Nickisafoodie's blog

I found this 31-hour recipe on YouTube by Russ Brot, see links below.  I am very happy with the results, moist, loaded with deep rye flavor and relatively easy as long as you have the ability to regulate the various temperatures required at different stages.  The total dough weight is 2,400 grams (5.3 pounds) for two loaves.  I used one large 16” loaf pan.  Russ has many other great YouTube recipes, although many are in Russian.  The link below is for the English versions of his recipes via subtitles.  This recipe is the “Country Bread with Caraway”. 

I have been experimenting with different ways to use my home oven for pizza.  Tonight's came out really good.  I used a baking steel about 6 inches below the top of the oven, close to the middle rack.  I used 550 F setting and also used the convection setting which often adds another 25 or so equivalent heat.  I preheated the oven for one hour.

I recently came across a gadget that can be used to maintain starter temperatures in a rather easy way.  The LUX WIN100 is a programmable thermostat with built in sensor that also has an outlet.  It is designed for room air conditions or heaters where a constant temperature is desired.  The unit plugs in and when the desired temperature is reached, the power cuts off.  After cooling down a degree or two, it comes back on keeping a rather constant heat.

On Christmas eve I made 3 pounds of  dough for two large batard loaves intending to bake Christmas morning after overnight refrigerator proofing.  In the morning I went to preheat and the electric ignitor that starts my gas oven was broke and it didn't come on!  I wasn't sure if I could freeze the dough at this point.  I was targeting 72% hydration rather than a more typical 75% for a Tartine bake as I would be baking on a stone rather than in a dutch oven and looking to keep dough from spreading too much.&

I came across the following link/article on Lactobacillus San Francisco posted in 2004 by Mark Preston on a site called “Danger! Men Cooking!”  http://dangermencooking.blogspot.com/2004/10/i-promised-to-write-about-fermented.html

Sourdough Rye with Seeds – cast iron bake

First, thanks to Eric Hanner for this post providing inspiration to explore covered cast iron cooking recently:  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21006/my-combo-cooker-experiment.  This is my second bake with cast iron and I like the results!  Flavor and texture were awesome!

I made one large 7 pound recipe for two loaves (Hamelman's "Vermont Sourdough with Increased Whole Wheat").  Given they were 3.5 lbs each I baked one at a time. Both were retarded 13 hours in the fridge (okay, one was 12 and one was 13 hours) then placed directly on the hot stone after slashing, steam used first 12 minutes.

Pizza baked home at 650 degrees

As my baking evolves I am drawn more towards hearty rye sourdough breads in the northern European style.  I also like big and bold flavors that complement the rye and sour nuances of the bread. 

Thus my spur of the moment decision to also add the following to my 2.5lb loaf:

1 tbs fresh ground black pepper

2 tbs red pepper flakes (pizzeria type)

1 tbs fresh diced rosemary