Franko's blog

When Josh posted earlier this month on his bake of the Pan Maggiore I was instantly taken with it and decided right then and there to put it on my immediate short list of breads to try. Finally this week I was able to get a mix of it done and baked. If the loaf that came out my oven is like or close to Josh's version it's quite clear to me why he and his customers regard it so highly. I love these country style breads with combinations of rye and whole wheat but this is a standout in my book and has already been assigned a permanent spot in the old recipe folder.

  First off I'd like to wish everyone at TFL a very Happy (belated) New Year and the best of health and successful baking for 2014 to all. So many fine looking breads, along with a wealth of informative discussion being posted it's hard to keep up with it all but I can see the year is already off to a great start. Although I have been doing quite a bit of home baking since the new year began, finding the time to actually write about it has, as always, been a challenge. This post is an effort at trying to rectify that situation. 

I thought I should clear out some old bread photos from the last few months that I never got around to posting, along with some more recent ones as well. All but one were taken this year, most have crumb shots, but some don't. Many of these breads were made with a yeasted preferment of some kind, either a poolish, biga, or Pate Fermentee. My starter had been put to bed for a few weeks, mainly to change things up a bit and to play around on the other side of yeasted leavening for a while.

50% Rye with 3 Stage Sour

 These latest bakes brought me back to trying to reproduce a Czech Rye I'd had in Prague two summers ago, which I first posted on back in December 2012. http://www.thefresloaf.com/node/31232/memories-czech-rye