Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Minimalism



With bread baking and pizza making, why not consider a minimalistic approach. The best pizza I ever had was topped with tomato sauce, cheese and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.
The best bread I ever had was made with sourdough starter, flour, water and salt. With this approach, the baker can't hide behind the sesame seeds, onions, artichoke hearts, broccoli, honey, molasses and everything other imaginable ingredient.
I suggest you strive to use the least you can, and as you'll soon discover, great skill is required.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Experiment #2001


This last bake was similar to the previous ones in the past couple of weeks, but this time I doubled the amount of starter from 1/2 cup to 1 cup. I was not able to discern any differences in the proofing time or in the loaf quality. Another superlative loaf.
The photo was taken from my first book, Bread In Time.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Making Pizza





Pat Manley, bake-oven designer and mason bakes pizza in one of his ovens. Note the movable steel shields that protect the pizzas from the intense oven fire, and also notice the electronic thermal sensor. This device gives an instantaneous temperature reading of any surface area. The laser beam tells you where the reading is coming from. I can't wait to buy of these.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Experiment encore


ok. Baked undercover 15 minutes at 475. Baked without cover 30 min at 400.
The main difference between this loaf and the others was a warmer proofing temperature. I also allowed the dough to rise right to the top of the proofing baskets.
The finished loaf is also lighter in weight.