Bread

Looks great.

Tried the sourdough croissant recipe from Tartine. Never made them before, so pretty chuffed with these

Good effort! Getting a good proof seems to be the challenge - warmth and humidity really help. My mate sets up a makeshift setup with a heater, humidifier, clothes rack and a plastic sheet cover, lol.

they look awesome!

With my proofer the whole bulk fermentation process was pretty straightforward, the main hard part was getting the butter block together and laminating the thing. Super satisfying when cutting them and seeing all the layers though, and taste solid to boot

Do you have one of those proofing tent things? Have been pondering one, especially as at this time of year my freezing kitchen means my doughs are proofing incredibly slowly, the sourdoughs in particular.

Yeah, Brod & Taylor. Bit pricey, but worth it if you're constantly baking like I am.

Had a surplus of wholemeal rye flour knocking around so decided to try a rye sourdough using this recipe: https://www.ilovecooking.ie/recipe/100-rye-sourdough/

It's just gone into the oven and is already the most aesthetically pleasing loaf I've made to date...

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And the after pic...

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That looks amazing. Definitely need to try sourdough again.

Had some leftover leaven from making croissants again (which weren't as great this week), so tried making a Pain de Mie

My attempts at baking sourdough in a standard electric oven on a cast iron tray are improving...

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Made some sourdough pizza this evening too...

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Definitely my best loaf yet, managed to get a proper rise on a cast iron tray

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Nice one, what did you do differently to the last one?

I had been using the Patrick Ryan recipe and halving it for a single loaf. I just made the full amount for two loaves this time and it has worked much better.

That said I think a lot of the problems I was having were due to the dough sticking to the proving basket, resulting in loads of poking, prodding and banging to get it out onto the baking tray. The dough almost always ripped making it spread like a pancake before going into the oven. I just went heavier on the flour in the proving basket before putting the dough in, and they flopped straight out easily this morning.

That looks amazing

I actually made 2 loaves, but didn't have a proving basket for the other so proved it in a rectangular baking tin, it also turned out better than any of my previous loaves.

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Awesome. Did you use his recipe for your starter as well?

I've yet to try making my own starter. I think this week is the week.

Yeah used his recipe for starter, white sourdough, wholemeal rye sourdough and pizza

Been experimenting with the new cooker. I thought for an exciting minute that the top oven was non-fan, but it seemed to jettison out all the steam from some vents above as soon as I closed the door.

It does seem to hit a higher temp though and I can then switch to the bottom oven to finish, allowing me to bake 2 loaves within the hour. Also got the elusive blisters for the first time ever.

No split on these, but I'm putting that down to shit flour and shaping. Will see how the inside is tomorrow.

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A good tip for maintaining a good supply of steam in a normal home oven is to roast a full tray of veg underneath it if you can. When you want the steam to finish just take the veg out and put it back in to finish it off later if it’s not done. Roast veg on toast for lunches all week shall be your reward

That's a great idea

Also - try baking in a cast iron pot, that'll solve the steam issue as well

I usually use the pot/Tartine method but if I want to do baguettes the veg is a life saver and one you can walk away from more easily than the Tartine suggestion of leaving damp tea towels in your oven for the first half of the bake

Yeah I've been using a pot since starting baking bread, but I feel like I'd like to be able to reproduce the same on a steel. The latter seemed to bake the base less for some reason.

Will give the veg hack a try at some point.