Blog posts

Made some yeast water using fresh grapes. Really easy to make, just crushed the grapes coarsely and let ferment for 3 to 4 days in room temperature until the foam on top reduced activity. Once it is done it will look like rose wine, you may even taste if you like. Next step is to mix that liquid and some fruit with flour to make the levain, which took about 12 hours to peak. I actually had to put it in the oven with the light on to speed up the process as I wanted to bake in the same evening.

The other day, while looking for rye flour at my local Whole Foods, I came across spelt flour, made by the same company, Farmer Ground http://www.farmergroundflour.com/. I used their organic rye flour before, and while I am still very new to baking a good, mostly rye loaf, I liked the taste the rye flour gave to my wheat loaves when it was added in moderation. 

My interpretation of, Pane de Altamura - Carol Fields, The Italian Baker (Page #95)

The bread of Altamura is the only bread in Italia, to be protected by, Denominazione d'Origine Protetta (DOP, Designation of Origin) 

This bake is inspired by the ancient bread from Altamura

Phase 1 -  The Biga

Commercial yeast kick starter: Scant 1/2 tsp. IDY (Exactly 1.4 grams)

Flour (100% semola rimacinata) 250 G. 100%

Too hot and too pregnant to bake as much as I'd like and honestly I haven't been too proud of my bakes recently, but here it goes. 

Rolls from The Perfect Loaf (but subbed sweet potato for white) 

Focaccia from The Perfect Loaf, but added peaches for chix salad sandwiches 

50/50 white/wheat laminated sourdough with figs and walnuts - awesome combo! 

This is my first attempt with this formula I’ve put together for a Japanese inspired sourdough using red miso paste and furikake.  Furikake for those unfamiliar with it is a seasoning blend that can vary that Japanese often use to top their steamed rice.  This particular one has nori flakes, bonito and sesame seeds as the primary ingredient.  I’ve based this on Kristen’s basic sourdough recipe.

Total Dough Weight 900 g

Total Flour 494 g 

Bread Flour 80%

Whole Wheat 20%

I am finally getting back to baking sourdough. I went into turtle mode and it’s time to crawl out of my shell. Maybe that should hermit crab mode since turtles can’t crawl out of their shells. ?

Anyhow, I decided a nice fairly simple porridge bread would be a nice thing to make. And it was! 

Recipe 

Makes 3 loaves

Porridge 

100 g large rolled oats

200 g water

45 g honey

40 g butter

Dough

700 g unbleached flour

My first post here!

I've been baking sourdough bread for the last few months (ever since yeast completely disappeared from the shops for a while here in the UK), having never baked any bread before. I have produced some frisbees a couple of times and a few times made gorgeous loafs.

But I only just now started trying rye. Coming from Russia, it's something I miss here (although I've never been a big fan of rye breads, I guess you don't know what you like until you can't have it!). So I decided to bake it myself.

This is a nice dinner bread I like to make when the herb garden is in full swing.  The thyme and sage give it a wonderful savory touch that is not too heavy.  You can adjust the herb amounts to taste. Dried herbs are more concentrated, so I use smaller amounts than fresh.

60 g 100% hydration starter (active)

300 g water

300 g bread flour

90 g whole wheat flour

8 g salt

2 Tblsp. finely chopped fresh sage

2Tblsp. finely chopped fresh thyme

I am having trouble deciding if this is a good crumb or fools crumb. I have underfermented breads before and they were very dense, but this loaf was not dense. Light and airy. It just has a unique pattern of bubbles. The bulk ferment was 4.5 hours at 76F. Followed by a cold proof for 14 hours. Any feedback or tips would be great. Thanks