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Well somehow the photo and text did not post the first time. I will try again. I have baked a couple of bricks in a row at 80 and 82% hydration using P. Reinhart's suggested dough handling technique, which involves a gentle letter fold.

I found a different technique on youtube, (breadhitz) which does not use the fold, but trims a small scrap of dough from the side and places the scrap on top to proof. Once proofed the loaf is inverted to trimmed bits down and baked. I loved the way this loaf turned out and love the way it tastes! I have eaten most of the loaf in less than a day.

After returning from my annual pilgrimage to North Carolina and finding my kitchen devoid of fresh bread I got busy milling some fresh flour.

I wanted to use a beer in this bake and decided that fresh spelt and Kamut would go great with the Pale Ale I had in stock.  Of course some caramelized onions would also go well with this combination and some Greek Yogurt and honey rounded out the flavor profile.

I added some smoked sesame seeds and garlic sesame seeds to the top and baked it boldly.

The bread consists of freshly ground white wheat, a little bolted rye and AP with caraway seeds and a bit of honey. It doesn't have enough rye ( about 12% of the flour) to call it deli rye but that was the inspiration. It has a fairly large natural leaven preferment at 70% hydration which is also that of the final dough. Very tasty.

Stu

Chocolate and hazelnut SD

I ended up with extra lavain this week and a little tub of rye and whole wheat flour I had mixed for … something. I hate wasting food and I’d been planning a chocolate loaf for a while, but just hadn’t mustered up the courage, so I decided to give it a try.

Having some hazelnuts left over from my last couple of bakes and a slab of dark chocolate that had been sitting around in my cupboard for a long time made me think “Chocolate + hazelnuts = YUM” (we can’t all be wrong about Nutella, right?!)

Formula:

OK.  The title is mis-leading.  I actually baked an FWSY country blonde but my intention is to work my way through Hamelman.  Why did I bake the FWSY?  I wasn't able to get home from work early enough to start the Hamelman Vermont Sourdough that I planned.  My starter was ready to go, so i needed to do an overnight bulk ferment.  FWSY recipes cater to that.

2’s are big around here, especially this week.  Being a twin, the 2nd one born (a real born loser), in the 2nd month, on the 2nd day, 2 minutes before midnight in 1952 makes 2 a really big deal.  It is not a lucky number having lost more money betting on 2 and 22 or even 12 or twice 22 to make one stop betting on 2’s........ if you could.

Ready for sandwiches. A close, elastic crumb, with just enough moisture.

Hi Loafers,

I baked 2 of these pumpkin loaves last night. Using some steam pumpkin puree, organic strong bread flour, rye starter, an egg, some avocado oil, a table spoon of organic brown sugar, salt and water.