Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 01:19:45 -0600 (MDT) -------------- BEGIN bread-bakers.v103.n029 -------------- 001 - "dontactlikejunome" Subject: Rustica Bread Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2003 11:36:55 -0700 I frequent a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, CA called Aromi Cafe. Their signature dish is their Grilled Chicken Panini, hands down. Anyway, they serve it up on this wonderful Rustica bread that the owner won't budge in giving me the recipe for (nor will he divulge the secrets of his sauce, but that doesn't concern this list). He might crack one day, since I bother him for the formula every time I go in ;-) but if anyone has any good formulas for such a bread, I'd appreciate it greatly. It is rather flat, oval-shaped, and resembles a pita somewhat. Thanks a million! - Randy Clemens - --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v103.n029.2 --------------- From: "Mike Avery" Subject: Re: Sourdough starter Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2003 00:06:50 -0600 On 13 Jun 2003 Cindy Chiu asked: >If a recipe call for say, 1 cup of starter, will the raising power varies >from one starter to another? If so, there may be a need to varies the >raising time by judgement. Then, does it means that sourdough bread cannot >be prepared in ABM because it is all automatic? I have no experience of >making sourdough bread. I am just playing around with flour and water >hoping to come up with a "starter" but I am very skeptical whether it can >really raise my bread, because it looks very weak with a little bubbles >only. Has anyone successfully create a starter from just Flour and water? >Wish to hear some comment. Oh my... so many questions in one short note. And so many of them verge on religous topics. For more in depth answers, I'll suggest my web page, and the links to better sites that are on it. Look at http://www.sourdoughhome.com You might also see if you can subscribe to the rec.food.sourdough usenet newsgroup. And now for some answers. Starting with the last question... YES, you can make a starter with just flour and water. And it is the recommened way to do so. Some people suggest using baker's yeast. However, it can't tolerate the acidity of a starter and soon dies. At that point, the starter slows down until a better yeast colonizes the starter. Some people suggest using grapes (organic grapes), cabbage leaves, or other strange flora on the theory they have yeast on them. Again, that's true, but it's the wrong kind of yeast. It's a yeast that lives on grape sugars or cabbage sugars, not a kind that lives on flour. So, the starter takes off fast, and then slows down until the right kind of yeasts take over. It's faster to just use flour and water. There's a page on my web site about how to start a starter. However, I strongly suggest beggining sourdough fans get a known good starter from any of the sources I list on my page. Until you know what a healthy starter looks like, you won't know how to tell if a starter you capture is a healthy one. And when you have problems, you'll wonder... is me, or the starter? So, get a known good starter. That way, you'll know it's you. As to bread machines, it's very hard to make sourdough in a bread machine. For a sourdough flavor to fully develop takes many, many hours. 16 to 24 hour fermenations are not uncommon. Another interesting problem is many bread machines "nudge" the dough by moving the paddle a small distance during the rise. This helps conventional bread. And causes sourdough to collapse. A common approach is to use a bread machine with a "bake only" setting. The bread is started, and when the dough is kneaded, the machine is unplugged. When the dough is ready to be baked, the ABM is plugged in and told to bake now. Or, if you have a fully programable bread machine, you can work with that. However, either approach destroy the ease that an ABM should deliver. In short, sourdough and ABM's are not a happy combination. Well, you ask, what about using regular baker's yeast to rise the bread with a sourdough starter? Given that yeast rises bread in a few hours and it takes much longer than that to rise sorudough bread, you might suspect that you won't get much taste in the bread that would suggest it's sourdough bread. And you'd be correct. Sourdough starter is very variable stuff. It changes not only from strain to strain but - for most bakers - from batch of bread to batch of bread. Consistent handling of the starter insures consistent activity levels of the starter. However, this is hard for most home bakers to do. So, you have to be flexible and follow the starter's lead. It is very important to refresh your starter before using it to the point where it will at least double in height after feeding. If it can't raise itself, it can't raise your bread. As to starting a starter... there are lots of old husband tales out there. I suggest you pick one way and stick to it. However, here are the general rules of thumb.. 1. Organic. Stone ground. Unbleached. Unsifted. Unenriched. Whole Wheat. Rye. The more of these words you can use to describe the flour you are using to start your starter, the better the chances of success. Many people use a mix of coarse whole wheat and rye. I'd start with something like 10 grams of each and 20 grams of water. Knead it, put it into a large container, and let it sit for 2 days or so. You should see some bubbles. (If you measure by volume, using 1 1/2 parts of flour and 1 part of water is about the same as a 1:1 by weight ratio. 2. It's alive, don't starve it. Once it shows signs of life, it's time to start feeding it. Every 8 to 12 hours is the maximum length of time between feedings of a room temperature starter. 8 is better. When you feed the starter, you should double or triple the volume of the starter. So, if you have 40 grams of starter, you need to add 80 grams of food (perhaps 20 grams whole wheat, 20 grams rye,40 grams water). Stir it well between feedings. Feeding too infrequently and feeding too little are the two most common problems when someone tries to start a starter. 3. Good heavens, it's a monster! If you keep tripling it's size, it'll fill your swimming pool pretty quikcly. As much as it hurts, you should discard starter to keep the size manageable. What's manageable? That's your call. But I'd keep it around 1/4 cup. Use the starter you discard to make pancakes, waffles, or bisquits. 4. Switch it to white flour. Once it's going well, you can feed the starter cheaper white flour. The starter will be happy, and so will your budget. Your flavor comes from a long rise, not from a taste in the starter. 5. Yes, it is called sourdough, but it's not all that sour. When your starter gets too acid, it's ability to rise the bread is diminished. So, feed the starter often and triple it's size so it will stay sweet. 6. The refrigerator is your friend. You probably can't afford to keep a starter going at room temperature. If you refrigerate the starter after it reaches it's peak height after a feeding, it's time to refrigerate the starter. When it's refrigerated it can be kept for weeks or longer between feeding. Pull it out a day or so before you want to bake, feed it with your usual feeding, wait an repeat. It's not uncommon for a starter that's been refrigerated to take 3 or 4 feedings to be ready to be used in bread. Hope this helps, Mike -- Mike Avery MAvery@mail.otherwhen.com --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v103.n029.3 --------------- From: Cindy Chiu Subject: slashing the bread Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 09:35:08 +0800 (HKT) Please comment on the best time to slash the bread and is it functionally necessary or is it for cosmectic reason? I always have a fear of deflating the bread after slashing it. Cindy HK --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v103.n029.4 --------------- From: "Bonni Brown" Subject: Hobart dough hook Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 16:55:28 -0400 I recently did the somewhat insane thing of buying a 20 qt used Hobart mixer without really knowing what I'm going to do with it. It comes with a paddle and whisk but no bread hook. I know there are two types of hooks: the standard J hook or a more curvaceous Spiral hook. I'll probably be making bread dough. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks, Bonni --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v103.n029.5 --------------- From: CKCK@aol.com Subject: kenmore Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2003 12:14:25 EDT Any way to get a copy of owners manual for kenmore bread maker??? thanks --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v103.n029.6 --------------- From: "Gina Piccolino" Subject: Summer Loaf update from The Bread Bakers Guild Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 18:05:21 -0400 Hello, all, Summer Loaf in Portland, OR: Guild members are hard at work planning for another fabulous Summer Loaf, which will be held on Saturday, August 2. For those of you who have not attended Summer Loaf, it's a not-to-be-missed event. Activities will include: * A Speakers Corner where we will hold 45 minutes presentations on various topics. * Oven Chats: a less formal area of ongoing baking and question and answer at the wood fired oven * The Guild's Baker Is IN booth - This area will be set up adjacent to the oven and provide a place for people to get information about the Guild, baking classes, and talk with professional bakers about producing artisan breads. We are also trying to coordinate a Master Class. More info on that as it becomes available. Best, Gina Gina Renee Piccolino Director of Activities and Membership Services The Bread Bakers Guild of America 3203 Maryland Avenue North Versailles, PA 15137 412-823-2080; Fax: 412-823-2495; E-mail: gina@bbga.org www.bbga.org 10 Years Slowly Rising --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v103.n029.7 --------------- From: "Leon Neal" Subject: Breadmaking Bowls Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 13:21:28 -0400 Bread-bakers - My name is Leon Neal and I hand-carve wooden dough bowls - with the hope of helping to preserve the art of biscuit and home-made bread baking and eating. I would like for all my bowls to be what I envision as 'standard size' about 19" X 12" X 4 1/2" however I have to work with the trees and logs that I can get and thus there is quite a variation in sizes and wood types. A bowl of 'standard size' and ordinary wood would retail at about $160. My bowls are sold at Thos. Moser Showrooms in Freeport, ME and Charleston, SC, at Bob Timberlake Gallery in Lexington and Blowing Rock, NC, at the NC State Museum of History in Raleigh, NC, at Capricorn in Mill Valley, California, at Menage in Gloucester, MA, at Compliments to the Chef in Asheville, NC and some other similar shops. I am not into mass production - I have been making about 30 bowls per year - but I am now retired and I will perhaps make about 50 bowls per year. To date I have not basically 'retailed' my bowls but have used wholesale and commission to distribute the bowls. I began to make bowls because I have a daughter-in-law who said that she 'loved to make biscuits' and simply needed one of those large wooden bowls in which to make the biscuits. I told her that I would "get her a dough bowl". I had no idea what a quest this statement would lead to. I go to a great deal of difficulty to make sure that my bowls are 'food safe' and the only finish on the bowls is mineral oil (the cheapest and thickest I can find). I know that a number of finishes are available that claim to be 'food safe' but I know that mineral oil is safe. It hurts to know that most of my bowls that are purchased are actually used only for displaying fruit or flowers etc. I would really like to have a way to market my bowls to a group of potential buyers who are most interested in using the bowls for homemade bread, pasta, biscuits, etc. Note: My 'business of "dough bowl making"' is not a wealth generating activity - by wholesaling and commission - I typically average between minimum wage and $10 per hour for my labor. [[Editor's note: Leon sent a picture which cannot be included in the digest. Email him for more information. Leon included this caption: "A picture of a bowl (there are no 'typical' bowls') - all are unique, numbered, and signed." ]] Leon Neal Master Dough Bowl Maker 3506 Carriage Drive Raleigh, NC 27612 Tel & fax: 919.789.4338 e-mail: bowlman-neal@nc.rr.com --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v103.n029.8 --------------- From: Reggie Dwork Subject: Bread-bakers is back Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 00:16:36 -0700 We have been away from the computer for the past few weeks, so this is the first digest since June 14. Reggie & Jeff --------------- END bread-bakers.v103.n029 --------------- Copyright (c) 1996-2003 Regina Dwork and Jeffrey Dwork All Rights Reserved