Blog posts

I just found this site.  I have been making (trying to make) artisan style bread following Reinharts book "the bread bakers apprentice" for the last 4-5 years with varying success.  I know that my bread has improved, and it certainly tastes great.  However, I want it to look good too, and that is where I am working now.  I stumbled onto this website searching for "oven spring problems" which is what happened to my sandwich bread loaf tonight.  It exploded out of the pan and cracked beyond the edge of the score during the first 10 minutes of baking.

I was preparing to make a couple of loaves of French Bread this weekend when I noticed we had some pesto sauce in the fridge that I needed to use up.  I went ahead and dumped it into the mixer to see what would happen.

I have not been able to blog for a bit now, so a few bakes have lined up that I want to share.

#1 Vermont SD

Fot quite a while now I was working with whole grain doughs producing flavorful breads with strong aromas from the various flours. A few days ago I decided to bake a proper baguette after seeing the beautiful baguettes you TFL members are showing here.

A lightly sweet taralli, made with a full-bodied red wine such as Cabernet, Merlot, Barolo, Zinfandel, and Primativo etc. Perfect for a wine tasting party.

http://turosdolci.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/double-dip-red-wine-taralli/

Vermont Sourdough with Increased Whole Grain

I felt like baking something new this weekend, but I like the breads I make most often. That's why I bake them most often. So, I wanted something I would really like as much as those, but different. I settled on the Vermont Sourdough with Increased Whole Grain from Hamelman's “Bread.”

Achieving a thin, crackled crust has been a frustrating pursuit for many, myself included. I have been able to get it, sometimes, but not consistently. There have been numerous discussions of how to get that crackly crust. I've been slowly digesting what's been written, and I think I may have arrived at a reliable method, at least for my breads, my dough handling and my oven.

The basic principles

Baked 2 different breads, taking up the Hamelman's challenge, one quite successful and the other,  just had too many mistakes.  You will understand what I mean when you look at the pictures.

Cheese Bread with quite a bit of modification to the recipe.  Great oven spring, still learning to score to get the ears.  Not enough cheese,  quite an open crumb,  thin crust,  and 100% sourdough only.   check out the details here.

This is a sourdough version of Peter Reinhart's 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf from his book: Whole grain breads. I spiked it by 2.25 Teaspoons of instant yeast.

The crust was soft due to the presence of Milk, and butter, but the crumb was light soft, and even textured.

I used only Waitrose Organic Strong bread flour with 13.9g of protein. I also baked this bread under a pyrex cover in a grill oven, 30 min. covered, and 15 minutes uncovered.

Ok, back from my business trip to beautiful San Antonio, Texas ...got more work done on the garden shed, and I'll be baking the whole wheat (pate fermentee?) from Bread for The Bread Challeng on Sunday.  Here's the lates on the garden shed ...and a tidbit or two on the shop that I'm having built at the same time.  My yard is a genuine construction zone!!!