Blog posts

Just getting back to baking after extended Spring vacation in Hawaii. 

600g bread flour

150g Red Fife

150g Kamut

100g AYW levain built using one time feed of flour to AYW and left in warm oven a couple hours. Was VERY active

100g Rye levain- did several builds over a few hours to get my 10g of stored starter active again. Left in warm oven all night. Stirred down the next morning and fed again and left for a few hours. 

550 g total liquid - 300g AYW + 250 H2O ( additional water on counter for s&f approx 50-100 g)

All Is (not) Lost.. first let me say that I'm referring to this weekend's bake and the movie by a similar name - All is Lost with Robert Redford (100% rotten tomatoes in my book).

Last week I made a Honey Oat Loaf with all purpose, bread and a tiny amount of whole-wheat flour. This week I decided to use Canadian maple syrup as the sap is flowing in these parts and amp'd up the whole wheat flour and hydration as I always find that loaf a bit dry to handle. I also thought I should increase the hydration given the increased whole wheat flour content.

fired up my wood oven yesterday for first time this season. Made my whole dinner in it even desert. Next nice day I’m ready for bread

It was time to start clearing out the fridge of ends and bits of stuff, mostly dried fruit, left over from previous bakes. Unfortunately, I didn’t get through all the bits but a lot of them found themselves into this bread.

Makes 3 loaves

Dough

151 g freshly milled sifted Red Fife flour (170 g Red Fife berries)

152 g freshly milled sifted Kamut flour (170 g Kamut berries)

97 g freshly milled sifted Einkorn flour (115 g Einkorn berries)

552 g unbleached flour

50 g freshly ground flax seeds

Hello Freshloafers!  It's been a while.  I wanted to update a few things.  Mainly me : )   Looks like I could use some practice posting !

Always nice to check in once in a while and see so many of my favorite bakers, baking!

Here's a little helpful hint I came up with for making a fast banneton for your loaves.  Maybe other's have used this idea but I have never seen it.  SIMPLY use the top half of an egg carton...walla, instant banneton.  Just line it with parchment paper.

Based on Katie and Sarah’s recipe for whole wheat sourdough crackers, this is my humble adaptation:

200 grams of ‘discard’ (mine is a dark rye)

60 grams fat (coconut oil, butter, lard). Loving the coconut.

200 grams flour (spelt is great, white bread flour is good, dark rye is fine, white rye too)

1 teaspoon salt

Smell is great.  Unsure if I baked it long enough.  It sounded hollow when I first checked, but now that it’s cooling, not so much!

https://www.simplemost.com/dachshund-museum-germany/

I spent the last few days working on a 75% hydration sourdough with 10% rye and 10% whole wheat. At the first fold I divided the dough in two and added some inclusions to each half. One half had kalamata olive, fresh rosemary and lavander while the other had hemp heart and flaxseed. For my first attempt I’m feeling ok with the results but I’m sure there’s room for improvements. I hope to gain more experience and confidence with the breads I try out.

I know it’s spring…not fall but the pumpkins sold in supermarket look gorgeous. If you’ve read my previous pumpkin pancakes post, you know I hate pumpkin. However, I can take it when it’s mashed and mixed into pancakes and bread, and to be honest, I adore the striking yellow-orange colour they add to the dough.