Apt for me, that the first bread I bake from Jeffrey Hamelman's books would be on page 258. I had visions of starting neatly at page 1 and working my way through.
So, its Sunday, my alarm set for 7.00am and after some snoozing I got to work. I have been tasked with making the rolls for the bacon and sausage sandwiches to feed all the volunteers we hope will come and clear the plot of land behind the village institute we are hoping to turn into a community kitchen garden. i am working on the 'home' measurements as my order is for 24 soft white rolls.
I thought I'd start my blog while my dough proves or 'bulk fermentates'.
First observations on first recipe from the book
1: Are US cups and lbs the same as English ones?
Although my dough, nestling nicely in it's bowl, looks lovely and soft and rich and a bit cakey - I was a bit worried about the measurements as the home version gives you cups and teaspoons as well as pounds and ounces. my cups and teaspoons didn't weigh anywhere near what the equivalent pounds and ounces did. Any English folk using the book have the same issue?
2: Pop it in the mixer
This week I have been practicing making baguettes using a recipe from Richard Bertinet's 'Crust'. So it seemed very odd to be putting everything in the mixer and not flipping, banging and folding the dough until my arms hurt.
3: Until the Gluten network is moderately developed
In skim reading the front of the book, the information on mixing and overoxidizing your dough would have helped my understand of what this means, I do hope these rolls turn out OK.
