Blog posts

There has been lots of discussion here and elsewhere (notably Ken Forkish in FWSY and Ian in his Ars Pistorica blog) on the benefits of long autolyse.  I thought I would do a side by side comparison to see what the difference in taste is, since, after all, that's the main reason we all bake so much.  Just for fun, I also wanted to try a more complex levain.  I have been using a simple straight wheat levain that I maintain at around 100% hydration.  After reading posts by Tom (Toad.de.b) and

At long last, I got around to baking David’s favorite staple bread:  His San Joaquin.

The bread was fabulous! I loved it, and I will be baking it again in the future, no doubt.  

Thanks a lot David for sharing your lovely formula :)

- Khalid

Back again with a loaf I can't resist writing about because of the aromas the ingredients filled my house with while it was being prepared.

The corn meal used in this loaf was cooked in the morning along with part of the water, all of the molasses and all of the coconut oil.  It was left to sit out and cool all day.  The fragrance from the pot was intoxicating.

The results were a loaf with a beautiful dark golden crust and a very soft crumb.  

I've begun fiddling with Scottish Oat Cakes.  They are a bit of a departure from my usual yeasted bread baking.  What makes it tricky is that I really don't know what my target is; I suppose I may have to wait for our trip to Scotland and Ireland this summer to see whether I'm on the right track.

Hi all,

I have not autolysed for more than 2 hrs., & would like to try the "enzymatic 12hr autolyse". I have been told that this will not work with my regular starter.

Has anyone tried a 12hr autolyse with regular starter?

I will experiment, but would like to know.

ml