Blog posts

 To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

Merry Christmas and Happy upcoming New Year everyone!

Yeast vs LAB lag phase (may be relevant to Desem starter optimization)

• http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/83047#comment-83047
• http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/459976#comment-459976

Debra Wink writes:

and the temperature in Perth was 40 degrees  and i made bread for Christmas day at our daughter's home. I have been wanting to bake a curry bread, the inspiration was from Shiao Ping (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/13018/curry-rustic-bread) and a bit like going back to visit Erics posts, was inspired to have a shot.

Abe recently posted about a bread he put together from some flour and seeds, and the combination appealed to me as a change of pace from the usual breads that I bake.  Here is my version (pretty much following his steps).

     The ingredients in my version of his bread are:

Spelt Flour -- 400 g

Whole Rye Flour -- 100 g

Salt -- 8 g

Pumpkin Seeds -- 15 g

Sunflower Seeds -- 20 g

Flaxseeds -- 10 g

Sesame Seeds (white) -- 15 g

Starter -- 23 g

Water -- 420 g

My San Joaquin Sourdough originated in Anis Bouabsa's baguettes which had won the prize for the best baguette in Paris in 2008. Bouabsa's baguettes departed from convention in utilizing a 21 hour retardation after bulk fermentation and before dividing and shaping. Jennifer Stewart (Janedo on TFL) and I initially modified Bouabsa's formula by adding a bit of rye flour and some sourdough starter for flavor. I then omitted the commercial yeast altogether and began using the modified formula to shape as bâtards.

Aspergillus Oryzae is at the heart of many delicious East Asian ferments, including miso, tempeh, sake, etc.  I have been reading through The Noma Guide to Fermentation, where Rene Redzepi and David Zilber of Noma fame lay out a number of aspergillus oryzae ferments critical to much of the success of their restaurant.  This is really a fusion of a culinary practice with an incredibly long history in East Asia, with local ingredients and flavors of Denmark -- their culinary terroir.  Somewhat surprisingly, bread is almost completely lacking from the book, except as a

Now let your minds wander. Last few bakes I been getting kinks in my loaves.  It all seems to start at the preshape.