Blog posts

Maybe some of you saw this recent Onion feature and thought, "I know someone like that . . ."

How about a little test for deciding if your enthusiasm for breadmaking is a cause for alarm:

1. I bake enough bread to _____.

a. Feed myself (1 pt)

b. Feed myself and my family (2 pts)

c. Feed myself, my family, and the family next door (4 pts)

d. Feed myself, my family, the family next door, and all my co-workers (10 pts)

After seeing and reading about Qahtan's  Guinness Chocolate Cake and how delicious it is, I had to try it.  Documenting my try, which was made with Murphy's stout rather than Guinness (it's what I had) are these pics:

It turned out of the pan beautifully, Hooray!

From Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking, you can find recipe here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16020/essential039s-columbia

While I have been baking in the last several weeks, most of it has been geared to sandwich loaves.  Don't get me wrong; that is some pretty important baking.  While it has been nourishing to the body, it hasn't been anything to stir the soul.  I've had some old favorites: Clayton's Honey Lemon Whole Wheat and plain old honey whole wheat.  I gave Beatrice Ojakangas' Granary Bread a try.  Lovely stuff, but not at all anything that qahtan or others who have had the real thing would recognize as such.

I started three days ago with tempering the hard red spring wheat to 15% moisture. Grinding and sifting last night to get a 86% extraction. Making and baking today. It was very wet. I might have misweighed or miscalculated. I worked in a little flour and it ended up the best tasting bread I have made in a long time. Made with flour, water, salt, and starter. It was sweat, a little sour, and had a wonderful wheat flavor. I got the red color crust I like. The family thought it was good also.

Another day with 40 degree C and another opportunity to use the restaurant bakery

Again i used coopers dark ale 1.5 litres , 1.5kg of sour dough starter, 5 kgs bakers flour, 75 grams dry yeast, 100 grams of butter, 12 grams bread improver (dobrim), 100  grams of cooking salt, 1.5 litres water.

i mixed the dark ale sour dough starter and 1 kg of flour into nice sponge batter leaving for an hour, then mix all other ingrediants and allow for bulk fermentation in this case 1 hour and fifteen minutes a good tripling of volume.

This is a project I have been working on and haven't fully perfected yet, but I think I am getting there. I am using King Arthur Whole Wheat flour and my four year old Carl Griffith's starter that I have bult into a whole wheat starter. The dough is at 76% hydration and involves a lengthy cold delayed ferment. Still feels a bit heavy for a ciabatta, but I think I may get it in a couple more tries.

And sorry for the bad pictures. I am currently shopping for a better camera.

It's not often that someone can lay claim to producing the best baguettes in a city, but in Washington, DC Sam Fromartz has done so, thanks to a competition sponsored by a local publication - the Washington City Paper. 

After a long break, I'm now able to return to blogging, I hope ...

I don't want to bore you all with my baking problems (although I did with some of you, my "baking friends" ... you know Shiao-Ping!?), but I have to share with you what I think I've learned.

First I'll show you my last (I should say my first) sourdough loaf after a full month of bread thrashing.

[The loaf]

My kids' God Mother came to visit.  It was a relaxing Friday night drink on the balcony.   The night was clear and the breezes were cool.  Autumn has finally arrived.