Blog posts

My regular baguette recipe (from my local Artisan Bakery) uses about 66% hydration.  This is my first foray into a much more difficult 80% hydration.  This was a real challenge and the results far from perfect, but the experience gained along the way is invaluable and worth the trouble.  I would say without any hesitation that these have been the tastiest baguettes I have ever made and the closest I have come to that genuine baguette flavour expectation.

This loaf is formulated like white bread, only 20% of the bread flour has been replaced by whole grain spelt flour. Additionally, 2.5% vital wheat gluten was included in the formula, which raised the hydration by 3%. This dough was mixed in a KA K5SS 5 quart stand mixer equipped with a replacement spiral hook for a 6 quart mixer.

Here is a view of the dough immediately after mixing all of the ingredients together (except salt and honey).

New Starter happy and growing

[URL=http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/Steelhead503/media/NewStarter2014_zps0be7f3b6.jpg.html][/URL]

10% Sprouted Organic Spelt Four Sourdough with Caramelized Onion and Rosemary

I was pining for something sweet but not too unhealthy and whilst watching TV, saw a shot of beautiful Venice, a city that I have visited annually for the past 7-8 years, and this put me in mind of their wonderful Italian baking.  A particular shop there sells all manner of Biscotti type delicacies as well as countless other delights but I always now pick up a bag of their gorgeous Cantuccini's which are nutty, citrusy and pretty darn addictive.

Hi All,

I'm new to TFL and this is my first entry. I've got my own blog going at www.nothymetowaste.org, so for recipe details and procedure please see my article for this sourdough here! 

This was my first time making sourdough, and I was thoroughly excited by the results. Good crumb, flavour, and crust, thanks to Peter Reinhart's detailed instructions in Crust and Crumb. 

300 grams white whole wheat

400 grams spelt

300 grams AP

800 grams water

mixed the above and left out at room temp overnight while my mature starter was left to make my leaven. 

In the morning, I combined the leaven with the dough and added 20 grams of salt. Stretch and fold x 6 over 4 hours and baked 20 minutes covered and 20 minutes uncovered (450). 

I recently took the 'Artisan Baking at Home I' course at the King Arthur Baking Education Center in Norwich, VT. I pondered whether it would be worthwhile, as I'm a not-a-beginner home baker and (thought I) was familiar with a lot of the material in the course description. I finally decided to go as I was sure to pick up some tips from the pros, and taking the course would allow me to see and feel the various doughs. And I could mess around with dough and commercial equipment for four days in a row with other breadheads. I'm glad I went.

2014 Dabrownman’s TFL Blog Index

1/1/2014 - New Year’s Panettone - 2014

1/3/2014 - YW SD Spelt and White Whole Wheat Miche

1/5/2014 - Saturday Night Pizza - 1/4/2014

This is my first attempt at ciabatta. Handling a wet dough like this is pretty disastrous when I wrongly deviate from the instruction. As I thought if I would eventually move the dough on to parchment paper, I dumped the  dough onto parchment paper right after bulk fermentation. This turns out to be a disaster, it stuck to the paper, I couldnt shape it nor moved it. Next time Im gonna oil the paper or shape it on bench. 

With the advent of a new job and a change of location I stopped baking bread over the last few years. A few loaves here and there but using quick and less tasty recipes. Reasons included not having time to bake (full time job and running regularly) and moving to a place with less space in the kitchen (very difficult to get my Kenwood chef out easily). Well the Kenwoods gone, I have a new 4 day/week job and I was fortunate/unfortunate enough to slip a disc over Christmas! So sat around on a sunny Sunday unable to run I decided to go out and buy a bag of Rye flour to start a new culture.