Blog posts

Nov. 29, 2020.

This is my third attempt at the "Adventure Bread" from the Josey Baker Bread book. But, this is my first attempt to make it exactly as written. Previously, I swapped out the psyllium husk for other binders, but I never matched the absorbancy of psyllium, so it was overly wet, and the oats totally dissolved.  (IE., I violated my own rule of not making substitutions until after you make something at least once, so that you know what it is supposed to look like. Once you know what it is supposed to look like, then have fun with it.)

I bought a bag of semola rimacinata a few weeks ago, and finally decided to try it. Found the recipe here, and basically followed it, except increased the hydration to 70% (and even that maybe was a bit low, I feel the flour could have taken more): http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/14268/pane-con-semola-rimacinata-di-grano-duro

Here is my formula: https://fgbc.dk/123b

Recap:

The wife has tasked me to come up with a sandwich bread recipe our family can bake at least once a weak to completely replace our regularly purchased box store sandwich bread.

This post is for the recipe for my second attempt to make the perfect loaf.

Requirements

I was looking for inspiration and came acrossAnthony Power’s Irish Stout, Oats and Cheddar Sourdough. Here is my version.

Soaker

175 g rolled oats

185 g Sleeping Giant Brewery Skull Rock Stout

Dough

800 g Strong Baker’s Unbleached flour

150 g freshly milled Selkirk flour

50 g freshly milled rye flour

540 g filtered water + 25 g

110 g Sleeping Giant Brewery Skull Rock Stout

This last weekend I did a test run of a 3-stage fermentation rye sourdough. I know a little about how rye behaves, so I thought “What could go wrong?”. I chose Hamelman’s Three Stage 70 Percent Sourdough Rye. I recalculated for a 750-gram boule.

The first issue was that the recipe called for medium rye flour. I only have home-milled whole rye. Lance advised getting a 40# mesh to get something close to medium rye. I was keen to proceed anyway and went ahead using whole rye.

The wife has tasked me to come up with a sandwich bread recipe our family can bake at least once a weak to completely replace our regularly purchased box store sandwich bread.

Requirements

After an absence from bread baking I often come back to this bread to get myself back in the groove. It's Sara Owens' Honeyed Oat Spelt Sourdough bread. This picture is right after taking the lid off the combo cooker.

After a brief dalliance with PR's whole wheat sandwich bread, I'm back to my traditional sourdough loaf (starter + water + flour + salt). These were around 80% hydration.The sandwich bread was delicious, but didn't keep nearly as well as the traditional loaf.

I'm getting back into baking after a busy summer.

I made this tonight and continue to be a fan of Sara Owens' recipes. Everything I've made from her books I've really enjoyed. This cake has only 30 grams of brown sugar and only uses whole wheat flour. It has five ripe bananas in it - which are placed in the oven with the brown sugar and a bit of rum to roast for 15 minutes before you make the batter. It uses ripe starter but I don't even think it's necessary given baking powder and soda powder are used in the recipe.

I baked Maurizio’s formula for this bread which I share below copied from his website for those interested in trying this bake.  At the end I’ll post what I will do next time I bake this based on the final results.

This tangzhong pan bread is a direct bake, meaning it’s baked the same day you mix (except for the levain, which is created the night before).