Blog posts

I've been busy traveling for work this past month and have not had a lot of time for baking, but  finally I had a chance to bake again.

I used my usual procedure to make a porridge bread but decided to use buttermilk instead of milk or water in the porridge.  I also used some freshly ground durum flour, sprouted durum and some Harvest Grain Mix from KAF which includes whole oat berries, millet, rye flakes, and wheat flakes and four seeds (flax, poppy, sesame, and sunflower).  The end result is a tangy, hearty loaf with a wonderful moist crumb.

In this edition of what the heck can I do with a tub of dough, I decided to tackle the fabulous batard known as Ken’s Artisan Country Blonde.  In the first attempt early this week, I mixed 1000 grams of dough and came up with two ~500g batards.  As an aside, I am a believer in couche rather than banneton proofing whenever possible.  I was pretty happy with the results for a first time out, as evidenced by the first photos.  

About a month ago I wrote about my attempts to reproduce a Pane di Altamura that I tasted on a visit to Italy.  For the past few weeks I have been working on the formula and on my technique, and I’m happy to post my most recent results, which are much closer to the original look I was after.  I researched the techniques a bit more and found some information I had missed the first time around.  The key one was that I had not achieved sufficient gluten development. 

Today we are to lazy to cook so we shall have bread with butter and different spreads.

I made my everyday SD bread as per usual and also SD hybrid rolls.

They are so good.

They will be soft on the top but crisp on the bottom and light and fluffy on the inside.

Due to the crips bottom the rolls, that is light as a feather can carry a good weight of all kind of topping, from sweet to savoury.

The bread was made with

150g 80% hydration starter

400g warm water

400g wheat flour

200g wholewheat flour

    2Tbsp olive oil

I am on a countdown now from leaving  paid employ , for the last 10 years or so i have been with Challenger Institute of Technology which is a Government training organisation formally known as Tafe which stands Tertiary and Further Education.

I have had a number of rolls at Challenger being a Purchasing Officer, a stint with Hospitality Section as the technician and back at supply currently as a Contracts Administrator and auditor of credit card spending.

Sourdough Italian Rolls

April 18, 2015

Those familiar with my San Joaquin Sourdough will recognize the rolls I baked today as its Italian cousin. Besides the obvious difference that these are rolls rather than bâtards, they also have around 20% Durum flour, some sugar and olive oil, and they have a sesame seed coating.

I based this loaf on the Semolina from Tartine. Very pleased with this one. I incorporated a bench rest period, which I think may have helped my shaping issue from last week. The crumb is so nice and chewy and a little sweet and nutty. The crust is a little thinner and lighter than in previous loaves which I like, and I attribute to using parchment in the dutch oven instead of oil. I'm currently enjoying it as a triple decker sandwich with butter lettuce, guacamole, smoked turkey, and bacon. 

Lately I've been experimenting with steamimg methods. Before this I had been using a pan full of lava rocks, preheated with the oven, and pouring a cup of boiling water after loading the bread.

I tried and tested a few dough combinations and surprising as it may sound, the sourdough whole spelt marries amazingly well with an enriched yeast chocolate dough.  It was such a labor of love this bake I have published it, rather demo-style.  For details look on www.mybreadandbrot.com

Stumbling across a video from Der Back Profi making Kaisersemmel, this morning I just had to try them.  And I can't find where I stumbled over it!