Blog posts

For this Community Bake of Infinity Bread bake I decided to use some blue corn from New Mexico that a friend gave me this summer.

I started by refreshing my sourdough starter with 25 grams whole wheat and 75 grams AP along with 100 grams of water.  Not long after I soaked 100 grams of sesame seeds in 175 grams of water.  

Once the starter reached peak bubbliness I mixed up the dough.

Dough Formula:

I’ve been enjoying baking with my King Arthur sourdough starter so much this fall! I’ve settled on a recipe that I love for my basic bread, the Taste of Artisan no-knead sourdough. It’s a 70% hydration recipe that works very well as an overnight room temp proof. I start the dough around 4-5pm, do several stretch and folds every 45 minutes until around 9pm, then let it sit on the counter until morning. Divide, shape, and place bannetons into the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Honing my improvisation skills! No measurements on that one, not even by volume. Mostly rye, some whole wheat in final dough 

First stiff rye preferment, after that soft one. Rye scald with chocolate barley malt, then acidification of the scald. Opara, final dough, bulk ferment (speedy, only 40 minutes) and final proof, which should last longer, but I didn't have time; that's why the loaf cracked.

Recently I posted a blog with my revised version of Infinity Bread.  That version used emmer flour, and I commented that I intended to try the bread with einkorn in place of the emmer.  Here it is.

This is an excellent bread too, and in some ways I prefer the einkorn version over the one with emmer.  Of course, a few bakes with each will be necessary before I can conclude that, and in any event both versions are fine.

Here are the two loaves.

I did the Infinity loaf challengeon October 30, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. I did not really like how the bread came out. It was very crumbly and a bit sandy. That said, I'm not really partial to cornbread either.

The "other" flours I used were rye, oat flour, and corn meal. For seeds, I used soaked bulgur wheat and toasted pecan pieces. The inclusions were fine. I'm not so sure about the cornmeal and oat flour though. I'll try it again after the holidays. And soak the cornmeal next time.

In my previous blog post, I mentioned that the post will be my only post, simply as a 'gratitude' post for all the bread baking knowledge I've learned, allows me to eat healthier. Now to think that I have severe commitment issue, which hinders me from having hobbies those I can cling to in long term, maybe it's a good idea for me to write structured methods. The idea is, when I for some reason no longer feel like baking again, and somehow want to get back to it, I have something that I can directly look into without feeling overwhelmed.

Recently purchased this oven after deciding that the Anova Precision Oven was too big and too finicky (wifi). After reading the very long, 3 part, egullet thread on the Cuisinart Convection Steam Oven, I decided it was perfect for me.

This is as much for anyone looking for a way to bake with emmer flour as for any other reason, but that should be sufficient.  Emmer is a nice flour (mine comes from Barton Springs, but it is available generally).

Quick as a jiffy rolls to go with my burgers. Very nice results. My only critique, I should have been more aggressive, pressing them down into the burger bun shape.

The shaping process

1. The well fermented dough ball is divided into three smaller equal pieces.

2. Each of the three dough balls is rolled out into a log shape.

3. Each of the logs is divided into four equal pieces

4. Each of the 111g pieces is shaped into a tight little ball.

5. Under my conditions, proofing covered on the bench took 35 minutes.

Pumpkin, cranberry raisin Bread.

Phase 1 ✅

The mix and mechanical dough development.

Phase 2✅

Day two. After the long slow bulk fermentation. The loaves are shaped and baked.