Mebake's blog

This is My First Ciabatta Ever. The Preferment was not fermented thoroughly, which had some impact on the final color of the bread. The flavor is close to Hamelman's Baguette with poolish, very nutty, creamy! It is a hassle to go through, for the first time. Its a good change from wholegrain breads.

This is a Whole Wheat Barley Bread I baked yesterday. The recipe was made to include my barley flour.

Procedure:

Day 1:

Mix the Soaker contents in a Bowl until you form a ball. Put the dough in a an oiled container and leave at room temp. for 24 hours.

Mix the Biga contents in a Bowl until you form a ball. Put the dough in a a large oiled container and into a fridge for 24 hours.

Day 2:

Take the BIGA out to warm 2 hours prior to final mixing. Chop the Biga and Soaker into pieces and combine them. Distribute salt and yeast on top, and start mixing, resting 5 minutes after every knead. The Dough is wet, so you'll have to knead with wet hands. Form a Tight ball, and put the dough in a large bowl for 45 minutes fermentation.

Scrape the dough out, and divide it into two, three or four pieces. Preshape, rest for 5 minutes and then shape. Lay loaves in a floured basket for 45 minutes. Preheat Oven with two racks, and a steaming device to 470 F.

Cover the Oven glass, Load the doughs into the oven, and pour a cup of boiling water into a steaming device. seal the vent. 15 minutes later, remove the steaming devise and unseal the vent, and bake for 20 more minutes at 390F.

Cool on Rack for 2 hours befor slicing.

The flavor of this Bread is Nutty Wholesome, with a hint of barly sweetness in it. I think some honey would have enhanced the flavor more. i'll tweak this recipe in the future, God willing.

This is my first ever walnut loaf. I loved it! It sure pairs well with sour cheeses/spreads. toasted, it is even better! Rye flavor is enhanced after 24 hours. It is basically a 50% Rye, 50% Bread Flour.

I adhered to Hamelman's Instructions, except the High Gluten Flour. My bread Flour is 12.9% Protein, and i increased the water in the final dough due to the high absorption of my Whole Rye (Dover Farm Organic).

I used a 100% Rye starter for this recipe. The Crust was chewy, and the crumb was moist tender, with a slight sourness to it. The walnuts are a blast to have in this loaf. All in all iam quite Happy with this bread and i, God's Willing, shall bake it many times to come.

This is from Hamelman's Bread, under (Yested Preferments). I used a Pate fermentee of my baguette dough. I also added no yeast to the final dough. Mixing was very brief with turning the dough in a bowl every 30 minutes for 3 hours, developed the dough well. This is my first time to underdevelop my dough, and using my hand to fold the dough intermittently.

What i ended up with is developed yet soft feeble dough that jumped to life in the oven. The loaves were quite lighter in mass, and the crumb was soft and holey.

I, however, forgot to add the salt to the final dough, so the flavor was quite lacking.

Following 4 sourdough baking disasters in a row, a planned not to throw the dough this time. I sprinkled 1tsp of yeast and baked it 2 1/2 hours later.

The crumb shot above is from a slice at one side of the loaf, while the the crumb below is from the other side.

And the culprit: My starter. The size of the bubbles show a lacto-bacterial fermentation, with very little yeast activity. I have never seen such fermentation cells since i started using sourdough.

I am tending my starter now, feeding it every 12 hours to revive my yeasts.

Just to finish off 2010 with a "cheerful ending , my starter has failed me twice. Having ventured on to bake Hamelman's Pain Au Levain with Wholewheat, My Doughs have twiced turned slack and headed to the trash bin instead of the oven, twice in a row? that is a killer. Add this to my lower back pain, iam not inclined to bake anytime soon. 

Iam a keen caretaker of my Starter, but lately i was unable to please it. Long story short, i have to keep an eye on it more often, inorder to revive the healthy population i always nourished.

Now i have to watch all the wonderful Year end bakes of my fellow TFl members, and drool on.

EDIT: Light Bulb On! I believe the reason behind my starter problematic vigor has to do with overfeeding right from the fridge. As Underfeeding reduces the number of viable yeasts that ensure fermentation, Overfeeding, seems, also overwhelms the starter, and the end result is same.

khalid

This is my first golden raisin bread. I used Bread flour for both Whole wheat and White. I handeled the dough more than i should, and thus deflated it considerably. The house smelled of Raisins! Really nice bread, and i bet it would taste better toasted.

All in all, i like it! But i think it should taste better if yeast is left out.

This is my first Yeast only miltigrain wholewheat from Hamelman's BREAD under Preferments:

I accidentally used 1T extra of sea salt. To my surprise the bread even tasted better!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

This is a whole Wheat Multigrain I baked in a pan lately, only with no yeast added. Looks like my parents are starting to appreciate Sourdough leavened breads!

Lately , I learned a new trick. To know that a loaf is ready, I tapped on the bottom of the pan. When i heard a hollow sound, i baked it!

Recently, i've been suffering from BDS between bakes, or when my bread reserve dwindles.

Should i feel OK with that? I don't know.. am i not getting a Life? Possibly, yet, I may just be another Home Baker. I can live with that ;)

What's itching me further is that i, like many, was diagnosed with a mild Lumbar disc hernisis, and therefore with no Bread on plan for the week end.

I'll be baking, nonetheless.