First, a response to Carol: YelloFinch@aol.com .....
Some years ago a friend prepared a Sally Lunn recipe for me in her bread
machine. I've just e-mailed her a request for this recipe and will share it
with you as soon as I receive it. Personally, I did not think it was
nearly as good as the one I have made (by hand) for years. See my post to
Gypsy also in Digest for January 15th. However, I'll do what I can to
provide you with my friend's BM recipe.
Response to Mathew & Renee Berry: berrymr@socket.net re: Baking bread in
a wood stove....
Boy, do I envy your purchase of a wood stove. About 9 years ago we added a
large extension to our house, specifically for a new kitchen. I wanted to
include a wood stove in this kitchen, but my engineer talked me out of it.
Said wood would track in too much dirt. This is a summer/spring/fall/winter
kitchen, not just a Summer Kitchen. Years ago, I cooked on a wood stove at
my parents farm in Madison County, VA and what a treat, at least during the
winter months.
Wish I could give you some definitive advice of baking bread, but the only
bread I baked in it was biscuits. Does your new oven have a thermostat? If
so that will help you gage the amount of heat it is producing. I might
suggest you use oak wood if possible; it produces a steady, constant
heat. Stoke your stove with wood and allow stove to heat for at least an
hour before baking bread. You probably want it to maintain a temp of about
350-375F. If temp. starts to reduce too much during the baking process
add a little more wood (2-3 small logs) at a time to keep temp. to proper
level. Hope this is some help. I used to doing a lot of canning on our
wood stove back in the 60's and
70's, but it sure heats up the kitchen in July and August.
Response to Eldon and Shanda Solomon: elby1@globalsite.net .....
What a great idea you have by baking bread and cookies, then selling it via
your sons to their teachers. Everyone's a winner and it's a great teaching
method on "independence" for you boys. Congratulations to you as
parents! Now to your question about exploding breads. I have the same
problem sometimes, usually with my sourdough breads. I think it may be
from allowing the dough to rise too rapidly, especially, the first
rise. My recipe and starter is Goldrush -- "Old Fashion San Francisco
Style." The company recommends you place the dough in a 85F environment for
both the first and second rise. That may be a little too high because I
note that it rises too fast at that temp. I understand from some that a
slow rise is better for most recipes. I'm going to try the next batch at
around 75 degrees. You might try the same method and see how it works for you.
Second, a few questions for the List:
To heller, dulcey: dheller@hclib.org......
What is slow yeast and how is it commercially labeled? Also what type of
breads would you use to bake with this slow yeast? I usually use instant
yeast purchased from King Arthur's or the bulk instant from Sam's.
To maureen@tiac.net re: English Muffins .....
Can you use an electric frying pan instead of a griddle to prepare the King
Arthur Flour's Sourdough English Muffins? and could you explain a little
more about how you cut the dough (in a Rubbermaid container). I'm a little
lost here! Couldn't one use a large biscuit cutter to cut the rolled out dough?
To the List in General:
Thanks for all the suggestions submitted re: "My Sourdough isn't
Sour." Will take all of these under advisement, when next I get a new starter!
To the Editors:
Sorry this is such a long post, but this list is so great and I love
sharing questions, answers and recipes with all of you.
[Editor ... Not a problem at all ... Reggie]
Happy baking,
Joni Repasch