Blog posts

So here goes, my first entry.  I have been lurking around these parts for a while, gathering information and experimenting and this is the result: a 100% wholemeal sandwich loaf, using atta flour.

A 500g country loaf, from Bouchon Bakery. I continue my journey in mastering the poke test. I think this is my first loaf where the final proof was just right.

Below is a proofed demi-baguette that was marked with lines spaced 1.25" apart.  It is about to be baked without any steam as a baseline for testing the hypothesis that steam facilitates the stretching of dough. Since this loaf is not scored, we should expect it to blow out along the side.  But still, if the surface stretches in response to internal pressure generated by the expanding CO2, then we will be able to observe and measure how much stretch there is.

Having heard the stories home-millers tell about the superior flavor of their breads, I finally bought a Mock Mill attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. I have milled both rye and wheat flours with this mill and used them in breads with around 30% whole grain flours. The breads were very good, but I honestly couldn't say they were superior to those made with commercial flours of good quality.

After my future son in law brought me a beautiful loaf of Acme SD from SF this week. Lucy decided to make one of her own that she thought would look better on the inside and taste lot better too – the two areas the Acee bread was a bit lacking.

Wow you can really tell the 4 different grains here!

This is my liquid levain version of Peter Reinhart's soft pull apart dinner rolls. I really enjoy the soft texture and the flavour that the honey brings to the mix.

I baked this time on parchment on a cookie sheet, so the rolls could grow to their natural roundness, rather than sticking together as was the case last bake.

Yesterday's bake was a dry run to see what's what.  Today corrections were made, and hopefully for the better.  This time I used a spring pan which had a slightly wider base than the Angel Food pan, and also employed a small bowl in the center in order to enlarge the hole in the crown.

So, there I was last Thursday with two fine loaves for all of the sandwiches that I'd need for a busy weekend out of town, a container of "issues" in the fridge, and a lot of questioning on the strength of my poor old NMNF starter.  Well - the husband managed to do some neck damage, which cancelled the plans for the weekend (and cancelled the need for so many sandwiches!), and left me with some actual time on my hands.

It's been "one of those days" for the past couple of weeks, for weather (barometric pressure and temps all over the place), for scheduling, and for baking.

But since it is "Italian bread", let's go with sesame semolina corona.  This is the Jeffrey Hamelman semolina dough with my 125% hydration rye liquid levain in lieu of his 125% bread flour liquid levain.