Hello everyone
My name is Theo I live in NYC and I love to bake bread at home. Im a newbie and I would love to learn and grow my skills as a baker. Currently I am reading and practicing my skills with two books
Flour water salt yeast
Advanced Bread and Pastry.
Thank you
Here is a pic of my last loaf
100% AP KA flour
72% water @ 85 ºF
2% salt
0.4% IDY
Final dough temp was 83ºF
Theo - Nice job! The bread got a nice oven spring, Do you have a electric oven. Other great bread books are: Secret of a Jewish Baker, by Geogre Greenstein, Bread, by Jeffrey Hammelman, and The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart, This website has a huge resource of talented bakers.
Vic
Thank you for the kind words and recommendations. I will look at them when I finish with these two. I do have my eye on Modernist bread though. Looks like an epic tome on all things we love. I've seen some pics on this forum and have to say a few bakers are extraordinary; stunning photos. I hope to learn from everyone
I have an old gas oven that runs a little hot and uneven.
Looks amazing!
I also use Advanced Bread and Pastry for basically anything I bake and it has helped me so much understanding the craft.
@beniJP
Thank you.. its a big book for a baker of my level. Might as well start right. I would love to get me a copy of Modernist Bread this year.
Hi Theo,
Welcome to the group.
Ditto for Vic's comments above. My personal go-to book for processes, techniques and theory is Jeffrey Hamelman's "Bread - A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes".
Cheers,
Gavin
@Gavinc
thank you. I will look at Bread when done with these two books
Great to meet other NYC bakers. Just as an FYI, I've been buying my grain through the farmer's market (USQ) and it's a great resource if you are ever interested in buying local grains/flour.
https://www.grownyc.org/grains/wheretobuy
@ifs201
thank you for sharing the link. You're quite some baker yourself!!
Theo, for a newcomer, you certainly have what seems to be the basic skill set. Your bread looks great - and it only gets better from here! FWSY is certainly a good book and will take you far. Advanced Bread and Pastry is a really advanced tome and a tough nut to crack for a long while.
But I have to agree that Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread is the go-to book for baker's of all levels, including professionals. A third resource not to overlook is the entire world of TFL breads and their posted recipes/formulas. There are so many breads presented on this site that you will never feel stale. Just a little research in the search box on the upper right reveals a world at your beckon.
alan
Hey Alan
thank you for the advice and comments on my bread. I saw your bread pics. All look delicious!!! I really enjoy FWSY.
I feel Advanced bread is a great corollary to FWSY. Where FWSY is giving me intuition, Advanced Bread is teaching me precision. Besides, Im an engineer and I enjoy suffering haha
After these books, I'll definitely pick up Bread and maybe even Modernist Bread :)
You are indeed well on your way. Very nice loaf in the photo.
Bread is a fun read even without focusing on the formulas (though there is an enormous amount of integrated learning in the collection offered).
Another useful book (because it helps you understand what is going on) is Bread Science by Emily Beuhler. You can order it on-line from twobluebooks.com There are a few things that are a little bit out of date, but that does not detract from her excellent artwork and much research.
A more advanced book, but useful as a guide to what can be done to get an open crumb is Trevor Wilson's Open Crumb Mastery 2nd Ed. available as a pdf at http://bit.ly/2HN4IPc
Thank you for the kind words and confidence Doc.dough. I just picked up Bread Science to help me on my journey. Seems like a perfect fit to what I need. My favorite part of bread is the crumb and open crumb mastery would make it all worth it. Cant wait to read that one as well. Besides I didnt realize Trevor Wilson was a contributor to this forum. So much talent here. I'll be an expert baker in a matter of time
Thank you all for the warm welcome. I cant wait to share my successes and look forward for everyone's help on overcoming future hurdles