I recently inherited (pinched, I mean) a beautiful antique wooden bread kneading bowl from my mother. I've recently begun to start making bread, so the timing was fortuitous. My mom tells me it's very old, she and dad got it for a wedding gift (40 years ago!). She used it when I was a kid for salad and serving. It's in good condition, without splits or cracks from drying out... except for the worm holes....

The bowl has been in storage for at least 10 years because at some point something burrowed into it and created wormholes... This was before the all-knowing internet, so mom tried to repair it the best way she could. She filled the holes with some kind of wood filler. It didn't work so well. When I got it, the glue was sort of chunky and seperating. I scraped it off the best I could using warm water, vinegar, my fingernails, and the side of a fork (gently).

I'm left with what you see now. It's pretty smooth in texture, but there's a lot of discoloration remaining. Much of the lightness at the bottom is the wood coming through... that's fine and will fade with more use, cleaning, curing. The other lightness is from the glue/filler itself. The worm holes are the distinct squiggly things. The wood flller/glue (of unknown origin) is really hard to get off. Vinegar barely makes a dent. I've scraped off all i can, now i'm just smearing it around. I read that laquer thinner and steel wool will remove it promptly, but I'd like to remove all the glue in a foodsafe fashion. If it comes out of the wormholes that's great (character, you know) or not... whatever! I'd just like to polish it up and use it for whatever i can, even if it's just a centerpeice. Ideas?

Hi! 

I know this has been discussed to death but as time passes more people with more collective experience appear so I am bringing up this topic again:)

I have scoured this site and the internet trying to determine what I want in a baking stone and which I should buy.  Somebody always has something to say that makes me unable to decide what I want to get.  (I do realize that this is my partly my personality getting in the way!)

Anyway in the next few days I will decide on a stone, hopefully with a little bit of further input from you.

I have sort listed myself to the following (not necessarily in any order):

1)      Cordierite, http://www.sheffield-pottery.com/Square-Cordierite-Kiln-Shelves-s/320.htm

2)      Fibrament, http://www.bakingstone.com/order.php

3)      Something from fantes.com http://fantes.com/pizza.html which is actually this one from Dacor http://www.dacor.com/Our-Products/Accessories/In-the-Oven/Baking-Stone.aspx  (I have some misgivings about the lip at the back, maybe this won’t matter? Otherwise I like this one quite a bit)  

4)      There is also these two from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Old-Stone-Oven-Pizza-Rectangular/dp/B000QJDBRY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1257962485&sr=1-4 and  http://www.amazon.com/Old-Stone-Oven-14-Inch-16-Inch/dp/B0000E1FDA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1257962485&sr=1-5

5)      And this from William Sonoma http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku1242981/?pkey=x|4|1||4|baking%20stone||0&cm_src=SCH

Money is always an issue but if it lasts and gives me years of convenience and joy then it’s always worth it. 

Then the thickness issue….thicker retains a lot of heat a lot longer but takes a lot of energy consumption to get hot (I am thinking green here).  Since I will probably baking only one or two pizza or ciabatta etc or few naan at a time what is the best thickness for me,  ½ inch?

I greatly appreciate any comments!

Thank you so much.

K.

Much like the title implies, I have found a classic, working, well kept KA Hobart K5 with the norm; Dough Hook, Wire Wisk, Beater and Stainless 5qt Mixing bowl. I am wondering if this model for this price is worth my time and effort? I currently do not have a mixer, am doing fine with out for bread, but for baking pastries, I'd love one.

Anyone have experience with the classic KA Hobart models or know anything about them. I am clueless when it comes to older KA/Hobarts. Would it be able to mix my 1.5 to 2 lb doughs fine? I imagine it has metal workings on the inside, correct?

Thanks in advance : )

TFL is always a great place for answers : )

By the way, it's this or a refurb KA Pro 600.

The question of which stand mixer has been debated well. If the question of a KA Pro 600 was addressed, apologies for posting again.

The only bread making I have done is Ezekiel Bread from freshly milled flours. It is a batter dough that my wife's Kitchenaid Pro 600 mixer handles well. Now I want to branch out to whole grain yeast breads.

I have been warned about burning up a KA with whole grain flours and advised to get an Electrolux DLX. The KA manual says it will handle 8 cups of whole grain flours. 

I don't want the KA to go up in smoke. But most of the warnings I have read involve the decorator mixers. Does the KA Pro 600 do a good job of mixing and kneading, or will I taste a difference with the DLX even if the KA doesn't go up in smoke? Will it handle an 8 cup whole grain dough batch?

i'm about to by myself a mixer after years of only hand kneeding, and have narrowed my decision down to choosing between the electrolux dlx assistant (formerly magic mill) and the Viking Professional. I'm able to get the Viking mixer in my local shop, but I've heard such great things about the electrolux. I will bake a fair deal of heavy rye bread, which mixer is best suited for this? also does anyone living in vancouver know if there's a place to get hold of the electrolux dlx in town? if not, how about seattle?

thanks,

thomas

I was recently given two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" metal bread pans from Sur La Table, made by Chicago Metallic. The directions say to lower the oven temperature to 25 degrees less than what the recipe calls for. Is this necessary? I'm not sure because I usually bake sandwich type loaves in glass 9 x 5's. Obviously metal conducts heat differently than glass, but 25 degrees seems like a big difference, and if it is really necessary I'm surprised that the recipes don't specify glass or metal pans. Does anybody have experience with this?

First a pic of the Emily Henry 5.5 qt oven

Now the bread itself

And a few notes

1. I used floured parchment paper to transfer the dough to the oven (as opposed to a cotton kitchen towel). No problems with sticking dough which I experience about 50% of the time using the towel.

2. Use spray oil to prevent sticking to the bottom of the dutch oven. My Staub La Cocotte did not require oiling so enamled cast iron and ceramic react differently to bread baking using a wet dough.

3. Baking bread in an Emily Henry ceramic oven required 30 minutes of covered baking and 30 minutes of uncovered baking to brown the crust and bake out the gumminess in the crumb. This was 10 minutes longer than uncovered baking in my Staub enamled cast iron oven.

4. I now make bread daily thanks to the simplicity of Lahey's long ferment no-knead bread. The house smells amazing every afternoon around 4 and the kids loveeeeee home-made bread with a little dab of real butter.

Brian

Bosch Universal Plus Mixer with slicer attachment, bread dough hook, whisk attachments.  Also includes cookie dough paddles - purchased separately. Cost to me November 2008 was $475. Was used occasionally- gently, well taken care of. Have a second mixer given me as a gift and so do not need 2 such large items in my kitchen. Would like $375- the mixer keeps selling for the same price at ecerything kitchens (where it was purchased) and other websites. Live in Berrks County PA willing to drive 50 mile radius to deliver or to Philadelphia (even further).

E-mail if you are seriously considering

Hello all!

Was wondering if baking in a toaster oven is any different from a "normal" oven - the kind that's usually wall-mounted. What is your experience?

I'm not too sure what my current wall-mounted oven is - it does have a heating element on the bottom though.

The last gas and electricity bills have been niggling at me - they were higher than usual, and since I only recently started baking I'm guessing my wasteful use of the oven is causing the bill increase. As a person who doesn't bulk-bake (we eat pretty sloooowly in this household!), I'm starting to wonder if a toaster oven is the better choice for me. I usually bake 12 muffins or a single medium loaf at a time. (Did you guess I only own 1 of each type of baking equipment? haha!)

My mom is going to purchase a half size electric convection oven.  She was strongly leaning towards the Hobart HEC20 which the best price is about $3450 shipped.  However, one of her instructors at the baking school she goes to recommended Eurofours convection ovens which are made in France and apparently quite popular in Europe.  Their comparable model is $2700 shipped and it apparently has the same type of steam technology that Blodgett calls "Hydrovection".  It also has a 3 year warranty.  It certainly SOUNDS good, but I've been unable to locate any information or reviews online comparing the Eurofours models to Blodgett or Hobart.  In fact, I've been unable to find much of anything on Eurofours, which I imagine plenty exists on French and other European sites but I'm limited to English I'm afraid.

Any advice would be MUCH appreciated especially from someone familiar with Eurofours since lots on Hobart is out there but very little on Eurofours. So right now it's between these 2. 

Hobart HEC20

Eurofours 2 Tray (from a Dutch site - they only had 4+ tray models on the English site for some reason)