Arts and Crafts Market #13 , and a new oven
Been quite busy for the last months, but I have some news for you all. First, I would like to share some pictures of my latest participation in ARTE (Arts and crafts market, or Artisans of the emirates). Things have been evolving gradually for me, and I have become more confident with higher production volume; I’m now capable of baking 12 loaves at a time in my new oven : Giorik – Magnifico, a countertop convection oven with humidifier, pretty much similar to Varda and Janet’s Cadco.
The oven bakes well, and I’m beginning to learn ways to generate enough steam while keeping the heat in. I’ve baked three loaves for the last market: A rye sourdough with sprouted rye, flax, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds; a Whole Wheat levain, and a Vermont sourdough with whole wheat. The Rye was baked in pans, while the oven was shut off for the first 15 minutes (steam towels in). The Whole wheat levain, and the Vermont were baked free form on trays. The difference between the whole wheat levain and the Vermont was in the duration of bake with the oven off. The whole wheat levain were baked in a preheated oven that was switched off during the first 15 minutes (all with steam towels in), while the Vermont was baked in a preheated oven that was switched off for only 10 minutes. The result was quite obviously in favor of the latter: the 10 minutes off. The oven spring was improved and cuts opened evenly, and resulted in a better crust overall. I don’t claim that this is a conclusive controlled test, as the whole wheat levain was slightly under proofed, and thus exploded somewhat in the oven; and thus the crust was hard and thick. The Vermont sourdough was retarded (shaped ) and baked after two hours of countertop warm up time.
The sprouted Rye sourdough, my new recipe, is loosely adapted from Hamleman’s 80% Rye with rye flour soaker. It was sliced on the Market day, scaled to 600 gr loaves , then wrapped in paper bag and tied with a craft twine. In hind sight, I should have left a whole unsliced loaf for display. The rye was also a success . The slowest selling bread was the whole wheat levain. The crust was thick, and the flavor was slightly sour, which did not appeal to some clients. One client thought that the dough was flavored with lemon juice!
SEEDED SOURDOUGH RYE WITH SPROUTED RYE BERRIES | |||
TOTAL | % | Weight | |
Whole Rye flour | 40 | 217 | grams |
Light rye flour | 60 | 326 | grams |
Water | 90 | 489 | grams |
Sprouted rye berries | 8 | 43 | grams |
Flaxseeds | 10 | 54 | grams |
Toasted sunflower seeds | 5.5 | 30 | grams |
Toaseted Pumpkin Seeds | 5.5 | 30 | grams |
Sea salt | 2 | 11 | grams |
221 | 1,200 | grams | |
SOURDOUGH | % | Weight | |
Whole Rye flour | 100 | 217 | grams |
Water | 80 | 174 | grams |
Starter | 15 | 33 | grams |
Total | 195 | 424 | grams |
SOAKER | % | Weight | |
Flaxseed | 100 | 54 | grams |
Water | 200 | 109 | grams |
Total | 300 | 163 | grams |
FINAL DOUGH | Weight | ||
Light Rye flour | 326 | grams | |
Water | 190 | grams | |
Sprouted Rye berries | 43 | grams | |
Sourdough | 424 | grams | |
Soaker | 163 | grams | |
Toasted Sunflower seeds | 30 | grams | |
Toasted Pumpkin seeds | 30 | grams | |
Sea Salt | 11 | grams | |
Total | 1,216 | grams |
The day at the Market was crawling in terms of visitors’ flow. The sale peaked at noon, as soon as the market started at 12:00 pm. Not surprisingly, the Vermont sourdough was a instant hit, and sold out within an hour. I’ve only baked eight loaves of the Vermont, due to my limited refrigerator capacity, but I’m planning to purchase another tub to retard my dough in bulk. Furthermore, the Vermont sourdough , or “Country White”, was baked early in the morning of the Market day, and was fresh.
Yet, I’m still the only, lonely, bread baker in the Market. I’m puzzled by the lack of awareness for Artisanal breads, especially for Sourdough; quite few of the customers appreciate the flavor. About a month ago, I had been to Kuwait on a personal trip and visited a sourdough baker at her stall in a local Market called: The secret garden project. It is such a nice community Market, lead by organic farming enthusiasts and foodies. The lady’s alias on Instagram is : Auntmarie’s bakery, and she makes Delicious , and attractive sourdoughs. Other vendors at the event make sourdough bread as well and sell Tartines , and it seems as though Artisan bread culture has quite caught up with the local foodie scene in Kuwait. What struck me even more is that The lady sold out her entire thirty loaves, mostly sourdoughs, in an hour! The price tag for a 1 Kg Miche was not cheap, but the bread was spectacular ( I have purchased two loaves myself ). I wondered why this was not the case back in Dubai, even though it is touted for being a sophisticated multicultural destination in the middle east.
On another cheerful note, I’ve signed up for Artisan II bread classes in June 15th at SFBI ! I feel I need the hands on experience and the professional training, now that I’m beginning to switch into a new career in baking. The reviews on the courses from renown TFL members like Dmsnyder and several others on, in addition to the recommendations by the auntmarie’s, (who has attended both Artisan I, and II), were more than convincing.
That is all for now,
Best wishes to all, and Happy baking!
Khalid