Blog posts

I've had a good few discussions lately about domestic oven steaming, notably with DanAyo and Doc.Dough.

I've tried various in-oven solutions over the last year or two with good, but not great results. It was also getting to the point where it was taking longer to set the oven up than it was to do the actual baking!

I became convinced that the best way forward was to generate steam externally and introduce it into the oven. This blog post gives some details of the practicalities of how I achieved this.

I thought I would more seriously document my bread-making on this site, so I have a history that I and others can learn from. Today I baked a formula that dmsnyder posted in August http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/57042/multigrain-sourdough-bread-made-homemilled-flours-august-8-2018 using using the technique that is used in Myhrvold’s bread encyclopedia.

There really was enough bread in the freezer for most of a week, but I had an irresistible urge to bake bread, and I had promised to make a 75% whole wheat sourdough with home-milled flour, and last week's SJSD baguettes were so good and so gone ... ?

75% Whole Wheat Levain from FWSY, made with MockMilled whole wheat (and some rye)

Some of you might have seen a post recently by user/morb1lee (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/57650/bulk-grain-free-samples) offering samples of his wheat grain.

Been a little while since I made these - getting better at keeping them down in the mold - half this batch stayed down thr other half popped up. No idea why !

I got a request for a “7-grain with Bulgur” that I apparently made a while ago. The only thing I could figure out was that it had to be Hamelman’s 5 grain Levain that I had made with Bulgur. So here is a 7 different flours with seeds and grains version not counting the AP flour. 

Makes 3 loaves

Liquid Levain build 

272 g flour 

343 g Water 

55 g Starter (if kept in the fridge, fed a few times prior to using in the Levain)

Soaker

100 g bulgur

100 g Flaxseeds 

A weeks ago, Tom (Toad.de.b) introduced Farina Bona to me, which is basically flour milled from toasted but unpopped popcorn. I love his idea of alt altus so much that I thought I had to try this flavor booster as well.

  If you have been following my blog posts you know by now that I love a good porridge bread.  This one is no exception.

The addition of the coffee flavored maple syrup to the porridge and main dough added a nice slightly sweet undertone.  You don't really taste the coffee but overall combined with the rice this one is a keeper.

The crumb came out perfect; moist, soft and open.  This is one that is good enough to eat by itself.  I finished off the whole loaf using it for sandwiches and gave one away to a few of my dog park friends.

I called into South Metro Tafe Beaconsfield yesterday to make a booking for lunch at Quinlan's Training Restaurant for next week and was informed that the facility will be closing for good at the end of this term which is only 5 weeks away. 
I was given the opportunity to endulge myself and spend this morning with a number of Commercial Cookery students in the training restaurants bakery. Under the circumstances i thought it wise to grab the chance while i could.

This week’s round of RWC SD.  Changes for this one were:

• Dropped WW addition, increased Semolina
• Reduced hydration to 67% (was going to make baguettes, but didn’t)
• Increased 75F proof to 2 hours before overnight

Did my usual mix, rest, pinch, stretch/fold, rest, s/f, rest, s/f rest, bulk, etc.