Blog posts

I’ve always liked the nuttiness of barley bread. It thus bothered me a bit when I couldn’t find whole barley anywhere… That’s until recently, I discovered some hull-on barley in a tiny Indian grocery store. Of course I ended up sprouting it for this week’s bake. Since the hull is inedible, it was sifted out and discarded after milling.    

30% Sprouted Barley Sourdough

I have been experimenting with different ways to use my home oven for pizza.  Tonight's came out really good.  I used a baking steel about 6 inches below the top of the oven, close to the middle rack.  I used 550 F setting and also used the convection setting which often adds another 25 or so equivalent heat.  I preheated the oven for one hour.

I loved David’s San Francisco recipe and decided to add some seeds to it and change the flour combo. I got the inspiration for the seed mixture from a guy named Josh (JoshFox Bread) that I follow on Facebook. He has a micro bakery thing happening similar to what I do but on a larger scale. His breads always look so delectable! So between David’s recipe/method and Josh’s combo of seeds, I hope I have a winner!

Levain:

63 g starter

63 g water

110 g unbleached flour

15 g freshly milled Rye flour

Dough:

Recently been corresponding with Katy 'Bakingbad' and the subject of Pate Fermentee was explored especially as a possible way of getting a stronger sour into S/D. As most of you are aware its a French term for adding old dough to a new mix.  It got me thinking about something i spotted years ago in a local West Australian bakery when i was chatting to the owner during his weighing up for his production. I recognised the different things that he was scooping up from under the counter bins  except one so took a closer look, he smiled and said its "bread crumbs".

This is a 66% rye bread made with fresh milled rye sifted so it's close to a medium grind rye flour.  I added some fresh milled spelt as well which really compliments the rye.  I had some left-over cheese grits from my wife's breakfast the other day so into the mix it went along with some mashed potatoes which were roughly mashed.

I've always wanted to bake hoagie rolls but for some reason was too intimated to try. Maybe because these involve shaping multiple little loaves at once? I don't know but I'm hooked! These were fun to make and they came out great! These are also a great way to practice shaping, as you have to do so many at once. I baked 12 loaves in al. Thinking of making sourdough rolls next, topped with sesame seeds! 

A few months after Alan (aka alfanso) posted his bake of the Scott McGee ciabatta, I finally got around to baking the bread.  The result was pleasing, with one loaf consumed at home by my wife and me and the other given away to a neighbor.

I've been baking bad for just over a year now. Sourdough obsession came, peaked and then subsided for a few months whilst travelling. Its back with a vengeance as is my bread!

I came home to a very sorry looking starter. Abandoned for two months it was grey and stinky and had black water covering it. So, I just poured it off, mixed it all together, took a tablespoon and fed it. 

After a few days feeding it bounced right back. Hello bubbles and sweet fruity aromas.

My brother, Aaron, and I are both enthusiastic amateur rye bread bakers. Since we live on opposite sides of the country, we often exchange pictures and messages about our bread baking adventures, and occasionally we like to bake the same recipe to compare results. 

A few weeks ago, Aaron baked Frisian Black Bread from The Rye Baker twice in the same week. He couldn't get the dough to rise very far in the final proofing stage and ended up with dense loaves both times.