Kneading Conference West 2013 - Day 3

sunny dahlias in the gorgeous Volunteer Display Garden at WSU-Mount Vernon

Hello everyone,

The first two days of the Conference were amazing, and still, more great things to look forward to on Day 3!

Notes on the seminars and talks I was happy to attend on Day 3 follow:
“The Scoop on Braiding Challah” – Andrew Meltzer
“Flour, Flavor and Functionality – A Range of Choices” – Jan Schat


“The Scoop on Braiding Challah” – Andrew Meltzer

Andrew Meltzer demonstrated his amazing braiding skills!, showing us some beautiful ways to braid 100% whole wheat Challah dough, and brought an interesting book to about Challah traditions to class.
                                                                                              

Andrew recommended practicing with boat rope, and when working with live dough, to ensure the braids are a little bit loose, to give the braids the right amount of space and tension, so they proof evenly.

He explained how to get the most even braid, when doing straight braids with odd-numbers of strands:
- start at the middle and braid towards you until you reach the end
                          

- take the end closest to you, and flip it 180 degrees away from you
(the bottom side that was closest to you is now the top side, furthest from you)

- continue to braid towards you from the middle, to finish
                          

For a 3-strand braid, you take a strand from the outside and place it between 1 strand on the left and 1 strand on the right. That pattern is similar for the 7- strand shown above;  you take a strand from the outside, moving it over 3 strands, placing it between the 3 strands on the left and the 3 strands on the right.

That 7-strand braid was one of my favorites. Here is the completed braid, before baking, and another photo of it baked.
Andrew called this a fishtail braid, but someone in the class noted the finished braid looked like an ear of wheat :^)
                                                              

Andrew told us how he egg washes Challah, to get the best shine. The egg wash is made of 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, a pinch of salt (to help break up the egg) and a few drops of water, whisked with a fork and left to sit for a little while. When the bread is almost proofed all of the way, brush with 1 coat of egg wash, let the first coat dry (this is the key), then apply a second coat, then bake. Andrew said it is the 'wet over dry' that makes the crust shine.

He also described a neat way to apply seeds alternately to egg-washed braids,: wet your thumb and press into a tray of seeds, then press your seed-coated thumb on the egg washed loaf, placing the seeds exactly where you want them. The seeds should transfer from your thumb to the loaf. Repeat with different colors/textures of seeds.

Here are more Challah braids Andrew demonstrated...

5-strand, before and after baking
 

6-strand, before and after baking
 

...and a Winston Knot
(the soccer fan next to me was quite excited about this one, likening it to a soccer ball)
 

Didn’t Andrew do a beautiful job braiding these breads?

“Flour, Flavor and Functionality – A Range of Choices” – Jan Schat

It was a tremendous pleasure to taste one of the breads Jan Schat baked (he baked three versions of the same bread, testing out three local wheats: an Oregon Hard White, an Oregon Hard Red, and a Washington Hard Red).

Jan’s bread was absolutely delicious, the one I tasted made with Fairhaven’s Hard Red wheat, sour and sponge preferments, and 60% fruit (30% raisin and 30% dried apple).
Just look at the fruit fest going on in this mixing bowl! – you can barely even see the dough :^)
(apologies for the blurry photo)
                               

Here is Jan’s lovely bread, before and after the bake
 




Another tasting pleasure was the Fig and Anise bread created in Martin Philip’s class, "Signature Breads".
I would have loved to have spent time at that class, and the bread formula the class developed was outstanding,
the resulting bread having beautiful flavor.
             

This Conference concluded with tours – I toured the WoodStone oven manufacturing facility in Bellingham. They make some really nice ovens, for home use too! and the test kitchen is really beautiful (cookbooks and cooking vessels galore, a great big mixer, those ovens – I could really have fun in a place like that!). I was able to pop into BreadFarm bakery for a quick tour, too, and pick up some delicious, fragrant loaves to bring home - that bakery is not to be missed if you are ever in the area (it's located in Bow-Edison, WA).

A really big thank-you to everyone who participated, presented, and worked to make this Conference happen -
it was so wonderful to be able to go. I’m really looking forward to next year’s event!

:^) breadsong


Previous posts: Day 1!, Day 2!

2012 Kneading Conference West posts: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3