tino27

Zoe -- Everybody deserves good bread! I'm just happy that your book(s) and presence here on eGullet are helping them achieve that goal. I'm happy to help out where I can. And that's great news that the next book may have baker's percentages in them. Most of the serious bread books I've seen over the last couple of years are now including both cup measurements as well as percentages (and like you mentioned, a primer to help out those who've never used them). saluki -- Isn't it great when this stuff just starts making sense all of the sudden?

You're very welcome! That formula also works with other ingredients in your bread, too, such as salt and yeast. Most breads contain between 1.5 - 2% salt on average. In the above example that would be 750 g x 0.02 (2%) = 15 g salt. If you measure out the salt in the recipe that Zoe provides you can then compare it with the average of 2% (some breads require more salt, some less). Using this formula trick (also called Baker's Percentages), you can tweak your final dough to behave and taste exactly as you'd like it. If you're a true computer nerd (like me), you can put your formulas into a computer spreadsheet that calculates all these numbers for you and you can play with the percentages to your heart's content. Whenever I get a new recipe in cups and tablespoons, the first time I make it, it takes a little longer because I measure everything out and then weigh it. But once you've done it the first time and recorded the gram measurements, from that point forward you never have to go looking for cups or tablespoons again because you can just add the ingredient to the bowl on the scale until you read the right amount and then "Tare" the scale to return it to 0. And as I mentioned earlier, weighing out your ingredients leads to much more consistent results. I can't imagine living without my scale. Enjoy yours!

Measure out your 6 1/4 cups of flour on a scale in grams. Multiply this number by 0.81 (81%) ... that is the weight of the water required. In general, 1/4 cup KA bread flour is 30 g. 6 1/4 cups would be roughly 750 g. 750 x 0.81 = 608 g water = 1 1/3 pounds of water. I understand that most people (at least in America) are used to measuring by cups, but it is grossly inaccurate. When you start playing around with formulas and adjusting hydration levels by 1 or 2%, you really need to start doing things in ounces and/or grams to keep your results consistent. Not to mention, once you start measuring in grams, it's dirt simple to change hydration levels. Happy baking!

For the dinner, kids are very much welcome. For the other events, it will just depend on the age of the child and the venue of the event. Something tells me most 8 year olds wouldn't enjoy a 3 hour tasting at Alinea (for example).

Ronnie -- Put me down for Saturday's dinner event +1. In general, we'll talk more about the bread workshop after the initial dust settles a bit. I'm more than happy to provide 100% of the bread needed for the dinner, and I'm more than happy to run a workshop to teach other eGulleter's about the ins and outs of bread, but it will require a little extra coordination on my part to make it happen. I'll post more soon. Just to keep the posts to this thread at a minimum, PM me if you'd be interested in participating in a bread workshop on that Friday. That way I can gauge how big of a kitchen we'll need. Tino27

No matter how carefully you handle the dough, there will always be some deflation of the dough. A tip to get the dough out of the container is to first spray the container with a stick-release spray (like Pam) before putting the finished dough in to rise. You could also use a paper towel and some canola oil to wipe the surface of the container as well. When you go to cut off a hunk of dough, gently pry out the entire dough using you fingers or a bowl scraper, slice off the amount you need, and return the rest to the bowl. The trick is not to pull on the dough as that will cause the deflation you experienced. edited: for clarity

I would buy that theory ... except the mangoes I used were completely ripe and in season. I made the puree over the summer when the mangoes were that beautiful combination of soft and sweet. Now, if I tried to buy a mango right now ... it would definitely be unripe.

i.e. Make your hotel reservations asap! It's probably going to be a packed weekend! ← Seriously?

As most of you in cold climates are well aware, mangoes this time of year are simply hard as a rock. One of the desserts I make is a white chocolate mango cheesecake. Knowing that I might be asked for some during the winter months, I decided to stock up on the stuff during the summer when it is ripe and in season. Essentially, I put the mango flesh into a pot with a little bit of water and cooked it until soft. I then used an immersion blender to blend it into a puree. I then cooked the puree on low heat until a lot of the water had evaporated. Basically my stirring spoon could stand upright at this point. I cooled it to room temperature, transferred to appropriate containers, and put them in my deep freeze. Knowing I needed to make a mango cheesecake tonight, I took one of the containers out of the deep freezer a couple of days ago and let it defrost in the fridge. When I finally went to use it, I discovered the most curious thing. The mango puree has "solidified", almost as if I was making a pate de fruit (but obviously not as sweet). I could easily have cut it into squares. I tasted it to see if it had gone bad, and other than the gelatinous texture of it, it tasted quite nicely of mango. I managed to break up the mango gelatin in some heavy cream using an immersion blender, but it got me to thinking ... 1) Why did it solidify in the first place? Could there have been enough natural sugars and pectin in the mango to actually firm up just by cooking it that long? 2) If I've driven that much water out of it, would it be possible to just refreeze the remaining portion that I didn't use? Or could I even keep it in the fridge long term? To be fair, when I've cooked down the mango puree and then used it fresh (say, within a couple of days in the fridge), it has never solidified like that before.

For an extra bit of nutritional punch and some lovely nutty/wheaty flavor, I also add some ground flaxseed and toasted wheat germ to my whole wheat breads as well. Sometimes simple is better.

Crikey ... that's going to be a BIG party. Can Chicago handle that many eGulleters at once?

The use of egg whites / ground meat / etc. to clarify stock is a common practice. I believe (and please correct me if I'm wrong), as the raft cooks, the proteins unravel and form a "net" of sorts. Then, as the liquid circulates in the pot, the tiny particles (the undesirables) get caught up in this net. To help promote circulation, often times the pot is partially moved off the heat so that only one side is hot enough to encourage movement of the liquid inside the pot. It's imperative not to boil the stock at this point as that would result in a cloudy stock. One the raft has done it's job, you carefully remove a small part of it with a ladle and then carefully ladle out the clarified stock and strain it through a double layer of cheesecloth into some type of receiving vessel (pan, container, etc.). The ground meat used to clarify is not there to add flavor (or re-inforce flavor).

Add a +1 for me as well. I have a friend who may be joining us for the festivities.

For me it depends on intention. If we have a meal where the attendees are my guests, then I feel it is my duty to pay. Especially if this is a restaurant or a type of cuisine unfamiliar to my guests. If I feel like my guests would feel guilty about what they order based on the price, I've been known to arrange ahead of time for the restaurant to print up menus with no prices. This seems to allow people to actually order what they want. But this is usually the finer dining establishments. If I'm simply the organizer of a meal (or the one being organized), I am absolutely fine with splitting the check appropriately. For small things (cup of coffee), I find myself doing the "I'll get this time, you get the next." If my dining companion(s) are of an age where they are still in school (college included) or just getting started in their careers, I'll more than likely just pick up the check.

You might also try shaping the boule and placing it on parchment paper -- this is how I do my ciabatta (which is about 89% hydration). That way the dough and parchment both go into my oven right onto the stone. About half-way through the baking process I will normally rotate the breads for even cooking. I'll also just slip out the parchment from underneath the loaves at the same time. Although the cornmeal may still be desirable for texture/flavor, you won't have to use so much to actually transfer from the plastic to the oven. Hydration level is one of those tricky things. More hydration promotes those nice big irregular holes in the finished bread. Less hydration generally causes a higher final loaf, but a more regular crumb.

Herbs? No. Sundried tomatoes? No. Olives / Olive Oil? Possibly. The oil will coat the strands of gluten. This will tenderize and extend the shelf life of the dough (as well as adding flavor), but it will weaken the gluten structure slightly. Depending on how much dough you are making, adding a couple of tablespoons or 1/4 cup of oil may give you the desired effect without altering the final product. You can always start with a small amount and work up to the point where the final product starts to become affected in a negative way. Traditionally, you would work the dough (kneading) for a period of several minutes to help develop the gluten and THEN add the oil/fat to the dough. Olives would have less of a negative effect than straight oil, but some fat will leach ouch.

Any kind of yeast will work. The only thing you'll have to do is adjust the amount of yeast. 10 grams of fresh cake yeast equals 4 grams of active dry yeast equals 3.3 grams of instant yeast Others may be able to advise you on Rapid Rise yeast, as I don't use it.

Ronnie, any news on the potential venue you checked out on Friday?

About 9 months ago, I went to bed feeling just fine after visiting a local buffet (yes, yes, I should know better). Woke up at 2 am with the uncontrollable urge to vomit in the nearest receptacle. I was 100% convinced I had food poisoning until everyone around me started getting the exact same symptoms that I had about two days later. Whatever I had (and trust me, there were points I prayed for death) was definitely not food poisoning. I just had to continuously hydrate and pray that it would pass soon (it took about 5 days for things to get back to quasi-normal). I hope I am never that ill again, I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy.

Either Aug. 1-3 or Aug. 8-10 would be excellent for me as well.

Oh, my grandfather ... I do love him dearly. But he's at that age where the little voice inside your head that stops you from saying potentially embarrassing things is silent all too often. My grandfather has always been a rather outgoing individual and loves to go out to eat and chat it up with the waiter/waitress. By the end of the evening, he'll know where they are from, what high school / college they are attending, whether they are married and have children, etc. And unless we are in a real old-school restaurant (steak on one plate, potato on a separate plate, parsley to garnish), he assumes that being a server is a transitional job. Even in several of the high-end places I've taken him to. We were dining in a local establishment about 9 years ago that I frequented on a semi-regular basis and my grandfather was doing his normal "interrogation" of our poor waiter. When he asked him what he was studying in school, the poor lad replied, "Vocal studies in opera." To which my grandfather replied (in an all too loud voice), "OPERA! What the hell are you going to with OPERA?!?" I wanted to crawl under the table. Needless to say, the waiter received an extra large tip that night from me.

In bread classes that I've taken, linen was always the "go-to" material for a couche. That being said, I've set aside several cotton terry cloth towels as my couches and have never once had a problem with them. Whatever type of material you end up using, you need to season them periodically with flour. I essentially lay the towel flat on a surface, add some flour to the towel and then use the heel of my hand to push the flour into the fabric. Almost the same motion as if you were kneading dough with the palm of your hand. Work in as much flour as you can and you should be ready to go.

The workstation I use at home is a wood cutting board and I use it both for chopping veggies as well as kneading bread doughs (and making pasta). I also keep the board cleaned and oiled and I've never come across any problems with gumminess or stickiness. The only problem I can imagine you'd have is if you tried to do something on the board right after you oiled it, before the wood had a chance to fully soak in the oil. Nice looking board, by the way!

WAIT WAIT WAIT ... I have found (through the magic of the Internet) a way to make pancakes even EASIER! First, whipped cream out of a can. Then, cheese out of a can. And now ... Pancake batter out of a can. And it's organic, too. Tremble with fear, fellow eGulleters.

To add on to NancyH's sage advice, if you are concerned about food safety (for others), remember that the chili can only be between 40 and 140 deg F for a TOTAL of four hours. This includes reheating time as well. Personally, I like the idea of portioning into smaller containers or placing the pot into a sink full of ice and periodically stirring.