This is a 2nd shot at Hamelman's Whole wheat levain (sourdough 50% wholewheat), after improving my steaming technique.
Hey All,
I baked some loaves for friends today and also a dozen of my 'Buns for Sandwiches' for this week-ends bar-b-que holiday. I had to use my bottom oven for the buns. It is not convection and the buns come out more evenly browned and bake a little faster in the convection oven setting.
My family recipe for "Cartellate" cookies was one of the 100 recipes selected in the Best of Food Blog Cookbook Contest.
Foodista Winners: http://www.foodista.com/blogbook/winners
I have recently tried sourdough, and was really encouraged when on the second day I had bubbles. My old earthenware crock was previously used to make saurkraut. I put in one cup of strong bread flour, one cup of spelt and 2 1/2 cups of tepid tap water, covered it with a glass plate and left it to find yeast.
I have formed a loaf and set it aside to rise. But once risen, how do I transfer this slightly sticky body to a baking stone which I've left pre-heating in the oven? Is there a time tested way to do this?
Bagels, the perfect antidote to an overdose of sticky, tempermental sourdough ryes. They may not be the prettiest bagels to ever come out of the kettle, but YUM! I don't know why I didn't try these sooner. These are going to replace english muffins as my "easy, little, single-serving bread" of choice... at least for a while. The simple fact that there is nothing sticky going on makes them a breath of fresh air.
8/30/10 - 2 Stage Liquid Levain Sourdough Boules
The Second Bake
This is the most successful Wholewheat multigrain i have baked so far. The Steaming technique this time was different. I drilled a whole through the roaster Lid and purchased a steamer cleaner to push steam through the hole. This was adapted from The baker steamer set that was marketed in TFL years back, but with much cheaper components.
The result was spectacular: the loaf gained color so fast, and the crust was crispy out of the oven. Oven spring was very good too. I left the loaf in the roaster for 20 minutes (should have been less: the bottom got charred).
