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Local Breads by Daniel Leader


BarbaraY

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I thought that there may have been a thread concerning this book but I couldn't find one.

Do any of you have it and if so how well do the recipes work? It reads as if it is well researched but I haven't had a chance to make any of the wonderful sounding breads.

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I've had this book a while and have found it to be terrific. I don't know why it hasn't gotten more attention. I've made a couple of the French Sourdoughs and the Auvergne dark rye, all of which turned out great. Also the Genzano bread, which turned out OK but had a sort of commercial texture, I think because it uses a sourdough to make a biga, but is then reliant on instant yeast for a lot of the leavening.

I find the instructions very clear and easy to follow. I can't comment on the sourghdough culturing parts as I already have my own culture

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I made my first loaf from this book yesterday. I found that the rise took much longer than stated. The flavor would be good but is way to salty for my taste. The texture is good but not the nice open one as shown in the photo. I followed the recipe exactly except that I cut the amount of rosemary in half. Although I love rosemary I know my bush and it's very strong hence the reduction. If I had used a full 1/4 cup it would have been overwhelming.

Will give it another shot in a few days.

Although I have been making breads for more than 50 years it is only recently that I have started working with the very moist doughs. An earlier attempt to make ciabatta was not very good either so I'll give the Leader recipe a try soon.

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If you're making a sourdough loaf, the rise is going to be dependent on the strength of your culture and temperature. I find in general most sourdough rises take longer than recipes quote. For the Genzano loaf which has a lot of instant yeast, I found it rose much more quickly than recipe suggested.

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This one uses a bigas which calls for a ferment of 8 to 16 hours. I let it ferment about 12 but the kitchen was rather cool when I mixed the dough..

Sourdoughs that I've made in the past do usually take a longer proofing time. I think the amount of salt in it may have slowed the rise, too.

Thanks for the feedback.

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Although I have been making breads for more than 50 years it is only recently that I have started working with the very moist doughs. An earlier attempt to make ciabatta was not very good either so I'll give the Leader recipe a try soon.

The best Ciabatta recipe I have come across is found in Richard Bertinet's book - Crust: Bread to Get Your Teeth Into. I have tried it many times with excellent results, a nice crusty exterior and a chewy interior laced with big gaping holes. The 00 flour is important as is the amount of water. You can't cut back on either without compromising the results.

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Thanks for the tip, ComissionerLin. I first tasted Ciabatta in PA several years ago. Have never found anything comparable in my rural area. Will check out that book, too.

As if I needed more baking books.

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