Blog posts

Since my last post on TFL (see here), I've been steadily working on my shop with my partner Jana. Roof repaired and renovated, parking repaved, custom fixtures and furniture in progress (photos to be posted on a later date). Additionally, sooner than expected, I restarted my sourdough starter last month, February, and conducted countless experiments. 

Baking lots. 

Regular SD WW loaves, seeded loaves and blackberry pecan loaves. Also did my fourth batch of yeasted Pain au Chocolat, which need some serious help. I can't get them to ferment and flake. 

Rye Ciabatta with ground flax. These were superb tasting. 

Blackberry Pecan WW SD loaves. Blackberry isn't all that great tasting. Sure looks nice though. 

  I have made several breads with this long autolyse technique in the past and I'm always happy with the well developed flavor and open crumb it produces.  By adding the porridge element and upping the hydration it really created a wonderfully moist and open crumb.  The toasted grains really came through in the flavor department as well.  This is definitely one worth baking again.

Note, you don't need to use the new Jumbo Size Kitchen Aid mixer to get the same results I did :).  (This was actually on display at the Housewares Show in Chicago last weekend).

I had made sourdough pita breads a few months ago with 50% whole wheat flour. They were much better than "store bought," as everything I had read led me to expect. I had experimented with two methods of shaping - rolling out versus stretching (like a pizza) - and thought rolling out had better results (a surprise). I also didn't allow any proofing time. I divided, shaped and baked. This time, I shaped all the pitas by rolling and allowed a rather brief proof period - about 10-15 minutes. I think this improved the puffing out of the pitas.

...although not necessarily with the BEST response!

If anyone ever tells you that weather patterns, especially pressure changes, don't impact baking, then please laugh in their face, or, at the very least, snort derisively... 

This weekend's bread is all about including whole grains. The levain is a combo of the 3 starters I have. I coddled it all week and it rewarded me with tripling in just a few hours when I made the final levain. 

Here is the recipe!

1. Sprout 50 g each of Kamut, Spelt and Selkirk wheat berries. 

2. Autolyse sprouts with 700 g water, 550 g no-additives unbleached flour, 102 g multigrain flour, 100 g fresh milled Kamut, 100 g fresh milled Spelt and 100 g fresh milled Selkirk wheat. Let sit for a couple of hours. 

this is actually a test loaf to obtain some feedback on the possibility of a mikro bakery. Only 10% wholewheat freshly ground with 5% levain bulk fermented at 26c for 6.5 hours with just a little tang. Decided not to go for a bold bake to cater for the asian palate n also a softer crumb.

what do you guys think?

I really like the Pain au Levain breads that I've made from Mr. Hamelman's "Bread".  And just the other day I made another similar to this Pain au Levain w/WW.  But if find myself wanting a rye flavor more so than whole wheat.  

Tried peter reinhart's Potato Rosemary Whole Wheat Bread in his book <Whole Grain Breads> today.

The color turns out interesting, because of the potato water I think.

Really into this book recently...The soak technique makes whole wheat taste less like 'whole wheat'...although i really love the 'roughness' of whole wheat. More importantly, it saves a lot of time during baking day as the texture has already beening forming during soaking and the biga.

With Lucy being on strike this week after she found out the FBI was surveilling both Hilary and Trump during and after the last presidential campaign.  She wanted to know if I was surveilling her and she did not like it, not one little bit, when I said I could not confirm or deny any ongoing investigations by the Master just like the FBI’s director James Comey can’t talk about his investigations or confirm or deny they are even going on.