I tried really hard to screw up this olive levain from Hamelman's Bread. It was enjoying its bulk fermentation in a bowl on top of my stove when I started preheating my oven for some other loaves. Of course, it was sitting on the burner above the vent from the oven. D'oh! By the time I noticed, there was a crusty bit at the bottom of the dough. I cut that off, moved it off the burner and hoped I wouldn't end up with bricks. It had its folds, got shaped and I let retard in the fridge for about 24 hours. It flattened out a bit in the fridge so when I took it out to bake, I reshaped it a little then just tossed it in the oven. Happily, I hadn't killed all the yeast and it did rise in the oven. And it tasted amazing. Oh, and this is the first time I used the Italian culture I got from Northwest Sourdough. Looking forward to making this one again. More pictures of my weekend baking activities.

  I recently read this on the Fresh Loaf as a "non-member" of the site. 

     Here and there Hamelman makes a nod to the home baker, but it doesn't take long for the amateur baker to realize that Hamelman is not all that interested in his or her plight. The continual references to steam injectors and oven vents, proper posture when lifting 75 pounds of dough, and potential injury from improperly holding 7 to 8 foot long peels while unloading dozens of loaves of bread quickly make the amateur realize this book was not intended for him.