Re: cutting
I've gone through some difficulty with consistent slicing. Here's
what I've found (most of this has been mentioned in one way or another
1) As mentioned, let the knife do the work. You'll get a ragged cut
if you're bearing down on the knife and bread.
2) Use a long knife. This one surprised me, but when I bought a
dedicated bread knife with a long blade, life got easier. I used the
full length of the blade, gently sawing back and forth. My favorite
bread knife is a serrated Spyderco made by Masahiro in Japan. It's
11 inches long and makes nice straight slices of all types of bread
with little effort from me. Got this knife years ago on closeout -
they are no longer made.
3) Someone gave me an electric knife with a bread attachment
(Farberware), and yes, it really goes through bread fast. I only use
it if I've made more than 2 loves and I'm slicing it all before
freezing. Too much of a hassle to use for one or two loves. Be
aware though, it can bounce around on hard crusted breads, so watch
your fingers. It will definitely do damage in an instant if it hits flesh.
Re: Hearthkit for sale
For anyone in the Northern CA (San Jose -> Palo Alto area), I'm
selling my 19 inch Hearthkit oven insert for $140.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/hsh/1046008091.html
I've got a bigger oven now, so moving up to a bigger model.