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Been quite busy for the last months, but I have some news for you all.  First, I would like to share some pictures of my latest participation in ARTE (Arts and crafts market, or Artisans of the emirates). Things have been evolving gradually for me, and I have become more confident with higher production volume; I’m now capable of baking 12 loaves at a time in my new oven : Giorik – Magnifico,  a countertop convection oven with humidifier, pretty much similar to Varda and Janet’s Cadco.

Hi everybody, I have a 4 month old,non yeasted levain and had been baking sourdough bread ever since. It was cultured from the scratech with organic rye flour. Though of late,my loaves are getting fluffier and on some occasion,they looked like yeasted bread? What gives? Appreciate some pointers,thank you!

I decided to make the "Sesame" bread from Tartine Bread, which is basically the basic country loaf formula with a cup of toasted sesame seeds added after the first turn.

For this formulation, I used 300 grams of home ground white whole wheat instead of the 200 grams of whole wheat flour.

Still practicing even though we are up to our eyeballs in baked goods, I had the bright idea to use up a piece of cheddar in the fridge in a loaf of bread.  I figured the Pain au Bacon would be a good starting place.

I think I got fairly good oven spring though probably still could be better.  This picture is of the loaf I slighly deflated getting it in the dutch oven.  The other loaf went in the freezer.

This loaf had a mind of its own! Or, maybe I'm just blaming its bad behavior on my poor administration of discipline. I'll keep that lesson in my back pocket for later in life when I'm a parent.

I used the Country Brown recipe from "Flour Water Salt Yeast." I'm really enjoying the results I'm getting when I use this book, so as far as placing blame, it's on me. I could really use some work on my shaping and scoring. 

Cari Amici Buona Domenica,

voglio lasciarvi le immagini di ONU Pane Che e tipico della mia Toscana Ed u n Personale tributo alla mia Città ....... la mia Bozza Pratese una lievitazione Naturale.

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Anna Giordani

e

Il Chicco e la Spiga Blog

Un caro saluto a tutti e felice cottura.

Anna

I have been concentrating on Forkish's Field Grains #2 for consistency while I determine the best method for me to achieve the elusive oven spring. My goal was to find the right blend of technique, i.e., levain prep, percent of water, combination of grains, length of bulk ferment and length of proofing of the final loaves without over proofing in my quest for better height in my loaves as well as better scoring before baking.

But not quite near dabrownman's more than 15 less than 30 breads!

25% rye 12.5% wholewheat, 62.5% bread flour, 1.8% salt, 8% starter made into 30% preferment, 60% hydration, some dried cranberries and golden flaxseed meal.

45 mins autolyse, 2.5 hours bulk with 2 sets of folds and turns, final proofing 1 hour on counter, 4 hours retard in fridge and direct into oven. 225c with steam for 15 mins and 210c for 25 mins.

Cari Amici,

oggi voglio lasciarvi con un dolce che ha fatto la sua presenza sulla mia tavola di Pasqua.

Alcuni di voi si aspettavano di vedere, come da tradizione italiana, una colomba ma, avendone putroppo.....dovute assaggiare molte durante i corsi di pasticceria che ho frequentato prima delle festività, proprio non me la sono sentita di riproporla ai miei commensali.

Devo dire che il dolce ha fatto una gran bella figura e vi consiglio di provarlo.

Un abbraccio a tutti, a presto.

Anna

It had been forever since we had last used our yeast water – months in fact.  It had been hiding out in the fridge like a forgotten SD starter.  We wondered if it was still alive.  After building the 3 stage levain, and waiting for 16 hours for it to double we decided to feed the YW starter and let it hide out in the fridge some more.