Blog posts

I generally make my pie dough with a stiff ADY preferment but decided to convert the formula to use my stiff sourdough for a change. Came out quite good I’d say, though I think I prefer commercial yeast for pizza. The stiff preferment was noticeably less sour than the last time I made pizza dough with my starter, but this is still too sour for my liking. Will probably give this a shot again in a while and see if I can tweak the formula to reduce the sourness some more. 

My partner requested a cheddar and apple bread so I put together this iteration based on Kirsten’s Basic Open Sourdough recipe.

Levain build 1:2:2

20 g mature starter

20 g bread flour

20 g whole wheat flour

40 g water

311 g white bread flour.               74% including levain

46 g whole wheat flour.               21% including levain

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

This bread is from one of Chef Michaud's books, "La Boulangerie Baking at home". 

Phase 2, will debut a radical new steaming method. Stop back later for the 411!

Phase 1, Straight dough baguettes

I'd tried Danny's Approachable Loaf community bake twice and my husband really liked it (I think I still prefer free-form), but I wasn't happy with my tin-baking experience. The loaves just wouldn't get crisp on the sides and the bottom and despite oiling of the tin I'd still need to cut the loaf out of it. I tried baking in a tin using parchment paper this time and the loaf came out with a much better crust on the sides and bottom! I'm pretty proud of this one since I didn't have a scale so I just estimated flour, water, and salt amounts by feel.

I made several breads this week.  Not a ton of success aesthetically so nothing to brag about but trying to write this down so I hopefully learn something.

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

A super delicious dessert bread made in about three hours with CLAS!

Today’s round loaf different again crisper crust more even texture a twenty four loaf from the time dough was started to the time it was put in the oven. Proofed overnight in the fridge for 12 hours it looked good not quite doubled. Preheated oven with Dutch oven in at 460 degrees placed loaf in. Slashed  it sprayed with water lid on into oven and reduced temperature to 440 degrees for 25 minutes then lid off for another 25.  Top was getting a little to dark so slipped a piece of tinfoil on top to deflect . Worked well.

A fun experiment that satisfied my yearning for a bagel or two. I riffed on a stiff dough recipe, introducing plenty of whole-wheat and rye flour for dark malt and honey flavors. These turned out with a slightly bready crumb, but I think they are a good starting point for future bakes. Delicious with fresh chive and onion schmear!