Yeast and Flour - available

Jimbo, I randomly came across this video on YouTube tonight (I swear I wasn't looking for it, or anything at all... it was in my recommended videos), and I thought you might find it interesting.

  Yes, that is really interesting.  However, I actually had to watch it on 1.75 speed and even then was thinking I wish this guy would speed it up a bit. 

The next thing I would like to see is the difference between cheap flour and fancy Shipton Mills flour and see if it's worth it. 

I got my flour shipment yesterday.  I started feeding my sourghdough with Rye flour and it's amazing what a difference it makes.  All of a sudden it looks like what I got off Ebay and what I see on the web.  Before, it was kind of lacklustre. 

I made  a loaf this morning with the light malthouse and it came out very nice, tasted exactly like a Kingsmill super market whole wheat loaf but in a good way.  My wife, who has been asking me to make some whole wheat bread didn't like it because it tasted like whole wheat but we aren't going to go there right now.

I got a fourth call today on the NHS volunteer App from the SAME lady who doesn't actually want anything, but I persuaded her to take some Rye Sourghdough bread so I've got something to bake this afternoon.   

I'd also like to see them do the same experiment but with higher hydration in the bread flour so he can determine if the quality of the bread is different if he treats the grain right.  Also, he said in the long and boring parts he just did 90-minute proofs for both doughs, rather than going with the condition of the dough, and I think that could account for the denser bread flour result.

Finally, his AP flour dough was really sticky.  I usually use 60% hydration, like he did for this experiment, but my dough never stays that sticky.  It made me wonder if he weighed his ingredients accurately.

I have actually done the cheap flour vs fancy mill flour (not Shipton).  Well, by that, I mean I made a few loaves of bread using AP flour from the local garage shop, and then just as we ran out of that flour our fancy mill flour arrived and I made bread with that, using the same ratios.  I could instantly smell and taste a difference.  The result was just "breadier" (in a good way).  To me it does make a difference.  I was perfectly happy with my all-purpose flour loaves when that's what we had.  But then the new flour bread made me go, "Oh,  yeah! This is good bread!"

This thread has actually inspired me to try and make a gluten free sourdough starter. I have everything needed for it! My kitchen is going to be full of ferments soon. Water Kefir is going now. I'm not going to start sour cream until I have a solid source for Jersey cream because even with meds A1 proteins still make me a bit sick, but cheese is worth it occasionally. I have plenty of Jersey milk so trying my hand at Skyr in the instant pot this weekend. I really miss having the option of going to multiple shops if one is out of the thing I need.



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After my success with the custard tart last week, I went to the same Youtube chef's video for making baguettes and followed his instructions.  The recipe is 76% hydration using cool water (no milk), and the process is a bit messier than my typical soft white loaf because of the high hydration, but the result is a really really nice chew.  Totally worth it.

HOWEVER, when portioning my dough, I failed to consider the diminutive size of my oven, so when I went to shape the baguettes, they ended up more blunt and blimpy than stick-like because I had to keep them short enough to fit in the space.  This blimpy shape elicited a lot of laughter as they swelled while they baked.  My husband couldn't see what was going on from his part of the house, so when it was all over with, I sent a photo.  He only said, "Have you ever seen a baguette?"

After my success with the custard tart last week, I went to the same Youtube chef's video for making baguettes and followed his instructions.  The recipe is 76% hydration using cool water (no milk), and the process is a bit messier than my typical soft white loaf because of the high hydration, but the result is a really really nice chew.  Totally worth it.

HOWEVER, when portioning my dough, I failed to consider the diminutive size of my oven, so when I went to shape the baguettes, they ended up more blunt and blimpy than stick-like because I had to keep them short enough to fit in the space.  This blimpy shape elicited a lot of laughter as they swelled while they baked.  My husband couldn't see what was going on from his part of the house, so when it was all over with, I sent a photo.  He only said, "Have you ever seen a baguette?"

You could make the best submarine sandwiches now!

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After my success with the custard tart last week, I went to the same Youtube chef's video for making baguettes and followed his instructions.  The recipe is 76% hydration using cool water (no milk), and the process is a bit messier than my typical soft white loaf because of the high hydration, but the result is a really really nice chew.  Totally worth it.

HOWEVER, when portioning my dough, I failed to consider the diminutive size of my oven, so when I went to shape the baguettes, they ended up more blunt and blimpy than stick-like because I had to keep them short enough to fit in the space.  This blimpy shape elicited a lot of laughter as they swelled while they baked.  My husband couldn't see what was going on from his part of the house, so when it was all over with, I sent a photo.  He only said, "Have you ever seen a baguette?"

  Totally looks fine to me.  You should check out a show on more 4 catch up service called Food Unwrapped where they talk about baguettes and go to Paris .  They get a baker to show every step of how it is done. 

I tried to tart up my brioche this week by adding a bunch of chocolate and glace cherries.  Didn't work, the chocolate sort of melted in infused across the whole thing and the cherries don't taste like much.  Oh well, you don't know what good bread is unless you have bad bread. 

You could make the best submarine sandwiches now!

That's exactly what we did for breakfast!  We had fajitas two nights ago, and we didn't quite eat all of the meat & peppers, so I used that as the protein...  Fajita meat and peppers, chopped lettuce, sliced tomatoes, diced jalapenos, and mayo.  It was so good!  And as I was constructing it, I was all, "I feel like I work at Subway!"

  Totally looks fine to me.  You should check out a show on more 4 catch up service called Food Unwrapped where they talk about baguettes and go to Paris .  They get a baker to show every step of how it is done. 

I tried to tart up my brioche this week by adding a bunch of chocolate and glace cherries.  Didn't work, the chocolate sort of melted in infused across the whole thing and the cherries don't taste like much.  Oh well, you don't know what good bread is unless you have bad bread. 

I need to look that Food Unwrapped episode up!  I'm really happy with the bread I ate today, but it's worth having a look... even if my lack of proper facilities are holding me back slightly, I want to see if I can bake like a proper French baker.   

I hate bread failures.  All that time and work only to be let down (spelt failures, I'm looking at you!).  Was your brioche not good at all in the end?  I would think chocolate bread would be tasty...

Was your brioche not good at all in the end?  I would think chocolate bread would be tasty...

  It was OK, we ate it and all. 

For those of you who are gluten-free, buywholefoodsonline.co.uk has a thing where you sign up to get alerts about specials. This week's alert, for those who signed up, is for 2k of coconut flour.  Which doesn't bake precisely like wheat flour, but it can serve well enough. (It's a very thirsty flour.) The code to get it for free with a £20 purchase is COCONUT632

They are also offering 500g organic cacao powder, same terms, CACAO978

For those of you who are gluten-free, buywholefoodsonline.co.uk has a thing where you sign up to get alerts about specials. This week's alert, for those who signed up, is for 2k of coconut flour.  Which doesn't bake precisely like wheat flour, but it can serve well enough. (It's a very thirsty flour.) The code to get it for free with a £20 purchase is COCONUT632

They are also offering 500g organic cacao powder, same terms, CACAO978

Ooh! I bet @nctami72 might like that too. She's always baking up a storm with Keto deliciousness.

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