First Time Posting, aka Recent & Random Bread Experiments
So I figured after 6+ years of dedicated TFL reading & researching, I'd finally start providing a bit of content to the discussion. Below is a grab bag of recent bread experiments to get caught up, with precious little commentary, for which I apologize in advance. Happy to answer any questions, of course, and in the future, I'll try to post one or two such experiments at a time, with a bit of explanation of what I was attempting.
Cheers, Drew
Pain au levain (FWSY recipe)
Tartine Country Loaf Experiments
Levain Pizza on a Baking Steel (FWSY recipe); Pizza Bianco (Lahey)
TXFarmer's 36(ish) Hour Baguettes, and 3-hour Van Over Baguettes,
Sandwich breads (sourdough, pretzel, Anadama from BBA, and Oatmeal Honey from Macrina Bakery recipe,)
Grilled flatbreads, Soft Pretzels, Overnight Waffles, Lion House Rolls, Madeleines, and some Maine Jam
Comments
You have posted a very nice assortment of great looking bread, and a few cute wee assistants. :)
Congratulations!
They do assure there are never any crumbs :)
Your baking apprentices look way smarter than mine and you have so many! At least you have 4 less than Ian does:-) But that might be a bad thing too! Love your loaves, well done and
Happy baking
Beautiful baking! You must eat very well in your house!
We are a "food focused' home for sure :)
Great looking bakes. Spot on! Those Lion House Rolls look like Parker House Rolls.
What thinkness is your Baking Steel for the Pizzas?
Cheers,
Wingnut
And yes, the Lion House rolls formula is pretty close to Parker House -- enriched doughs, milk powder, lots of butter...our go to for family holidays
The baking steel is 3/8" -- I split the difference on the options Baking Steel company offers. It seems to have plenty of mass, and pretty heavy (22ish#s). It has completely changed our home pizza quality, and I also now use it for any bread bakes that don't naturally fit into one of my cast iron cookers (e.g. batards, baguettes). I love the oven spring and heat retention it seems to provide, just need to keep an eye on the bottom of the bakes to ensure it doesn't get too dark, but my pizza stone is all but retired at present
Your breads, pizzas and other baked goods look wonderful. It was definitely time to come out of hiding. :) Thank you for the wonderful pictures and your 3 little helpers couldn't be any cuter!! I too am intrigued by what you say about the baking steel. How has it changed your pizza quality exactly? Is it a considerable difference?
I've only had the baking steel for about a month, but I will say it has dramatically improved the quality of our home pizza. I dabble a lot of pizza doughs (spend a lot of time over at pizzamaking.com, too, and looking to build a WFO at some point), and with the steel, it seems like I can really get a good, fast bake with nice browning/charring on top and bottom. I prefer neopolitan style (or neo-neopolitan) doughs, and I was averaging about 3 to 4 minutes for a pie -- vs 6 to 7 minutes with my regular pizza stone -- and getting nice mix of crispiness/chew. I still have lots to learn about using it, certainly, but so far, my wife and 3 dogs are big fans :)