Hi all
Ed's post reminded me that ideas and techniques which we, as individuals,
take for granted , may be of use, interest or both to other bakers. So
here's a few random items.
Do you have a dough scraper (US bench knife)? If not, get some money, we're
talking $5 - 10 max unless you want to be flash, go to your local kitchen
shop and buy one. Go to the shop. Go direct to the shop. Do not pass go. Do
not collect $200. Just buy a scraper. You will bless the day you listened
to Uncle John.
Why bother with bowls for mixing and rising your main doughs? Most of my
bread these days (haven't mentioned this to you Ed) is mixed by just
dumping the dry ingredients onto the counter, making a well in the middle,
adding the liquid and any preferment and mixing gradually, then kneading,
folding and stretching, rising, all on the counter. Hydrations up to 90%.
Plastic, food grade, trays, mine are 18" X 12" with a sloping rim, are
extremely useful if you have a small kitchen, such as mine, and need work
space while bread is rising and therefore can't leave it on the counter.
You can (and I often do) take a dough from first mix to readiness for final
shape and proof on the tray and this technique really comes into it's own
when you have to make multiple breads or comparison batches for testing.
The trays are, effectively, small, portable counters. Which fit in a white
bin bag for ideal rising conditions.
Don't bother with spritzing the oven, it's a total waste of time, effort
and water. Boiling water into a roasting pan for a blast of steam at the
start of baking is a technique I still think gives rustic bread the best
visual finish but spritzing is an old wives tale from a particularly stupid
old wife.
If you don't like the taste of flour that is sometimes apparent in high
hydration doughs that have been shaped or kneaded with flour as the release
agent, you can stretch and fold and rise using oil to stop the dough sticking.
When mixing doughs containing oil, particularly if the oil content goes
much over 5%, Focaccia and Ciabatta the obvious examples, the oil sometimes
forms oil-soaked nodules of flour that are remarkably resistant to
incorporation into the dough. If you have this problem, just mix all the
water in first until the flour is hydrated, autolyse rest, and then work
in the oil.
Don't put your Poolish, Biga or Pate Fermente in the refrigerator
overnight. You'll get better flavour and a faster start to the main dough's
fermentation if you just leave it at room temperature. Smells a bit rough
the next day but the results are excellent.
I know I bang on about it but, if you're a clumsy bugger like me or wish to
make life easier and you have a little spare cash and you want to be able
to move fragile doughs around with confidence then buy a SuperPeel.
<http://www.superpeel.com/>). It is an indispensible part of my baking
equipment. Usual disclaimer - I have not received any reward, monetary or
otherwise from nor have I any commercial or advantageous interest in the
manufacture, sale , or promotion of the SuperPeel.
If a recipe says "makes 7 pitta" or anything else, it's a stupid recipe. 8
is a much easier number for division of dough. Same applies to 15.
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHICH TYPE OF COMMERCIAL YEAST YOU USE, FRESH, DRIED
ACTIVE, INSTANT THEY'RE ALL VERY SIMILAR STRAINS OF S. CEREVISIAE. I use
all 3 interchangeably, whatever's cheap and available. I have never, in
over 30 years of baking had a failure I could honestly attribute to the
yeast, and the vast majority of problems laid at the door of the yeast are
actually faults in the baker's technique.
Don't get too hung up on flour protein percentages. I often recommend high
protein flour in recipes I post because good results are more likely when
doing the recipe for the first time if you use such flour but flour
performance is a continuum and you can make excellent bread with flour
ranging widely in protein.
The oven is a significant factor but a super duper all-singing all-dancing
fan assisted monster won't rescue badly mixed, kneaded, shaped or proofed
dough.
Don't get sidetracked into extremely esoteric arguments about minor
techniques. An example would be the endless discussions about weird ways of
cutting cinnammon rolls, you know the ones, long threads about the use of
string, lasers, circular saws, electric carving knives and similar unlikely
implements. It doesn't matter so long as your method works for you.
I don't know why anyone ever bothers to clean bakestones.
Ed's said this, I'll say it, and I would guess we'll both keep on saying
it. You learn more by failure than success. And any baker that says "I
never have failures" is a liar, mad or God.
Love
John