Anna N

Me too!

Are you asking what you’re seeing? My dishwasher is there and it is falling apart and is held together with gorilla tape and duct tape . That is a cleaning pad that prevents the dishwasher from locking except when I wante it to lock so that I can extend its life for a little longer! You did ask I think.

Well trying to accommodate everyone’s recommendations (except for the L- cysteine which only appears on the wish list at the moment) I am making another and for now, final attempt, at the cinnamon raisin swirl. Rolled out with many five minute rests. That is a 12 inch rule beside it. Twice as much smear and raisins. In the oven now. Sure do hope this one works.

Gift of tomatoes (Yes, I know, it’s not summer and these were not summer tomatoes). But a little pre-salting and the promise of 3 grains of sugar, some good bacon (which you can’t see but it’s there) and some excellent bread ......(If I don’t blow my own horn on the Modernist Bread....)

I was just given two lovely leeks and as I went to put them into the fridge discovered two more. I suspect leeks will show up in my dining plans very soon. (Although if things do go south leeks freeze very well after being chopped up, carefully washed and spun dry).

They are also almost the perfect utensils for eating many, many salads!

We’ve dragged you over to the Darkside at last. I hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us I’ve enjoyed our Instant Pots.

Thanks. My science background is limited and extremely old so I was wondering if I was missing a step somewhere. So do you add the liquid set aside to the total hydration level or not bother?

OK it’s a bit late now for this time but I will try it again and see how I make out. I did proof in baskets and despite having read up on all the tricks etc. including using the liner, my dough stuck. I mean really stuck. I wrestled it from the linen liner, reshaped it, put it back to proof a little longer (on the counter). I had put it into the baskets seam side up so that when I turned it out of the baskets I would have a surface to properly score. So much for that idea. But these things are sent to try us. Then, you know how it is when you want something to be so and want it so badly that you will ignore the evidence of your senses? So it was with my sad sourdough. I absolutely convinced myself that it had proofed properly. It hadn’t of course. But never one to be deterred by mere evidence, I proceeded to bake anyway after making slashes in the rough surface. Loaf number one. Baked in the Cuisinart steam oven on the bread setting at 425°F for 30 minutes. As you see it has the dreaded bread “eczema” (a bubbly crust). And the photograph is somewhat misleading in that it appears to show more volume than this loaf actually had. Loaf number two. Again inflicted with the dreadful eczema. This was also baked in the Cuisinart steam oven at 425°F but I got distracted so it was in there for 35 minutes. This is a little too long. Here is the inside. Much more holey than it is religious. But on the other hand not a complete disaster. As I was pulling the second loaf out of the oven @Kerry Beal showed up at my house with flour, other ingredients, groceries that I had asked her to pick up for me and groceries that she just brought anyway, and guess what else? She brought along her container of French lean dough which would need some folds within the next couple of hours. If those of you who know Kerry wonder how she crams so much into a day —this is how! We had an opportunity to compare notes about our baking and discovered that we were both amused or perplexed by the method of dissolving the salt into some of the water that would be used for hydration. We both came to the same conclusion that the amount of salt and the amount of water was such that that salt would never dissolve. We had both tried stirring, shaking, heating etc. but there is far too much salt compared to the water to allow a solution to form. The best you can get is a slurry. If anyone can tell me different I’m excited to know. We also reached the conclusion based on my appearance that a black chef’s coat even one with an eG type logo on it from an eG type workshop long ago (thanks @gfron1) was not the most practical wear if you were going to be baking bread.

Can you believe I have never had a passion fruit? Live a sheltered life. Anyway I hope you get some help In starting your business. It sounds like it could be a lot of fun for you and for those of us who enjoy exploring new things.In starting your business. Edited to remove dictation echo!

No that is not a description of the Ethiopian variety. See here. I have not yet had much of a chance to play around with them and my ability to describe tasting notes is zero. I find the Timur pepper to be much more fragrant and floral than the pepper I usually use which is Tellicherry. I don’t use it in cooking because I think its unique properties disappear too quickly. So I finish my dishes with it rather than use it in creating them. I am betting @andiesenji will be much more helpful with your questions than I. She is a connoisseur while I’m just a consumer and grateful receiver of such gifts.

My breakfasts, and probably me also, are becoming extraordinarily boring. But I’m on a mission to make bread and food has fallen into the category of fuel. 90°C times eight minute sous vide eggs. I show you this because one of them sustained severe trauma while being undressed. The other one did not. I have no explanation. Served on, what else, Modernist Bread. This is their interpretation of a whole wheat sandwich bread and is mild enough that it even works with eggs.This is their interpretation of a whole wheat sandwich bread and is mild enough that it even works with eggs.

I have just cancelled that appointment! Amazon.ca has informed me that Robin Hood Best for Bread flour is no longer available. They sold it at half the price I pay in the grocery store (depending on the store). Do you think Modernist Bread has perhaps hit the bestseller list in Canada? I had to report this but let’s not drag this off-topic if we can help it. I have taken my sourdough from the refrigerator (where it was undergoing cold proofing)and it does not look very happy. After an hour and more on my counter it still looks as though it is quite beyond CPR. I am questioning my sanity and rationality on this one. One of the reasons given for the cold proofing is to make slashing easier. If I let it return to room temperature and pass the proof test does this not negate the whole time it spent in the refrigerator with respect to the slashing problem? Surely you do not attempt to bake it directly from the refrigerator. PerhapsI just need another coffee.

Ah so! I am going to see if I can get an appointment with my bank today to finance a ranch-style bungalow with added bakery space and see if they are good for one of these machines at the same time. But wouldn’t that take all the fun out of it?

Please do not apologize. There are many ways to skin a cat as they say although I would NOT like to try anyone of them If we all did everything the same way and all agreed that it was the only way, what would be the point of this forum ?

If you can get the same results (especially the texture of that egg yolk), then you’re not missing anything. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. I don’t think there is a practical advantage if by that you mean is it more efficient.

This is definitely a whole wheat that I can get on board with. It has none of the bitterness or other weird tastes of most whole wheats that I’ve run into. As you might notice it’s not easy getting those soaked inclusions well and evenly distributed but it doesn’t seem to matter much to the taste. The taste is mild enough that it wouldn’t interfere with most sandwich fillings. I am happy.

Note it down in your @rotuts Commemorative Notebook! I would have if only I could find the one with the red cover. Apparently that’s important.

Photograph belongs in the gallery of regrettable food. But it was tasty. Tagliatelle topped with some butter chicken I found in the freezer. Nothing like mixing up the cuisines.

Last bread of the day. There is sourdough undergoing a cold proof in the refrigerator. This is a flavour variation of the sandwich loaf and is what the Modernist Bread team call 100% whole wheat sandwich bread. It is the basic bread-flour dough with the addition of soaked, toasted wheat bran and wheat germ added after full gluten development. It smells like. Weetabix. I am hoping I like better than the usual whole wheat sandwich bread.

@Chris Hennes that is quite the baking project you undertook. I have to say that to the two that the most to me are the modernist country loaf and the same with inclusions. I went on a hunt for that nine grain mix and I guess it’s just hitting the market now because it doesn’t even appear to be on the RedMill website. I appreciate that they give you enough information to build your own breads using the ingredients that appeal most to you. I can’t see running out of breads in the near future.

The spread or smear does strike me as skimpy but I rather doubt that it’s a misprint since the proportions of the ingredients seem to be appropriate. I think much more effort was put in to this set of volumes in terms of reading and editing than in MC. Even the best must learn from mistakes. I am inclined to give the team the benefit of the doubt in that they are really hoping for success in the kitchen for everyone and piling ingredients into this bread could lead to a much worse disaster than a funny little swirl. But that’s just my opinion and I could be wearing my rose-colored glasses. I do appreciate your insight and your suggestions.

I have made that recipe many times and been very pleased with the results so I’m not sure what the issue might be.. It is certainly very well known and appears on many reputable sites. I have serious doubts that the duck will fit (whole) in the CSO. They are longer than chickens by quite a bit. I have done it in a closed rotisserie (think Ron Popeil) Very successfully but you certainly have to be aware in that case of stopping the rotisserie and pouring out the fat to avoid fires. The other way is to simply roast it as you would a turkey or chicken. Like a turkey it suffers from likelihood of the breast drying out before the legs are completely cooked and duck breast is much better not overcooked. You could also butcher it. Cook the legs separately from the breast and slow roast the carcass with the primary purpose of obtaining its fat which will still be quite a bit.

I am totally in agreement that it needs more of everything to counteract the bread! And eventually I intend to make it to my own specifications. But I always believe that initially you should attempt to follow the recipe especially in this case where it is so very specific. Once you have that down pat i.e., once you have learned the rules, then you could begin to break them. With all the wonderful help I am getting I’m sure I’ll come up with a prize-winner eventually. Thanks so much for your suggestions.

The only website I could find was the Modernist Cuisine which did allow you to subscribe to obtain updates on Modernist Bread unless of course you’re not American in which case you won’t be able to do it because you don’t have a ZIP Code. And if you borrow somebody else’s ZIP Code you still won’t be able to do it because it won’t accept your Captcha! GRRRR