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What no runt ?

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kendalm on 26 Nov 2017 at 11:27
All loaves shaped up pretty nicely. Ok so this is just another usual bake nothing special, no levain or anything fancy just a bake to make sure not to 'lose it' ... As one wise tfler reminds us, 'if you don't use it you lose it' - most exciting part here is that I usually have one loave considerable malformed which has been convenient at least for choosing a crumb model for disection but today the question becomes which one of you goes to the lab for analysis ?

Croissants take a half step forward

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kendalm on 25 Nov 2017 at 17:30
Quick snap of one of 6 croissants baked today that are showing signs of improvement. Firat few attempts at these yeilded sandwich bread style crumb and now slowly seeing better and better results with the occasional step backwards. This bake invokved a change up whereby I decided that in order to improve the crumb, I needed to find a way to deliver more heat to these guys and did so by baking directly on the stone (well almost with a single layer of parchment).

Hardshell loaf from hell

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Dixongexpat on 24 Nov 2017 at 21:16

I have successfully started a new starter here in Mexico. I overcame the altitude and bad levain mixes and made a few nice loaves. And then the weather turned a bit colder and it seems to have killed the ability of my sourdough to rise.

I tried boiling water, putting a plate on top, and then putting my bulk fermentation bowl on top. The temperature was nice and warm. The dough produced one bubble on top.

Getting back to baking

Toast
krasnyja on 24 Nov 2017 at 21:12

Have taken a three year break from baking.  Now have two young boys and spent two years in Europe, so not much need for baking.  But now I am back in a less-crusty-bread-loving place, lonely without my family, so I am turning back to my old love.  Starting with a simpler recipe - Saturday Bread from Ken Forkish.

 

 

SD Bread for Stuffing and SD Parker House Rolls For Thanksgiving

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dabrownman on 24 Nov 2017 at 13:15

This bread was made for the turkey stuffing mixed half and half with some home made cornbread since Lucy is still on strike it is the same as the last bread posted - 30% 7 whole grain SD.

 

This year the girls let me make the rolls so I went all out with a take on Parker House Rolls except I made them with SD and poolish. I started as a base with King Arthur’s recipe that used yeast.

Starter seems ready

Profile picture for user kendalm
kendalm on 24 Nov 2017 at 12:14
Been nursing 3 new starters for almost 3 weeks now and at least one seems like its reaching a goos maturity level. This was a quick test bake to evaluate proofing times and although the crumb appears to have developed nicely i sti have a bit of work in determining optimal proofing times. Last week i clearly overproofed and therefore decided to try the other end of the spectrum (a really short final ... Ie 45 minutes as opposed to 2 hours).

Semolina w/fennel seeds, golden raisins and pine nuts,

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alfanso on 21 Nov 2017 at 21:32

 alfanso-style.

Friends paid a visit last week from the other side of the peninsula.  And I baked them some bread.  Jim is the extraordinarily talented chef of his own small restaurant and does indeed like my bread, so I was pleased to provide him and Donna with two favorites.  The remaining batards sent home with them.

Trevor Wilson's Champlain sourdough

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leslieruf on 20 Nov 2017 at 23:14

Following on from reading Trevor's Crumb Mastery I continue my quest to improve the crumb on my bread and up my skill level with wet dough and shaping.  We had eaten the Hamelman 5 grain levain so the freezer was nearly empty of bread.   Trevor had mentioned his "Premix" method so decided to have a go at Champlain sourdough, a 70% hydration.  should be a piece of cake!  yeah right! 

I made enough dough for 2 x 800 g loaves & 1 x 600 g loaf

 So 7:30  pm I weighed the flours 

Project same loaf everyday

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suminandi on 19 Nov 2017 at 21:47

Trying to bake a 50-50 fresh whole wheat-bread flour 75% hydration lean bread daily this week to improve technique and experiment with length of bulk ferment, freq of folds, etc. 

First one is pretty nice. Slightly flattened. Will add another late fold in tonight’s.

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