Blog posts

Sourdough Bread: April 30, 2019

David Snyder

This is basically the same bread I baked on March 22, 2019. The only change was to substitute spelt for the rye and some of the all purpose flour in the final dough.

I have been trying different grain blends and anticipate continuing this line of experiments for a while. All the breads have been among my favorites. The long cold retardation really enhances the acid content without resulting in too much gluten breakdown, at least with these flours and this hydration level.

I regretted Toad.d.b since the moment it chose me (I will never confess that I chose it for my TFL username).  Having had a nano-epiphany while composing a post here a few days back, I've gone 'n done it: changed my TFL username to Our Crumb.  And I've adopted an avatar with some ancient family food history.

There.  Done.

dab, you'll have to call them crumbies now.  Or crumbles.  Or . . .

Happy Baking,

Tom

Here is my latest attempt at the Laurel's Kitchen porridge bread. This one used 1/3 Kamut khorasan, for extensibility; 2/3 hard red winter, for strength.

Our very own Dan Ayo has organized another bakefest, so of course I couldn't resist. Especially since I've become a fervent convert to oatmeal soakers/scalds and have been wondering about the difference between pouring boiling water over oats and letting them cool overnight, and actually cooking a porridge. So this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.

I’m aware that corn makes tasty bread after baking with toasted popcorn and sprouted popcorn. However, the fact that popcorn is so tough makes milling it tricky. Non-popcorn corn species is usually softer so when I saw finally spotted some, I immediately grabbed a bag :) That said, I still recommend milling it on a coarser setting first then re-milling it.

I've made a similar bread in the past with cranberries instead of cherries but I also changed the flour up a bit and added some fresh milled rye.

I thought the crumb would be more red, but you definitely could taste the wine and of course cherries make the perfect compliment.  Adding some chocolate would make this a great bread to have with some cheese for dessert.

Sourdough Bread: April 25, 2019

David Snyder

This is basically the same bread I baked on March 22, 2019. The changes are to use whole wheat rather than rye in the starter and to substitute spelt for the rye and some of the all purpose flour in the final dough.

This was my first attempt to make a bread that uses a straightforward single dough, rather than the biga-plus-soaker method in the Peter Rinehart ww book. I was inspired to make this bread after reading so many posts here on TFL about this book, especially txfarmer's posts. I wanted to learn about proper, full gluten development in a 100% ww dough.

This bread was a great learning experience for me. I did finally achieve a true windowpane. And the way that, in turn, affected the dough handling, and the way it held on to the gas bubbles, was totally eye opening. 

You wouldn't believe these full-flavored, cute little rolls fermented for only about two hours! Amazing CLAS thanks to Rus! 

I used my homemade red rye malt for the first time in this bake, and I'm so proud of myself!