Blog posts

I have been testing my own limit on dough hydration of late and have come to the conclusion that I shall stop at 78 percent and not to challenge myself any further unless I am feeling extremely bored over the weekend.

This bake has started out as another attempt of 1:2:3, which I failed miserably the last time I tried my hands on but I guess I have progressed a fair bit for the past month. Not only that I increased the amount of hydration, I was convinced that I could go further than that. But then, the harsh reality sunk in..

Made 2 sizes of dome for the cottage loaf. I should make more distinguish next time. I used spicy orange thyme and black sesame seed for both loaves.

Hi Loafers! I've been baking a bit less, mainly straight dough same-day or overnight baguettes, and I figured I've posted enough baguettes to bore the most ardent enthusiast!

Made some of David's SJSD baguettes in batard form today, and they came out quite nicely. Crumb could have been better (more consistent and open), but flavor is good.

My starter has become a champ. It sat in the fridge for about six weeks, and responded to it's first feeding as if it had been on the bench with daily feedings all month. Very pleased.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

A bottle of dark beer, a touch of rye and molasses gave birth to this puppy.

Keep a small glass and some smoked almonds on hand.

Rolled up the bacon in each fold. I will try thinner dough next.

It has been a while sine Lucy came up with a bread that was 60% whole grain so this one was a treat and it didn’t disappoint – even if a bit over proofed. 

This one came it 80% hydration with 17% pre-fermented flour, 30% sprouted 4 grain of spelt. rye, wheat and Kamut in the dough flour.  We used whole wheat for the levain flour making sue to use all the hard bits first.

Having recently purchased Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish, it seemed appropriate that I try out a recipe! I decided to try the Overnight Country Blonde. I studied the recipe, watched Ken's videos on Youtube and read back any posts I could find here on TFL (and there were quite a few!).

Of course, one cannot host a herb-bread blog feature without including a classic rosemary focaccia!  So I have just finished a recipe for a really tasty rosemary focaccia its the final bread recipe in my herb bread collection.  Go head over to mybreadandbrot.com for the details.  With a 75% hydration the dough is pretty slack but still workable and the end result is great. A soft, supple airy interior with a nice thin golden crust.   Thanks to my little herb garden for providing me with such great flavour.

Well it was nearly a complete gong show, but fortunately the bread turned out nicely. I followed Ken Forkish's directions to the T this time with a now healthy and very active levain. I baked this a couple of weeks ago with a pretty new levain and also put the bulk ferment in the fridge overnight. A re-read of the formula revealed no refrigeration of the bulk fermentation. After an overnight on the counter, I had a huge volume of 80% hydration dough -- at least 3.5x grown in volume. 

After shaping I had my doubts the dough would fit into the banneton. My fears were confirmed.

12% rye, 12% whole wheat, around 73% hydration, baked in my enamel pots.