Blog posts

Firstly, thanks to those who welcomed me to TFL!

Recently, I inherited some rather large loaf tins - 12" x 5". At the time, the person that passed them on said "I wouldn't even bother using them, I just can't get a loaf baked in the middle!" to which I scoffed a little. Hah! I am quite the baker now! I won't have those problems!

Now, these tins look big. You could drop the Grand Canyon in one of them. Well, compared to the cute little 9x5, that is. And I now have four. What to bake first?

My "San Joaquin Soudough" formula grew out of explorations of the technique used by Anis Bouabsa for his prize-winning baguettes. I have discussed this in detail in earlier blog entries on TFL. This remains one of my favorite breads, but I'm always looking for ways to improve on it.

Hamelman's 5-grain Levain and Seeded sourdough from "Bread" have been among my favorites for some time, but his 5-grain Sourdough Rye somehow had escaped my attention, in spite of several posts by others, until LindyD recently made it. At first, I was not clear that this was a different bread from the 5-grain Levain, but I eventually caught on. When I looked at the formula, I knew I would love it, and I do.

Thanks, Lindy! This is a wonderful bread.

David Snyder's thread on these baguettes seems to be closed so I will post this in my blog instead. Here is his recipe, in case you missed it the first time around.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/11925/baguette-surprise-and-challenge

I found a vintage waffle maker by Munsey at the thrift store this morning, and of course there was no manual included. I have never owned a waffle maker of any type but plan on making sourdough waffles when the grandgirls spend the night. Does any member own a Munsey, Model BW-4, and what are the basic rules for making waffles? Apart from not putting in too much batter, that is. There is no light so how will I know when it is ready? Maybe I'll stick to pancakes... A.

I forgot that I could post photos right here on this site!  This is my aromatic rosemary olive oil bread.  I think I overbaked it, considering the dark coloring even in the scoring.  I think it's beautiful, but did I bake it for too long? It registered 205F when I took an internal temperature after baking.

This afternoon I had some starter left over from a refreshment and decided I would make something from my newly acquired BBA. Aha! Poolish baguettes sound good. Until halfway through I realized I had no ww flour. So I substituted the 4oz of spelt flour left from my co-op shopping spree and some rye, spiked with 1 tbsp of vital wheat gluten. I also noticed I was out of instant yeast. Oh well, I used a tsp off of the block of active dry I got at Costco. Then I saw I was out of filtered water (our tap water is unpredictable as far as hardness goes). Oh well, too late to turn back.

this bread is called pane di prato (I think, I made it a long time ago). it's saltless bread that is apparently traditionally tuscan. The book I used said that when the venetians ruled the salt monopoly, the tuscans made bread without salt as to not give into the monopoly. it's an acquired taste in my opinion... but it was still good.

Bundt shape for a colleague's birthday:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/33569048@N05/albums/72157618022118071/with/3529688077

So, as would be appropriate for a first post, a first for me: sourdough!

Now, to be honest, that tasted great. I've not baked (or even eaten) sourdough before, and the odour that came off whilst it was baking reminded me of *cough* baby vomit *cough* So I was apprehensive, before that first bite!