The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Hello from Wisconsin

Palindrome's picture
Palindrome

Hello from Wisconsin

Hello all, 

I've bumped up against this site many a time in my internet searches and used its content many a time, so it's long overdue to join in.

I'm no stranger to fermentation. I work as a winemaker, and in the past worked as a dough mixer for a bakery chain called Breadsmith. Sorry to all who might want a recipe for any of their breads, I cannot share them. They make employees sign a non-disclosure agreement. That said, they forgot to make me sign the non-disclosure form so I wouldn't be obligated to keep quiet. Lucky for them I never bothered to commit to memory or write down the ratios.

These days I just bake for the joy of it but have taken on the frustration of sourdough for some reason. My current goals are to perfect croissants and build an earth oven this summer.

mikedilger's picture
mikedilger

Welcome!  I'm fairly new here myself.

As for croissants, I recently watched a video about cultured butter.  A week ago I didn't even know that there was a "sourdough" way of making butter!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4OQgza8F6E

Palindrome's picture
Palindrome

I recently made my first attempt with cultured European style butter and I must say that I much prefer it over the standard American butter. I don't know if it was the fact that it was cultured or that European style butter has higher butterfat content, but the butter was much more pliable which made rolling out the dough easier straight from the fridge. Now I want to find a flour that has less snappy gluten so that rolling out the turns doesn't take so much effort or time. I feel that with how much I have to roll the dough out to the proper dimensions that I'm driving the butter into the dough and losing the desired lamination that results in distinctive layers.