Blog posts

This is my first blog entry but not my first post. I thought it might be worthwhile to post my experience with the new Anova Precision Oven, which has been promoted, in part, as a steam oven suitable for bread baking. My review is pretty mixed, but after a dozen or more failed bakes, I’ve finally begun to see good results.

I tried this recipe a while back and really enjoyed it, especially toasted with a bowl of oatmeal in the morning.  Thought the flavors complimented each other well.  Ever since then, have been wanting to try to put something together, and this is Take 1. 

Work in Progress

First step: make the brew piece. Russian red rye malt and process detailed here

Here's the result after 5.5hrs in the water bath at 65.5C. The water bath is a cheap sous-vide circulator in a saucepan of hot water.

To be continued....

Ah. Nothing beats a hearty onion soup and a sourdough slab in these freezing days!

sourdough is 25%rye, 10% whole spelt and rest is T65.

Catching up after a few days offline, last one for today, lol.

I made this one a few days ago, using Abe's VSSD process and following the same recipe/process as last time. Our kitchen was a few degrees warmer, and the dough rose overnight on the counter to 3x size - much better than the last attempt. 

Abe posted this a few days ago, and I decided to give it a try. This had to be the easiest and best 100% whole wheat I have ever made!! For anyone who enjoys home milling, watch the video and give it a try. This is the first time I haven't had to do something else (add some AP or bread flour, follow Reinhart's "epoxy" biga/soaker method, or something else) to get a decent rise and crumb. Really happy with the simplicity of this!!

My dough info:

As a general rule, my husband and I tend to make do with what we have. It's an approach we adopted after a few too many spontaneous purchases that were never really needed in the first place. But once in a while it's really worth getting what you want or "need". 

Like many bakers here I've been strongly influenced by Full Proof baking. The basic open crumb recipe has worked very well for me in the past, and the detail described in Kristen's method has allowed me to get a feel for where to push the envelope with the breads that I make, although, of course this method is not for a lazy baker!