids off the DOs and its. yeah! great oven spring and ears or :( darn it didn't spring even though I thought it would.  

love the crumb, and the 10 minute snap! I reckon scoring is always a scary thing even tho I try to be bold!

Leslie

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

and with no runts ti be seen!  Had tiobe tasty,

Well done and happy nbking 

kendalm's picture
kendalm

As i recall your comment on use it or lose it - good reminder and glad that one stuck in my mind - tks dabrownman !

alfanso's picture
alfanso

But disagree with the "use it or lose it" concept.  Tell me, if you didn't get on a two wheel bike for 10 years would you still know how to ride one?  Once muscle memory is in place and the repetitive nature of the task is comprehended and well executed over a long time, there is virtually no loss of skillset, especially in the short run.  Perhaps over a long period of time, years for example, one might get tad rusty but the basics will be there with little adjustment to re-refine them.

I took the entire summer off without so much as touching a bread that wasn't store bought for three months, and basically picked up right where I had left off.  Is this so different from anyone else?  I don't think so...

kendalm's picture
kendalm

But ya beat me to it ! Yeah I agree, I suppose this is more about contunual improvement than 'losing it'. One thing that is true however and one of the things I find amazing about baking is that the last 1 percent of perfection is where all the action happens - it seems the closer you get to your ideal the more potential for better bread. It seems counter-intuitive but the difference between two loaves say we grade them on a scale 1-100. Two loaves and 75% and 85% are both prett decent loaves but 98 and 99 percenter comparison at least in my crazy world would be two entirely different animals. Thats just how I see it - it just seems that all the magic happens near the end game and really thats the real reason for the continued chase.

Btw - I am still digesting your pm - Hoping to do some mid-week levain builds - thanks for the great reply and detail - most likely have some sourdough in the next few days and HOPEFULLY some improvements and feedback :)

kendalm's picture
kendalm

And I am sure the same thoughts go through your mind - can I get these scores more even? maybe next time I can burst both sides of the score - stoopid stuff that doesn't even factor into an ok loaf.  You look back at early work that got you excited when a breakthrough was made and it seems so simple now.  This is kind of where I am at with croissants currently, they are just starting to pop up and behave but the fine details are where the devil resides - sourdough, 'nother story altogether - just trying to find inspiration - ie something that tickle my fancy and just for the record, I am kind of leaning towards your batards !  

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Reminds me a little of programming.  The old axiom was that 90% of the code was to deal with "idiot-proofing" and things that happen 1% of the time.  Maybe the percentages are off by quite a bit, but the general notion was quite apparent in attempts to bullet-proof the system.  

In my final small group at work, one of the few other programmers addressed a group email to me as Anal instead of Alan.  I'll assume that it was a typing error ;-) .  We all had a good laugh over that one and she never did quite live it down. 

kendalm's picture
kendalm

All is tech heads have a few good stories that only geeks can appreciate- my two favorites

- runner up - only a few years into my career working for a large apparel brand we had a system for tracking sample garments that dealt with all the measurements and quality control. At Upgrade time my new dba was trying to run some database scripts and asked for approval, as a total greenhorn manager I gave the I'm. 5 minutes later the system is 100% down and all data inaccessible. Spent the next 6 hours with CIO sitting behind me - to this day I remember only that so much body heat was enveloping me it can only be described as like being inside an oven - I was literally dripping sweat. Finally the database comes online from a single row Boolean being toggled. The CIO who I thought was about to strangle me was actually dripping sweat too and upon seeing the software come to life spontaneously starts slapping my shoulders in jubilation.

- the winner. We had a regular consultant who we contracted of and when timelines were right. Originally from Mexico he was a hot shot get-things-done kinda guy but sometimes a bit quirky with his English. One day we ask him to whiteboard a solution. He proceeds to sketch the typical workflow (database drums, arrows the typical tech architectural diagram). His explanation, 'Mechanism 'X' over her will .... will ... ahh, VOMIT the data to mechanism 'Y'. Yup 'vomit', not 'spew' which I think he meant but the more graphic version. Suffice to say his software worked perfectly !