I've been thinking of making a fig and walnut loaf for awhile and finally got around to trying it this week. It turned out very well and it's a formula I'd like to tinker with again.
Notes:
I have been working at using a higher hydration dough and went back to the basic country loaf recipe from Tartine Bread. The other day I was preparing to bake and made a leaven and left overnight. I did the drop test when I was ready to start making the dough and was disappointed that the leaven dropped a bit in the water. I decided to go ahead anyway to see what would happen. I let the flour and water plus leaven autolyse for approximately 4 hours, did a slightly longer bulk fermentation with 4 sets of folds every 30 minutes and 2 sets of folds every hour.
So I am a very busy college student, and like any other student, am in need of some $$$ to have on the side. While I don't have much time for hobbies, I enjoy baking above all (of course, why else would I be here?!). I am so glad to say that I have found a part time job at a bakery. Our university has a dining service, which includes several cafeterias, restaurants, coffee shops as well as catering. There is a central bakery that provides for these locations. Here, I have learned so much.
Note to self: Don't bake bread in your Weber Charcoal Grill when it's 25 degrees outside!
Since picking up those 20#s of semola rimacinata from Laurenzo's, I've been on a semolina baguette tear. After baking a bunch of baguettes and batards for the Laurenzo's I've had a few more bakes. Mostly out of want (wont?), or is that desire? Dunno. But I've moved the dial a bit. Instead of my typical 350g - 375g baguettes, I bumped them up to be "gros baguettes" - big boys weighing in 100g heavier each. So all of these weigh in at about 450g-475g.
2016 Dabrownman’s Blog Index
1/1/2016 - New Year’s Eve Pizza – 2015
1/5/2016 - Westphalian Pumpernickel – 1537
1/8/2016 - 3 Starter Italian Olive Bread with Rosemary and Sun Dried Tomato
Yesterday I made a classic mistake by not being patient with a loaf of bread that would've been delicious if I had just given it enough time proofing!
I just realised that I actually hadn't posted a blog about the delivery of the Rofco oven, so I'll post some quick pics here.
The oven was purchased from an auction house in Sydney, it was brand new, tested by an electrician as working, although it did not come with the stone decks. I think that they had probably smashed to bits during transport and the delivery was rejected by whomever had ordered it so it was an insurance second, even though it was brand new.
It has been a while since we took delivery of the Rofco B40 oven but have yet to put it to good use and get a decent loaf for various reasons. Anyway, in this time my partner and I have attended a certificate course at college on commercial bread baking which was quiet enlightening, informative and educational, maybe that experience will make it into another post sometime, it's amazing what you can do with the machinery a commercial baker has to play with including mixers, shaping machines, a prooving room the size of my kitchen and commercial oven decks!!!
