Blog posts

Hello to all from my modest digs here in Birdseye Indiana. You might ask,, "Where is Birdseye?" According to the locals, about half way between it's beak and it's a**.  I'm still adjusting to the move from living in Louisville KY for over 30 years and finding myself in a very rural, very isolated but very beautiful spot.

I've had varying success with the crumb on a number of loaves.  I think this is one of my best efforts so far, but far from perfect as I compare to other wonderful bread posts I see on this site.   Interested in opinions on this.  Thanks.  Phyllis

I am in the middle of making a triple batch of hard rolls. The dough is bulk proofing right now. I would like to top some of the rolls with sesame, sunflower , and poppy seeds. I have tried pressing them in after forming the rolls and they still seem to fall mostly off after being handled.

Having recently ventured back in to bread making, I found myself making some pretty poorly shaped and generally poorly executed loaves. I decided the best way forward was to start from scratch.

This is the country loaf that I mixed up yesterday and baked off today.

My wife requested some of these tasty rolls  at the last-minute for our belated holiday family dinner this past weekend.  She wanted something to go along with her eggplant parmesan and lasagna and these really went well.

Since I didn't have a lot of time to make these with yeast water or sourdough starter I used some instant yeast but to try to build some extra flavor I retarded the dough overnight in the refrigerator.

My first blog post here.  :)

This loaf is a modification of the Tartine bakery formula and method.  I wish I could figure out a way to prevent solids added to the dough from popping out after shaping.  The cherries on the surface charred a bit much but the rest of the bread is so nice that I can overlook that fault.  Lovely untoasted with butter.

Cherry and Chocolate Sourdough Boule 

Formula:

100 g. leaven

375 g. water

500 g. unbleached organic white flour

10 g. sea salt

This is one of my all-time favorites.  I love the Classic sourdough baked in the LaCloche.  The crust usually comes out very well, and no tray with water is needed in the bottom of the oven. I bought a Bordelaise scorer online for about $12, and it really helps with the scoring.  Recently, I have used primarily white sourdough starter, but I have added a touch of whole wheat and rye starter, which give the bread a bit of a different taste.  It's fun to experiment.

Hello again. Been some time since I have posted. I have been making this Ciabatta bread recipe for some time now . Posted many photos.  I get a good tasting loaf and full of holes and nice crust.

I have noticed that a commercial loaf always has a good rise to it.  Mine seems acceptable but wonder if I am  letting it proof to long before I pour it onto the bread board and make into loaves let rise 45 min then put in the oven to bake.

The spring in the oven is about 30-40 % . Still little on the flat side not a full rounded loaf.

TFLers,

This forum has been my teacher and my mentor as I explore artisan bread. I've had some successes and spectacular failures.

As co-publisher and editor of GoodFood World, I often write about bread, flour, and grain. Here is the latest piece we've published on the subject of bread. Enjoy!

http://www.goodfoodworld.com/2014/01/wonder-bread-or-wonderful-bread/