The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.
RichmondJim's picture

Inexpensive alternative for a Le Creuset dutch oven / $45 today only!

September 6, 2010 - 8:59am -- RichmondJim

For those of us looking for a less expensive alternative to the Le Creuset cast iron dutch oven, the folks at sellout.woot.com are offering the Cuisinart CI670-30PC 7 Qt. Enameled Cast Iron Casserole with Lid for $39.99 plus $5.00 shipping & handling. This offer is good TODAY ONLY (Sept. 6, 2010) and the dutch oven is only available in blue at the time of this post (the red sold out).

hydestone's picture

No Taste Sourdough

September 6, 2010 - 6:30am -- hydestone

Yesterday I baked the basic san fran sourdough that is in the handbook.  Looked absolutely amazing coming out of the oven.  Crust was cracking and smelled great.  Only problem i that t had zero taste.  Crust, crumb, moisture etc were all good...but no taste.  Is that because my starter has no flavor or maybe because I retarded it too long?

 

Thanks,

John

koru's picture

Tricks to using SAF yeast?

September 6, 2010 - 5:29am -- koru
Forums: 

This seems like such a silly question because SAF yeast is supposed to be so simple to use, but are there tricks to using it that I could be unaware of?  I recently switched from active-dry & my bread isn't rising properly.  One source said the SAF shouldn't touch salt...but how does that happen??  I also ran out of grains that I grind immediately before baking and had to buy store bought flour until my new batch arrives.  Is there a difference using SAF with fresh flour vs. store bought?  

I'm so frustrated right now!  HELP!! 

Thanks in advance. :)

SaraBClever's picture

Buying a new home oven--any recommendations for bread baking?

September 5, 2010 - 6:03pm -- SaraBClever

We are getting a new oven.  Since I bake a lot of bread (why else would I be here?) I want to make sure to get one that is good for baking.  I seem to remember reading in the Bread Baker's Apprentice that "new" ovens even have steam injection features.  My hope was that since that book is about 8 years old, I could find this feature easily.  Does anyone know if these exist and what it is called if it's not something obvious?

GSnyde's picture

Need Source for Opera-length Rubber Gloves

September 5, 2010 - 2:22pm -- GSnyde
Forums: 

Pardon the novice question.  I am sure the experienced bakers here have a solution to the problem of dough getting stuck in the arm hair.  I am making a large (for me) batch of Vermont Sourdough (so should this topic be in the Sourdough forum?).  And using a dough scraper to mix the dough, I keep getting patches of it stuck in my hair (mostly on my hands and arms).

I wonder if you guys oil up your arms before digging in.  I kinda doubt it. That would be messy too.

isobel gildon's picture

the waiting loaf

September 5, 2010 - 6:34am -- isobel gildon
Forums: 

I bake sourdough using a recipe that gives me two loaves. In order to create steam I bake each loaf under a metal bowl for the first ten minutes, which gives great results. The problem is that the oven only has room for one loaf at a time, when the bowl is there, so the second loaf has to wait til the first has baked. This means that it tends to overprove. What would be the best thing to do with it whilst I'm waiting? Should I put it in the fridge or just a cooler room - our kitchen is warm as the stove is an Aga and is on all the time. I would welcome any thoughts.

Tasty Little Dish's picture

Where to get fresh ground flours in SF Bay Area and Sacramento Area.

September 5, 2010 - 12:37am -- Tasty Little Dish
Forums: 

I read on another bread baking website that for home bakers it is best to use fresh ground flour for our breads.  Does anyone here do that?  Where would I get fresh ground flour?  Or the fresh items to grind my own (I can probably do this in my Vitamix)?

I want to make the best breads possible with the best ingredients possible.  I'm sure I can find better than the bulk bins at Winco ;)

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions!

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Today, I baked Hamelman's "5-grain Levain" from "Bread."

Various TFL blogs have featured this bread. They can be found by searching the site. The recipe was posted by fleur-de-liz here: Eric: Hamelman's Five-Grain Levain. She was a very active contributor to TFL at the time I joined and an inspiration to me. She encouraged me to bake this bread for the first time way back when. It is, indeed, among the most delicious breads I've ever made or tasted.

David

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