Onceuponamac's blog

Sourdough Raisin Boule :)

Happy with the oven spring here :) I've been struggling to get cuts I'm satisfied with the disposable razor blade on a stick idea, so I decided to find an old straight blade razor (think what a barber would have used years ago).. I found one and had much better results - I've often admired Della Fattoria's breads (rosemary lemon, in particular) and have wondered how they cut the designs in the top.  I find when I use the disposable blade on the stick - the edge of the blade occasionally get's caught when I'm making a cut and tears the bread slightly.

I regularly use and SP5 Micro Spiral mixer, I've had good results with it, but as others have noted, for high hydration doughs - it's usually better to use the double hydration method.  I purchased mine from TMB Baking south of San Francisco and they are extremely helpful.  Although, it's often reported to be made by "Esmach" it's actually made by Avancini - an Italian cooking equipment manufacturer.  I recently had a chance to use a Haussler Alpha spiral mixer.  The mixer looks almost identical to the SP5, however, it has a tilting head and a removable bowl.

Still would like to get better oven spring - but happy with these nonetheless.

I'm pretty satisfied with these- the lamination worked better than last time I tried - I think I was keeping the dough too cold last time around.

:)