PatrickT

Really gorgeous baguettes, as always @Ann_T Regarding lames, Tom Cucuzza made a great video a while back showing how to make one for less than $3 USD. I made one of them for myself and have never looked back - works perfectly for me. Easy to make, easy to clean and easy to change blades whenever they dull!

Thank you @Ann_T! 😃

This is the third time I’ve made this Guinness sourdough with quark cheese, thyme and caraway. It’s still one of my all-time favorites - really delicious. I made this loaf as a gift for a friend who visited yesterday (so alas, no crumb shots). Tomorrow, I’m going to try making a steel cut oat porridge sourdough with maple syrup. Will post those pics later this week. Happy baking, all!

Thank you very much @Ann_T! Are you still using 1 gram of yeast and 63% hydration for these loaves you're baking? They are all gorgeous.

Yesterday's bake - Black Sesame Marble Milk Bread. My marbling technique obviously leaves something to be desired. 🙃 The tangzhong technique gives the crumb an enviable "pillowy, pull-apart" quality, while the black sesame seeds yield an incredible nuttiness. I had two slices of this bread this morning with not a single thing on them - not even butter - and I savored every last crumb. Wow! Give this one a try - you won't regret it. I also feel this recipe would make a terrific base for a cinnamon raisin bread and will definitely try that iteration at some future point. The first picture below is the tangzhong, followed by the two doughs after the first proof, the braided dough, and the final bake and crumb.

Thanks @Ann_T - it was wonderful. Your baguettes are absolute perfection! Today's bake. This is a Spelt Porridge Sourdough, made using Tom Cucuzza's Two-Stage Bulk Fermentation method. Very interesting process that I will definitely try again. I'm always looking for higher shoulders with my loaves (and that ever-elusive open crumb I can't seem to find), but I'm otherwise very pleased with the color and aesthetics of this loaf. I have high hopes for the flavor, as it's similar to the Rye Porridge loaf I baked a while back. I'll post a crumb shot later today or tomorrow. EDIT: Crumb shots added. Flavor is really delicious - very nutty with a soft, moist crumb.

Yesterday's bake. One of my favorite recipes from Bernard Clayton is his Lemon Honey Whole Wheat. It's an amazing sandwich bread, with a zesty sweetness and a soft crumb. I decided to try converting his original recipe to a sourdough version. I used an overnight levain, an overnight cold retard, and baked the loaf in my Pullman pan. I'm very pleased with the result (although next time, I will try baking the loaf at 400F as it got a little dark). This was 74% hydration, using a 50/50 blend of Central Milling Old World Bread Flour and King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour. I used the zest of an entire lemon and will probably increase the honey a bit next time to accommodate the tang of the sourdough. Crust is thin but wonderfully firm; crumb is very soft with a delightful flavor. I'm already eager to try this one again!

Thanks! Post some pics of yours if you wind up trying it. I'll do the same with the one it gave me. 😃

Very cool idea! I didn't get any warning message using my prompt ("Please provide a green chili bread recipe in the spirit of Michael’s Kitchen Restaurant and Bakery.") and here's the recipe ChatGPT generated for me. Is this one the same as one of ones it provided for you - or is it different? And PS - I might have to try this recipe. Sounds delicious! Sure, here's a recipe for Green Chile Bread in the spirit of Michael's Kitchen Restaurant and Bakery: Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 cup milk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese 1/2 cup diced green chiles 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder Instructions: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray or butter. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Stir until well combined. Add the vegetable oil, milk, and eggs to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in the cheddar cheese, green chiles, cilantro, and garlic powder. Mix until everything is evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the bread has cooled, slice it and serve with butter or cream cheese, if desired. Enjoy your delicious and savory Green Chile Bread, inspired by Michael's Kitchen Restaurant and Bakery!

That crumb is perfection! 😍 One day, hopefully…

Thank you @Ann_T! Your starters are wonderfully active and produce gorgeous loaves, as always.

Can artificial intelligence create a sourdough bread recipe that actually works? Inspired by a recent post from FoodGeek, I asked ChatGPT the following: "Please create a savory sourdough bread recipe with a mix of bread flour, whole wheat flour and rye flour. Include a blend of 3 complementary herbs and 2 kinds of seeds mixed in with the dough." Here's the result of the recipe it provided, with oregano, thyme, rosemary, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Pretty impressive! I'll post crumb shots and the results of the taste test later today. EDIT: Crumb shot added. Flavor is delicious! +1 for ChatGPT. 😂

Thank you @Ann_T!

With apologies to the purists among us, here’s my take on what I’ll call “a sourdough-Irish-soda-bread-inspired loaf” I baked yesterday. 😂 Aesthetically, the final loaf is admittedly a bit wonky - but the texture and flavor are simply wonderful! I’m not usually a fan of traditional Irish soda bread (so dry!), so I cobbled together my own version from several different sources and came up with something I thought I would like. I will hands down make this again. What I do admire so much about Irish soda bread is its simplicity: I put this loaf together in 20 minutes and it was done baking about an hour later. YUM! EDIT: Happy to share the recipe if anyone is interested.

That is quite a beautiful haul! 😍 Lucky friends. Thanks for your comments on my most recent bake. Not my favorite, but it was a great experiment! Baked two loaves this morning - a plain sourdough and a crazy loaf made with bread, whole wheat and rye flours, caraway seeds, thyme, molasses, quark cheese and Guinness beer in place of the water. Quite the aroma while baking! I'll post crumb shots and results of the taste test later today. EDIT: Crumb shot for Guinness loaf added. Flavor is insanely good! I've also added the recipe below, in case anyone would like to try it.

Looks like everyone has been having a good time with their bakes during my hiatus. My wife Ann and I just came back from a 2-week road trip to Florida, visiting friends and former work colleagues. Gorgeous weather every day, but I missed y'all and missed my weekly bakes! We have friends coming over on Sunday for a soup luncheon, so I thought I would try @Ann_T's process with a new Pane Siciliano recipe from Maurizio Leo at the Perfect Loaf. The Central Milling Semolina Wheat/Durum flour in this loaf is just amazing - the color is gorgeous and it feels so silky. Started the dough this afternoon and popped it in the fridge after the S&Fs, where it will remain until Saturday. I decided to make a yeasted dough and increased the hydration from 75% to 80% because the flour was still thirsty at 75%. I also added some rosemary and minced dried garlic to complement the soup we're making. I'll post additional pics on Saturday and Sunday. Anxious to see how this one tastes! EDIT: It turned out to be an interesting experience with this dough. I decided to bake the loaf a day ahead and I'm really glad I did. It was in the fridge for about 2 days, then sat on the counter to BF/final proof for 21.5 HRS AT 68F! Why this dough took so incredibly long to proof is beyond me (bad yeast, perhaps?), but after that head scratcher, I decided to do the final proof and bake in a loaf tin. Final proof (on my oven's proof setting) took another 3.5 HRS! Did an egg wash and topped it with white and black sesame seeds. Not a lot of oven spring, but at least the loaf looked pretty. LOL Great crust and a dense but very moist and tender crumb, with an otherworldly color! Flavors were very subtle. I can't say that it's my favorite loaf I've ever baked, but it's certainly different. Our company loved it, so I was happy about that. Pics below.

That looks SO delicious!! Not sure how I missed that one when you posted it.

I'm never measuring or weighing anything ever again. 🤣 Amazing! Thanks for sharing that.

Yes - humidity does affect flour and thus hydration behavior. There's a great discussion of this subject here.

That's a demonstration of true culinary prowess. 😆 Gorgeous loaves!

That looks positively delicious. What a great way to use that herb dough. And @Ann_T is right - that is just the most perfect roll. Fabulous job! Did the herbs make it taste noticeably different from others you've made in the past?

So helpful - thank you!

Just for comparison purposes, how warm is the spot where your levain and starter are sitting? And how much did you feed your starter (amount of residual starter in the pot and amount of fresh flour/water)? Thanks in advance!

@Ann_T - you are far too kind... but thank you. Every time I look at your bakes - like these! - I always say to myself "If only I could consistently produce loaves that look like that!" 😂 Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours! Keep up the inspiring bakes. 🍞

This is Quarkbrot by Jeffery Hamelman (Bread, 2nd and 3rd eds.). I'll add final bake pics to this post tomorrow. A baking friend made this loaf last week and absolutely raved about it. The recipe is made with quark cheese (think the consistency of ricotta with the tang of Greek yogurt), an overnight rye sponge and an overnight soaker of cracked rye berries (what Hamelman calls "rye chops"). The base hydration of the recipe is only 48%. Even with the additional water present in the soaker and in the quark, I had to increase the base hydration to 60% for my flour mix (I used Sam's Club Bread and Pizza flour and Bob's Red Mill Dark Rye flour). After 10 minutes of mixing in the Ank, the dough was gorgeous. I did a series of 3 stretches and folds to further strengthen the dough, each followed by a 30 minute rest. Bulk fermentation was 90 minutes at 69F (~50% increase). After final shaping, I allowed the dough to counter proof in the banneton for 30 minutes at 69F. I then wrapped the banneton in a plastic bag and placed it in the fridge for an overnight cold retard. I'll bake it first thing in the morning. Added pics of the final loaf and crumb below. Apart from my scoring experiment gone awry, the crust is wonderfully crisp and the crumb is tight, uniform and soft. The quark cheese imparts a wonderful tang to the bread. This is an especially amazing loaf for the toaster - and I have no doubt it will make some amazing grilled cheese sandwiches. Give this one a try! If you can't find quark cheese, Hamelman recommends creme fraiche, fromage blanc (a French cultured cheese similar to sour cream), or yogurt. I will definitely bake this one again.