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I've made Ken Forkish's White Bread with Poolish several times, but this was my first time attempting his 80% Biga. This dough was incredible! So bouncy and full of life!

Unfortunately, because I've yet to get any bannetons, I'm still using a cloth lined bowl/cloth on the counter. This time, although I floured the cloths (with what I thought was) very heavily, both batards stuck to them, and there was some tearing when putting the loaf on the peel. 

Well this is the nicest loaf of pulla I have baked in some time. With this being ski season, I began taking shortcuts. I assumed that because I was using a sponge, I could use less than a fresh starter. I did and the previous two bakes had about 1/3 less oven spring than this bake. For this bake I refreshed my 100% starter 1:1:1 and left it on the kitchen counter overnight to double or more and then fall back. I then began the sponge and the bake and easily +1/3 more oven spring. With the additional oven spring the crumb was lighter and less chewy. So much for shortcuts.

Hi fellow TFL mates, and a belated Happy holidays to you all.

There is progess.. slow, but sure. The Bakery name has been decided. A Location has been found.  Although FAR from the city center, and cast away inside a Mall at a residential community (the only decent space we could afford for now....),  the location shows promise. The surrounding residential community is growing, and families / households who love and know good bread actually do exist in the not-so-far vicinity!  

Baked last week using 70% hydration, 1% semolina 1% fresh ground whole wheat and 98% 00 Antimo Caputo. USed Richard Bertinet kneading method. Taste, thickness of crust, crumb, etc were outstanding.  The only thing is the next time, I will leave out the semolina.  Tended to make the crumb a little rubbery.

I am no longer thedoughycoed, but the doughy recent graduate with a job doesn't look as good typed without spaces. I graduated in May and got a job and my own apartment with a real kitchen and the type of counterspace that dreams are made of. 

This the 2nd try at this recipe, this time using txfarmer’s intensively kneaded method to see what the difference in the bread might be between our normal method of developing gluten using slap and folds and stretch and folds.  Last Fridays bake can be found here 4 Starter Sprouted 7 Whole Grain Sandwich Bread so I don’t have to repeat it or the recipe again.

I bought that oven about 2 years ago and it started tripping after the xmas break. The company says that if i 'wish to bake special dough like this one (containing more than 57% water) than it is recommended to open the steam vents in the door from the start so most humidity can already escape. The dough is just too wet and all humidity gets into the insulation inside the oven which causes a short cut in power after some time.'

Has anyone else got experinece with this?

Any comments eagerly and gratyefully awaited.

Michael.

I made a similar version of this bread over Thanksgiving but never had a chance to post it.  I changed a few things including increasing the hydration and used walnuts instead of pecans.  I wanted to really bring out the nutty flavor in this one and used barley flakes along with rolled oats for the porridge.  The Greek Yogurt was added for a little extra sour edge and I find it adds a little extra creamy texture to the final loaf.

All in all this is one of my favorite breads I have come up with and made an excellent grilled ham and cheese sandwich :).

Well - this one seemed like a bit of a chore. I used the Dove's Farm recipe of the back of the packet again. I do seem to be getting good results from their own recipes, and they do not require a lot of ingredients and equipment etc I've noticed. Here's a link for the recipe: https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/fig-and-walnut-spelt-bread/

Hi there, after lurking and reading for a couple of months without being registered, I decided it was time to join in and share my stories with other bread freaks. To be honest nobody in my direct group of friends or family can't get exited when I talk about gluten strength, hydration or crumb. They all do love to eat the bread though...