Summer Market, Mixer, and Tzitzel
The last few weeks have been a blur of baking, as I have started selling at a new market which has a BIG appetite for bread. The Waltham market has been around for 24 years and has a very large and loyal set of customers.
This Saturday was our third week. I say "our" as my daughter has gotten the market bug and has come to sell with me every week in Cambridge and now Waltham.
Here she's selling three deep and probably cursing me for standing behind taking pictures instead of helping out.
This week I tried to take some pictures before the crowds descended as by the time I got to it last week, half of the bread was gone already.
Cranberry and Sunflower Multigrain Levain
Cardamom buns, challah rolls, bagels and baguettes
Durum Levain and Hamelman's Country Loaves
Rye, Rye, and Rye
There are many great vendors, and I wish I had more (any) time to do a bit of shopping. This week I traded a challah for some local strawberries from this stand.
In the middle of a frenzy of baking getting ready for the Saturday market and trying to squeeze more and more from my trusty Assistent, I got a visitation from an alien lifeform, who took pity on me and came to help me mix dough.
These 6 loaves worth of cranberry dough are just a drop in the bucket for my new friend Molly.
Her bowl alone is as big as the Assistent altogether.
And finally, a fresh loafer asked me about Tzitzel Rye of St. Louis fame, and reminded me that I hadn't made it in awhile. So I made some for the second Waltham market, but didn't quite get to take any pictures in time. I have been fiddling on this formula for a couple years now. Here is the current version:
| Tzitzel | ||||||
| Final build 80% rye sour | 18:00 | 9:00 PM | ||||
| Mix all | 0:10 | 3:00 PM | ||||
| BF 1.5 hour | 1:15 | 3:10 PM | ||||
| Shape, coat with cornmeal | 0:15 | 4:25 PM | ||||
| Proof | 1:00 | 4:40 PM | ||||
| Preheat 500, steam 1 min, off 6 min | 0:45 | 5:40 PM | ||||
| Bake at 425 for 20 minutes | 6:25 PM | |||||
| M | 8M | |||||
| Hi Gluten | 275 | 2197 | 70% | |||
| Whole Rye | 0 | 0 | 30% | |||
| Water | 195 | 1558 | 74% | |||
| Salt | 8 | 64 | 2.0% | |||
| Caraway | 11 | 87 | 3% | (just reduced this to 2%) | ||
| Rye Sour | 211 | 1685 | 30% | |||
| Corn meal | ||||||
| Total Dough | 699 | 5591 | ||||
| Total Flour | 392 | |||||
Comments
Looks great, Varda. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Floyd! -Varda
Looks like you have been busy. Glad to hear your market experience has been positive. How have you been adjusting to the life of a baker.
Friday is physically exhausting as I'm baking for the market, and my two wholesale customers. 15 minutes of rest during a 15 hour day. Wonderful to interact with customers at the markets and see what they like and how they serve the bread. Many people are buying because they are invited to dinner and want to bring something special. Some people buy the bread and start eating it right there. Mostly I'm just out there trying to make the world a better place for bread. I bought a loaf of Pepperidge Farm "Sourdough" the other day partly because I didn't have any bread for the family and partly just to remind myself what it was. It was absolutely appalling, and that's good supermarket bread. This is not right and there is no good reason for it. Shortest answer possible? It's all about the bread. Take care. -Varda
Looks like your just taking off. Love the new mixer and I have mixer envy. 20qt??? How much dough can "Molly" handle at a time? There is a romance to hand mixing but there are some things machine mixers do better. Incorporate air into dough and mix the add ins with ease. So the Tzitzel is essentially a Jewish or NY Rye. I thought what made it different was cornmeal in the dough??? Look's like your "tasters" know where to go and get a good loaf now. Gonna be a busy summer.
Keep up the great work
Josh
Hi Josh, Molly is a 20 qt Thunderbird planetary mixer. So far so good. The dough comes together incredibly fast. I have heard that spirals are better, but really, I don't know how it could get much better than this. Limit is 25 lb of 60% hydration dough. Generally I max out at 12 700g loaves or 8.4KG at considerably higher hydration so I still have plenty of headroom.
As for Tzitzel, notwithstanding the ins and outs of New York rye breads, mine is particularly an adaptation of a rye made by Pratzel's bakery in St. Louis (sadly defunct as of around 4 years ago after 100 years) which I suppose you would say is a standard if somewhat coarse Jewish rye which is coated with cornmeal. So no cornmeal inside, but a lot on the outside, which gives it a pretty distinctive flavor. I have never seen this bread anywhere else, although I have seen other breads called Cissel which are nothing like it. I started with the version in ITJB which replaced white rye with medium rye and first clear with bread flour in their deli rye recipe and added the cornmeal - I think based on my posts on my discussions with the retiring Pratzel's owners. My version here ups the water, reduces the rye to 30% (from 40%) and seems to be in process of reducing the caraway. Instead of medium rye, I've been using a very wonderful whole rye from Great RIver Milling (shipped by Amazon Prime) which is ground very fine. And instead of bread flour I've been going with high gluten flour. Have I deviated from Pratzel's? Probably, but I'm the one baking now, so I get to.
Yes a very busy summer ahead, but I couldn't be more pleased to be getting my bread out there.
Thanks so much.
Varda
It's "your" Tzitzel and you may do as you please. David gave some good info on the name and why it is essentially a variation very similar to that of Jewish/NY Rye. And a delicious one at that I bet. I may actually take the idea as a variation on my NY Rye with some corn (I think I'll try inside and out)
that mixer sounds like a dream. For a while I had oven envy (my home oven does what it can and I've warmed up to it), Then MIll Envy (the Nutrimill is doing just fine, not a serious stone mill but good fresh flour), and most recently I've just wanted a mixer. Hand mixing large portions of dough is probably the biggest challenge since doing the home baking. Pretty nice machine you got there. As for why we prefer spiral. It's gentler on the dough and kneads the dough with better precision. On the planetary mixers the dough likes to latch on to the hook while it can't do that with a sprial. None the less if gentle planetary mixers make great dough (they do better with more hydrated doughs than stiff in my opinion).
As I said all looks just awesome and your coming up faster and faster. Soon enough you'll need some commercial space.
Josh
Thanks for letting me know what to look for. To my eye at least having never used a spiral this mixer looks pretty darn gentle, and the mix time is so short compared to what I'm used to which I guess means less beating up the dough. I mixed my largest batch last night - around 20 pounds, and I did notice some crawling up the hook, but the dough was in great shape afterward. Now I can dream about my next mixer which will have to be a spiral. I found the hand mixing just plain exhausting on top of all the other exhausting things (at least now I can sling around 50 lb bags of flour whereas I used to just stand there and look at them) so I'm very happy to give that up. I guess I just don't see the romance, Chad Robertson notwithstanding..
look fantastic. The new equipment, mixer and oven are really paying off. Well done and
Happy baking
I've been trying to keep the equipment commensurate with what I'm doing but this leads to a push and pull. Right now I'm ahead at least for a few months (I hope.) Thanks so much. -Varda
David
Thanks David, Very kind. I've been suffering with my almost white sourdough, which will not cooperate. One possibility is to ditch it and go with San Joaquim. Should I do it? Last week instead of a white sourdough I brought a big batch of Hamelman's Country Bread (which uses a preferment) which were snapped up like hotcakes. But I've never tasted it, so I didn't even know if that was a good thing or not. I'm hoping one of my return customers will tell me. -Varda
I can't really advise you what breads your customers would like best. I don't know if anyone has made the SJSD in large batches. It's hand mixed, as you know. I have never done it with machine mixing. I'm sure there would be some difference, at least in crumb structure and chew.
I haven't made Hamelman's Country Bread .... Hang on. I'll take a look at it. ... <Gasp> It has no wild yeast, only instant yeast! Ah, well ... Is it good?
I'm a big, big fan of all of Hamelman's pain au levain formulas. I haven't tried very many of his non-SD breads. The ones I have were good - challah, bagels, a couple of the WW breads, fougasse.
If I were you (and I realize I'm not), I would try out my SF SD with WW or one or more of Hamelman's pain au leavens. If it's worth your while, you could make just a couple SJ SD loaves and offer crouton-size samples as a bit of marketing research.
I feel funny offering advice about something I have never personally tried, but, hey, I'm a doctor! For 40 years, I gave advice to parents about managing problems my own kids never had! Some parents even took it and found it helped.
Happy baking (and selling)!
David
as I don't like sour, but I will take under advisement your suggestion to go back to Hamelman. After all this time drooling over your SJSD I hadn't grasped the fact that it was hand mixed. If I do try it, I'll forgo the hand mixing and report back. As for the Hamelman Country, I had a failure of a batch of my sourdough last Friday afternoon, tossed it, and immediately mixed the preferment for the Hamelman Country to replace it, which completed late Friday night. The 12 loaves came out beautifully and I sold every one of them, so the point here, is that I never made it before, and didn't get a chance to taste it this time. So were they good? Sometimes you hear back from people and sometimes you don't. Thanks for the advice no matter what experience lies behind it. -Varda
Just read your comment here about you looking into another formula to try but note that you specified not wanting sour. I recalled Freerk's post on a very interesting load - as most of his are - and thought you might like to check it out. I have baked it and it did turn out well. It uses an IY pre-ferment, high extraction flour, a bit of rye and buttermilk….gotta be tasty with all those things tossed into the mix.
I can't' imagine that the dough wouldn't do well in Molly. Mixed for a short time only the evening before baking, cutting down on the IY and letting the gluten develop mostly on its own. I know Holds99 (Howard) mixes larges batches this way - at least I think I have read past posts where he has commented on his method….but it well could have been someone else. I rarely trust my memory. It is a tricky thing :)
Maggie Glezer has some nice lean loaves in her book too but I think they use SD. (Essential's Columbia and Tom Leonard's Country Loaf) They could easily be converted to using IY and a pre-ferment too.
Janet
Just read your comment here about you looking into another formula to try but note that you specified not wanting sour. I recalled Freerk's post on a very interesting load - as most of his are - and thought you might like to check it out. I have baked it and it did turn out well. It uses an IY pre-ferment, high extraction flour, a bit of rye and buttermilk….gotta be tasty with all those things tossed into the mix.
I can't' imagine that the dough wouldn't do well in Molly. Mixed for a short time only the evening before baking, cutting down on the IY and letting the gluten develop mostly on its own. I know Holds99 (Howard) mixes larges batches this way - at least I think I have read past posts where he has commented on his method….but it well could have been someone else. I rarely trust my memory. It is a tricky thing :)
Maggie Glezer has some nice lean loaves in her book too but I think they use SD. (Essential's Columbia and Tom Leonard's Country Loaf) They could easily be converted to using IY and a pre-ferment too.
Janet
Janet, My comment was about sour taste not about using a starter. I think David's SFSD was specifically developed to have a sour flavor. That's not what I'm going for in this case. I made a few tweaks yesterday and had a good outcome, so my Lexington Sourdough may be on the road to recovery - time will tell. But in any case, thanks for your referrals. -Varda
Got it *^)
Okay. I'm not Varda, but I will presume to answer this question:
Tzitzel means "seed" in Yiddish - So a "tzitzel rye" is one with (caraway) seeds." But the same bread is also referred to as "Corn Rye" at other bakeries. This is confusing to English speakers who think it must contain cornmeal. Now cornmeal may be used on the outside, particularly the bottom of the loaf, much as you might dust your peel with semolina to keep wet dough from sticking while you load the oven. But the term, "Corn Rye," derives from the Yiddish "Kornbrot," implying whole grain rye bread. Actually, its biggest difference from "Jewish Sour Rye" is its higher hydration, usually.
If you search TFL for "Corn Rye" or "Kornbrot," you will find some formulas. There is also a formula in "Inside the Jewish Bakery.
Happy baking!
David
And clearing that up. Compared to my NY Rye Recipe the difference outside of the corn coating is its 30% opposed to 40% Rye.
Josh
Hi Varda,
Boy your little hobby has blossomed into something HUGE. All of your loaves look beautiful. You are getting amazing results using home appliances - ovens in particular. (I do consider Molly a commercial machine and I bet DLX loves have help on mixing day)
Being a homemaker with a couple of ovens I can bake in I know how much juggling it takes to do such a wide variety of breads. I imagine you will soon be renting commercial space where you can use deck ovens and bake all of your loaves at once….but then I am sure you would up the ante and start selling even more bread :*)
I am glad to hear that your breads are getting the recognition they deserve.
Thanks for sharing. I always love getting to peek into your life.
Take Care,
Janet
Yes Janet, My husband knows he can reliably get a rise out of me by referring to my baking activities as a hobby. Too bad I don't use a rolling pin. I'm not sure I can call my Cadco a home appliance either as it is too big and took $500 of electrical work to install it. Renting commercial space or outfitting my own rented four walls? It's a conundrum, but one I can't think my way through right now. Thanks so much for your help and support. You always have so much going. -Varda
I have a really heavy marble rolling pin that I don't use….so if the need arises :^)
On your new mixer. Mine mixes doughs up really quickly too, in fact I have over kneaded several doughs lately - something I have never done or gotten really close to in any of my other mixers. Amazing what a good mixer will do. One thing I am noticing too, and thought I would mention it to you since you are in the breaking in period with Molly, is that if I do an intensive kneading, as described by txfarmer, with my Alpha and stop at what she terms a #3 windowpane, I will have a weaker dough in the morning following an all night bulk retarding time. (Which is how I do all my doughs with the exception of high content ryes) I am in the process of stopping earlier in a mix now to see how my doughs survive their night time in my refrigerator. It is kind of like over kneading but without my kneading beyond reaching a good strong windowpane. 3 minutes on this mixer is like 20 minutes on the DLX! But I gotta say the DLX is a great work horse too.
Continued good luck to you as you bake and sell your way through the summer crowds *^)
Janet
Varda, those are Impressive variety of breads. Spectacular effort!
So, this new alien of yours, is it used or new? what brand is it and how much did it cost you?
Amazing how quickly you are emerging to be a bread cornerstone in your locality.
I like your new stall setup, btw. (I'm learning new ideas from you)
Wishing you all the best,
Khalid
Hi Khalid, It is a new 20 qt Thunderbird ARM-02. It cost me $1640 plus I had to hire movers to get it from the garage to the kitchen. I searched around in this class of mixers and this was the least expensive by far that still had a reputation for good quality. So far so good and a big step up, as I no longer have to break batches into two or worse yet, mix 12 loaves worth by hand. Thanks so much for your nice comments. I don't think I'm a cornerstone just yet, but hopefully in the future. -Varda
Hi Varda, so glad to see you are flourishing with your market business. I'm tired just listening to your descriptions, but it must be fulfilling. Your breads look beautiful and I'm sure you will figure out which bread to sub for your white SD. How about a nice Durum Semolina loaf?
Thanks for sharing and updating us. Hopefully I can get out and visit you at the market.
Regards,
Ian
Hi Ian, I made yet another few changes today, and voila - it came out great. Can I repeat tomorrow and with many loaves? We'll see. I already sell a durum levain, so can't use that to substitute. Hope you get up north this summer. Thanks so much. -Varda
Things have really grown since I saw your operation.
A good planetary mixer can perform very well although for things like brioche where heat is a factor, the spiral will do better. Nothing to have mixer envy about, unless you start thinking about the real floor standing models.
Congratulations on your success. I >sigh< a bit about the lack of cottage laws in CO because as you have demonstrated, they are a great way to start a food business.
Best wishes for more great baking!
Pat
you enough rope to hang yourself in Massachusetts I guess. I suppose things have got a bit bigger since last summer when you came this way. Thanks for the clarification on spiral versus planetary, and for your good wishes. -Varda
Looks like your really cooking (baking?) on all burners now. Hopefully you get some downtime early in the week.
Bob
is a bit slower than the dreaded Friday. Thanks so much Bob. -Varda
Everything looks so good and yummy and well presented! :)
Thanks Mini! -Varda
Great looking product, Varda, and accolades to your work ethic and organization. Not an easy job.
Am amazed that you're allowed to sell in open baskets. Here in Michigan all baked goods must be bagged and labeled with a list of ingredients and other statutory language.
Your display not only looks more consumer friendly, but am guessing the aromas also draw people in. Nice!
are part of the murder of bread. Where is the artisan bread lobby? Anyhow, I guess that's a sore subject. In these parts retail sales are governed by towns, whereas wholesale is by state. So the rules vary widely between towns. I had looked at a very big prestigious market in Boston where I would have had to bag all my bread. Really didn't want to do it. But thanks so much for your comments Lindy. -Varda
Time to stop procrastinating and add my WOW to the parade thereof before your latest report falls off the homepage. Varda, your product looks fantastic, your naked loaf presentation irresistibly fetching (I assume bags are provided), your repertoire dazzling (that's some range on your website!), and your focus, determination and energy to make this all happen breathtaking. Your customers damn well better be thrilled. Now, that mixer: as much a commitment as a tool. I haven't suffered such pangs of hardware envy since proth5's gushings about her Diamant. And I mix by hand! But that leviathan -- ooh la la!
Perhaps most impressive is that you have time and energy left after all this to post to TFL. So add generous to the list. Thanks Varda!
(no need to reply, please -- get some sleep :-)
Tom
Hi Tom, Thanks so much for your very kind words. But one thing, I learned to bake on Fresh Loaf - was failing at it until I found this little forum. I love to participate but don't have the time that I used to for it. My loss. Took me thirty seconds to write this reply. -Varda
Hi Varda,
Your breads are wonderful, those ryes! and the variety, a beautiful market display.
Congratulations on finding your new mixer.
Your customers are very fortunate to have someone so talented working hard to bring them good bread!
:^) breadsong
Breadsong, I was blown away when I first saw your post of a Schuster Loaf, so I get a big kick out of making and selling them. Thanks so much for commenting. -Varda