Fitting baking into routine
I would love to be a full-time baker. Absolutely and without a doubt.
Unfortunately I'm not. It turns out that I've got a corporate job and am out of the house from 7am to about 7-8pm each day during the week.
I am always baking on the weekend and its great having fresh sourdough for the first few days of the week, but I want to somehow figure out how to fit baking in so my wife and me have fresh bread all the time! To that end, I'd be really interested to hear from those of you who have managed to make freshly baked loaves apart of your routine and how you make that work for you.
I also have some specific questions (based on a classic sourdough recipe):
1. can you retard a loaf in the fridge for too long? On the weekend I usually retard them for about 8 - 12 hours over night (usually a friday night so we've got fresh loaves on saturday and sunday). I was thinking that during the week, I could mix, prove and shape my loaves say on a Tuesday evening, then leave them to retard til Wednesday afternoon/evening so they can have their final prove and be baked. In short - will a long retard (say 20 - 22 hrs) adversely effect my loaves?
2. is there any way to speed up the dough relaxation process? When mixing I usually leave about 20 minutes inbetween my initial mix and final mix. Also after bulk prove and shaping into balls I usually leave them for about 20 minutes to rest.
I know patience is essential in baking. I really feel like for it to really work with my life I need to know how to bake during the week, leaving the weekends for more adventurous baking pursuits.
If I can provide any more info I would be really happy to.
Regards
Josh
And they have another book "Healthy Bread in 5 min a day"
Here is the website:
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/
Do a search here-there was a lot of discussion when they came out.
You can retard the bulk dough, shape and bake once you get home from work. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/8454/pain-de-campagne” David has many variations on the link I post here. Also, Pierre Nury's light Rye from Leader's Local Breads fits into a work week schedule. A little searching will lead to lots of results on both of these recipes but if you are still having trouble let me know, these are two of my old reliable during the week recipes. I'd also suggest taking a look at Susan's Simple Sourdough, also easly found by a search.
Yes, I've successfully managed mid-week baking. If I leave my loaf to proof in the back entryway of the house, it's cool, but not cold, so I can put it straight into the oven in the morning. This works especially well if you use small quantities of yeast. If I make small loaves or rolls and they're out in 20 minutes or so. Large loaves take too long to bake (and cool) and make me late for work...
I've found that if you leave sourdough too long it can get not only very sour, but the dough gets tough and you end up with a hockey puck. I read somewhere about the acid having an effect on the dough structure.
Lots of other ways to get your mid-week baking fix... ever try sourdough pancakes? Or popovers. King Arthur has an almost foolproof recipe on their website. You can add parmesan or chives and they are yummy. My favorite is grated Vella Dry Jack... :)
Mike Avery addressed this issue in his Blog (http://www.sourdoughhome.com/breadblog.html ) dated Saturday, October 24, 2009. He provides two scenarios. One for an early morning bake and another for an evening bake of his Black Canyon Sourdough Bread. I bake this bread often and have been very successful baking it early in the morning.
Ginnie
Josh
I normally bake about once / twice a week, depending on how quickly my husband devours the bread, or how many friends I share it with.
A couple of days before i want a loaf or two, I start refreshing my starter twice a day - around 8 in the morning before going to work, and around 7 in the evening when I get in. Of course, if I am baking twice a week, I just carry of refreshing my starter, so in a couple of days I have have enough starter for a next batch.
Once your starter is active, mix up your dough as soon as you get home, leave it to prove for 3-4 hours. Shape it, right before you go to bed. I have a timer on my over, to I set it to heat up an hour before I wake up, around 7, so its nice and hot by the time I am up. I put the shaped loaves in the oven, right from the fridge as soon as I am up. Twenty minutes, turn around, twenty more minutes, take them out and set on a cooling rack, and I am out of the door by 8 am. Lots of time to cool down naturally, and when I get home.
Hope this helps
HP
I work 2:15 to 11:15 PM (or later). I go home and prepare dough. If I am energetic, I will prepare sourdough dough batches. I then retard the dough(s) in the fridge for the next day, making new dough while I have the dough proof and cook.
I feed my sourdough starter before I leave for work and have my husband stir it before I get home. By doing that, it's fed again and it's fully active by the time I get home.
Really the only thing I make same night on a work night is pita breads (which I use for breakfasts and lunches mostly). They rise easily while I cook dinner.
On weekends I spend time making things that require full rises, multiple rises,retardations.
Friday night I pull my starter out of the fridge and when it warms up I start a sponge for English Muffins with the discard. Saturday morning I make the muffins, and use the next batch of discard to add to the multi-grain bread I make for my husband.
I start dough for a white loaf for the kids Saturday night if it needs a preferment or retardation. It gets baked on Sunday, cooled, sliced, and frozen.
On Sunday I also "play" with something I want to try--a new sourdough recipe, baguettes, Levy's Rye, or something else for fun--it gets started Saturday night if necessary.
Sunday night I make up a batch of AB in 5 dough--whatever sounds good for our meals during the week. That gets baked up in batches after dinner one or two evenings during the week.
My family was away and I had no plans this weekend. It would have been a great baking weekend EXCEPT it was Passover, so no leavened baking, darn it. We will actually have to buy bread when Passover ends Tuesday night :o( Only the teenager will be happy.
And next weekend, I'll be busy all day Sunday. So I won't catch up for a while.