Bread - What are you baking today…..

[Giles]

I cant tell, did you introduce steam?

[neph93]

@Giles:

I cant tell, did you introduce steam?

I did. Cup of water in a heated baking sheet at the bottom of the oven.

[Chap]

Wednesday is Biga day… one half of the dough is in the fridge for pizza tomorrow

[Oaktavia]

@Chap that looks glorious man!

[Giles]

I'm going to stray from the Forkish path today/tomorrow…I'm going to give version 3 of the bread in this vid a go...Well, the guy does have great hair.....

[Giles]

Not sure that it looks much different/better than my Forkish Poolish, but I enjoyed making it immensely….

[Stuart.T]

Good looking bread there fellas. I tried a hodge podge 50% white, 20% wholemeal, and 30% white rye 75% water today. Not such an open crumb. Might be due to the rye? The dough was stickier than usual. Tasted great with cheese, dill gerkhin, and cumin saukraut

[neph93]

Biga on my baking steel. The oven rise is much more even when using the steel. I’m excited about doing sourdough on it, but won’t get the chance until next weekend.

[Chap]

Out of the oven this minute… that smell

[ROman]

I think I can smell it in North Carolina.

[Giles]

At the beginning of the pandemic, when I started seriously trying to make decent bread.  I bought 500gms of dried yeast.

I gave a lot of it way (for a period last Spring/Summer, yeast was impossible to buy in UK). 11 months down the road, I thought that it may be getting a tad stale, so I chucked what remained away and bought a new lot…

I am making my first loaf (Poolish) with it today.  The difference in the smell and the composition of the dough is like chalk and cheese.  I actually cant really believe it.

[Giles]

Poolish with new yeast.

Unscientific observation - The volume looks larger than with the old yeast….

[neph93]

Lovely split! Weather looks nice too

[Chap]

Perfect shape

[Giles]

[neph93]

Looks very good.

I’m quite enjoying my baking steel but there is something about the way it conducts heat that means the loaves aren’t splitting. I miss that aesthetic. I’ll be doing sourdough on Sunday for the first time, so we’ll what occurs them.

[Chap]

Yep… I know it’s just the look, but I hate it, when my bread doesn’t split

[neph93]

@Chap:

Yep… I know it’s just the look, but I hate it, when my bread doesn’t split

There is a baker in Oslo who uses steel exactly because of this. She does beautiful things with the even canvas though:

[Chap]

Yes that’s amazing… have seen some of those bread artists on Instagram. I wonder how their dough balls keep the shape while they make patterns. Mine would turn into a pita bread

[neph93]

@Chap:

I wonder how their dough balls keep the shape while they make patterns. Mine would turn into a pita bread

That is where the baking steel comes in. The rise is even and long lasting.