Patterns

Sometimes I use paper towels to proof the final loaves. Here is the result. 

Enjoy some bread :)

- Matt

Tartine Bakery

Here is another good reference to the Tartine Bakery and Chad Robertson's recipie I've been experimenting with recently. 

http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/rising-star-chad-robertson-of-san-franciscos-tartine-bakery-cafe/

Enjoy your week and try baking some bread :)

   -Matt

Variables

At a family gathering this weekend I was happy to discover that a cousin-in-law of mine also likes to bake. It was great to get caught-up with him and to trade tips and techniques for the art. 

One of the items that I mentioned was that there are quite a few non-recipe variables in-play with bread making that you have to keep in-mind:

1) kitchen temperature 

2) water temperature 

3) rise times

4) "liveliness" of the yeast (though this one is hard to measure) or amount of yeast (easier to quantify)

I recommended to him that if you keep the tempatures and times roughtly the same each week the one variable that is key to isolate and experiment is the liveliness of the yeast. It's isually best to adjust the amounts of starter you use each week and then subjectively score how the loaves turn out. 

Enjoy some bread!

    -Matt

Adjusting

I'm still trying to "dial-in" the exact amount of starter to add for my standard 12-14 hour slow-rise. 

I'm still happy to eat the experiment each week :)

Enjoy some bread,

   -Matt

Time and Tempature

Sometimes you have to burn a little bread to calibrate a new recipe and an unproven oven. 

This shows the importance of laying down a good layer of rice flour or cornmeal along the bottom of the Dutch oven. 

Thankfully I did have one really good success :)

Enjoy some bread!

   - Matt

Better Bread

Last weeks loaf was a bit of an eye soar, this week I'm experimenting with the techniques that Chad Robertson talks about in his book "Tartine Bread" (see last weeks post for a link). 

I baked two loaves, one using his recipe (on the left) and one using mine (on the right) but both using his "turn frequently" technique. 

Overall I'm impressed with the technique and I look forward to exploring it further. 

Cheers,

    -Matt

FYI - my helper :)

Baking Once Again

We are in the process of moving so this is the first loaf I've done in weeks.  Not the prettiest, but I certainly like the energetic rise of the local sourdough flora. 

One of my best friends has turned me onto a fascinating on bread baking. I've probably seen at least 100 books on bread and very few of them have impressed me, but this one has proven to be different. I highly encourage you get a copy and take a look for yourself.  I'll have more to say about it in the future.

Tartine Bread 

by Chad Robertson

Take care and enjoy some bread!

  -Matt

Last loaves in Virginia

We are packing up to move down to Texas, so these are the last loaves I'll bake in Virginia. 

It might be a few weekends before I get back into the swing of things. 

For now - enjoy some bread :)

-Matt

Welcome Spring

Springtime is a great time to remember that bread rise times are heavily affected by ambient temperatures. 

Enjoy some bread :)

     -Matt

Cultivating the best Yeast

I'm still experimenting with mixing different local floras of yeasts. 

I haven't found the perfect combination yet, but I will eventually.  

Enjoy some bread. 

   -Matt

Weigh vs Meausre

So if you read this bread log (blog, get it?) with any regularity you will know I am a proponent of weighing all ingredients.  This is in the style of commercial recipes which call for exact weights which is contrary to most home recipes which call for exact measures.  The difference between the weight of flour and a measure of flower can be dramatic based on how dense (how aerated) it is.  

The only PROBLEM with weighing ingredients is when your scale runs out of batteries in the middle of a key weighing.  This happens to me occasionally because I use my scale a lot and it runs on small watch batteries that don't last as long as I would like.

When this does happen you have to go with your instincts and add as much flour, yeast, water or salt as you think is correct. This is where being familiar with the texture of your mixed dough comes in useful because you will know if its too wet or too dry.

Now it may be a bit of an optical illusion based on spacing of the loaves, but the loaf in the front of this picture is 50% larger than the loaf behind it... It just so happens that I added about 150 additional grams  of water to it, which means I needed to add about 160 additional grams of flour, overall it came out tasting fine but it was a fun experiment in ratios.

Speaking of ratios I highly recommend this book: Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking.  It highlights the different ratios of flower, water, fat and sugar and how they range in spectrum from bread to cookies to cakes to pancakes and almost everything in-between.

Happy weekend, enjoy some bread!
   -Matt

Weekend Bread

No major updates this week.  Enjoy some bread!

Cooling Bread

This is one of my favorite things about baking - the sound of loaves cooling right after they've been pulled from a 500+ degree oven.  It reminds me of the sounds of a campfire.

Normally I bake Saturday morning's and my two girls are in full "play" mode so I don't get any chance to record the subtle sounds, but this past weekend I baked later while they were napping.

Its just shy of 30 seconds and the focus is a bit off, but you can almost see cracks forming and you can certainly hear the thermodynamic activity.

Enjoy!
    -Matt

Good rise and finding the right wild sourdough yeast

Over the past few years I've experimented with cultivating several local "wild" yeasts.  I do this because every San Francisco starter I get usually gets taken-over by local yeasts within a few months.

Recently I have two distinctly different local yeasts I have been working with and what is fascinating is to see how they each have different qualities.

Yeast #1 (above) has a great rise.  The yeast reacts well to its environment and is able to produce an amazing amount of carbon dioxide (CO) that is captured in the gluten structure and causes wonderful bubbles in the crumb of the bread.  Unfortunately just like commercial yeast which you can buy in the supermarket (sometimes called "instant" yeast) this variety has very little taste.  The bread tastes ok (it is home made) but it does not taste distinctly sour.

Yeast #2 (from last week) has a reasonable rise but there are no large bubbles when cutting into the bread.  Thankfully what it lacks in rise it makes up for in taste.  The sourdough taste is amazing and really makes a distinct impression on whoever is lucky enough to be eating it.

So what do I do next?  Well I'm going to try bread made with BOTH yeasts to see if I can get the best of both worlds...  I'll post my results here.

Enjoy some bread,
     -Matt

Cracked Crust

If you look on the top left side of this loaf (right below the white flower) you can see a large crack that formed after the loaf was removed from the oven (62 minutes at 525 degrees) and started to cool.

I have some good video/audio of these cracks happening, but it has some background noise so I'll work to capture it more clearly so I can post soon.

Enjoy some bread!
     -Matt

Definition of Perfection

"Define your own success" is some of the best advice I've received.  I define my baking success several ways, but obtaining the optimal crust is high on my list.

The challenge is simple - how to get the most caramelization on the top without burning the bottom.

 These baguettes I've cranked the bake time (at 525 F) from 35 to 40 minutes.

 You can see the bottom here (seam is always down) - no char.

 For my boule I cranked the time from 45 minutes to 65.

As you can see the bottoms are perfect, thanks to a nice layer of fine cornmeal (and parchment paper) in the bottom of the dutch oven.

A few good articles to read (thanks Rob!):

Could This Baker Solve the Gluten Mystery?

The Wheat Lowdown

And of-course the original no-knead article from 2006 that started the entire trend: Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Enjoy some bread!

   -Matt

Anyone can bake!

So in the 2007 Disney movie Ratatouille the fictional Chef Gusteau has a famous motto, "Anyone can cook."

I agree with the sentiment but I would phrase it as "Anyone can bake" - This is a photograph of a friend of mine's first loaf.  Amazing :)

  Enjoy some bread,

    -Matt

Baguettes from Shaping through Baking

Formed loaves

 Scored

 Baked - 38 min @ 525 degrees Fahrenheit

Sometimes I find a progression of photos tell an entire story with many words. :)

Enjoy some bread.

      -Matt

There are plenty of references out there talking about baking good bread.  After years and years of experimenting I am still working on solving all of the little mysteries I run across.

Normally my large loaves bake for about 45-48 minutes at 525 degrees.  This past week I went to 72 minutes with great results. Curious :)

Enjoy some good bread, you will be glad you did.

  -Matt