Bread

[sazemisery]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515fWVPePVL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg

I received this for Christmas.

I have whole wheat dough in the refrigerator.

Will report results tomorrow.

That is all.

[sazemisery]

1. First batch

I fell asleep and it rose and fell for 5 hours. Tried second batch this morning and I now have a beautiful round loaf of crusty bread with enough still in the refrigerator for 3 more loaves. Yummy.

[hippywife]

3. I made a batch of wheat dough

(not out of the book)a few weeks back and had enough to keep in the fridge for the better part of the week. When I took it out it was kind of crusty on the top but instead of cutting that off and throwing it away, I kneaded it back in and baked the bread. It came out fine. You'd never known I'd done that unless you saw me do it. I hate to throw any food away. Waste not, want not.

I'm glad you're having a good trial with the book. There are some lovely recipes in there. Have fun! :hi:

[wryter2000]

2. I'm working on my first batch

The first couple of loaves came out great. Next time I make a batch, I'm going to add some of my wild yeast starter and see what happens. It has a nice, subtle flavor.

I finally broke down and bought the combination of yeast and lactobacillus sanfrancisco for real SF sourdough from www.sourdo.com. I'm afraid I can't use it with commercial yeast, though, so this should take some experimentation.

The last time I bought a loaf of Colombo, they'd wrapped it in plastic and ruined the crust. I always figured if I wanted real SF sourdough, I could always buy it. Not anymore!

[hippywife]

4. I really think I'm going to break down

and buy a sourdough starter. I just don't have the time or inclination to make one right now. I'd have to take it to work with me, which I could do but I just don't wanna. If I buy one will I have to keep feeding it everyday, too?

I used to work for a trucking company as a load planner. We shipped all of Colombo's LTL frozen loads for restaurants and the like. Nice folks in their shipping department. Oh, and there was a sausage company out there whose name escapes me at the moment. I used to get some pretty good pepperoni and salami and the like from them. Yum!

[wryter2000]

5. I imagine they gave in to people afraid to buy a loaf of bread in a paper sleeve

"Oh, my goodness! Germs might be on it!" Totally ruined the crust. I was so disappointed.

If I have to take the starter to work, I'll do it. The people in my office will laugh, but they like the food I bring in well enough. Actually, the boss and his wife are cooks, so if I give them a little starter, he'll be happy to overlook yet another of my eccentricities.

[hippywife]

6. I know!

I remember when that was the only way to buy a good loaf of Italian or French bread. I think a lot of it, too, is that grocery stores really don't have a real bakery (or butcher) anymore. Forget about getting anything fresh there!

[Warpy]

8. Bread in paper sleeves gets a little too crusty after a day on the shelf

which is why they pack it in plastic and make the crust gummy.

Paper is great if you're going to eat that whole baguette in a day.

[Warpy]

7. I loved the red grape starter and it only took a week

before the whole mess (crushed red grapes, water, flour) was strained and preserved in the fridge as a sourdough starter.

The flavor was out of this world, but I found it just a little wimpy and used conventional dry yeast to increase the raising power. Once I started to do that, I ended up with some truly lovely sourdough breads. It all ended when winter did and the desert heat discouraged me from baking bread.

[NMDemDist2]

9. don't buy it!!! Keep Carl's yeast alive!

http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/

you'll love this sweetie! :hug:

[housewolf]

10. Excellent choice!

Carl's is a wonderful starter with a great history behind it... and you can't beat the price unless someone gives you some! All you need to send is a self-addressed stamped envelope and they'll send some dried starter back to you. Oh, and if you can afford to send the group (all volunteers) a couple of bucks to help them out with expenses, it will help out a group of really great, dedicated folks who provide the website and starter out of a love of sourdough, Carl (who passed on a few years ago), and the starter.

[NMDemDist2]

12. I got it from you LOL

:hi:

Happy New Year my dear Housewolf!!

[hippywife]

13. Thanx for that, sweetie.

I will definitely do that when I'm ready to go for the sourdough. Appreciate it! :hi:

[housewolf]

14. Here's the link for Carl's Oregon Trail Starter

http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/

The address is there for ordering, plus you can download their brochure and some info about the starter, Carl, and some history of the starter. Keep it in mind whenever you're ready to begin playing with a sourdough starter.

Thanks!

[Mira]

11. I got the self same book for Christmas. My loaves are not as pretty

yet -
but they are DELICIOUS.
I'm still experimenting with aspects of this new way of baking bread. But since I ran across it I have some at hand all the time, and it is simply the best.
I have baked a few loaves on an aluminum pizza pan that has holes in it, instead of on the baking stone.

I sprinkled it liberally with cornmeal (over the sink) and then let the bread rise straight on it, and don't have the transfer problem with the pizza peel etc.

The holes allowed for the moisture and heat to create a crust to die for, I think I will like it better than the stone.
When I have it all "perfected", I will go to other flours and mixtures.
Happy New Year, all !

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

16. Me too.

If people give the book, they might want to know that the whole process involves something big with a lid to make and store the dough in, a pizza stone, and a pizza peel. My peel (aluminum instead of wood) just arrived, so now I'm ready to go.

Did you try baking on the stone first, or did you just go right to the aluminum pizza pan? People do talk about the issue of getting the bread on and off the peel as being one of the biggest challenges with this whole thing.

[sazemisery]

18. Use liberal amounts of cornmeal on your peel

There is a shove and jerk motion to un-peeling your bread into the oven.

I made the peasant bread this week and the last loaf yesterday was better than the first loaf at the beginning of the week.

[hatrack]

15. Well, Five Minutes A Day it ain't, but . . . .

FWIW, possibly the best bread I've had in about ten years was based on a recipe in "Baking With Julia" - the Mixed-Starter Bread on page 113.

Time-consuming as hell, and you'll need a stone and iron skillet for the baking, but the five rises (counting the sponges) are most definitely worth it. We've got a loaf of the walnut bread in the freezer, but the baguettes were 95% gone in about 36 hours. Yowza!

"Oh, I seem to have cut the dickens out of my finger . . . Oh, damn, it's just a prop phone . . . Why are you all spinning? Goodbye!"

[Lucinda]

17. I have three great bread books but I don't seem to make anything but

quickbreads and flatbreads.

Every winter I say I am going to start making my own breads and I never do it. I need to get motivated. :(