Blog posts

Australian Beaufort Red Spring Wheat was ground this morning after being kept in the fridge to counter the heat that the milling has on the fresh flour. The flour was hydrated with the water and left to stand for for 30 minutes this was then placed in my noodle mixer and another 20 g of water was added as it seemed quite thirsty. The compressed yeast was added and after incorporation the butter was added and lastly the salt was added.

This is Debra Winks 100% whole-wheat sandwich loaf. I've previously baked this in the Pullman pan sans lid, but my family prefers the square cut of the lid version. Increased weight from 800-gram to 900-gram and test baked. I'm happy with the result. Shaped into a blunt cylinder, I let the dough rise in the final proof to about 1.25 cm (1/4 inch) from the rim and slid the lid into place.

A follow up on a sweet stiff leavain bread after the first attempt produced a decent loaf but with large mysterious cavities in the crumb. For comparison I used my usual country bread recipe and did a second control version with the normal levain minus the sugar. Both doughs got the same autolyse and coil folds and a 4 1/2 hour bulk ferment. 

 There are pictures in this thread of the YW and levains 

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/70160/yw-challah#comment-505885 

 The crumb is very much like the Hokkaido bread!!! Wow that 10 min intensive mix really worked. So tender and light and so fragrant. Amazing bread

Here is the video I made recently to show the steps involved in making my 100% whole wheat sourdough Hokkaido milk bread.

Please enjoy.

You might enjoy reading the article I wrote for Breadtopia Whole Wheat Sourdough Hokkaido Milk Bread

Benny

This is the video I just created to show how I’m currently shaping and scoring my baguettes.  There are so many different ways to do this and I don’t pretend to be a master of any of them.  I am using the technique that Scott Megee shows in his video and this is only my second time using it.  I am quite pleased with the quality of the baguettes I made using this shaping method. 

Hope you enjoy the video.

Benny

I've been using a LeCreuset Dutch Oven for most of my baking, but I really wanted to make some sandwich bread. I have a few glass pans but figured with the popularity of shokupan (Japanese white bread baked in Pullman style pans) that it was time to invest in a pan and give it a try. 

I settled on this pan made by Majimaya Baking Supply in Tokyo. They do a lot of metal production for baking. I hope to visit the retail shop one day. Ordering online was not a problem and soon enough I had a 1.5斤 pan, which of course let me down a rabbit hole of actually how to use such a thing.

As a home baker in Japan there are quite a few constraints that can make baking more challenging than baking in a full western kitchen. With a bit of effort and improvisation good bread is still quite achievable. 

Let's start with fermentation. For the first few years I've used a digital temperature controller connected to a kotatsu (traditional heated table) to maintain a somewhat consistent temperature for doing bulk fermentation or growing sourdough starter. And it worked...surprisingly well.