[Mike Nolan]

In starter terminology, that liquid is called 'hooch' and is is considered a good thing, but it is a sign that your starter needs to be fed. Most people recommend pouring it off before feeding. Hooch has alcohol in it, but I don't know what proof it is, and I'm not aware of anything you can do with it, if your brewing friends used a refractometer, you could try measuring the amount of alcohol in it. (I'm tempted to order one for testing vinegars.)

My new rye starter is doing very well, I feed it in the evening and by morning it has generally doubled. Neither this rye starter nor the previous one ever generated any hooch, though.

[Mike Nolan]

Here's a link to a video of the dime test:

dime test video

[Mike Nolan]

I always reheat pizza in the oven, not the microwave.

[Mike Nolan]

It looks like you can access that article with the free logins as well, and I agree, those breads are fantastic.

Here's the URL for those who want to see if they can access it. NYT article

[Mike Nolan]

The Kassel rye is in a plastic bag and has softened up a bit, but it is still assertively sour. I'll have to make this again at some point, to see if I can get the red finish.

My wife described the initial texture as like 'cutting wood'.

[Mike Nolan]

BLT's tonight

[Mike Nolan]

test post, please ignore.

[Mike Nolan]

We had burgers on the grill with steamed broccoli.

[Mike Nolan]

Brewers have been supplying yeast to bakers for centuries, but I wonder if the yeasts they use have changed over the years to be more productive for brewing than for baking, just like baker's yeast has been improved over the years.

The fact that brewer's yeast might be a little low in protease enzymes is something you can probably compensate for.

[Mike Nolan]

It requires finding a sawmill that specializes in hardwoods. There aren't as many of them as there used to be. And as someone else noted, a single tree might not be worth the trip.

I'd start by looking for stores that sell walnut wood (but not chain stores) or checking woodworking sites.

Here's one site that came up when I searched for 'buying walnut trees', but they say they're specifically looking for people with acres of trees to sell:
buying walnut trees

I remember years ago when our neighbor wanted to get rid of his walnut tree he had two companies bidding for the wood.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 12 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[Mike Nolan]

We had French toast tonight. Time to make more Challah, I think.

[Mike Nolan]

The table wasn't appearing until I clicked on the top.

1 packet of yeast (7 grams) in a pound of flour is about 1.5%. I'm seeing a lot of recent recipes that are more like 1% yeast (based on flour weight.)

And I'm not clear if they're talking about active dry yeast or instant dry yeast, which are two different products (though with a number of similarities these days.)

[Mike Nolan]

I generally use butter and milk. I've tried buttermilk a few times, didn't care for the results. And never Never NEVER garlic! Did I remember to say 'no garlic!'?

I've been tempted to try Joel Robuchon's recipe for mashed potatoes, with all that butter emulsified into it.

[Mike Nolan]

I've been in some walnut forests, and as I recall, they won't grow much closer together than about 50 feet, and not much other than grasses and low shrubs would grow in between them, either. The chemical is juglone. Mature walnut trees also have a heavy canopy that blocks out a lot of light, so grass doesn't grow well underneath them. Pigs will eat walnuts, in fact that's part of what makes Iberian ham so expensive.

As I think back to when I heard that, I think he said you could get something like 20-30 black walnut trees per acre. He called a 10 acre plot of walnut trees a 'million dollar retirement plan'.

[Mike Nolan]

Maybe they don't realize that 1/2 + 1/4 = 3/4?

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