[aaronatthedoublef]

Bread blowouts! I let them rise overnight in the refrigerator. Next time I'll let them rise overnight in the basement which is warmer than the fridge but cooler than the kitchen.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I bake pizza at or above 500 sometimes with convection and sometimes without. I turn it on and off based on how fast the top is cooking versus the crust.

After several weeks of par-baking I've stopped. I like the crust to absorb some of the top and I just cannot get that with docking. I may play with it some more in the future.

I think what I really want is one very hot shelf to cook the crust bottom fast, then move it to a cooler spot to let the top cook.

I heard Nathan interviewed and he said something about infrared cooking too. I can get that with my broiler but I haven't played with that yet.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks Mike. The recipe said 375+convection but it's also a recipe from a bakery so their "375+convection" may be hotter than mine!

I'll definitely raise the heat next time.

[aaronatthedoublef]

These are jam jars. I started reusing them as drinking glasses and then started using them for strawberry shortcakes. It's good for individual servings, transport, and it's easier for someone like me, not good at decorating, to make it look nice.

I baked off the second batch of biscuits today and upped the temp per Mike's suggestion but I probably need to take it higher. The biscuits still leaked. My oven runs cool. I set it 375 with convection on. Next time I'll try 400.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Testing adding pictures...

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made strawberry shortcake. Or should it be shortcakes since the biscuits are individual servings.

I did not use any maple syrup for macerating the berries or in the whipped cream.

I did try a new biscuit recipe from Sun Street Breads in Minneapolis. Despite chilling the dough before baking the leaked butter. I thought I had the butter cut in pretty well but maybe not. I still have about a half recipe left so I'll cut these then chill them on sheet pans and see if they leak.

Writing this I realized I didn't use enough salt. The recipe calls for 2% and I used .2% so that explains why I thought they needed salt. I'll try to adjust that in the remaining dough I have too,

[aaronatthedoublef]

I swear it was in there!

Let me try again. Pickles & Oreos

[aaronatthedoublef]

I think you're right Mike, because when my bread is properly proofed the slash opens up more when I make it and then even more when I bake it. The crazy thing is I proofed these for about 24 hours (eight to ten in the refrigerator). More bread next week. But this will still work for sandwiches.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made bread at home for the first time in ages. MASSIVE blowouts! But I had the right crust that I wanted. I used a lame too. They're fun. One of the nice things about Uncle Matt's was Matt would let whomever was making the bread use the lame. Only place I've ever worked that did that.

I need to go back to Mike's instructions for posting pictures. You all would have laughed!

So more practice needed. I think maybe these were under proofed.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks everyone. There is even a Penzy's nearby so I'll check their cinnamon. We're actually coming out of peak use season. I bake with it more in the fall/winter and my kids love it in hot chocolate. They're trying to approximate Mexican coco I think. I use the Vietnamese cinnamon from KAB.

That leaves one thing I have not been able to find anywhere else - black coco. I asked at Penzey's about it and they said "sorry, but I think King Arthur's has it." 😉

[aaronatthedoublef]

I think BRM has been struggling for a while trying to figure out what they are going to be.

And, as they are trying to go national, I think the bread/baking trends are receding. While that's happening more and more people are looking to buy from smaller, local mills if they can. Granted, I just said I bought from a big miller out west but that's because I wanted to lay in some flour before the prices went up too much. My boss at the bakery has an extra building and is thinking of setting up a mill for himself.

BRM was a bargain because of their shipping but they won't be anymore. And I would sign up for the KAB club if it offered free shipping but I'm not going to pay for a club AND have a minimum order. But it seems to be working for them. They have stuff I really like and I have enough to last while I find reasonable substitutes. How is Penzey's cinnamon?

I don't remember if I wrote about this but back in Dec/Jan UPS was offering $27 to start in an entry level job that required no skills and only a high school diploma. Full benefits started on day 1 of the job. And they were having trouble finding people. Fedex started doing the same. At the same time a gallon of gas increase $1.21 on average from Feb 2021 to Feb 2022. There is no way they could NOT raise shipping prices to keep up.

Oh, and the politicians in my town think these are garbage jobs (yes they said that to me).

[aaronatthedoublef]

Walmart, at least for now (and by me) offers free shipping for $40 and up which pretty good. They are scared to death of Amazon. But they also let various vendors sell through their website so I've seen ridiculous things like $49 for a 5lb bag of KAB white whole wheat. Same thing happens on Amazon.

I have two 25lb bags of flour I bought from Central Milling. The shipping was $35 and the flour was $35 so it was still less expensive than buying at the local grocery store. The bakery I was baking for used their flour and it was pretty nice.

There is a place I just discovered down in Pennsylvania and I may try them next but I have a good amount of flour for the next few months.

[aaronatthedoublef]

When and where is the NH festival?

Rhinebeck NY might be good too.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks BA & Skeptic. I am thinking of buying a second set of less expensive knives to take with me. The set I have now was a housewarming gift from my dad when I bought my first house and so is more precious to me than the actual cost of the set. I wouldn't want to leave one behind.

A whisk is a great addition and I like the idea of a tub for it although if I fly somewhere I'll take a subset of the tub and pack it. When I used my friend's restaurant kitchen pre-covid I had a with everything I needed that I would haul back and forth. In the fall and winter it was cold enough I could usually just leave it in the garage.

Mike, I, too, wonder if a sharpening stone could be checked. Probably depends on who scans your luggage. But while I am proficient at honing with a steel I have never used a stone.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made coconut macaroons. I baked for the first time in a VERY long time. Kate keeps making things with Violet and then telling me not to bake stuff. She told me not to make the macaroons and I did anyway. Now that Passover is done I'll start up bread production again.

Hawaii was fun. It's interesting. We tried several different bakeries - two of them we knew and the others were recommended on the BBGA - and while they had decent pastries none of them had good, crusty bread. And baguettes were EXTREMELY hard to find. The one I did see were baguettes in name only. Maybe if we get to go back for a longer time I'll ask if I can watch them make bread to see what is missing.

I am now, more determined then ever, to put together a traveling kitchen kit. It has to include some sharp knives, some wet and dry measuring cups, and measuring spoons.

I would like to include so pots/pans and bowls but not if we are flying.

[Author]

Posts