alfanso's blog

Rarely posting unless there's a change or something new.  I've baked Mr. Hamelman's Vermont SDs as my go-to bread a ton of times, although almost always as baguettes/long batards, I've never made two 750g batards in a single bake before (as far as I can recall).

My levain was last refreshed almost 3 weeks ago after having been gone for 3 weeks, and we are about to embark on another 2 1/2-3 week journey, so I thought that I'd at least get some mileage out of this aging levain before a next refresh when I return.

I made several process improvements. Last week's Vermont SD version was to dip my toe in the water giving the couronne a try.

Changes:

Don't post much anymore but still breathing & baking.  I was rummaging around the far depths of the kitchen cabinet and came across a Bundt pan.  It was nestled inside of one of those "coffee cake" ring pans, which we may have used twice in a decade or more.  

Several years ago I tried to shape a couronne with just a ring of dough, to somewhat disappointing results.  But yesterday I figured why not try it a more traditional way employing a less than traditional baking pan. 

Based on a YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl4Hfi8ma1c I saw a day or two ago, these little beauties are made with the Hamelman Vermont SD formula.  Scaled at 250g each, just a guess from the visual cues of the video, they were a snap to shape and to score.  It seems that this bakery is in Seoul S Korea.

Well, as with last time I was already home, but went big anyway.  Several years ago I posted another of this ilk but today's offering is for ciabatta.  Two days prior I had baked a trio of ciabatta to serve to our afternoon guests, and any remainder went out the door with them when they left.  

The past three months were non-bake months due to travel.  Coming home I had to refresh my 100% AP levain and did so from my healthy 75% hydration mixed flour levain.  3 or 4 builds within 24 hours was all it took to have a hearty levain to work with.

All posted by me before, and I pondered whether to even post these, but what the heck.  Here's what came out of my oven between Sunday and Wednesday.

 Somewhat Deli Rye w/caraway - way easier than a true deli rye and just as tasty.

750g x 2 batards.

Clearly several non-truisms here.  No corkscrew, no scissors, no actual knife.  But the reason that I labeled the post as such - I've used the Bouabsa formula to make:

Pullman loaves

Focaccia

My past.  I did post this before, way back in 2016, in the wake of all the chatter on TFL about pane di Altamura.  And just in the past few days Benny and Caroline have been posting semolinas, just about my favorite subject when it comes to bread.  Benny's was his take on the Altamura bread, which, although the original Altamura bread has an odd beauty all of its own, on its best days looks like something Victor Frankenstein might have left aside in a large glass jar.

Still playing around with my new toy, the Pullman pan, I wanted to bake the Hamelman WW levain loaf.  At this point I've baked it many times before but not in the Pullman pan shape.  Post-mix, I made a slightly dopey but not costly error.  I decided to add cinnamon and golden raisins to the loaf.  Not being incorporated into the formula, the percentages were now off, but likely not by much.  

The learning continues.  Thanks to receiving a cornucopia of suggestions on my previous bake of the Bouabsa Pullman I moved forth and applied some of those changes, further upgrading my nascent Pullman pan skills.