BakerAunt
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Thanks, Cass. I continue to learn a lot from you. I'll now go back to my original plan not to buy any more vital wheat gluten. I had started leaving it out of the Grape Nuts bread and frankly did not notice any difference. When I bought some VWG from another vendor, I did not care for the flavor it gave my bread.
I have sometimes used some potato flour (or when I have it, potato water) in my Limpa Bread rather than the VWG.
Another thought for Aaron--are you kneading your rye bread the same way that you would knead your whole wheat bread--i.e., same mixer speed and same amount of time? Somewhere in my fuzzy mind, I seem to recall someone saying that rye bread should be kneaded gently but firmly and should be claylike.
I am going to have to try my Limpa bread again, but not until after our big move.
My husband and I visited a Ferguson's showroom this morning. It's a store that has upscale bath and kitchen items. They did not have a particularly large selection of freestanding ranges on the floor, which is fine, since there is no Ferguson's near where we will be living in Indiana. What we wanted was to be able to see some ranges and look at how they are set up. The salespeople did not seem to be particularly knowledgeable. I think that I know more from our discussions here as well as the research I've been doing. There were very few dual fuel ranges, mostly cooktops and wall ovens or under the cooktop mounted ovens.
They did have one all-gas BlueStar, so I looked at it, but for me the unsealed burners are a deal breaker. They had the 48" (I think) Thermador dual fuel. I'd probably buy another 30" Thermador if I knew that I could get it serviced when needed. I really like the burners. There was also a large Wolf. I also looked at the cooktops and ovens.
While I did not see a range that is "the one," it was helpful to look at controls. If we were to go with separate cooktop, I want the controls where they will not get splattered--so in the front not on top. I like that on the stand alone range as well. I also like the burner grids to be flush with one another so that I can easily move pots around. When we go appliance shopping in the Midwest, I'll take along my large pan to make sure that it will fit.
I was amused to see a Wolf four slice toaster, with a price of $400. Let them eat toast!
Hi, Mike. That recipe is close to the KAF Cookie Companion one, and I note that it also specifies quick oats. However, the KAF recipe uses shredded sweetened coconut (I used unsweet), 3/4 cup of sugar, and 2 Tbs. Lyle's golden syrup. It also uses 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda and 2 Tbs. boiling water. I used the Zeroll #40 scoop, so mine were larger than the KAF ones. They do spread out while baking. I only needed to bake them 15 minutes on heavy baking sheets. Leave room to spread.
The cookies firm up as they cool and are delightfully crunchy. My husband does not care for coconut, and he enjoyed them. They last well, and are a good cookie to take on trips. They don't dry out because they are already dry.
I think that most U.S. recipes were designed for the packets of yeast, so darn it, they are going to use the whole packet, no matter what! However, even the KAF recipes often seem to me to have too much yeast, perhaps because people want that rise in an hour, thank you.
I often cut back on the yeast if it seems excessive to me. I don't usually double the yeast if I double a recipe but add about half of the original yeast amount.
That said, it is better to have someone scrutinize the recipe for balance, as Kid Pizza has offered to do.
When I used the old-fashioned oats, there was not enough liquid for the oats to absorb, and the dough did not hold together, in spite of using a cookie scoop. The recipe includes shredded coconut, which also absorbs liquid. When I made the recipe with old-fashioned oats (Bob's Red Mill), they also did not flatten in the oven. However, when I used Bob's Red Mill quick oats, they flattened out nicely.
