Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: Jozy’s cookies revisited #8227
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      I did hear from Zen over the weekend, and I sent her information on how to send me the HTML files she captured from the KAFBC. It'll take some tweaking to format them and check for duplications.

      in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of July 2, 2017? #8060
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        I did another batch of oatmeal crisps (chocolate chip cookies) for our 4th of July parade and block party tomorrow, I made them a little smaller than usual, using a #100 scoop, since they're mostly for little kids.

        • This reply was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Mike Nolan.
        in reply to: Can Chickens Control Ticks #8057
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          Sorry, the WSJ has apparently changed their policy on posting article links--again.

          in reply to: Type “00” Flour #8045
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            I suspect most Italian flour is Type 00, but that really doesn't tell you what it's good for. In general, European wheat strains are lower in protein than wheat grown in the USA and Canada. (But there are 'soft' wheat strains grown in North America and some harder/higher protein wheat strains grown in Europe.)

            It may be that the information on the package, like sample recipes, is the best guide to what type of baked goods it is best for.

            American nutritional information labeling is not very helpful for things like flour, because of serving size and rounding error. If the nutrition label says it has 4 grams of protein in a 30 gram serving, that really means it has somewhere between 3.50 and 4.49 grams of protein, which means it could be anywhere from 11.6% protein to 14.96% protein. 3 grams of protein means somewhere between 8.33% and 11.6% protein.

            Europeans measure protein content differently than they do in the USA, just to make matters even more interesting. In Europe they analyze the flour as if it was completely dry, in the USA flour is analyzed based on a 14% moisture content. So a flour that Europeans would measure as 10.46% protein would measure as 9% in the USA.

            • This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by htfoot.
            • This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by htfoot.
            in reply to: Type “00” Flour #8027
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              There are so many different aspects by which flour can be defined that most online descriptions of it remind me of the old story about the 7 blind men and the elephant: Each blind man was accurately describing one important part of the elephant, but none of them were describing the whole elephant.

              For the last several weeks I've been reading Wheat Flour Milling by Posner & Hibbs, the standard textbook on the subject, and though I'm only 2 chapters in, I'm already pretty overwhelmed by all the material. (People can and do earn PhDs in flour milling.)

              I'm probably going to write an article (possibly several) on what I've learned later this fall, so I won't go into it in depth at this time.

              As I understand it at this point, type 00 flour describes the granularity of the flour, ie, how finely ground it is. That doesn't tell you what kind of wheat it came from, what protein levels that wheat has or how much of the bran and germ are still left in the flour, and those are all things that affect how the flour will perform in various types of baking. (There can be other factors as well, such as how the flour has been treated before or after milling.)

              Basically, Italian flours come in Type 0, Type 00 and Type 000, the more zeroes, the finer the grind. Type 0 is a coarse flour, type 00 is probably fairly close to most American AP flours for grind (though some sources say it is a bit finer than the average American AP flour, more like 'southern' flours such as White Lily), and type 000 is very finely ground, the closest equivalent in the USA is probably cake flour.

              Different brands of Italian 00 flour will be made from different types of wheat, and that will affect how the flour performs in various types of baking.

              The suitability of Caputo Type 00 flour for pizza, which it is how sources like Amazon may label it for marketing purposes, is an entirely separate matter. If you follow the discussions on pizza-oriented forums like Peter Reinhart's Pizza Quest, you will find some people who insist that you must use a very high protein content flour for pizza and others who insist that you should use a lower-than-average protein content flour. Both factions have valid arguments for their points of view, but that's because they have different opinions as to what pizza crust 'should' be.

              Peter Reinhart's book American Pie gives a number of different crust recipes, from various types of pizza across the USA and around the world, and calling for various types of flour. I've tried several of them, and I have to say they were ALL delicious!

              in reply to: 4th of July Traditions #8024
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                There was always a parade on the 4th in my small home town, too, although I just heard from the alumni association and this year's parade is on the 3rd. (We'll be there for the gathering of my high school class, which is celebrating its 50th reunion, but not for the parade.)

                Lincoln doesn't have a city parade these days (not sure if it ever did, I don't recall one since we moved here in 1977) but it has a city fireworks celebration though it isn't always on the 4th. Our block will have a block party and parade on the 4th, complete with a fire truck escort.

                We don't bother with fireworks ourselves any more, but the neighborhoods surrounding us more than make up for it, by 9PM it'll sound (and smell) like a war has broken out!

                in reply to: What are you planting in your garden this year? #8022
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  Squirrels will eat tomatoes too. (In fact, our gardener tells us that squirrels will eat the composite material our new deck is made out of.)

                  Not sure about possums and raccoons, but I suspect they'll eat anything.

                  Have you ever heard of the fence Australia built to try to keep rabbits out of the western area of the continent? (Rabbits are not native to Australia, they came with the British settlers and, having no natural predators, multiplied like, well, you know.)

                  See Australia's State Barrier Fence

                  in reply to: Did KAF Buy Allrecipes? #8014
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    Sounds more like a cooperating arrangement than a change of ownership.

                    in reply to: What are you planting in your garden this year? #8013
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      We've been watching a baby bunny grow this spring/summer, it figured out how to climb into the pots on the back patio, climbing into taller pots from the shorter ones, and has been feasting on my wife's annuals. It especially seems to love her gazanias. Finches and other small birds really love gazanias when they go to seed in the fall, too, so we moved the pots around to make it harder for the bunny to get into the taller pots where the gazanias are, and got some more gazania plants, too. The ones the bunny had nibbled down are rebounding, I'm pleased to report.

                      in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of June 25, 2017? #7990
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        We have house guests this week, so we're going through bread pretty fast just at breakfast, so I'm making honey wheat bread tonight.

                        in reply to: GBBO Causes Cake Commotion #7970
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          This is what Wikipedia says about biscotti:

                          "Biscotti" is the plural form of biscotto. The word originates from the medieval Latin word biscoctus, meaning "twice-cooked."

                          Biscuits as a 'twice-baked' product were often made as travel food, especially travel by ship. (Hardtack. which is made from flour, water and sometimes salt, shows up in many books about sailing ships.)

                          Not sure how the name got applied to raised biscuits in the USA, which are a quick bread.

                          I'm up for trying to promote National Cake Week, maybe we can get others working on it too. I'm not sure an 'online clandestine cake club' would work, part of the fun would be seeing and tasting other people's cakes!

                          in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of June 18, 2017? #7950
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            i made Vienna bread (PaddyL's Double Crusty recipe) and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (my mother's oatmeal crisps recipe) today.

                            in reply to: GBBO Causes Cake Commotion #7941
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              I think PBS is either 3 or 4 seasons back from what's been shown in Great Britain.

                              But that's about how far back I stopped being able to view episodes online.

                              in reply to: GBBO Causes Cake Commotion #7934
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                There's a link about 'National cake Week' (Oct 2-8, 2017), but I think that's a UK event, not an USA one. Maybe we should try to promote it here and see if we can create a movement!

                                in reply to: GBBO Causes Cake Commotion #7932
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  I think the link was there, but I just couldn't see it on the laptop I was using this morning, it shows up better on the big screen monitors in my office.

                                  You're a lot closer to the nearest 'Clandestine Cake Club' location than I am.

                                  It will be interesting to see how GBBO handles the transition from BBC to Channel 4. Losing 3 out of the 4 personalities could be more change than it can tolerate. I used to think of myself as a pretty good baker, but the weakest of the contestants on GBBO could bake rings around me.

                                  This year will be the first year in a long time that I will be in town for the county fair. I'm not planning on entering anything this year, but I do think I'll make a trek clear across town (we're in SW Lincoln, the fairgrounds are in NE Lincoln) to see what the baking and photography entrants look like.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,496 through 6,510 (of 7,256 total)