Blog posts

It has been a very busy month. Work, class, guests, birthdays, etc. I've baked fairly regularly, but I haven't had time to take pictures, post recipes here, or experiment. Today I used my sourdough starter. I've been feeding it once a week, but I hadn't baked with it in a while. I just made some little buns: They weren't bad. I served them with a pot of homemade split pea soup. The real star of the meal were the homemade croutons.

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.

Don't make bread when you're sleep deprived! Mix everything but the yeast and salt into the dough before letting it autolyse! I'm making potato rosemary rolls again (thank you for the clarification, Floydm) but incorporating the autolyse and cool rise techniques. I was half asleep at the time and thought it was a good idea to mix in the potatoes and proofed yeast while I knead.

I started making bread about six months ago, I've been enjoying making bread so much that I've started TAFE to become a baker. My goal when I started was to produce a soft white sandwich bread in as short a time as possible. Now that I can do that I'll share what I've learnt.

I am a new bread baker for about 1 month. My bread taste great but, this crust is not very good TOO THIN How can I make the crust thicker. PLEASE HELP

Thought someone out there would enjoy the soap opera of a sourdough newbie..LOL! I have been studying the techniques of many mentors here..I had my notes on the long proof of my starter,autolysing, folding & shaping, slack doughs, retarded rise..too many facts for my feeble brain I fear!! I took my starter out Friday, poured out but 1/4 cup and fed with 1/2 c flour & 1/2 cup H2O..a little later bubbling and very happy..into the oven with the light on overnight..Saturday morning (12 hours later)slowing down..so I feed & back into the oven.

I made some beer bread on Saturday and held back some of my dough to make a second batch once my Super Peel arrived - the first batch was very good, so I have no complaints over making it again. The Super Peel seems fantastic! I am a little wary of using it just because gadgets that seem easy to me always seem to blow up in my face, but I shaped my dough and let it do its final rise on the peel, and then had absolutely no trouble transferring the dough to the baking stone - something that's been quite a headache in the past.