The Fresh Loaf

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the bread experiment

Jw's picture
Jw

the bread experiment

this weekend I researched the strenght and taste of my wild yeast. I made one starter with wild yeast (pure), one with an extra half a teaspone of commercial yeast, and the third with some sourdough powder I once bought. Also, in the oven I covered half of the breads with a alu-foil pain for the first 15 minutes.

Conclusion: the wild yeast is not that strong yet, a few spots  in that bread were not completely developed. The alu-foil really helps. Those breads looks nice and have a better crust. Adding a bit of commercial gets me better results (or I need to proof longer next time). You don't see much difference during the whole proces, it's all happening once you hit the oven.
About the picture: top row is with cover, from left to right: wild yeast only, added commercial yeast, added sourdough powder. The one in the bottom row in the middle rose twice the size in the oven, but is was 'all air' wiithin.

Crumb: the one is the middle is the wild yeast only version. This was around lunch today, baking was yesterday 5 p.m.



I thought I'd add a few others pictures this time as well. Not just from the bread itself, but also how we eat it. These are heart-breads, just pain ancienne, with a bit of wild yeast (for the taste) and extra seads. great to receive or take to school..or to eat with raspberry marmalade.

this picture shows part of the lunch table from yesterday. the yellow light comes from the sun roof. just 'lazy bread', bacon and some fish.

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last but not least: I made a few extra zopf last thursday for colleages at work. Six-strand breading is getting better (bottom right). I used standard flour and not the special zopf flour.

Happy baking! (just had to take a bread out of the fridge, we ate all bread already..)

Cheers,
Jw.

Comments

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

You have been a busy baker...everything looks delicious...the breads and photos look wonderful...I love the heart bread with the jam..very nice!

Sylvia

xaipete's picture
xaipete

Your breads look really nice, Jw. I especially like the heart shaped slices with the seeds and jam. Nice touch!

--Pamela

Jw's picture
Jw

thanks Pam. But not to get the wrong impression, those hearts were not shaped by hand. I bought the forms in a store years ago and use it only a few times per year. Cheers, Jw.