I have once again decided to document my bakes. I think I did not do this correctly a few moments ago, so here is a link to my last entry where I added my latest bake and explain what I did. https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/57785/multigrain-loaf-la-dmsnyder
I thought I would more seriously document my bread-making on this site, so I have a history that I and others can learn from. Today I baked a formula that dmsnyder posted in August http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/57042/multigrain-sourdough-bread-made-homemilled-flours-august-8-2018 using using the technique that is used in Myhrvold’s bread encyclopedia.
Today I experimented with a recipe from the Sullivan Street Bakery Cookbook that I borrowed from the library. Jim Lahey’s techniques are very different from anything I have done before. Besides his method for propagating a biga, I tried his high speed mixing technique. I think it worked quite well, but I am waiting for it to cool enough to cut into it.
I decided to try the technique in Chad Robertson's Tartine Book No. 3, so I spent several days developing a starter based on his technique rather than using the usual starter that I maintain. So when my levain was ready, I mixed the dough for white-wheat blend.. The consistency seemed very loose, but since I had not made this before, I just decided to continue with the steps. Then this morning, after I had already put the dough in rising baskets, with a lot of difficulty since the dough was so loose, I re-read the recipe.
Today I made Sour Cherry Focaccia by using Cook's Illustrated for the dough and method and Martha Stewart's idea for the topping. I used a total of 6oz. of sour cherries which I defrosted from my summer farmer's market stash and sprinkled each (9") pan with 1/2 tablespoon of coarse sugar and fresh rosemary.
i will taste them tonight at our dinner gathering and report the tasting results.
After mostly making levain breads from Hamelman's bread, I decided to try Ken Forkish's approach which is quite a bit different. I had made bread using the Dutch oven technique a long time ago when the method was popularized. It seemed like everyone was jumping on the band wagon. A number of books came out with variations on that technique. What I noticed was that for the most part the recipes were white breads with some subtle flavor additives, and I have always favored breads with a fair amount of whole grains.
Since I have shared some successes on this site, I thought I would share a not so good outcome. Today I was baking sourdough loaves for out-of-town visitors to take back to their home in Madison Wisconsin tomorrow. I decided to make them two loaves of BBA sourdough with pecans and some whole wheat and rye flours. So I scaled up my recipe to make 3 loaves, so I could taste the result before I gave the loaves to them. I baked the first two, since I don't have room to bake three at once, thinking that if the third one was a bit over-risen because of the e
