JoNorvelleWalker

Ankarsrum flocker in action. Dough for walnut oat cookies in the freezer.

I've had my Vesta on order since last fall when Kerry kindly brought it to our attention. I heard from Vesta day before yesterday that the freezer will ship the middle of next month.

No, no, no. No stuff under the bed. Not here, not for years, not never. I'm too old to extract an errant cat or robot. I will however share a portion of my less embarrassing bedroom storage.* Nonstick pans live to the rear left, below the Ankarsrum mixing bowl, just above the Matfer chinois. Hope this helps. *Thankfully the closets are too dark to take a picture. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Just ask Jeff... http://amzn.com/B0157AWYT2

Had I the option I wouldn't set my alarm for anything. However I'd gladly stay up late for an @Ann_T breakfast.

This isn't going to end well.

Or you could have just checked his avatar.

Pizza tonight. Mushroom pizza. Perhaps my finest pizza to date, due largely to the exceptional dough left over from last night's bread. This was not a 90 second pizza. I let it go two minutes to get the mushrooms fully cooked and slightly charred. Notice none ended up on the oven floor. Basil from the dining room. Good as it was I could only eat half before the Duvel ran out. Sometimes life is hard.

Amazon tells me I've bought three.

A local hardware store has a cat that is not terribly friendly. However there are signs posted to that effect.

Dine Like a Dragon seemed like a pretty good deal. Thanks.

For round Swedish meatballs. Seriously. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/159240-a4-box-induction-cooker/?do=findComment&comment=2229532

But the A4Box takoyaki pan is induction!

Taste and crumb and crust were exquisite though after a liter of methode rotuts I'm not sure how much it matters.

Tonight's loaves. There is something different! The past two weeks I had been using the Ankarsrum dough hook because the ingredients are almost impossible to incorporate with the Ankarsrum roller. Yet with the dough hook I'm left with a dense and disappointing crumb. Granted Ankarsrum does not recommend the dough hook for the small amount of dough I'm mixing. This time I employed the dough hook for quickly and painlessly incorporating the flour, water, and poolish. Then after autolysis I used the roller to gently kneed the dough for 45 minutes. Crumb is much more open. Don't yet know how it tastes. I have not finished my mai tai and peanuts.

Went through to the keeper possibly.

You need an A4Box!

To give another opinion I dug out Modernist Bread. The discussion of the effects of steam is on pages 3-294ff. They tested the theory It's to create a humid environment in the oven that slows the formation of the crust, so the bread can rise more before being constrained by applying various amounts of steam "to French lean doughs and found almost no difference in the final volume." The Modernist Bread theory is that "steam condenses onto the surface of the crust, instantaneously raising the temperature and gelatinizing the starch." This causes the formation of a thin, impermeable pellicle that traps moisture in the dough and prevents a thick crust from forming. Your mileage may vary.

I should add the Ferrandi book has helpful photographs, and not just of finished dishes.

I work* in a library. I've read the CIA book and a couple others (obviously didn't make much impression since I can't remember which). *for the moment.

I will never again preheat my oven for bread baking without removing the salt bed from last night's baked potato.

I don't have a large library on the subject but I might suggest French Patisserie: Master Recipes and Techniques from the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts.

Poilane: The Secrets of the World Famous Bread Bakery. This is not so much a bread book as a memoir. At times sad and tragic. Poilane's parents died in a helicopter crash the year she was going off to Harvard. She recounts how much she resented the night shifts at the bakery her father forced on her during her apprenticeship. Particularly when he detested the night shifts his father forced on him. What came to mind was a time almost thirty years ago when I was working for a technology company down in Princeton. My walk home was about five miles and I often left 3:00 or 4:00 am. My route took me past the bakery with the open door, and the most remarkable fragrance wafting out onto the road. I would pause and watch the baker ply her craft, hoping that she wouldn't notice me. It was almost sexual. OK, it was sexual. My poolish is ripening as we speak.

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/160121-dinner-2020/?do=findComment&comment=2234506 I am proud of myself.

1. I have a Microplane nutmeg grater. If I dull the blade I'd be more worried about nutmeg intoxication. 2. Milk.