Bread

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/16777525/

That looks great, thanks!

ah cool! I am using a 20 quid one from Nisbets for last year, just wanted to know :)

I also have an enameled cast iron one which seems to be problem free touch wood.

Upped hydration a bit for my latest and got something pretty happy with although the dough was a bit more hard work. Please excuse the wanky scoring 😬

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Why did the baker have brown hands?

Because they needed a poo.

Because they needed a poo, folks, they needed a poo. Say it out loud. My five year old didn’t get it.

bought one of these as our kid was killing my le crueset with baking sourdough at 240 deg.

works well, no rust issues so far.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08L6GKLW2/

I’ve used this pre-seasoned Lodge combo for ten years and never had a spot of rust. Use it with the shallow side on the bottom and it’s much easier to drop the dough in without burning your fingers.

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I just made my Karen loaf (basic bitch white sourdough). On a technical level it’s fantastic - great open crumb (not too open so it can be a vector for things spread on top, oven spring was huge (over doubled in size) dough shaped well etc etc. It is great with decent salted butter or other things but it’s just too anodyne.

I made it as a guilty pleasure but like a Mcdonalds Big Mac it is briefly fun but just rather unsatisfactory at a deeper level. Wholemeal loaves or ones with seeds or other changes make for more difficult to handle and less visual/ insta friendly but with so much more character, taste and nutritional value.

Sounds like you're gonna have something with croutons

I am just toasting spices and nuts to make dukkah.

Then have olive oil, argan oil and spice mix to dip into

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Made proper bread for the first time in a good long while today (and yesterday). I messed with an old employer’s recipe…
60% strong
40% spelt
80% hydration
25% rye levain
auto’d for an hour, bulk fermented for 2hrs 45 mins with folds every 45 mins.

I don’t seem to have a Dutch oven anymore, so into the tin it went, which remains the baker’s stealth favourite I reckon. Though a replacement cast iron is in the post…

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Might have gone a bit large on Stollen this year. We've only got the in-laws coming over.

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they look lovely - can I pop round? :)

Mini Guinness loaf

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looks great - recipe?

Sorry I don't really have one, I just sort of freestyle loafs at this point.

I think it's roughly the following
300g Wholemeal, 200g white, 360ml Guinness, 10g salt, freepour of starter, mix, no kneading, rise, shape, rise, bake in dutch oven preheated to 250 and turned down to 180 when I put the bread in. 20 mins with lid on, 20 mins off.

thanks - that gives me a good steer:)

anyone here regularly use Shipton Mill flour?

If so, what's your view on the various white wheat flours they offer? I'm going to try a few out myslef but would be interested to hear other views.

also, anyone found a good container for their 16kg bags? I think 25kg will be too much for me.

Personally I prefer the Wessex Mill flour, it has the added bonus of being cheaper.

Re containers I got some airtight, wheeled bins from Solent Plastics which were great and cheap

Wessex Mill

Thanks I'd not discovered them. Will give them a go next.

I use their no 4 organic, seems nice and makes nice bread, but not got too much experience of things to compare to.

I use one of these, I think the 35l one but I can check in a bit, that I got from homebase, to store a flour and rice sack in

https://www.reallyusefulstorageboxes.co.uk/35litre-really-useful-storage-box-c2x12529639

That's kinda a thing , I look for colour and density, I've found cheeper flour has a less white colour . I'm totally up for the theory of buy the best you can or buy as local but blind I'd be suggesting some of the cheapest has the better quality (just on white)

I’m using it and it’s pretty decent. I’m using the pizza specialty white one and it’s as far as I can tell it’s as good as caputo

Just got a delivery of Shipton Mill the other day. I get big bags of white and wholemeal, prices have gone up but I calculated the other day I'll get somewhere in the region of 65 loaves of decent sourdough from the two sacks I ordered which makes them less that £1 a go for organic sourdough. Plus we can have pizza, burger rolls etc for dinner if I'm organised enough.

Had to ditch my old starter. Why can’t I get a new one to work?

Day 1: 60g wholewheat bread flour, 60g water (boiled and cooled)
Day 2: smells good, signs of activity
Day 3: feed with 60g white bread flour, 60g water. Goes bananas almost straight away. Doubles in size, loads of air, before collapsing after about 10 hours. Fed same again. Much less activity.
Day 4, 5, 6…. Discard all but 30g and feed with another 60g white, 60g water. No growth, a few bubbles, double cream thickness, a little liquid on top.
Was told to stick with it but gave up after 12 days and no change.

It’s in a jar with a loose lid, kept between 20 and 25 degrees.

I’ve tried maybe five or six times now. Any tips?