Skibum's blog

This is my liquid levain version of Peter Reinhart's soft pull apart dinner rolls. I really enjoy the soft texture and the flavour that the honey brings to the mix.

I baked this time on parchment on a cookie sheet, so the rolls could grow to their natural roundness, rather than sticking together as was the case last bake.

Prior to baking I gave them 2 coats of egg wash, waiting a minute in between coats. I baked @ 350F for 15 minutes with steam, then another 14 minutes no steam. Great results once again, with great flavour and a shred able crust!

Here is the recipe:

68g liquid levain

236g milk scalded and cooled to below 90F

363g strong bread flower

1/2T kosher salt

39g honey, I slopped a little more

43g melted butter, again, I slopped a little more

1/2 large egg, or 25g egg

The left over half egg supplies the glaze before baking.

Happy baking friends! Ski

Greetings friends, I haven't been posting much lately, as I haven't been baking much.

Super happy with my FoodSaver for storing fresh food and particularly bread. I baked a batch of soft pull apart dinner rolls April 26th. By vacuum sealing, freezing and taken out as needed. My last roll is as fresh today, 3 weeks later as it was when fresh from the oven! Take out a roll, re-vacuum and re-seal, then back in the fridge.

As a single ski bum I have either had to give bread away or double bag it in zip locks to freeze which never gave me a good re-heated product.

The vac sealer has also transformed my re-heating of my slow smoke BBQ. Pulled pork and vac sealer then re-heated sous vide style is as good a fresh pulled. My latest kitchen toy is a Anova sous vide precision cooker. Most impressed with the results so far!

Happy cooking, baking and eating folks! Ski

Well friends, I have had this appliance for a month or so now and LOVE it! Vacuum sealing food in plastic keeps it fresher, longer, saves space in my freezer and compared to double zip locked bags, I can actually see what is sealed and frozen.

My soft pull apart dinner rolls have stayed baking day fresh, shrink wrapped and frozen. You just need to stop the vacuum motor before it squishes the rolls, breads etc. What sold me on the product was the idea, I could re-heat my slow smoked BBQ pulled pork butt sous vide style. I comes out just like day one pulled pork.

As a serious cook, I give this appliance 5 stars and 2 thumbs up!

Happy baking! Ski

Well friends I haven't baked much leavened bread for the last 3 months sustaining myself on southern style corn bread and buttermilk biscuits. Well I got a taste for some soft, pull apart dinner rolls and they turned out great!

I used a recipe from P. Reinhart's ABED and adapted it to my sweet levain:

68g liquid levain

236g milk scalded and cooled to below 90F

363g strong bread flower

1/2T kosher salt

39g honey, I slopped a little more

43g melted butter, again, I slopped a little more

1/2 large egg, or 25g egg

I developed the dough normally let it bulk rise overnight in the fridge. In the morning, I let the dough warm up on the counter for a couple of hours, then divided, proofed in a pan and baked @ 400F for 8 minutes with steam and finishing with another 8 minutes, no steam.

Here are the proofed rolls:

Fresh out of the oven:

Good rise and GREAT oven spring thanks to a well fed starter. The honey, butter, egg and milk really make for a nice, soft shred able dough with a subtly sweet flavour.

Part of the reason I haven't been baking is that I am selling my home in Canmore, AB and moving to Golden, BC. It is a perfect move for me, but the stress of moving is enormous. I have actually lost 10 pounds. Today, I found house, I think I will buy and my present place is pre-sold. Cheers folks, I am celebrating tonight!

Happy baking! Ski

To my honey corn bread recipe I have upped the jalapeno from one to two. Not a lot of heat from these peppers up here in moose country, but they added a nice crunch, as did the corn kernels I added. The final add was old cheddar diced fine.

Skillet honey cornbread with 2x jalapeno, diced sharp cheddar and corn kernels. My best corn bread ever!
1/ cup corn meal
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder...
1/4 tsp baking soda
2Tbs sugar
Mix dry ingredients.
beat 1 egg and add to 1/2 cup buttermilk
add 2 Tbs liquid honey and mix
Add wet to dry, then 2 Tbs melted butter, which I also use to coat the CI pan.
Bake for 16 minutes @ 400F, turning half way.

This bread has a nice sweet taste. The jalapenos bring no heat, but a nice crunch to go along with the corn kernels. My best corn bread yet!!!

Happy baking and eating friends! Ski

Added a full diced jalapeno to this mix along with about 1/4 cup of canned corn kernels. Sorry no fresh corn to roast her at this time of year. I will double both the corn and pepper next bake. The additions make a delicious bread!

Happy baking! Ski

I have been making this mix as muffins for some time now and now that I have an 8" cast iron skillet, I did the whole batter in hot iron. I liked the resulting product better. The single loaf was more moist than the muffins. This is a winner  and new recipe in my baking rotation! Delicious on it's own or as a side for bacon and eggs with home made sausage!

Recipe: heat oven to 400F
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 cup flour...
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs melted butter
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup milk
Mix dry ingredients and wet separately, then add wet to dry. I melted the butter in the skillet I was baking it in added the butter and mixed.
When the oven is hot, pour the batter into the hot pan and bake 16 minutes, turning at the half.

Happy baking and eating folks! Ski

PS Floyd, the file browser did not allow me to upload a second photo. All the correct buttons and menus popped up, but when I clicked on upload nothing happens.  b

Well friends, ski season is full on! I have been baking lots, but have not had a lot of time to post. Well this pita certainly had a pocket! I haven't baked pita in a while and the last recipe I used had a very short, 2 minute rise time. I googled some pita recipes and ended up letting the rolled out pita proof for nearly an hour. Based on my results, it worked!

The bomb for some pork souvlaki.

I used a cast iron DO lid on a baking stone, topped with a baking stone in the convection oven. I waited 20 minutes after the over came up top temp before baking. Winner, winner souvlaki dinner!

Since joining the Facebook CAST IRON COOKIN' AND BBQ'IN, I have developed a taste for buttermilk biscuits. These beauties are a staple in my baking rotation now.

Perfect for some biscuits and sausage gravy!

Corn bread has also made an intro to my baking rotation, but can't seem to fine the pic of my cornbread mufins. good baking, good eating and good skiing which is about the best I can hope for at my age . . .

Happy baking friends! Ski

First a big thank you to Ru007 for posting this sourdough donut recipe a while ago. I used your formula exactly and boy did these turn out well!  I scaled the balls to 85 grams, roughly the size of a golf ball and they ended up huge. It took about 5 minutes each in the deep fryer at 375F. After cooking 3, I bagged and refrigerated the remaining 5 dough balls, figuring they will be better fresh. I may also cut the size in half to get a more Timbit sized treat. I just used granulated sugar, sprinkled on and rolled in.

This is the first time I made donuts. It will not be the last! What a nice treat!!!

Happy baking! Ski

For my New Year's Eve bake? Pull, vat else! Hey I am working on my braiding technique and bake one of these a week. Also a chance to wish all my fresh loaf friends greetings, best wishes, health, health, happiness, interesting times and great baking! I also have a loaf of high hydration sanny bread on the go to balance things.

I also wanted to show of my beautifully re-seasoned cast iron cook ware. A very old skillet and a newer Lodge combo cooker, I use for bread. the skillet was re-seasoned with pure flax seed oil, five times @ 500F for an hour, the Lodge 3 seasoning cycles. the non-stick performance of the skillet is a couple of levels of magnitude better! I found this information at a Facebook group called CAST IRON COOKIN & BBQIN. I mention this as most of you great bakers are also great cooks. This FB group has been a great source for food ideas, techniques and overall entertainment.

Check out these bad boys!

A simple technique to greatly improve the performance of your cast iron. Skibum recommended!

Happy New Year friends and happy baking! Ski