Blog posts

Two bakes of note this week. One was a pleasant surprise the other a reminder of what I don't want to do. The loaf started with what was supposed to be a leaven build but got interrupted by events and had to be refrigerated instead of taking it to the point of mixing the dough.  I should have just started over but instead took it out of cold storage and carried on as if no pause happened. A porridge was made with freshly coarse ground spelt, home ground corn and steel cut oats cooked in half milk half water and cooled.

This week’s bake was my second attempt at sourdough and I’m pretty pleased with the result!

It certainly looks better that last week’s attempt and it tastes better too! Sourdough is really yummy! 

(Last weeks try: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/45059/first-sourdough-loaf-need-help)

This time I gave the dough a 4.5 bulk fermentation at room temp, I did four S&F at half hour intervals during the first 2.5 hours before shaping and then I left it for another 2 hours.

Thanks to David's (dmsnyder) online scoring tutorial, there's hope for me! Up to this point, I've been stymied in my efforts to score effectively. Oh, I'd been able to make cuts that allowed for oven spring while avoiding blowouts, but most of those were "cheats" accomplished with a set of kitchen shears.

Round about the holidays, I invested in a real lame, but I seem to lack the confidence--or is it the coordination? (I was always picked last for teams in gym class)--to achieve beautiful scoring.  And the ear remained elusive...until today.

I'm having fun finding new, yummy add-ins for my standard Pain au Levain (see the Sage & Onion blog post for the formula). Today I made some loaves with roasted garlic, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes and a bit of chopped rosemary.

Last year's garlic is starting to sprout (and sadly, this year's won't be ready to harvest until July), so I'm using it up. The sun dried tomatoes were soaked in hot water for a few hours then chopped, and the rosemary was fresh out of the garden.

Lovely dough, as always, after a few stretch & folds:

Today I tried to bake bread on a three-phase sourdough. Breads recipe is different from the classic recipe that is described in the book of Handbuch Sauerteig (M.J. Brand). But the result is still delicious!

The first version had King Arthur and Winco Hi Gluten flours, 50/50, for the half of the flour that wasn’t whole and sprouted whole grain flour.  That bread turned out very well, open, soft, moist crumb, good spring and bloom with a well browned, thin chewy crust at a bit under 80% hydration.  The best part is that the 6 whole and sprouted grains really pumped up the flavor.

I have a bagel recipe that calls for 2 tsp. maple syrup, but I'd like to use non-diastatic malt powder instead. What would be the equivalent amount of malt powder to replace the 2 tsp. syrup?

Hi guys, please check out my boule from Artisan bread in 5.  

How do I accomplish a softer crust?

Basically, it's a no knead dough, master recipe from the book - with 1 day fridge storage.  I plan on using these for my panini's and salads.  One of the things I'm finding is that the crust is really hard and probably will be too hard to pull and enjoy a sandwich.  

take advantage of Leap Year and get shopping .

  Hello all at The Fresh Loaf.  Here is yet another installment I have written from another site I use and share valuable information.  I am happy to share with you all and welcome your input.  This it the article written after putting my big boy bread britches on, sucking it up... and buying a book.  

The Quest for Better Bread part 2 (and book review)