Found this little gem today ...

An inside look into Sonoma Valley baker Mike [the bejkr] Zakowski's process. Zakowski, of Sonoma's Artisan Bakery, is one of three members of team USA which has secured its place at the famed Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (World Cup of Baking), which will take place in Paris in 2012. Zakowski also bakes bread out of his home shop which he sells direct-to-consumers at Sonoma Valley farmers markets.

http://youtu.be/tdRMaDLQLm4

Cheers,
Phil

Hi all, I am looking for a recipe for a vietnamese baguette. Here are the characteristics i am looking for:

Thin, shiny crust, that cracks into thousands of pieces when bitten into....

Soft, billowy, pillowy inside....

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Greetings all,

Lately, I've been thinking about trying a pumpernickel recipe. I have only been baking for about a month now so I was wondering the difficulty level of pumpernickel. If it's not too diffictul, does anyone have, or knows of, a good recipe? Thanks!

Cheers,

Nersh

I made Pecan Sticky Buns for the first time yesterday and wanted to share some pics with you. I was very happy with the way they turned out. I used Artisan Bread in 5 recipe for sticky buns,  which I got from their book and is also on the Internet. I tweaked the recipe a little to cut down on eggs and sugar. In their book, they use the Challah dough recipe.

just made king arthurs hambergers buns, they seem to be a little heavy.  Can you tell me why?

i have been making french bread, i follow the recipes and use a generous amount of salt - however, no matter what i do, my bread never tastes like the french bread i get in the store or at a restaurant. in fact, it basically has no flavor whatsoever.  my first attempt at sourdough yesterday was a big failure (i was expecting this) but even that bread had no flavor whatsoever.  

i dont quite understand what the problem is, if i am using salt, why is there no flavor? i use grey sea salt.

if anyone has an idea of what the problem may be, i would greatly appreciate some feedback. 

We pulled out Grandma's recipe of 60+ years ago and used instant yeast vs the live she used.  Ingredients all the same, flour, water, salt, yeast, but no sugar.  Baked at 350 for 1 hour, makes 2 regular size loaves.  But, the bread is coming out cakey, got any ideas why????  It was never cakey when she made it.  Thanks

I'm looking for a recipe for a sandwich roll that has a slightly chewy crust but inside that does not get soggy from dressings easily

Hi,

I'm searching a really SILENT stand mixer to knead doughs, and when I write SILENT I mean S-I-L-E-N-T :-) , or at least no more louder than a bread machine. My mother has a Clatronic 2718 that is as loud as a sledgehammer; I have a Clatronic 3400 that is quieter, but far from being silent. A friend let me listen a working Kenwood at the telephone and I almost fell off my chair!

I desperately need silence when I'm at home, excessive rumours destroy my nerves.

Is there anything good for me on the market? Thanks.

Yesterday I left bread rising in a warm place but forgot it and left it over night. When I remember it in the morning it had, of course, collapsed. It was a rather pricey multiseed that I had bought from a mill so I was annoyed with myself. Almost threw it away but I'm too mean so I looked on TFL and found some suggestions. Following one of them I put the soggy lump back into my trusty ancient Kenwood and added 500g of ordinary plain white flour ie half again of the original 1 Kilo. I began mixing but it looked so dry that I dribbled in a total of about 3 table spoons of water. It gradually began to form a consistent mass and I was able to turn it out, shape it and leave it rise. Within half an hour even in a very cold kitchen it was rising nicely and in just over an hour I was able to put it into a hot oven where it "sprang" a bit more. It has a bit of a thick crust and tastes a little yeasty (not sure why) but I have three good loaves to show for very little extra effort. The recipe I used came from the side of the instant yeast packet that I used. Hope this might be of use.