Blog posts

I started my firm starter last night. This morning I prepared the dough. I did my first autolyse ( I didn't have a clue what that was before TFL). The boules shaped up ok this afternoon. I think they over proofed a little because I had some deflation when I scored the loaves. Using steam was something I wanted to do so I preheated the oven with my cast iron skillet inside along with my stone. In went the boule onto the stone followed  by a cup of boiling water into the skillet. I made use of the parchment tip this time (see, I'm not that slow of a learner).

I wanted to have another go at this delicious loaf 'my new love Scali', this time I used a natural biga, mixed the dough, put it into a lightly oiled container and fermented it overnight.  I removed it from the refrigerator and let it warm for about an hour and then shaped one braided loaf...brushed it with one egg white mixed with one cup of water and spread on the sesame seeds heavily and baked it under my enameled turkey pan lid...giving the lid and oven a few spritz of water just before covering the loaf.  I don't know if I'm going to slice this loaf or freeze it..but

This past weekend, I made a batch of Baguettes au Levain based on the recipe that Janedo had adapted from the Anis Bouabsa formula. This is my third try at this recipe and each time I tweaked it a little bit to correct some aspects that did not turned out to my liking. This time the loaves turned out pretty good with nice oven spring and airy crumb. The crust had nice golden color with small blisters, thin and crackly and deep caramel flavor. The taste was not sour but is rich and sweet with a slight tang.

The formula I used consists of:

I really just wanted to put the dough into a bread pan and see what happened. This is pretty much the same thing as my CaP 2. The difference here was that I introduced two folds during the fermentation and I baked the loaf at 400 F, brushed with egg wash. This is in comparison to baking at 500 F with steam.

It's been a while since I last tried one of Hamelman's rye loaves, so I pulled his book from the shelf and started browsing chapter 6. I have baked quite a few of his rye loaves before, but for some reason, his 70% rye with whole wheat and a rye chops soaker has escaped me up until now. The last couple of rye loaves I've baked, have been from doughs that I've composed on my own, and there's always some winging going on with regards to proper hydration and fermentation times. With Hamelman, it's safe to let one's guard down and simply roll along with his detailed directions.

This is not the easiest sourdough starter to culture.  It took many days for the Golden Semolina starter to be ready and even then it did not look very robust.  It would not surprised me if this type of flour is extremely low in sugar content.   I was going to abandon the starter or even add instant yeast to the final dough, but I thought if it didn't work out, no harm - it's an experiment.   

With all the chat lately about the 'Baguette Monge'  I pretty much followed that recipe.  I used my K.A.A.P. flour and a poolish..was what I had and I did want to try it with some added Olive Oil as suggested a while back by Jane!  They where baked under a steam cover with added steam!  Just out of the oven so I will post a crumb shot a little later this evening!

Sylvia

Scali loaves make a wonderful flavored Italian bread!  I think I will will use this recipe from King Arthur Flours to make some torpedo rolls even though it is traditionally braided with added sesame seeds.  The crumb is perfect for sandwiches and the crust is crunchy good with the added flavor of the sesame seeds.  We loved it even with my fresh made "Bing Cherry Jam"!  Oh, the cherries are so sweet and good this year and well worth the pitting to make jam!

A quick entry today because I didn't do much. The raisin bread is wonderful and filled the house with that "to die for" smell, but I can't take much credit for it. I had a mound of dough left over from the sticky buns yesterday so I figured I'd just stretch and fold some raisins into it and let er rip. It sat and proofed for another hour and into the oven for 40 mins at 350. I think the neighbors could smell it from the street cuz it's going fast. I just made myself a "moscow mule" and browsed BBA for SD tips. I have a firm starter getting ready for a basic white SD tomorrow.