Blog posts

I've been following everyone's posts and successes, but life in the fast lane has kept me busy (and away or in the office). I've baked, but less frequently and the freezer was finally sighing with relief. But a (promised) rainy weekend was perfect for catching up. Saturday's bake was a Seeded Multigrain (Hard) Cider Loaf, with Rye, WW, Whole Spelt, BF and KAF's Harvest Grains.

It's been a while since my last post. The day job has been keeping me quite busy and I haven't had the bandwidth to bake bread as much as I would like. I'm baking every third weekend to keep the bread box full and the freezer stocked.

Was doing weekly grocery shopping and noticed some steel cut oats at a very reasonable price and since I was deciding what bread to make this weekend it was a natural.

150g steelcut oats

75g quinoa

200g milk

230g water

20g agave nectar

300g fresh ground white wheat flour 95% extraction

80g fresh ground spelt flour 95% extraction

20g amaranth

100g 100% hydration starter fed and active

10g salt

additional water

This is my BAGET ...

Recipe:

- 450 gr APF

- 50 gr Whole WF

- 325 gr Water  (%65 Bakery percentage)

-100 gr Starter (%100 Hydration)

- 10 gr Salt

trying out my first loaf from hamelman's bread - whole wheat levain. Made some variations as I dont have a decent mixer and did 4 sets of stretch and folds within 2 hours and 15 minutes bulk rise. Added an autolyse of 1 hour too.

I based this loaf on Ken Forkish's 50% whole wheat bread with biga. Instead of 50% whole wheat I made this 40% whole wheat and 10% rye. The hydration is 80%. 

I am very pleased with the result. A nice open crumb and light texture considering the high percentage of whole grain flours. I also love the deep color of the crust, which is shatteringly crisp. 

Thanks to David for posting his take on this loaf. An amazing bread indeed. I happen to have a lot of durum flour so I did incorporate some into the formula David posted. I actually used it in 2 ways. My starter is fed only with durum and I added durum flour for 1/2 of the WW that David used. I also only had 9" pans. I was concerned as the bread volume didn't rise above the pans during the 4 hour rise...but whoa did it ever rise in the oven. I baked at 400 for 38 min to 205.

I've been lurking on this website for awhile, and decided it was finally time to woman-up and try some of the techniques that I've seen.

No, not a chilly winter, at least not here in Florida where it remains delightful through the winter months.  But rather a chilly twist to my proofing stage.  My kitchen runs warmer than many, and proving my baguettes can be a bit of a coin toss at times.  Anywho, a few bakes ago, when I split my Field Blend #2 dough into a DO boule and two gros baguettes, I decided to retard the shaped baguettes in the refrigerator for the proofing step.  Mr. Forkish suggests baking this dough, albeit as a DO boule, right out of the refrigerator, so who am I to disagree?

This is my Tartine "Basic Country Bread" with original recipe...

Recipe:

- 450 gr APF

- 50 gr Whole WF

- 375 gr Water  (%75 Bakery percentage)

-100 gr Starter (%100 Hydration)

- 10 gr Salt

Whole water  percentage is %77.2.. That is original recipe from the "Tartine Book"...