Blog posts

Hi guys. My name's Jordie aka The Crusty Oaf. Must admit I'm fairly new to this whole blogging thing so bare with me while I find my feet in this world. But what better way to document my progress on my way to becoming a professional bread baker. 

A little bit about me first I guess. 

I'm called Jordie, 28, I live in Suffolk UK in a busy seaside town. I have 4 children so finding the time to bake with this hectic life is a challenge in itself 😂

I have long been a fan of the Semolina version of Jason’s Quick Coccodrillo Ciabatta, which may have been my first TFL recipe attempt. @alfanso’s recent post on 80% PFF Ciabatta got me thinking it had been too long since I’d investigated alternative versions. Thinking back on the Durum community bake, I decided to apply Alfanso’s method to a hybrid ciabatta and I think it worked out ok.

Sunbeam, model 5833.

Free online manual:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/324027/Sunbeam-Expressbake-5833.html

(For future reference.)

1: Basic program:

• 3:00 - 2:50. Mix.  10 min.
• 2:50 - 2:30. Rest. 20 min.
• 2:30 - 2:15. Knead. 15 min.
• 2:15 - 1:55. Rise. 20 min.
• 1:55 - 1:55. Deflate.
• 1:55 - 1:00. Rise. 55 min.
• 1:00 - 0:00. Bake. 60 min.

2: Whole wheat program:.

With my daughter that's gluten sensitive back from college, I decided to see if I could come up with a sourdough GF loaf.

i posted the other day about a chart for yeast quantities for conventional timed  doughs 

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/68214/yeast-quantities-for timed-doughs

I ordered a whole pile of Buckwheat groat from Daybreak Mills so it was time to repeat this recipe to use some up. 

Recipe 

Makes 3 loaves 

Add-ins

150 g Buckwheat Groats, toasted

230 g boiling water

50 g Yogurt

55 g honey

 25 g pink Himalayan salt

Dough

700 g strong bakers unbleached flour

300 g freshly milled durum flour (or durum berries)

50 g toasted buckwheat groats, milled into flour

50 g freshly ground flax

720 g water g

250 g levain (procedure in recipe)

75% hydration.  I'm getting better at handling high hydration doughs but don't like how it doesn't hold its shape well and spreads immediately after coming out of the fridge. The oven spring wasn't great either.  And to make matters worse the heavy inclusions weighed it down even more.  So next time , it's going to be max 73% hydration if there are heavy inclusions.  I find the crumb isn't much more open in 75% vs 73% maybe because the 75% needed more stretch and folds. I'd probably get better oven spring too if I did more sets.  I only do 4 sets.  

May 15, 2021. #48.

This was a repeat of my last bake, which was way over-fermented and had collapsed. This time I used 1/2 tsp of instant dry yeast instead of 1 tsp. And this time I measured the chia and the water for it.

405 g Patel brand stone-ground whole wheat durum.

45 g Arrowhead Mills Organic AP flour.

8.5 g salt.

350 g bottled spring water.

Mixed by hand using a silicone scraper.

In a separate bowl, combined 23.2 g whole dry chia seeds, and 46.6 g water and let soak.

Added 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast to the dough, and mixed.

Apple Sourdough from Slow Dough Book by Chris Young

Few ingredients were adjusted 

40g Rye

80g Spelt

280g strong bread flour

70g Starter(100% Hydration)

320g Water

9g Salt

3g Ground Mixed Spice

3g Cinnamon Powder/Ginger/Nutmet(recipe calls for pumpkin spice)

180g Sliced(Cubes) Green Apple - Was baked @ 180°C for 15 minutes

This is my first attempt at baking Hamelman’s bagels. Dough made and shaped the night before, then refrigerated overnight, then boiled and baked early this morning. I also tested my DIY bagel boards. Hand-mixed, kneaded and shaped. The final shaping was to join the ends to seal the ring, however, my arthritic hands wouldn’t quite manage, but generally very pleased with the results. Tasted very nice and slightly chewy. Cream cheese at the ready!