BakerAunt
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It's good to dream, Aaron!
The whole wheat sourdough came out well. It's assertive, so I would not push it on anyone who is not a whole wheat fan, but we like it. I might use a little less flour next time, or a bit more liquid.
I've also seen headbands made with buttons, that the mask elastic can be hooked onto instead of the ears.
The governor of Indiana announced today that Phase III or re-opening will be moved up to tomorrow. I suspect that is not due to the data but to Memorial Day weekend. I'm worried because our county has seen a steady increase in cases, in part because there is now more testing. We live on the outskirts of a town that is a vacation destination, especially for the second home people, many of whom went home after coming here early in the pandemic, and now are coming back. My husband and I plan to avoid town into next week.
We went to the next town today to shop, for the first time, since March 13, at Aldi's and Kroger. We avoided Walmart. I was impressed with the precautions Aldi's is taking. All the workers in masks and gloves. Sanitized carts (with quarters) at the ready. Shelves were stocked and prices had not skyrocketed. They were low on frozen vegetables. I didn't check meat, other than the 2 packages of frozen ground turkey we were able to buy. Aldi's was limiting meat purchases to two of each. I didn't mind the one-way aisles, and all the shoppers wore masks. We went during the special "vulnerable" time--a little after 8:30 a.m. (Aldi's does it Tues. and Thurs.)
A lot more people were at Kroger. Most were wearing masks, and all the workers wore them. They have banned bring your own bags for now. The flour aisle was sparse, but I saw a bag of Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat flour and a bag of semolina, so I bought both. They had no King Arthur flour. They had "simple truth" organic whole wheat flour, but I don't know how that brand's flour is, and I don't need more whole wheat right now. There was bleached flour, and some Gold Medal Bread flour, some White Lily, and some brand I'd never seen. The paper aisle had much empty shelving.
I've noticed that butter seems to be less expensive--both at Aldi's and at Kroger, where they had Cabot butter on special.
That's interesting about the rye chops, Mike. Someone posted a review on the KAF site and said that their rye chops are not coarse enough.
I made my mask using this pattern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t_Gz3lGwF8
I found this pattern easier than the one with pleats, but it does require two craft beads. (I had three craft beads in my stash.) Possibly, buttons could be used instead. I'd like to make a second one, so I might try that. The nose piece (made from a coffee bag fastener) is great. I needed a mask with adjustable ear holders, as others kept slipping off of my face.
I kept running back and forth between the video on the computer and the sewing machine, but the mask came together without an undue expenditure of time.
My educated guess was correct.
I also have some KAF white rye. I bought it for a KAF scone recipe but never got around to the recipe before having to give up massive amounts of butter. I also have a chocolate chip cookie recipe somewhere that calls for white rye--saved but never tried due to the butter issue.
I think this is it: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/whiskey-and-rye-chocolate-chip-cookies
King Arthur also has a chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses rye.
The Ginsberg Pumpkin Rye Bread that I made from his blog calls for white rye to dust the surface when shaping the bread, so I have found a use for it.
From what I can tell, white rye does not count as a wholegrain flour.
Mike--the fresh yeast was wrapped in a somewhat opaque plastic wrap that showed what looked like a crumbly cheese inside. It had no writing on the wrapper, just a round sticker that said $2.99. I think there was a sign on the refrigerator holder that identified it as yeast. I'm speculating that these individual packages were once in a larger box that had the expiration date.
Our wildlife of the day is a mink that my husband saw. He saw another one the other day, carrying something in its mouth.
I have seen the 3 lb. bags on the KAF website.
If I read correctly, KAF is prioritizing AP flour, so KAF whole wheat may not be as readily available.
On Wednesday, I experimented with “Sourdough Whole Wheat Pan Bread,” a recipe from the first edition of Sunset Magazine’s Breads. I have not made this recipe in a long time, and back when I was baking it, I was still hand kneading, as I did not have my stand mixer. I wanted to tweak it, given some of what I now know about breads and sourdough. I also increased the whole wheat flour by a cup and added 1/2 cup of dark rye. I initially soaked the whole grains with the sourdough starter, and some milk and water for two hours, before I added 2 tsp. of yeast and the molasses, then let the yeast work for 15 minutes before adding 1 1/2 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup high gluten flour (using it up and conserving bread flour) and 2 tsp. salt. I added 2 Tbs. olive oil in place of the 3 Tbs. butter. I needed just 1/4 cup more bread flour. The rises were long, maybe because it was 68F in the house. The first rise took 80 minutes, and the second rise 90 minutes. The two loaves had nice oven spring. I look forward to slicing them for lunch tomorrow.
The story is interesting. Here in Indiana, bakers can only sell at farm stands or through the farmers market. Home delivery is not allowed.
Packaged baked goods must include a list of ingredients in descending order of weight and the notice "baked in an uninspected kitchen."
I'm going to experiment today (Wednesday) with a Sourdough Whole Wheat bread recipe from the first edition of Sunset's Breads. I last made this bread a LONG time ago, back when I was hand kneading. I will play with the recipe a bit and report back.
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