Callie (calliekoch) came from Fort Collins, Colorado to the Back Home Bakery last week (Sept 5-13) for her one week internship. Although new to sourdoughs, Callie's been baking and cooking for a while, and it showed in her meticulous work and attention to detail.
striking a pose while sheeting puff-pastry dough
So I started baking about a year ago. Everything I did turned out surprisingly wonderful. From my sourdough to my soft pretzels, I hardly ever had issues with any step of the baking process. Then we remodeled our kitchen. Since then, I have had no luck with anything. It's like my dough never firms up. I find myself adding more flour, and yet it's always falling apart and worthless.
just some pics from yesterdays bake. next time, i will do the second proof longer, increase hydration slightly, and reread scoring tutorial. not sure why the other side didnt get spring. maybe i didnt score deep enough?
higher hydration
Seeing as rye breads are all over this place nowdays I decided to share some loaves I have baked the last weeks. First up is the 80% rye with soaker from Bread. This bread is really great! I made two of these 850g breads and they lasted a week each, with some saved in the freezer for the next time I make the Horst bandel black pumpernickel.
This is how one of the loaves looked when ready for cutting. A little overfoured I have to admit..
Today's sourdough bread is a continuation of the experiment from last week with my modified steaming method of pouring hot water over pre-heated lava rocks in a cast iron skillet both before and after loading the loaves in the oven.
I had two new goals: In addition to trying to replicate last weeks good results, I wanted to increase the sourness of the bread and I wanted to see if I could get a “crackly” crust.
A of years ago, I was browsing in Barnes and Noble, looking for nothing in particular, when I came upon Daniel Leader's "Bread alone". It looked interesting as it was more than just a collection of recipes. I bought it and was hooked by bread. I read and consumed the book and, since there sere as yet no other books by him, I expanded my horizons to include, again in no particular order, Maggie Glezer, Peter Reinhart (I'm eagerly awaiting his newest), Nancy silverton, Jeffrey Hammelman, Carol Field, Beth Hensperger, Joe Ortiz, Laurel Robertson, Ruth Levy Barenb
Very soon it will be Celtic New Year (see my Van Morrison post). It doesn't mean anything to me except that here in Australia spring is in full swing, spring is the season for new growth and that's what you get after New Year . Here in Brisbane Hong Kong Orchid trees are towards the end of their flowering season; when their flowers have all fallen, Jacaranda will be in full bloom. I put on my joggers, went around my neighborhood and took these photos of Hong Kong Orchid trees:
Last week, hansjoakim's blog included a gorgeous rye bread that he referred to as his “favorite 70% rye.” I asked him for his formula, and he generously provided it. I baked “hansjoakim's favorite 70% rye” today.
Chad Roberson's Tartine Bakery doesn't do chocolate sourdough (if they do, I haven't had the fortune of tasting it). We did Pane Cioccolata (chocolate bread) at Artisan III, SFBI, and it was very good. Everybody loved it but at the time I was thinking to myself if I were to make it at home I would make some changes for the following reasons:
Over the years, many people have said to me that I have all the luck: loving husband, respectful, bright children, fulfilling career in a fun-filled industry, health and a relatively comfortable life. So when I took a voluntary separation package at the end of last year, it might have seemed that my luck had stalled. I never for a second believed that: I had been feeling so burned out at my last workplace that I felt more than half a year of paid vacation was exactly what I needed at this point in my life.
