Bread
Dutch oven at Costco
04/02/12 14:56
Great news if you have been wanting a large enameled dutch oven without spending the price required for a Le Creuset cast iron pot. There has always been the Lodge series, but now an impressive and large top quality pot appears to be available at Costco. If a warehouse is near, you, pick one up today!
Comments
Ciabatta
15/01/12 16:08
Here I am trying to stick to the challenge of baking one recipe from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Bread cookbook each week, yet I keep getting distracted with all the other breads in the world. For example, ciabatta.
I remember trying to make ciabatta a few years ago and being overwhelmed with the wet globbiness of it all. So when I saw the easy looking recipe for Jason’s Quick Ciabatta on The Fresh Loaf, I knew it was time to try again.
In step 2 he says the “dough” (if you can call it that) will pull away from the side of the bowl in your mixer. After 20 minutes at speed 2, my pudding, er, dough still was clinging to the bowl. I almost gave up but gave it another 10 minutes at which point it started to come off the walls. I found a video which shows I could have mixed on speed 6 instead of 2 on my kitchen aid. This would have brought the time down. The video has some annoying aspects (the narrator always leaves the first A out of ciAbatta, for example) but is well worth watching for the confident lift and flip step at 6:44 into the video. I left out that step and still created some respectable ciabatta but next time I will be braver.
If you have never tackled this bread, I encourage you to try. I think it could be a bit tastier with an overnight fermentation or perhaps the semolina option, but the crumb and holes are great fun. Follow the directions exactly. Keep mixing until the dough forms a ball that pulls from the sides of the mixer. Use parchment paper.
Update: A week later, I remade this bread with 25% whole wheat and an overnight fermentation of the poolish as suggested by Reinhart. This time, the bread behaved perfectly in forming but did not have the large holes of my first version even though I kept the hydration at a whopping 95%. My family in encouraging me to keep trying as the bread is delicious nonetheless.
I remember trying to make ciabatta a few years ago and being overwhelmed with the wet globbiness of it all. So when I saw the easy looking recipe for Jason’s Quick Ciabatta on The Fresh Loaf, I knew it was time to try again.
In step 2 he says the “dough” (if you can call it that) will pull away from the side of the bowl in your mixer. After 20 minutes at speed 2, my pudding, er, dough still was clinging to the bowl. I almost gave up but gave it another 10 minutes at which point it started to come off the walls. I found a video which shows I could have mixed on speed 6 instead of 2 on my kitchen aid. This would have brought the time down. The video has some annoying aspects (the narrator always leaves the first A out of ciAbatta, for example) but is well worth watching for the confident lift and flip step at 6:44 into the video. I left out that step and still created some respectable ciabatta but next time I will be braver.
If you have never tackled this bread, I encourage you to try. I think it could be a bit tastier with an overnight fermentation or perhaps the semolina option, but the crumb and holes are great fun. Follow the directions exactly. Keep mixing until the dough forms a ball that pulls from the sides of the mixer. Use parchment paper.
Update: A week later, I remade this bread with 25% whole wheat and an overnight fermentation of the poolish as suggested by Reinhart. This time, the bread behaved perfectly in forming but did not have the large holes of my first version even though I kept the hydration at a whopping 95%. My family in encouraging me to keep trying as the bread is delicious nonetheless.
New Year's Challenge
02/01/12 16:06
I’m considering a Julie and Julia type challenge for myself this year: bake all 55 recipes in Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Bread cookbook by the end of the year. That’s about one recipe per week. Here are the first 29 breads. Am I up for the challenge? The challenge has now begun.
Bread blog worth reading
19/11/11 17:10
My friend Frank wrote to me a while ago that he found a blogger who made bread like Frank would like to make. I couldn't agree more. This blogger is Phil from Brisbane, Australia and his devotion to bread is phenomenal. He writes well and provides a nice backstory to each recipe. The photographs are spectacular. His recent olive loaf had my mouth watering at the first photo and the resulting loaf blew me away.
Unfortunately for my pocketbook, Phil has introduced me to the KoMo line of grain mills which might be the most elegant and expensive grain mills Ive ever seen. Quiet strong motors are housed in beechwood cabinetry in a way only German artisans could envision. Oh, Santa? How's your cash flow this year?
Unfortunately for my pocketbook, Phil has introduced me to the KoMo line of grain mills which might be the most elegant and expensive grain mills Ive ever seen. Quiet strong motors are housed in beechwood cabinetry in a way only German artisans could envision. Oh, Santa? How's your cash flow this year?
"Tools are Made..." book by Jim Wills
12/12/10 11:37
Mary G’s Artisan Bread’s master baker Jim Wills offers 2 day workshops to home bakers interested in perfecting their bread and baking skills. For those of us who cannot attend his workshop in Canada, his book “Tools are made born are Hands” is almost like being there with him. In it, he walks us through the two day workshop from morning to night. The experience is like having a master baker standing over your shoulder offering advice, theory and observations on every aspect of baking.
There are plenty of bread books with dozens of recipes on the market, but as most experienced bakers know, bread is more technique and skill than a list of ingredients. Mr. Wills manages to offer up these techniques and skills from basic to advanced without either talking down to the reader or being confusing. Perhaps this ability comes from his background as an English teacher. His writing is clear and interesting while his manner patient yet passionate. He has chosen well only 7 recipes, but the explanation behind the mixing, forming and baking of each one offers a lifetime of wisdom. For example, if a baker can recreate the 'Ciabatta' or the 'Pain al'ancienne' they have mastered the art of wet doughs while the techniques for the 'Massa Sovada" are important for understanding enriched sweeter breads.
Jim is a wood fired baker so much of the baking advice centers on these large ovens that more and more home bakers are using. If you are not among these bakers yet, fear not as he gives detailed instructions on how to replicate the breads in a home oven. There is little to criticize in this book if you know what to expect. The intriguing title “Tools are made born are Hands” offers little in terms of knowing what in contained within. This is not a coffee table book like Reinharts excellent offering, nor a mammoth collection of recipes. Instead, it takes us into the workshop and mind of a master baker who is an excellent teacher of his craft. If you are ready to improve your skills and understanding of the art of bread, then let this teacher be your guide.
There are plenty of bread books with dozens of recipes on the market, but as most experienced bakers know, bread is more technique and skill than a list of ingredients. Mr. Wills manages to offer up these techniques and skills from basic to advanced without either talking down to the reader or being confusing. Perhaps this ability comes from his background as an English teacher. His writing is clear and interesting while his manner patient yet passionate. He has chosen well only 7 recipes, but the explanation behind the mixing, forming and baking of each one offers a lifetime of wisdom. For example, if a baker can recreate the 'Ciabatta' or the 'Pain al'ancienne' they have mastered the art of wet doughs while the techniques for the 'Massa Sovada" are important for understanding enriched sweeter breads.
Jim is a wood fired baker so much of the baking advice centers on these large ovens that more and more home bakers are using. If you are not among these bakers yet, fear not as he gives detailed instructions on how to replicate the breads in a home oven. There is little to criticize in this book if you know what to expect. The intriguing title “Tools are made born are Hands” offers little in terms of knowing what in contained within. This is not a coffee table book like Reinharts excellent offering, nor a mammoth collection of recipes. Instead, it takes us into the workshop and mind of a master baker who is an excellent teacher of his craft. If you are ready to improve your skills and understanding of the art of bread, then let this teacher be your guide.
How to fire a woodfired oven for bread baking
05/12/10 11:53
I just helped my friend Frankie G edit his video “How to fire a woodfired oven for bread baking”. I think the video is pretty informative and well produced.
