April 22, 2011 - 10:45am
I can bake again!
My old stove malfunctioned and I spent months with a stovetop but no oven. Finally my appliance-repairman friend found the right part and got the oven working again. I mixed my first poolish in months that very night, and baked yesterday. I was surprised by how much I had forgotten during those long months. There's so much to baking that depends on feel and can't be covered in a printed recipe. But after some struggles to get the correct hydration, I managed a pair of wholewheat boules.
Oh! The rich taste! The crumb! So moist and springy! After subsisting for months on the lackluster products of a supermarket bakery, I was in heaven.
Love your oven, friends. You don't appreciate it till you lose it.