Hi all,
I think it was about time I shared some pictures of some of my disasters (which are increasingly getting better.)
Since we had a big Italian dinner lined up with friends last weekend, I volunteered to bring bread. One, it gave me a chance to try the Italian Bread formula from BBA; two, I decided to take another crack at ciabatta, also from BBA; and three, these people love homemade bread.
The Italian bread was pretty straightforward--and delicious. Here's a photo:
After a full 3x feeding of Francesca Fiore (my hydrated sourdough starter) for a day of baking last weekend, I found myself with an extra blob of her that I didn't want to just throw out.
I tend to dive head first into projects that are of interest to me. At the moment, and it should come as no surprise to anyone, my obsession is bread.
Now, we are not talking about the homogeneous loafs of bland white sandwich bread that line the shelves at the super-mega mart. What we are talking about is the hand crafted, rustic loafs of bread with distinct flavor, crustiness and unique texture.
Hole-y-ness:
I've been asked how I get the big holes, and how I fold. Whether you are working with a bread dough that uses commercial yeast, or with sourdough, the same principles seem to apply from what I've experienced. Obviously, there are others here more experienced in sourdough who may have different techniques. It depends on what works for you.
This weekend I was very happy to find Harvest King Flour at my local grocery. I used Harvest King in my baking classes, and convinced my boss to use it at the bakery I helped start up. I liked its creamy color, and that it was formulated for longer, cooler rises and artisan breads. I'm hoping to find the retail variety similar in quality--so far, so good.
With floydm's assistance, I think I finally figured out how to post pictures. Hope this one posts ok. This recipe is courtesy of "Artisan Breads" featuring Kossar's Onion Bialy's. Thanks Floyd for your help.
Last week I continued the experiments I have been doing since I learned about this method of bread baking.
I doubled the original recipe and followed the rest of the instructions but for using cornmeal instead of wheat bran ( I had none ).
I was even happier with this loaf. Doubling the recipe will be the norm for me from now on. I might even try tripling it.
I also kept the oven temperature as high as possible, probably about 500F. The crust was deep golden brown tinged with dark brown bits and looked great.
Tonight I baked white bread.
Nothing artisan or fancy about this, just good, simple home cooking. The kind of bread you eat right out of the oven.
I fudged the recipe. It was basically:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup very warm milk
2 tablespoons melter butter
2 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
