Blog posts

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.

My husband and I are taking our first trip anywhere since we were married 3 years ago. We didn't have the funds for a honeymoon and the kiddo was created just one month after we said our vows.  This year, for my birthday, I asked him to arrange a long weekend and surprise me with the destination. I wanted somewhere close enough that we could be back in a flash if necessary, but far enough that we had to take a plane. He chose Portland. 

After a couple of really good attempts to recreate a Brooklyn style pizza, I had a couple of disasters. Trying to slide a 16" dough disk onto a 16" steel proved to need more precision than I could muster.  I was ready to quit, when my wife reminded me how good the pies were before I got the steel. On her advice I combined the two methods. Pizza screen on the steel.

It has been a while since dough.doc posted the Larraburu process for making their famous San Francisco SD bread from the late 60’s and early 70’s.  It really was great bread made by the thousands of loaves.  There were a couple, three things that hit me as being strange after reading the process.

Hi guys,

I' m a cook in Italy, and getting a break,  I would improve my passion for bread alone in my home.

Many times for the oven I ve got (an old gas one without vent) I felt limited and frustrated, for problem such as keeping the vapour initially  and the size of the chamber, making only one or two loaves a time, etc.. 

I live in italy and solutions for home baker such as Rofco ovens are not available.