Hearth Bread
Flax Seeds and Oat Bran
Jul 19, 2012I was looking around the baking section of Trader Joe’s and came across these. You can see there this is going. 🙂 Read More
Dough and my Cuisinart Mixer
Jul 17, 2012To catch up, I have been working with my new Cuisinart stand mixer to make easy, one-touch dough. So far, I have had trouble with loose flour not getting mixed in the bottom of the bowl, with flour building up on the side of the bowel, and the dough ball not getting completely formed. I also have some questions about the overall “quality” of the dough mixing. With my latest... Read More
Whole Wheat Boule with Pine Nuts
Jul 14, 2012That’s right. Pine nuts. This came out really nicely — its as something of a surprise. This is a standard 1kg formula using 80% whole wheat flour, 20% white whole wheat flour, 75% hydration and 100 grams of raw pine nuts. We really enjoyed it. The oblong loaf on the left was proofed in a loaf pan shaped baneton. A couple of notes on the finished loaves. I fired my... Read More
Cuisinart Update
Jul 13, 2012It might be as simple as learning to work with a new appliance — or perhaps the Cuisinsart mixer does not have a comparable mixing action and bowl design with the KitchenAid. But I seem to be having trouble getting my entire batch of dough to mix into a nice ball, where the mixer leaves unmixed flour at the bottom of the bowl. There is also a lot of dry... Read More
Online Baking Classes with Peter Reinhart
Jul 12, 2012New from Peter Reinhart — our favorite baker, cookbook writer, and instructor: This just came in today and I want to let you be the first to know about it. I recently filmed a serious artisan bread making a course for an internet educational company called Craftsy. Well, it’s ready to roll (oops, sorry about the pun) and the best news is that those who sign up via the following link can... Read More
Steel Cut Oats
Jul 12, 2012According to Wikipedia, steel cut oats are: Steel-cut oats are whole grain groats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) which have been cut into pieces. They are commonly used in Scotland and Ireland to make porridge, whereas rolled oats are used in England, other English-speaking countries, and Scandinavia. They are sometimes named after the grade of cut, e.g. pinhead oats; steel-cut oats from Ireland are sometimes called Irish oats. Steel-cut oats take longer to cook than instant or rolled oats... Read More
First Impressions
Jul 10, 2012As I start working with my new 7 qt Cuisinart stand mixer, I thought I would jot down a couple of initial impressions. Out of the box, the Cuisinart has a lot more exterior plastic than the KitchenAid. The heaviness and the professional, industrial feel are two of the more attractive aspects of the KitchenAid, and they just aren’t there with the Cuisinart. From the moment that I first picked... Read More
More on Crust and Oven Temperature
Jul 03, 2012Quick follow up on yesterday’s posting on bread crust and oven temperature. I’m not sure that you can really tell from this photo, but — it really worked. The crust is thicker and denser, it feels really good when you bite into it (crunch, but it doesn’t scratch the inside of your mouth too much), and it makes great toast! Read More
