Tomorrow we Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers celebrate our first anniversary. As part of the festivities, we're experimenting with some new activities for the new year.
#BreadChat is a discussion hour for bakers of yeasted, artisanal breads. We will meet on Twitter and tag our tweets with #BreadChat. (Many thanks to our friends at #SeedChat for inspiring us to take on this new project!)
Join us for our first #BreadChat on Saturday, February 11, from 1:00-2:00 pm Chicago time (UTC/GMT -6 hours). That's 19:00-20:00 London time, 20:00-2100 in Berlin, 21:00-22:00 in Helsinki, 6:00-7:00 am Sunday in Sydney,
Find us by searching for and clicking on the #BreadChat hashtag on Twitter.
@AmateurBakers will lead the discussion through a handful of questions related to yeasted bread baking. To suggest a question to include in the discussion, please email it to breadchat [at] amateurbakers [dot] org by midnight (Chicago time), Friday, February 10.
Meet us at Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers.
Follow us @AmateurBakers.
Recaps, recipes, and news: www.amateurbakers.org
I would like to participate. I have never twit, so I'm not sure how you do that. I do have some questions and bread baking is something that I do really enjoy. I see a lot of people here who are incredible bakers and they put out unbelievable products. I wish one day I could do the same. Anyway, thanks for the information.
Norman.
Hi Norman, you are welcome to post your questions here, and we can include them in #breadchat.
Here's the transcript from today's #BreadChat. Read it from bottom to top:
AmateurBakers #BreadChat That's all for today! Thanks for listening in. And stay tuned for the date/time of March's #BreadChat.
AmateurBakers #breadchat King Arthur sells Gold yeast in bulk, too: kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/saf… Keeps well in freezer for years.
BreadChatIn sweet dough, sugar wants to absorb the dough's water, which the yeast needs to ferment. Gold yeast needs less water to perform #breadchat
AmateurBakers #BreadChat Professionals call regular instant yeast "red" yeast. "Gold" yeast is engineered especially for breads with high (>5%) sugar.
AmateurBakers #breadchat Baker's instant yeast can be purchased in bulk from the King Arthur Flour website: kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/saf…
BreadChat #breadchat Often you can find fresh yeast at a Northern European Speciality Market. In Chicago, I buy it at Gene's Sausage.
AmateurBakers Last #breadchat discussion today: Where to find specialty yeasts such as fresh yeast, baker's instant yeast, osmotolerant yeast for sweets?
AmateurBakers @SourdoCompanion Nice post! Sounds like coordination will come with time & practice. By your 10th loaf, perfection! #breadchat
AmateurBakers @BreadChat Mix fresh yeast with small amount lukewarm water + pinch of sugar. If bubbles form in 5 minutes, yeast is still alive #breadchat
BreadChat #breadchat I have fresh yeast in the freezer, since a few months now. Do you think it still works or should I discard it?
BreadChat #breadchat I use bread flour to feed my sourdough. I had trouble with feeding whole wheat, as it made the starter slow down a lot
AmateurBakers Starters (biga, poolish, pate fermentee) get fermentation going, while sourdough culture can be mature, complex, & live for years #breadchat
BreadChat #breadchat I feed my sourdough culture in 24 hour intervals. It's 6 months old now. Biga for pizza I whip up 8 hours before making the dough
AmateurBakers #breadchat discussion: How do these starters (poolish, biga, pate fermentee) differ from a sourdough culture one maintains for a long time?
AmateurBakers @BreadChat Yes, and both biga and poolish are "starters," that is, they get the yeast fermentation going. #breadchat
BreadChat Hi from Chicago! I have a biga going right now for pizza dough. Biga is stiff (low hydration), poolish is runnier. #breadchat
AmateurBakers #breadchat discussion: What's the difference among poolish, biga, and pate fermentee?
AmateurBakers We're live! Welcome to #breadchat!
AmateurBakers More about #breadchat: thefreshloaf.com/node/27252/bre…
AmateurBakers our first #breadchat ever!
Next #BreadChat: Wednesday, March 14, 10:00-11:00 am Chicago time (UTC/GMT -6 hours). That's 16:00-17:00 London time, 17:00-18:00 in Berlin, 18:00-19:00 in Helsinki. Find us by searching for and clicking on the #BreadChat hashtag on Twitter.