Blog posts

This week, I made an olive and cheese loaf, Queen Elizabeth cake (twice), and non-baked breads: steamed flower buns and horseshoe fritters (these are fried). 

For the loaf, I wanted a soft bread that stays soft until the last slice. I used pepper-stuffed olives - these gave specks of red together with the orange bits of old fort and marbled cheddar. I wasn’t sure if my starter was strong enough for this bake since I used it passed its peak.

I’ve had my eye on this method of shaping a milk bread for sometime when I first saw this on my IG feed.  This bake is inspired by Chiew See of Autumn Kitchen, she used a similar method of shaping a matcha milk bread last summer and I’ve wanted to try it ever since and finally got around to doing it this long weekend. 

I won’t bother posting the formula as it is the same as previously posted.  For this loaf I added toasted black sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds during lamination.  Bulk went to  60% rise in the aliquot jar and then final bench warm proof to 110% at which time it went into the fridge for a cold retard.  Based on the slight spreading that this loaf had either it is a bit overproofed or over hydrated.

Hi guys. My name's Jordie aka The Crusty Oaf. Must admit I'm fairly new to this whole blogging thing so bare with me while I find my feet in this world. But what better way to document my progress on my way to becoming a professional bread baker. 

A little bit about me first I guess. 

I'm called Jordie, 28, I live in Suffolk UK in a busy seaside town. I have 4 children so finding the time to bake with this hectic life is a challenge in itself 😂

I have long been a fan of the Semolina version of Jason’s Quick Coccodrillo Ciabatta, which may have been my first TFL recipe attempt. @alfanso’s recent post on 80% PFF Ciabatta got me thinking it had been too long since I’d investigated alternative versions. Thinking back on the Durum community bake, I decided to apply Alfanso’s method to a hybrid ciabatta and I think it worked out ok.

Sunbeam, model 5833.

Free online manual:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/324027/Sunbeam-Expressbake-5833.html

(For future reference.)

1: Basic program:

• 3:00 - 2:50. Mix.  10 min.
• 2:50 - 2:30. Rest. 20 min.
• 2:30 - 2:15. Knead. 15 min.
• 2:15 - 1:55. Rise. 20 min.
• 1:55 - 1:55. Deflate.
• 1:55 - 1:00. Rise. 55 min.
• 1:00 - 0:00. Bake. 60 min.

2: Whole wheat program:.

With my daughter that's gluten sensitive back from college, I decided to see if I could come up with a sourdough GF loaf.

i posted the other day about a chart for yeast quantities for conventional timed  doughs 

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/68214/yeast-quantities-for timed-doughs

I ordered a whole pile of Buckwheat groat from Daybreak Mills so it was time to repeat this recipe to use some up. 

Recipe 

Makes 3 loaves 

Add-ins

150 g Buckwheat Groats, toasted

230 g boiling water

50 g Yogurt

55 g honey

 25 g pink Himalayan salt

Dough

700 g strong bakers unbleached flour

300 g freshly milled durum flour (or durum berries)

50 g toasted buckwheat groats, milled into flour

50 g freshly ground flax

720 g water g

250 g levain (procedure in recipe)

75% hydration.  I'm getting better at handling high hydration doughs but don't like how it doesn't hold its shape well and spreads immediately after coming out of the fridge. The oven spring wasn't great either.  And to make matters worse the heavy inclusions weighed it down even more.  So next time , it's going to be max 73% hydration if there are heavy inclusions.  I find the crumb isn't much more open in 75% vs 73% maybe because the 75% needed more stretch and folds. I'd probably get better oven spring too if I did more sets.  I only do 4 sets.