March 30, 2009 - 1:06pm
New Baker in San Antonio, TX
So far, my experiences have been well... less than successful. I'd love to find a baking class/instructor in San Antonio, TX, but so far I haven't found anything that speaks to the kind of baking done here. One or two classes, all involving commercial yeast and plain white flour. Definitely nothing involving sourdough or whole grains, let alone artisan breads.
Anyone got any leads that you could send my way?
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There are so many good videos out there on making bread. I think they would be almost on a par with an instructor. Have you looked for some good videos?
--Pamela
I have no clue why I didn't think of videos. I found one that breadtopia put up that is a Poilane-style miche which he makes look soooo simple.
One thing of note is that the starter/pre-dough is left out on the counter all night. I've been following Reinhart's instructions to refrigerate my pre-doughs. I suspect that even allowing it to warm for an hour, in a cold house it is still too cold and is slowing down the process considerably.
I'd do a Google search for artisan bread bakeries in your area, then visit each website you find. If they don't offer classes, you might be able to arrange something privately. Pick up the phone and call. Who knows, you may even give the baker the idea of holding a few classes to earn a few extra $$$.
Eric over at Breadtopia.com has some excellent videos that make bread baking pretty painless. If you have not already tried it, the basic no knead bread is simple and quite delicious ( http://www.breadtopia.com/basic-no-knead-method/ ). You don't need the fancy cloche that Eric uses (although I own both the round & oblong ones from him), just a covered dish that is oven proof and has a lid, about 3 qt or slightly larger. I started with a Corningware 3 1/2 qt that my wife uses for baked beans. Once you figure out the basics, the sky is the limit for things you can put in the dough.
Happy baking.
Joe
I can do simple commercial-yeast risen doughs - it's the wild yeast starter whole grain breads that are getting me.
I am trying the breadtopia.com recipe for the Poilane-style miche this week.