Hello everyone,

I am very excited to have finally joined this forum.  I have read posts for the last month or two, and am finally joining.  I just found my passion for baking bread about 2 months ago, and I have not stopped baking since!  Every day that goes by without baking makes me sad :(.  I currently am trying to perfect a stollen recipe and am looking for tips and ideas from experienced stollen bakers!

I look forward to sharing my passion and learning from you!

Andrew

Hi all,

I am a retired expat from the USA living in the Philippines. I was turned on to breadmaking when I bought a breadmaker a year or so ago. I was hooked after that. Needless to say after a couple of months the breadmaker went into storage and has never seen the light of day, or night, again. I imported a KA mixer and have never regretted it. I don't get to bake as often as I would like but I read a lot about it. I think trying to formulate the different breads is the most interesting for me, and of course the eating of the end result is always, almost always, good too. The small island I live on is very limited as to the ingredients I have access to but I make the best of it. Anyway, thats me in a nutshell, right where I belong, as I am a nut, heh heh.

Hello from Ohio.  My name is Stella and I've recently been learning how to make sourdough bread. I must admit that it's different. I've been in a wheelchair for the past 4 years so I spend more times in the house. Baking gives me something to do with my time. I'm an avid beader. I love to crochet, tat, knit, and read. I'm a wife, mother and grandma. I am raising 3 grandkids aged from 7 years to 17 years. There's never a dull moment in my home.

Hi fellow amateur bakers! 

Im a 28yrs. old MA student (Politics and Public Affaris) and a mother of a 16mts. old toddler. I live en Odense a larger city in the kingdom of Denmark.

Just baked a sourdough from a 4 day growth from chef, to biga, to levain, from about a 4:1 white/brown ratio at i would say 65-68% hydration. I kneeded once for about 5 mins then french folded for another 3-4 mins just to tighten the dough up a bit. then 3 repeats every hour of 3 folds, then prove for enough time for approximate doubling.

The loaf expanded a lot rather than rose, but doubled in the oven, yet was still fairly dense and really very very tangy, almost sharp to the taste. Is this a correct taste for a sourdough? I used 25 grams of salt, and about 1 tbsp olive oil in the dough.

However, that said - the bread was extremely well suited to a thinly sliced peppered ham sandwich!

Kind regards and thanks for reading

V

I just finished making my bread rolls ready for the coming week and then I made some Ricotta.  I was curious as to how I could use the resulting whey when making my bread (I hate to waste anything!)  So I came to my PC and googled my question - and up popped this fabulous site!

I have had a glance around and have registered.  Wonderful site and some great photos and recipes.  I'm sure I am going to be using this site a lot now!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!  

marcia jones.

Hi everyone!

It's about time I spoke up, I guess.  I've been lurking for awhile now and joined up a couple weeks ago but haven't written anything until today.

By way of introduction, I live in SW New York State with my spouse and cat, and have over the course of the past two years become more and more enamored of baking breads and rolls as part of my economizing necessitated by long term unemployment.  I've gotten pretty good at it, from what people tell me.

I'm currently looking at the feasability of baking for profit from my home's kitchen (something that may quickly befcome a nightmare if it proves successful).  If that works out, I might consider expanding since it seems no one wants to hire a 50ish female mechanical engineer anymore.  I hope I'll be able to contribute a bit in return for all the knowledge this site has provided me already.  Happy baking!

hugs & smiles!

Emelye

Hi

I just found this wonderful forum! I will spend some time here for sure. I love bread and pastry. I found this site looking for the difference between a poolish and a sponge.

Hi Folks,

A long time home baker but a new member and first time poster. I've had the site linked for a long time and have used it as a resource many times and found some wonderful recipes. I consider this and Wild Yeast along with the KAF site my first places to turn for baking answers. Look forward to shareing ideas and maybe some of my experience with all you fellow bakers. I posted my first post over the the pizza,focaccia forum just a little while ago about an article on focaccia in the newest Cook's magazine. There is a link to the online article and it makes a pretty good focaccia. I used it last night and other than substituting a cup of ripe sourdough starter for the biga I followed the recipe and it turned out two nice loaves. Give it a try...it's basically a no knead recipe so it is pretty quick and easy. The only challenge for a new baker is the very wet dough it produces which sometimes is tricky.

Hello to all from Alexandria, VA.  I was just introduced to this site and it looks like a really great resource.  I have been sourdough baking for almost 40 years.  When I returned home from Viet Nam in 1971 I received my sourdough starter and instructions from my father who in 1969 had received his from a close friend who had just returned from a hunting trip northwest of Fairbanks.  He (dad's friend) had come across an old homesteader who shared his sourdough starter and tought him the basics. At the time the homesteader said the starter had been in his family 70 years.  I did not believe it at the time but since is has been in my family for 42 years since then, I am now a believer.  Son and one Daughter (of three) are also hooked on sourdough. Glad to be a member.