Loaf 35 – ABin5, 8 Days Later Mar24

Loaf 35 – ABin...

The “Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day” (ABin5) recipe says the dough will last up to 14 days in the fridge. It’s been eight since I made Loaf 33, so I thought it would be a good idea to see how the remainder of the dough is surviving. I’ve been smelling it every few...

Loaf 34 – More SFBI Sourdough Mar24

Loaf 34 – More...

It was time to feed my SFBI sourdough starter, so I used that as an excuse to try a new batch and see if I can improve the crumb that I’ve been getting. The recipe and process was the same as Loaf 29 until the final shaping step. I did the first sourdough feeding on Wednesday evening,...

Loaf 33 – Artisan Bread in 5 Min. a Day Mar18

Loaf 33 – Arti...

This recipe is from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois – or ABin5 as its online shorthand has evolved to. The book has been on our shelf for almost a year, and I’m only now delving into it. You can’t actually make bread in five...

Loaf 32 – Irish Soda Breads Mar17

Loaf 32 – Iris...

My Irish bride requested Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick’s day. She had a recipe on a 3×5 card from an old family member, but isn’t sure exactly who – so we decided that it must be the traditional family recipe. Before making it I did some research online about soda...

Loaf 31 – Lean Bread in New Bannetons Mar16

Loaf 31 – Lean...

We got together with Sarah’s family and decided to take bread as a gift. I’m confident with Reinhart’s lean bread recipe now, so that was a given; but I acquired some new bannetons to try out my shaping skills with. The one I have been using at home is for much bigger loaves...

Tools: Lame Lamé vs. Sharp Lamé Mar15

Tools: Lame Lamé vs....

A lamé is used to score the bread before baking. I’ve had lots of problems with this at home, but not in my classes – so I decided to blame the tool. The lamé I bought at Sur la Table just doesn’t seem sharp, so I bought one from SFBI that uses regular double sided razor...

Loaf 30 – A Batch of Lean Bread, Just for Eating Mar13

Loaf 30 – A Ba...

The lean bread recipe from Reinhart is now my favorite bread. In this batch I used instant yeast rather than active dry, and it made a real flavor difference – the smell and flavor of the yeast was definitely there adding a nice layer to the experience. My shaping this time was better...

Loaf 29 – SFBI Sourdough Again Mar12

Loaf 29 – SFBI...

I used the same recipe as Loaf 27 – the “two feed liquid levain sourdough,” made from the SFBI starter now in it’s third generation. The first step was to take the starter I made after Loaf 27 and do two feedings over a 24 hour period to get it to a 100% hydration, and...