Joe Fisher's blog

Boy was this a busy weekend! Had the day off today, so I spent part of it baking. First, the 'basic' sourdough recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Always a big winner. Had a bit of a blowout on the boule ;) It probably could have used some more rising time before going into the oven. The oven spring was beautiful! Here's Pane Siciliano, also from TBBA. It's a wonderful recipe.

There's pecan craisin and sourdough rye and pumpernickel breads on the top of my fridge. Banana bread on my counter. Sourdough craisin dinner rolls, herb rye, pumpernickel and pizza dough fill my freezer. 25 lb buckets of flour fill my basement. Sourdough starters crowd my fridge. My in-laws have threatened my life for making them fat with breads they can't resist. It's a terrible addiction :) -Joe

There's just something satisfying about eating a sandwich on bread you've made yourself. Soft, delicious bread. A sense of accomplishment. Anyone can go to the store and buy bread, and sometimes even more cheaply than I can make it for (I don't want to think about how much I spent in molasses on my last pumpernickel). It's funny, because not that long ago, it would have been completely commonplace to eat your own bread. We've become a society so dependent on having others do things for us. I'm a woodworker, and there's a similar satisfaction to working with tools you've made yourself.

I'm determined to make the Whole Wheat recipe in the Bread Baker's Apprentice work. This will be my 3rd try. Got started last night. I put together the soaker with stone ground rye flour. It was 4.25oz flour to 6oz water. Covered, left on the counter. Then I put together the poolish. I used KA whole wheat flour. 6.75oz flour, and 6oz water. The directions say to "mix the flour and yeast, and add the water until it forms a thick paste. Stir only enough to hydrate the flour." First problem: 6oz of water was not even enough to pick up all the flour.

It's still easy to cut yourself while slicing bread. Yesterday, when halving one of my Pane a l'Ancienne from TBBA, I put my hand on top of the loaf, and sliced along the side, like I always do. It removes the possibility of getting the knife in the palm of my hand. Instead, the knife skipped on the (beautiful) crust and right into the pad of my middle finger. I managed to keep the blood off the bread! :) And boy, was there a lot of blood. I served it at a friend's party, and it was the talk of the room. Nothing trumps fresh bread! -Joe

So last night I was thinking to myself, "I'd like to make some sourdough this weekend. Tomorrow morning I'll take out some of my ripe chef and make a starter with it. It can activate while I'm at work." This morning, I went into the fridge, grabbed my tub of chef. Grabbed the scale and a spatula, took out the stone ground rye. Then I walked over to the garbage can and dumped half of the chef. Then I stared at the chef I had just discarded. *sigh* Stupid auto-pilot. -Joe

Here's my try at rye and pumpernickel bagels. I adapted the sourdough rye and sourdough pumpernickel recipes in Bread Alone to make bagels. I used high-gluten flour instead of the AP/bread flour in the 20% bran mix. I also made the dough stiffer than for normal bread. The rye ones worked out great. They passed the 'float test' within 20 minutes of proofing. The pumpernickels are much denser, and haven't floated yet after almost an hour. Once they do, it's off to the frige for an overnight ferment. Tomorrow, I bake!

I think my neighbors are starting to feel overwhelmed by all the loaves of bread that keep appearing at their houses :) Like most of us here, I find little more satisfying than pulling a couple of gorgeous loaves off my stone. I don't have room in my freezer, and I'm way too impatient to wait until I finish one loaf to bake another :) So what do you all do with your spare loaves? I was thinking of finding a homeless shelter, or the like, in the area to donate them to. -Joe

Well, I was surprised to see a big, flat package on my doorstep today. It was my SuperPeel, sent to me by Gary. I ran inside to unpack it, and was pleasantly surprised at the professional packaging and instructions. I'm waiting for the belt to go through the wash once before I assemble it, but I was immediately struck by what a well-designed and executed product it is. I can't wait to play with it! It definately looks like its worth what he's asking on the website. I'll be sure to take some pictures once I get it all together. Thanks again, Gary. Oh, and you were right.