Blog posts

59th bake. 96.5% Stone ground WW.

First loaf in the big oven since spring.  During summers I just use the toaster oven or use a griddle/pan on the stove-top.

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110 g SG WW durum, Patel brand.

330 g SG WW red wheat, Bob's Red Mill.

8.8 g salt.

330 + 22 + 22 g H2O = 374 g.

32 g of 100% hydration starter, bread + AP flour, last fed 6 days ago, kept in fridge.  Adds 16 g of white flour for 456 g total flour.

16 / 456 = 3.5% pre-fermented flour (PFF).

44 g roasted (in oil) sunflower seeds, un-salted.

This is a modified bake that I last did in the winter and wanted to do again now that I have a good pH meter.  40% whole Kamut, 40% whole spelt and 20% bread flour, so lots of whole grain.

I’ve made this recipe for baguettes before with the seeds on the crust, this is the first time I’ve made baguettes with inclusions, so black sesame seeds in the dough.  It is a much tidier way to add the sesame seed flavour so you don’t cover your floor with sesame seeds when slicing the baguettes.  

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

Posted before as big batards, so first time out of the chute as baguettes.  

We were eating grilled pork chops with polenta a few evenings ago, and that reminded me of this bread that I'd made twice in succession back in Feb. for the first time.  

This time, aside from the baguette shape I rejected using the mechanical mixer instead opting for a hand mix.  

My latest bake is the Pain Au Cidre from The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg.

The bread dough that killed my KA6qt. ;-), it died at the 7 minute mark during the mix so...onward I went.

I really like this bread, The crumb has nice notes of apple from the cider, a nice mild rye bite with a mild yogurt undertone. The crust is thin with a nice chew and has a pleasant roasted/raisin taste.

All in all I like it and would bake it again.

Recipe and process are below for those that are interested.

I haven't posted in quite some time, but there is rarely a day that goes by that I don't check in here and marvel at the TFL creations.  I haven't posted, as I was pretty much making the same bread every week, so not much to share.  At some point (early Covid lockdown) I decided to acquire a Pullman pan and work on my sandwich bread.  I've been making this loaf with small tweaks to the flour mix here and there, and just wanted to pop in, share, and say thanks..... without some of the wonderful breads I see posted here, I would not have achieved this kind of result.

I recently saw the Nussknacker (eng: Nutcracker) on Dietmar Kappl's Instagram feed and decided straight away that I wanted to bake it.  It comprises a tasty mix of wholemeal spelt and coarse rye flours, leavened with a rye sour and packed full of roasted hazelnuts, almonds, sunflower and hemp seeds.

All, 

I posted on here a few months ago regarding issues with my starter. I've baked around 30 loaves between then and now and all have been failures. I'll attempt to add as much detail as possible to this post.