November 6, 2016 - 11:56am
70% sourdough
Today's bread batch is 70% hydration. I'm pleased with the aesthetic and taste. Hole structure is decent - not super crazy irregular holes. My understanding of artisan bread is that it's a compromise between getting holes and having the dough be strong enough to maintain a shape, leading towards a good-looking loaf with sharp slashes. If I increase the hydration too much then I get the holes, but the loaf cannot hold a decent shape...unless I use a Dutch oven, which limits me to round shapes. And a batard/baguette shape is so classic! Your thoughts are most welcome regarding hydration level. Thank you!
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Looks like a rye and wheat one?
...and bread flour. Good eye! I'm impressed.
good as it looks then it s is a total success! Well done and happy baking.
Who knows what that means - it's nothing to do with holes. Or it's everything. Who knows. Here in the UK, if you were to use the word artisan, people might think old-fashioned and old fashioned bread in the UK definitely does not have big holes.
Your breads look good though - if you're happy with them, that's all that counts!
-Gordon
I agree with you and the others on this thread that the term "artisan" is a generic one these days. You can probably find artisan Doritos at the supermarket. In fact, I used to work at a bakery that had a beautiful masonry oven. You could fit over 100 loaves in it. However, the only bread that would get baked in it was par-baked, frozen loaves that were shipped from up North from the bakery's "factory." People raved about the bread so I suppose: 1) if it's warm then people like it, 2) the general public isn't aware of the nuances that home bakers might be more attuned to - not that one MUST be attuned to these things if you're just looking to eat some bread.. To me, artisan means small batch, non-identical and with more attention given to the steps of the process than would be otherwise possible if it was a mass-bakery. I enjoy the activity and it gives me a reason to feel happy and content while in the midst of a totally INSANE election season! One more day to go...may democracy survive in the United States!
very best bread, made with the highest quality ingredients made by the best bakers without the use of machines and baked in a wood fired masonry oven. It doesn't have anything to do with holes.
Sadly, many other 'me-toos' want to be called artisan bakers making artisan bread so today the meaning words can mean what ever you want ....so they are meaningless and worthless today and nothing more than marketing terms.
Thankfully there are still many wonderful artisan bakers making artisan bread the traditional way all over the world - but most of us aren't them or doing so. But we can still be the best bakers we can be and make the best bread we can.
Happy baking
Lost to the supermarket marketing departments who're selling 1-hour pre-mix/machine made breads as "artisan". There is even a pre-mix you can by by the 25Kg sack called "Artisan complete" which promises sourdough in an hour....
The real bread campaign did try something recently to re-claim the term and try to get a proper definition of it, but I feel it's a lost cause. When describing what I do, I say that I run a small craft bakery...
-Gordon
Here in France, the term "artisan boulanger" is a term that is regulated by the law (a legal regulation in France?!?!?! NO WAY!), requiring anyone pretending to the appellation to : 1. select the base materials for her production ; 2. mix and knead her doughs ; 3. manage the fermentation ; 4. shape the breads ; and 5. cook them (ref. LOI no. 98-405 du 25 mai 1998). I know that that almost seems like something out of a Kafka novel, but it's the honest truth.
While such regulation is well-meaning and it does save us from the sort of Wild West of calling yourself whatever you want, with or without justification, it does not guarantee that the final product--or the process by which it was achieved--will satisfy our own personal ideas of what it means to be an artisan. For example, the majority of "artisan" bakers in France will barely ever dirty their hands touching the dough because everything is done by machine. Being an artisan baker amounts to : dumping ingredients into a mixer, watching them turn a while, taking out the dough, putting it into a dividing machine, and then throwing the neatly divided pieces into the fashioning machine before baking. And there are even machines and programs that can effectuate most of the steps I just described.
Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to be more optimistic, the term artisan is pretty much meaningless on an international level. But every once in a while we stumble upon some breads like the ones you've posted above, and that gives me a little bit of hope that the culture of true artisanship is not totally dead. For me, artisanship implies a certain irregularity among breads that are from the same batch of dough ; each one has its own character because it was shaped my imperfect human hands. Nothing is more depressing than walking into a Parisian bakery and seeing all the "perfect" baguettes lined up on the wall, each one looking eerily like the one to its left and the one to its right. For my money, I'll take one of your breads 101 times out of 100 over even "la meilleure baguette de Paris" (an actual prize given annually, and this year it went to a baguette that is shaped by a machine!).
Bravo and happy baking !
How about the baguettes vending machines in France? I just about died when I saw those last year when I was visiting family in Nantes and Cholet.
They are trying it out in San Francisco too... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL_UAXSfsDE
I couldn't believe they were charging so much according to the video.
At the end of the video, it refers to an automated burger vending place opening soon... crazy stuff.
...until there are sourdough starter vending machines!
Baguette vending machines expand in France amid demand for 24hr access to French bread
Actually, it makes me think of a Ray Bradbury story - any of the ones that warn about the unchecked advent of technology! I picture many "artisan" bakers across the world making a new batch of bread dough...standing to the side as the mixer mixes, the shaper shapes and the oven bakes, all the while checking their Facebook page on the smartphone.
And obviously the root word is "art". So artisan baking would be very much like any piece of artwork just using food. I think most of what goes on, on TFL, is artisanal. And while I'm sure there are professional "artisan" bakeries (which used to be the norm but it's now making a comeback), I understand that artisan would be very much an amateur affair when it comes to food and home baking.
Can't say anything more than that!
To all of my online baking colleagues!
I lived in Switzerland for few years and used to buy my bread at a gas station. A company that makes all kinds of dough would deliver fresh, pre-shaped loaves ready for baking at the gas station (they would keep the dough cool until baking hours). So far it has been the best ciabatta I had in my life. By the way, Switzerland has fantastic bread, which I consider the best in Europe.
I think what we're all talking about here are the preconceptions people hold in their minds. Why can't their be quality bread available at a...gas station?! It doesn't matter where the bread is made so long as it's thoughtful and the philosophy behind the making of it is sound. I make subpar bread when I don't allot enough time to the process and I rush through the steps.