Barrytm

Boilsover, thanks for your posts. I find I can learn a lot just by watching this board , and I have never heard of the tutove before, and now that I see it, it seems that instead of forming a solid layer of butter in each layer, it is being segmented into pockets in each layer, though that is just speculation. Did you use it differently than you would use a regular rolling pin? I wondered whether you would run it over the dough just once, or if you went back and forth and tried to keep the grooves in the same place or not? Not to diminish the demand for the true tutove, it doesn't seem that hard to replicate something similar out of a wooden dowel.

Surely it wouldn't be too hard to tweak the wiring and put a toggle or push-button switch to engage/disengage the fan. Actually, it is pretty simple to cut off the fan, but the heating element in the combi ( and in the Cadco - Unox ) is not actually in the heating chamber, and is in a coil behind the chamber, and the fan is needed to push the heat into the heating chamber. What I could do, is load either oven with a lot of stone, and make it work like the Rofco - or even a wood fired oven - by a very long preheat, and turn off the oven entirely, and let the bread bake from stored heat. For the Cadco that would actually work, though there is a vent in the rear that would have to be covered. For the combi, even when you shut it off, the fan runs to cool the oven down, so I would have to switch the circuit breaker. Seems like a lot of work to me, so I am instead thinking of making a Forneau style to go in the oven - basically a combo cooker for something other than boules https://www.fourneauoven.com/

Yes, I went looking for something designed for home bakers, and was not all that thrilled with what I found. I did get a true combi, but the downside is that it does not have a bake mode, only a convection bake, so although I can add steam at the beginning, it is blowing air over the bread the whole time, and I would prefer something that just used heat and not a fan. The other end of the spectrum is the Rofco . https://pleasanthillgrain.com/rofco-electric-stone-oven-b20-bread-oven Fairly pricey, and is, in essence , just a big dutch oven. It does have optional steam, but many users seem to just fill it with dough, and the moisture from cooking keeps the steam inside until you open the vents. Unfortunately, not only is it pricey, the smallest one uses only 1300 watts - so if it were wired for 120 volts, it could easily plug into an ordinary US outlet. Since the element is 240, you need a special line run to operate it. I actually considered it, but was turned off by the long preheat times - 1 1/2 to 2 hours according to some posts.

Apologize for being OT, but when I read the title Novice French Toast, it reminded me of the movie Kramer v Kramer - an extremely well done movie ( 5 Oscar Awards ) with Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman and Streep are married, and are progressing through a divorce. At the outset of the movie, Dustin starts to spend some time with his son alone in visitation. To demonstrate his ineptness at the beginning, the movie shows him making french toast for his son - and Dustin is a true novice. The son's face throughout the process is priceless. As I recall it , much later in the movie they again make french toast, though of course the results are much better.

I have an older non humidity Cadco Unox, and it is a nice convection oven. As to the models you referenced, since you are familiar with the CSO, you might want to ask the Cadco whether their models have a boiler, or steam injection, or whether the humidity button just adds room temperature water. I know that some ovens add moisture to the oven by just pumping a stream of room temp water into the oven , as opposed to injecting water that has already been heated to steam. If there is no boiler, then the humidity function would not be very unlike putting a small copper tube into a vent in your home oven and slowly dribbling in water. Not trying to discourage you, but wanted to be sure which one you would be getting.

I have sprouted wheat berries, and ground them, and to me they add a sweetness to the bread. The downside is that if you allow them to sprout too long, and you use a large percentage of sprouted ground flour, you run a risk of the dough collapsing. I finally got around that by drying them as soon as they show signs of sprouting. As Anna says, you do not want to get them too warm, so a food dehydrator is a good choice. Also, if you are grinding them in a typical stone or burr mill, you want them fully dried before you put them in the mill, otherwise, you will have to learn how to take apart the mill and clean off the stones when it gets clogged - so err on the side of being certain they are dried. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/40502/peter-reinharts-sprouted-whole-wheat-bread

Just a post to say I haven't seen his actual mixer, nor do I know the price he is asking, but I have the Magic Mill Assistent, which is the 450 watt version, and it is an unstoppable bread kneading machine, that will handle anything from low quantities to large doughs with no problems. As noted below, I should have said her and she.

Not only is your question not silly, it is pretty important, and yes it will impact how the food will look. I added a bulb once that made waffles looked like they had a green tint, very unappetizing. Unfortunately, it really is a personal decision. I am with Smithy, and find natural daylight far too blue for my tastes. My lighting companies suggest warm white for a kitchen and dining, others suggest bright white, but you really need to find what you like - try a few bulbs and see, the investment is not that high, the ones that you don't like can go into closets, etc.

Anna , glad to see rice flour worked for you. It is pretty amazing when you see the difference between bread flour and rice flour. BTW, winter is coming, and I am sure any white dusting outside will be taken for snow.

If you are looking for a stone mill, in terms of pricing, most are quite expensive new, though you can find them used on ebay at fairly good prices $150 to $250 or so, and the latest arrival on the market is very attractively priced at around $260 https://breadtopia.com/store/mockmill-100-grain-mill/ I haven't used the Mockmill, or even seen it, but have read a few good reviews, and the price point is pretty attractive for a stone mill. BTW, it would not surprise me if the Mockmill grinds flour more finely than the Komo Classic - I have a classic, and while the flour is fine for bread baking, it is coarser than the flour I get from my Lee Household Mill . I can't actually measure fineness, but I have started sifting freshly milled flour the last few weeks, and far more is left in the sifter when I use the Komo than when I use the Lee.

Anna, for dusting your couche, rice flour works great because it doesn't allow the dough to stick as much. Regular flour plus a moist dough can lead to sticking.

I made my attempt at the Lean French Bread in a combo cooker today, overall it came out well. I followed the recipe as close as I could. For mixing, I went with 6 minutes in a Bosch Compact. It was somewhat sticky, but I mostly make high hydration whole wheat, so it was not too bad. I used my proofer for the final proof and used the timing in the chart of 1 1/4 hour at 80 F, and think it was slightly overproofed. It sang after came out of the oven, I enjoyed the cracking noise, normally I don't get that with 100% whole wheat, and the flavor was fine for a lean bread with bread flour.

Anna, if you go with a cast iron combo cooker, as I have, definitely get some barbecue gloves - here is one set, though not the ones I have https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H0EE1L2/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1 Loading the combo is not that hard, but it helps to be able to put a hand on the handle, and well as the opposing hand hold, and the gloves really come in when taking off the top halfway through.

Chris and Anna, thanks for the explanation. I wondered whether friction would have some impact on final dough temp, but didn't think it could shave the bulk ferment by that much. I will be posting my bread photo this weekend.

Chris, thanks for the explanation as to the salt and water, I was confused by that as well. I did have another question though. Am I reading the table correctly when it looks like it says that bulk ferment is 1 1/2 hours if mixed by machine, but 3 1/2 hours if mixed by hand? Just surprised there would be that much of a difference.

On the Eastern Coast of the US , they have had white whole wheat for years. BTW, I know it is more work, but home milled white whole wheat is even better than the stuff on the shelves. Though, you would then have to track down winter white wheat berries - and they can be a little hard to find and a flour mill. I only point that out because I have made 100% home milled white whole wheat for a number of people, and have never had anything but positive feedback. When using home milled red whole wheat, it is more of a grassy taste then actually bitter - I think the bitter may come from the age of red whole wheat on the store shelves.

Tictac, I have used flaxseed, and canola oil on my Matfer. I did not say successfully, because while I followed the instructions about using the potato skins and canola oil and salt and built up a beautiful seasoning, a few weeks later I deglazed the pan with some wine, and lost most of the seasoning. I then stripped it, and did the thin coat of flaxseed, bake for hour at 400, then repeat numerous times , and within a week or two , had pieces of the seasoning come off stuck to food. Stripped again and repeated the canola oil with potato skins and salt, and again had issues with the seasoning coming off in places with use. Now mine is pretty blotchy, and I have seen photos of others who have the same issue.

I have done a fair amount of experimenting with St. Louis Style ribs. One method is smoker, no wrapping, for around 7 hours at 225 - it comes out with a great smoky flavor, and a great crust or bark, with texture on the outside like crispy bacon . However, the ribs are no where near as moist as SV, and there is much less meat on the bone after cooking than SV. I have tried smoking, then sous vide, then on the grill or broiler to crust. The texture and moistness is much better, but it seems like a lot of the smoke flavor gets lost in the SV process. My current process, is dry rub, then SV - 30 to 36 hours at 142 , sometimes I smoke for an hour before SV, sometimes not, then smoke again for about another hour after SV, then apply glaze and put on the grill or broiler for a few minutes. We had a blind taste test at work, SV ribs v. Smoker using the 3-2-1 method, and the testers chose the SV method for taste and texture, though the smoker method definitely had a smokier flavor. Torolover, I think you are on the right path. I haven't tried the powdered smoke mentioned above - you might want to try that. If I were you, I would take them out of the SV and drain and pat dry, put them under a broiler for a minute or two a side, then apply a glaze and go back under the broiler . While you won't get the same bark, the ribs are much more tender and juicy then smoked ribs can ever be.

Fledflew, hope you like the slicer, it looks a lot like the 9 inch Gander mountain I just bought. http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=754458 , though I know Gander doesn't make them, it is just the reseller. I picked the Gander because I have an Intedge 10 inch that is just too heavy to move around, and thought the Gander would be lighter. The Gander is just okay, the motor is a little under powered, the fittings to attach the slider to the machine are set too far away from the blade, so the slider sits pretty far from the blade - I didn't measure, but say 1/4 inch, and can't be adjusted closer, and the sharpener stones are at a fixed angle, but the assembly is set up so it does not reach the cutting edge - it only hits about midway through the bevel. There are no obvious adjustments for that, though I will probably figure some work around for that, as well as the mounting of the slide. Overall, most of the controls operate smoothly, and it is not very loud.

I reheat SV ribs all the time, and the best way, IMO, is to fire up the SV to 145 and just drop them in , then once reheated, take them out of the bag, pat dry, then put under the broiler, or on the grill, to crisp, then add sauce, and put under the broiler or grill a few more minutes

Looks like someone ran it in a dishwasher. Here is one way to try to rescue it http://www.finishing.com/341/57.shtml

windyacres, I agree with Lisa, start with the usual suspects - yeast , and hydration. Are you measuring your ingredients by weight- you will get much more consistent results that way. BTW, some people use bread machines just to knead the dough, then proof it and then bake in it their home oven. Also, it sounds like the machine is under cooking your bread - check it with a thermometer next time, the loaf should be above 200F when it is done.

Rotus, BS makes a few different ranges. The Platinum actually has 25,000 btu burners, The Nova, aka, the RNB has 22,000 power burners, 15,000 medium, and a simmer burner that is lower. I bought the RNB, after many problems with a Viking Dual Fuel, due to the simplicity of the design, and so far it has worked fine. As to sealed v. open, some think the sealed are more work to clean, because any spot shows, on the open, any major spills fall into a roll out tray, and minor spots don't really stand out. When you do go to clean it, the open burner is more work to clean in terms of taking out pieces.

Whatever you do, it is helpful to keep a log of what you did and how you liked it. For babybacks, I have tried various times and temps, 24 hours at 155 was fall off the bone, which is overcooked for me, 24 hours at 142 was pretty tender. I have settled in around 36 hours at 142 for St Louis Style ribs, then on the grill or under the broiler with some sauce..

Have you considered an induction cooktop and a combi wall oven - that might really suit your needs. I had a dual fuel and have read a fair amount about them. Most suggest that they are more expensive than they are worth. Not sure if you are asking if you will need a new vent if you go with a gas burner of a certain btus. The common reference I see is add up btu's for the burners and divide by 100 http://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-calculate-kitchen-range-hood-fan-size/ not sure if that is right. You would also need to check the manual for your existing microwave and see what it says.