Monday Open Thread 5/16/22
Monday Open Thread 5/16/22
Baker Crush Edition
We got a flurry of new subscribers here over the last few days, thanks to my friend (and personal baker crush) Tara Jensen sharing a “20 Questions” interview she asked me to do on her newsletter, which you can read here if you are interested. Thanks to all who just joined up, so nice to have you here. Feel free to introduce yourselves to the 6800 or so others who make Wordloaf such a vibrant place for breadheads to hang out. Mondays are when we catch up with one another and share news of our bread baking triumphs and travails.
If you don’t know Tara (it seems impossible that anyone doesn’t know Tara at this point), you need to! She is a sourdough WIZARD who has taught countless people how to bake with natural ferments, starting with her 2018 book, A Baker's Year. Her next book, Flour Power, drops in August, and I can not wait for it. (I hope to share some excerpts and recipes when it does):
—Andrew
Happy Monday Y'all!! Busy week this past week! 6 deep dish sourdough focaccias again, and 5 loaves of SD, 4 loaves of Amish Cinnamon Bread, along with a test run of a blueberry cream pie, and Shokupan too. Blueberry Cornbread gifted to a neighbor, and of course pizza on the Ooni - we have started a new tradition in our 'hood, we make an extra pizza on Friday nights and offer it up to someone on our neighborhood FB group. Sometimes they come by and join us for their pizza on the front porch or sometimes they take it with them. And wine too! Needless to say i'm keeping busy in retirement.
I'm going through a lot of KA AP flour, still getting it at Costco. Ingredient prices have gone crazy, right? Trying to not raise pricing in my little home bakery but flour alone has gone up 20% over the last 9 months or so. Ideas??
Have a fabulous week all!
Lots of happy fermenting this weekend. A gallon of yogurt now draining in the fridge, some to eat, raita, marinades, and labneh. Bananas from the yard whole wheat banana bread with yogurt, walnut, and dark chocolate chips. The fifth iteration of whole wheat, oat, cinnamon raisin sandwich bread. Using an autolyse with whole wheat flour after soaking the oats has made the dough much easier to handle. It rose faster, even with decreasing the yeast, and has a perfect crumb. A shout out to the cinnamon raisin sourdough from Community Loaves in Jacksonville, Fl