jackal10

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/10/magazine...3b93707&ei=5070

I tried to make carrot "air" at the weekend. I started with a fairly dilute carot puree, and had at it with a stick blender. Lots of lovely light foam. Disappears in the mouth. However: The foam was not particularly stable. Making and serving more than two portions would be difficult. I stabilised it by freezing, but even then there was a lump of not very nice texture solid drainage at the bottom The texture was great, but almost no flavour. Help? Suggestions? I'm reasonable sure the original was just carrot puree without sufacecants or gelatine added. How do I get a stable coarse foam? How do I get it to taste of something?

I doubt if it has died. It may just need a while to wake up. Try leaving it in a warm place overnight - 12 hours or so....

Ther is really no substitute for trying it out, and correcting until the dough feels right. However ideally you should reduce the dry yeast recipe to its formula, and then rebuild it using 10% to 20% of the flour by weight as the starter. (Sam would say less, I prefer 30%, but I am impatient). As a very rough approximation to this just add 20% of the flour weight in the recipe as starter. Sourdough technique is different, and the fermentations take much longer. Bear in mind that instant yeast often contains amalyoses, malt and Vitamin C as flour improvers in addition to the yeast You may ned to add these, or compensate for their absence with techniques like delaying adding the salt.

Singapore is certainly interesting and beautiful. I'm sorry I have only one more day here, but I hope to visit the food expo, and no doubt will visit again. There are some very interesting Asian breads (Bread Talk and Delifrance are just by the hotel), but I have not seen any sourdoughs here. Maybe there is a market opportunity! Some points come to mind, and I am sure that Dan and Sam can contribute more. a) If the outside is burnt before the inside reaches temperature, then the oven is too hot. Larger loaves need a cooler oven. Cooking from cold helps control the spread in the oven, and helps the oven spring. b) In general, the wetter the dough, the bigger the holes. You don't give the full recipe, but I would aim for a total of about 70% hydration (total weight of water: total weight of flour) c) Dan's technique of gently folding the dough sides to midle and top and bottom to middle every hour during the bulk fermentation stage (your overnight in the bedroom) helps stretch the bubbles. Obviously you don't want to stay up all night, but three or four times (evening, last thing, first thing, mid-morning) might help. d) You don't say how long you retard (which is also the final proof) for. You may be over-proving, which will reduce the oven spring and total loaf volume and hence give smaller holes. I leave mine in the fridge for 8 to 24 hours (once it is cold it moves only slowly), and bake from cold. The dough is fragile at that point. e) Poilane is reputed to use 20% Spelt (ancient grain) flour to give that wheat taste. Hope this helps

I'd try 500F, or even 450F rather than 550F Most of the pictures in the unit were taken with a Sony DFCS717, which is probably overkill that Iot duty free on a business trip. . The advise I was given is buy the best lens you can. If you like Olympus stay with them - you may even be able to use the same lenses, and just get an electronic back.

They certainly do look tasty! I find a dough scraper (flat metal blade about 4 inches by 5 inches, handle along the top) the easiest to handle and divide dough with. They are widely available and not expensive. YMMV, but freezing starter never works for me. I wonder if there is some special technique? Yes, the recipe should scale, but you need to scale the salt as well. It should be about 2% of the flour by weight.

Amen, SAm. Never freeze the starter. It will rest in the back of the fridge quite happily. Freezing kills it. Give some to friends as back-up. You can also dry it for long storage- make a thin lasagne sheet from it and dry that. May take a couple of refreshments to wake up.

Yumm!

Just carry on. When you take the bowl out of the fridge, the starter will be cold and asleep. Wake it up by leaving it in a warm place for about 4 hours and feeding it (equal amounts of flour and water). It should respond by being bubbly. Save some, and make the bread with the rest.

Its no vacation! Conference and work visits... At least there is broadband connection

Ok, here I am at Raffles South Tower in Singapore. Standard International hotel, and I always feel like a battery chicken in one. Jet-lagged, and surprisingly few places are open after 11, or before 6. Singapore airline food was airline food, and their idea of low-carb menu option (business class) was grilled chicken salad followed by -err- grilled chicken in Tomato Sauce. At least I assume it was chicken. Apparently they have Gordon Ramsey and other star chefs on their advisory panel. I'd like to know what the advise they gave. Much of the food here so far tastes too sweet to me. I wonder if that is a local characteristic. So far: Kopi Tiam: Singapore Restaurant in the hotel. Rojak and Laksa. Nothing special. Raffles court food court: Sugar cane and lemon. Lee Garden: Avoiding the temptation of "Double boiled crocodile meat w/chrysanthemum and Globeatanth", we settled for Dim sum and noodles. Crowded, OK, but I've had better sui mae in london, Marina Square Food Court: Pig Organ Soup, Pig Trotter, Preserved Vegetable, Small Intestine. Excellent, succulant, and only SG$11 (about $6) the lot. Where should I try for supper tomorrow and the rest of the week? The Singapore food fair is apparently on on the 18th onwards. Looks like a must-visit.

As Dan points out, many of the traditional techniques were to overcome the unwanted sourness. It is only comparatively recently that sourness was seen as a virtue. So to overcome the sourness start with only a small amount (say a tablespoon) of the kept starter, and build a chef or sponge in stages, increasing the amount by about three or four each time until you have enough to bake with. Keeping the bulk ferementation at room temperature might help as well.

The amazing thing is with such simple ingredients - flour, water, yeast and salt there is so much variation. If your normal technique makes good bread, then stay with it. If you want it sourer ferment at 85F, less sour cooler for longer. My guess is that the oven was too hot and dry. 550 is too hot - 500F or even 450F would be better. Most ovens here don't get much above 450F, hence the text saying heat it as hot as it will go. Also if you chuck a cup of water onto the stone (care! superheated steam) and slam the door as soon as you put the bread in, the shot of steam will help the dough to rise, an help stop a crust forming too early I doubt if the problem is gluten development. Mostly that is a matter of time and hydration. You could try an longer bulk fermentation time. Not sure that gluten will help with the sourness. Gluten is sometimes added to compensate for weak flours,and to increase the water adsorbtion and the tolerence to bad technique. As Sam noted, acidity does attack the gluten and makes the dough wetter and more fragile, so very sour loaves need careful handling in the final stages.

Greetings from Singapore. I'm staying at Raffles Plaza. No more thsan the usual hassle of getting connected. The deli downstairs sells "swiss style" bread, but it looks like standard commercial stuff. Sinagpore airline's (bread basket of commerical rolls btw) idea of a low carb meal was grilled chicken salad, followed by -err- grilled chicken in tomato sauce. . Thanks for all the kind comments. Happy to send out more starter, but it will have to wait until I'm back end of next week. MottMott: You will see from the temperature curves in the scientific bit that fermenting at 72C the starter will grow a lot more slowly at 71 rather than 85.. That is fine, but it will take maybe twice as long. Jensen: that looks fantastic bread, and a really good texture. I'm sure you will be able to dial it in to your ideal bread. Keep baking and it will only get better. The starter will also adapt to your own pattern of use.

Many thanks! I particularly the the "Pig Organ Soup" How many of these are within walking distance of Raffles Plaza? I'm very interested in local breads or baking, especially in the sourdough tradition. There are wonderful Chinese steamed breads, for example. Any guides?

I used cups because my impression that is what most of the readers use. I hope I've given conversions. The problem is that the amont of water you need depends on the flour Different flours can adsorb different amounts of water. It should just form a soft dough. Also in the recipe I mixed in a food processor; for the unit I hand kneaded. As Dan points out, it is better to err on the side of making a dough that is a little too stiff and add water. Adding flour means you need to add proportionally more salt etc. Start with the 3 cups of flour: 1 cup of starter to 1 cup water, and if the dough is stiff add more water. I'd love people to show the loaves they have baked, good or bad. If you don't have the facility to put up pictures, send them to me, with a description, and I will put up a page of EGCI reader's breads. I am reluctant, because of spam to give out my email in an open forum, but you you have some pix PM me, and I will reply with an email address you can use.

The others are more expert than I am, but lots of factors: a) Ferment out your starter sponge or clef so it is a lot sourer b) Bulk ferment for longer c) Ferment the starter and bulk ferment warmer. If you look at the graph in the science bit you will see that the lactobacteria (which contribute to the sourness) peak at a higher temperature than the yeast. Fermenting at 90F rather than 85F makes a big difference. An accurate thermometer really helps. d) Some starters seem to produce a sourer bread than others. e) The ash content of the flour is important, as the ash neutralises the acid. Use a lower ash flour. Ther is some discussion in the literature about the ratio of acetic acid (from the yeast) to lactic acid (from the Lactobacteria), with some claim, the former contributing to a sour taste, and the later contributing to a sour smell. Some also say that a firmer sponge gets sourer, although I've never noticed any difference. The biggest effect, for me, is to ferment the starter for long so it is very sour. Of course, you can only get that true San Franciso taste in San Franciso.

Yes, I bake from cold, either in the Aga (which is a big lump of iron) or in the brick bread oven. Nancy Silverton advises letting the dough return to room temperature, but I have never seen the advantage of this. Not oly does it take a long time, but the fermentation starts again, and you lose the advantages of handling and the extra oven spring.

The beef is safe. It is the Government that is mad...

It speeds up the yeast action, although I'm not sure why. You need only add a minute amount - a teaspoon to a bag of flour. Your starter is on the way... I forgot to add that retarding the dough overnight in the fridge makes it much stiffer and easier to handle, so it does not spread as much in the oven.

Thanks. I used US cups. I think the cups are the same (except that we tend to use weight rather than volume in UK), but pints differ In general the wetter the dough, the bigger the holes. The extreme case is ciabatta, where the dough is practically a batter and hence its shape. Dan Lepard has a very interesting technique that he demonstrated during the bread baking day and that will be reported here in due time. During bulk fermentation (his is longer and a little cooler) he turns out the dough onto a lightly floured board, and folds it sides to middle, and then top and bottom to middle, the puts it back in its container and cover it again. This gently stretches the dough, the gluten and the bubbles. He does this every hour for 3 or more hours, and he points out that the dough stiffens up as as the bubbles form. He certainly makes good bread!

Sure, you can increase the starter as much as you like. Just add equal amounts of flour and water. For the best compromise between increase in volume and ensuring the sourdough culture is the dominant species, the old starter should be about 1/3rd of the volume, that is add equal amonts by volume of flour, water and innoculant (the old starter), then culture for 4 hours or so.. I always end up with much too much. You can safely dispose of excess by diluting it and pouring it down the drain. It is bio-degradable, but if too thick can clog up the pipes. Let me encourage you to give it to your friends and spread the word about good bread. It also acts as a backup in case some disaster happens to yours, like a family member throwing it away while spring-cleaning the fridge...

Yes, you can use soy milk/tofu. I'm not an expert, altough ther are some here I'm sure. There were some recent discussions. I believe it does not behave like cream, and its more like a starch, but does not thicken on heating. All the recipes I've seen just liquidise the tofu with the liquid, and maybe thicken with cornstarch, or commercially with tapioca flour that has a better mouth-feel. You are swapping fat for carbohydrate to give the smoothness. It won't, of course taste like cream, and needs quite strong flavours to overcome the beany taste. Lots of recipes on the web. For some lactose intolerant people, goats milk is a good alternative. Creamy too.

First choice would be an Aga You will soon love it. No waiting for the ovens to heat up. Have a some gas rings and a microwave/combi oven as backup. Second choice a small professional range. You can get them secondhand for reasonable money. They are designed to cook, whereas most domestic ranges and oven (except, perhaps Gaggeneu) are simply designed to reheat and crisp; thet get neither hot enough or cool enough for low temperature cooking or drying. If you have a professional range you will need a ventialtion and heat extraction system.