Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply.

With regard to mixing at home, I would still recommend using an electric mixer.   I have never found a wholly satisfactory version, but in the UK the best Kenwood mixers are ok, and there are Kitchen Aid mixers, which are expensive and over-rated, but they do work to give an acceptable dough; eventually.   It is possible to mix this dough by hand, although it would be sticky in the handling to start with.

The recipe calls for strong flour, and relies on the protein in this, plus the protein in the albumen for success.   This means the dough needs sufficient hydration, otherwise the strands will consistently spring back as you try to roll them out.   If you use an "All Purpose" [we call it "Plain"] flour, then you would need to cut back on liquid, as the weaker flour would not hold the higher moisture content.   The result would definitely be an inferior loaf.

You can bake this loaf in an ordinary domestic oven; electric or gas.   Our fan ovens tend to be fierce, so if you have one of these you should reduce the dial temperature to 160*C in the first instance.   Pre-heat the oven, and bake as the profile.   I have 3 bricks in my home oven to use for some heat solidity.   I also have an old roasting pot in the bottom with some pebbles in it.   I throw boiling water on to these to give a steam source.   This works well for what you call "hearth bread"; however this is not needed for the Chollah.   An Aga type oven would be wonderful, but you may need to lower the normal running temperature, as this recipe has plentiful sugar and egg content, so it coloursd up pretty quickly.

Is this any help for you?

Best wishes and Happy New Year

Andy

thanks for sharing.  i have a soft spot for braided breads so i'm glad you've joined the TFL.  looking forward to reading your blogs and to learning from your experience as an artisan baker. :)

Hi Debra, thank you for your welcome.

Your contribution on bacteriology is a major reason for me being so enthused with this site, so it is good to be hearing from you.

English Muffins I can do in the New Year; wholegrain no problem.

We know them over here as English Muffins.   American Muffins are now ubiquitous at Coffee shops [chains]; unfortunately most of these are factory monstrosities too, as you might expect.   Do you have decent griddling facilities, as the key to a good muffin is a soft fermented dough finished on a hotplate!

Happy New Year

Andy