Blog posts

I am a Chinese ,and I just arrived in America last month to accompany my husband who studys further in NY.Before I went abroad,I have been interested in bakery and tried to do some cakes and breads. In Shanghai ,I was busy finishing my study so that there weren't much time for me to realize my hobby.Meanwhile,some ingredients are unavailable in shanghai. I'm glad that I have a better condition for bakery now.

The Sourdough Seed Bread was one of the first formulas I baked after buying Hamelman's Bread, and I thought it was one of the best tasting breads I had every had. I believe it's been  more than two years since I have baked it, and I wondered why I hadn't made it more often after tasting a slice last night. It is really good.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been working on a Polish Rye recipe.  I baked it again this weekend and this time took notes.

Preferment

• 180g AP flour
• 120g water
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of instant yeast

Final dough

a sea of info. think i am more confused now . will have to wade through it.

 thanx again zillfat

It has been my great good fortune to have interacted with a number of extraordinary individuals – some of whom have become my teachers (some in the area of baking). It has also been my great good fortune to have been able to bake in various kitchens and bakeries throughout my baking life to date.

I have never made beer bread before, so I had to do it, inspired by dabrownman's 16 grain and some other wonderful beer breads I have seen on this site.  My husband is a real beer guy, so the first order of business was not to use a beer he wanted to drink.  Someone got him some porter, and it is not his favorite, so I had my start. I should point out that I do not like beer, which is strange for a girl originally from Milwaukee. 

The A&D 1200i is a great scale for the kitchen.  It is a legal for trade scale accurate to plus or minus 0.1 gram and can weigh up to 1200 grams.  At 453.59237 grams per pound you can weigh over 2 pounds.  I bought the calibration weights and it is very easy to calibrate.  The 4 legs are adjustable so that you can get it level quickly by watching the bubble and adjusting the legs as neccesary.  It plugs in to any normal U.S receptacle.  It costs around $300 with the weights and does not come with the very expensive battery.

I have to begin with a disclaimer: I do not yet own the original Tartine book. I am slow and deliberate with all of my bread-related purchases, from implements and vessels to texts. I do plan to own it by the end of this month! My other disclaimer is that I have only been baking sourdough since November 1, 2014. I know this because the camera on my phone records dates (man, was I was excited about that first loaf...).

Experimenting this weekend. Had a delicious outcome. The bread is a combination of white whole wheat, rye, spelt, quinoa, amaranth, golden flax seed, chia seed and sunflower seed. It has both natural leaven and commercial yeast as well as olive oil and sorghum syrup. Turned out both lighter and softer than expected.

First I milled 165 g each of rye and spelt berries sifted out the bran and got 295 g flour and 28 g bran. Then hard white spring wheat was ground and sifted.

So here is a little background. I LOVE BREAD. So much so I decided to make that my career. I have been a professional baker for about five years now. I am self taught and have a real knack for bread making. It has taken me to some cool places. In the last two years I have been the bread baker for Chef Michael Smiths Village Feast in Souris PEI. I also worked with a CSA to make bread for 450 families in a local weekly produce pick up. All of this has led me to now. I am currently planning on opening my own baker this year.