The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Today's bake 3-24-18: Nothing new. Just more pretty breads.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Today's bake 3-24-18: Nothing new. Just more pretty breads.

A couple more of my current favorite multi-grain sourdough breads. These were baked in cast iron Dutch ovens.

Happy baking!

David

Comments

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Those look beautiful! I just love that dark crust! Love, love the ears on both of them. Well done!

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I don't try for ears on boules, to be honest. What you see is pretty, but it is largely the result of 1) tight shaping (a good thing) and 2) under-proofing (not generally desirable.)

David

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

my husband and I have been on Maui the past 11days. Bakery is the favorite thing here... pies!!! We head to the Big Island where our one son now lives. I think the tight  shaping is interesting . I barely shape now with the no touch method. So much fun to see the different methods. I am using graniteware from 1940 exclusively for baking. 

I think about your waffle makers... are you still using the vintage ones you posted about years ago? 

Your bakes are a vision! 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

We love Maui. Have you eaten at Star Noodle in Lahaina? It's the best! We will probably go back next Winter. I'd love to hear about any of your discoveries on the island.

Frankly, the bread situation there is disappointing. I was happy to discover a sourdough bakery, but the breads were inedible - under-fermented and under-proofed. Totally white flour, I'm pretty sure. I'm shamelessly spoiled. (No false modesty for me!)

We don't make waffles often, but, when we do, we use the old commercial waffle maker my mother rescued from the junk heap of a used furniture store 50 or more years ago.

David

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

lost my whole post! When I get home I will sit down and message you. We leave for the Big Island in a few hours. 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

in a great bread way:-)  Well done and happy baking!

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

chouette22's picture
chouette22

No surprises here, you have got the touch! These loaves look so incredibly enticing. I love the strong rustic bake!

This type of outcome has been elusive to me recently as I have baked several doorstoppers/pancake breads with my 10 year old starter. It rises just as always when fed, but it didn't raise my breads anymore. I tried refreshing it twice a day for at least a week to 'repair' it from whatever it was suffering, and then I made a Tartine bread, very carefully timing all of my actions. To no avail - another pancake! I am no chemist and couldn't decipher what was going on and thus gave up on it. 6 days ago I made a new starter and it is doing very well. I'll keep feeding it for another few days before testing it with a bake. 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I'm sorry to hear about your problems. I hope your new starter solves them.

I am always skeptical about starters suddenly failing. I ask, "What's changed?" The first place I look is the water. Distilled water (no minerals that are needed for yeast and bacteria to grow), chlorinated water (kills bacteria), etc. are bad for your levain.

Good luck!

David

chouette22's picture
chouette22

Absolutely nothing had changed as far as I could tell! And I was as skeptical as you, that's why I stuck with it for several weeks. I just thought that my timing had been slightly off (often pressed for time for these long fermentations). As a matter of fact, I still wonder where the culprit lies, but I was just not willing anymore to bake dud after dud. I still have some 30g of my old starter in the fridge. For what, I wonder? Let's see how the new one will perform.