We're making an outdoor kitchen! We built a wall and graded our hill last year, so this year it is time to make a level spot, a safe seating arrangement on the wall, and a kitchen. No idea what kind of a wood fired oven we will make- I welcome input on low-cost, low-effort starter ovens. Right now we are planning the place: a platform that closes up during winter, getting water to the sink (found it on the street!), and scouting for kitchens getting renovated to salvage their parts for ours.
I don't really have an outdoor space, so no backyard baking here. I am planning to travel with my spouse and four other friends to a villa in Italy for two weeks (delayed from July 2020 and then from July 2021; fingers crossed for 2022!), so perhaps there will be some baking there? There will undoubtedly be some kind of breads, pizzas, etc. consumed!
This brings me to a question: what shall I do with my starter? I regularly refresh it once a week, but I will be gone from (at least) July 1-16, meaning that it would be at least a 17-day stretch. Will it bounce back after such a long time in the fridge? Should I dry some? Anybody here want to startersit for me (kidding!)?
Your starter will be fine in the fridge for that length of time, happily waiting for you to come home. Recently, I left mine (freshly fed) for a month. After one feeding, it was up and running again.
What Stephanie said! A month isn't too long at all. One thing I would recommend (if you don't do it already) is to feed it and only let it double before putting it into the fridge, which lets the starter continue to ferment while its in cold storage.
Thanks to both of you! Glad to hear that the “little guys” should be good. Yes, I let it double and then put in the fridge, so I’ll be sure to do that the morning before we leave.
Lots going on here in Florida! This week and next week on Friday nights I'm doing a pizza fundraiser for Dobie Ranch Rescue, a Doberman Rescue in Crystal River that has recently taken on a litter of 7 pups that were abused by their "breeder" - this monster did not provide a clean environment for the pups and basic healthcare (deworming) so they were infested with hookworms and coccidia. One of the pups has passed already but the other 6 are being treated aggressively to hopefully save them.
Anyway, I'm not close enough to physically help them but figured a lot of people love pizza and I may as well raise some $$ that way! I expect to go over $500 over the two Fridays, suggesting a $20 donation for each pizza, and I'll do 24 pizzas total.
Last week I tried out a dough recipe that has a small amount of dark rye and sifted durum as well as 00 flour and sourdough starter. It was really a great dough, had some nice structure so not as easy to tear but still stretched pretty easily after warming up on the counter. I've started using some Janie's Mill flours as well and love them so far!
Other than that, I'm still doing my regular bakes weekly out of my home kitchen. Made a few loaves of the newest version of the SD English Muffin Bread, fabulous! And this week I'm planning to deliver 4 pans of lasagnas via Lasagna Love. So I'm keeping busy during this crazy hot weather, but having fun!
Hi Andrew! Is that your new Ooni? We just bought the Karu 12, wanting choice of fuels but also a less heavy oven with ease of portability. We tried it out for the first time a couple of nights ago using your NYC Thin-Crust dough (my favorite). It puffed up more than when I make it in our indoor oven, dramatically so, and seemed a bit underdone in spite of quite a bit of char. (Too much, actually.) I know there’s a learning curve for Ooni pizza baking, but I’m wondering if you have any tips? Also, the dough was out of the fridge for longer than usual. (A couple of hours or so.) Could the puffiness be a result of the yeast getting revved up for too long before baking?
Stephanie - that's my previous Ooni, I now have the Karu 16", though I haven't used it very much yet. Not sure what is happening with yours, but *maybe* it was overproofed? I'm assuming you read my Serious Eats piece about making pizza in Ooni-style ovens? One thing I've noticed is that hotter isn't necessarily better with these ovens, and that I get better results if I aim for the 700-800F range.
Hoping to run a question by Andrew and everyone -- we have been buying flour from Ground Up Grains here in Mass. and making your no-knead sourdough recipe pretty regularly. I'm wondering if and how we should treat the bolted flour differently from, say King Arthur AP. I would assume it ferments faster, but how much faster, in general? Would you add any additional water? Also -- a friend made one loaf with the bolted and one loaf with King Arthur, and noticed it was quite a bit stickier. It baked up fine, so I don't think it was over fermented, or at least not seriously so. Any thoughts on how best to use this great flour? Thank you!
Kevin - Not sure which flour you are using from GU, but I'd recommend their bread flour as a replacement for KA AP. I like their AP flour, but it doesn't make great bread IMO. If you do use that flour, you'll want to add about 5% more water, or about 80% total.
I have a Roccbox pizza oven. Greatly enjoy using your NY pizza dough recipe with it in the summer. Toppings are always pepperoni, mozzarella, red sauce, and hot honey! Yum!
I have also used it for pita and that is delicious as well. Though hummus I always find a lot more time consuming than everyone says it is, and it still never tastes quite like it’s supposed to. The pita is the easy part. If you have a fool proof hummus recipe please share!
I am currently in India. I live in India because it's always good to be where you live. Over here summer is just now being overtaken by the knock on the door that is Monsoon. And I'm in highschool, which here in India is a big deal.
I'm camping at the lake with my daughter this week. I made a batch of dough the night before we left home and put in the cooler to cold-proof. We grilled a pizza Sunday and grilled flatbread last night. It's so satisfying to make fresh bread on a fire!
We're making an outdoor kitchen! We built a wall and graded our hill last year, so this year it is time to make a level spot, a safe seating arrangement on the wall, and a kitchen. No idea what kind of a wood fired oven we will make- I welcome input on low-cost, low-effort starter ovens. Right now we are planning the place: a platform that closes up during winter, getting water to the sink (found it on the street!), and scouting for kitchens getting renovated to salvage their parts for ours.
I don't really have an outdoor space, so no backyard baking here. I am planning to travel with my spouse and four other friends to a villa in Italy for two weeks (delayed from July 2020 and then from July 2021; fingers crossed for 2022!), so perhaps there will be some baking there? There will undoubtedly be some kind of breads, pizzas, etc. consumed!
This brings me to a question: what shall I do with my starter? I regularly refresh it once a week, but I will be gone from (at least) July 1-16, meaning that it would be at least a 17-day stretch. Will it bounce back after such a long time in the fridge? Should I dry some? Anybody here want to startersit for me (kidding!)?
Happy summer, all!
Your starter will be fine in the fridge for that length of time, happily waiting for you to come home. Recently, I left mine (freshly fed) for a month. After one feeding, it was up and running again.
What Stephanie said! A month isn't too long at all. One thing I would recommend (if you don't do it already) is to feed it and only let it double before putting it into the fridge, which lets the starter continue to ferment while its in cold storage.
Thanks to both of you! Glad to hear that the “little guys” should be good. Yes, I let it double and then put in the fridge, so I’ll be sure to do that the morning before we leave.
Lots going on here in Florida! This week and next week on Friday nights I'm doing a pizza fundraiser for Dobie Ranch Rescue, a Doberman Rescue in Crystal River that has recently taken on a litter of 7 pups that were abused by their "breeder" - this monster did not provide a clean environment for the pups and basic healthcare (deworming) so they were infested with hookworms and coccidia. One of the pups has passed already but the other 6 are being treated aggressively to hopefully save them.
Anyway, I'm not close enough to physically help them but figured a lot of people love pizza and I may as well raise some $$ that way! I expect to go over $500 over the two Fridays, suggesting a $20 donation for each pizza, and I'll do 24 pizzas total.
Last week I tried out a dough recipe that has a small amount of dark rye and sifted durum as well as 00 flour and sourdough starter. It was really a great dough, had some nice structure so not as easy to tear but still stretched pretty easily after warming up on the counter. I've started using some Janie's Mill flours as well and love them so far!
Other than that, I'm still doing my regular bakes weekly out of my home kitchen. Made a few loaves of the newest version of the SD English Muffin Bread, fabulous! And this week I'm planning to deliver 4 pans of lasagnas via Lasagna Love. So I'm keeping busy during this crazy hot weather, but having fun!
So sad about the puppies! I hope you raise a ton of $$$!
Hi Andrew! Is that your new Ooni? We just bought the Karu 12, wanting choice of fuels but also a less heavy oven with ease of portability. We tried it out for the first time a couple of nights ago using your NYC Thin-Crust dough (my favorite). It puffed up more than when I make it in our indoor oven, dramatically so, and seemed a bit underdone in spite of quite a bit of char. (Too much, actually.) I know there’s a learning curve for Ooni pizza baking, but I’m wondering if you have any tips? Also, the dough was out of the fridge for longer than usual. (A couple of hours or so.) Could the puffiness be a result of the yeast getting revved up for too long before baking?
Stephanie - that's my previous Ooni, I now have the Karu 16", though I haven't used it very much yet. Not sure what is happening with yours, but *maybe* it was overproofed? I'm assuming you read my Serious Eats piece about making pizza in Ooni-style ovens? One thing I've noticed is that hotter isn't necessarily better with these ovens, and that I get better results if I aim for the 700-800F range.
Thanks Andrew, this is very helpful. And no, I haven’t seen your SE piece. I will go find it now.
Hoping to run a question by Andrew and everyone -- we have been buying flour from Ground Up Grains here in Mass. and making your no-knead sourdough recipe pretty regularly. I'm wondering if and how we should treat the bolted flour differently from, say King Arthur AP. I would assume it ferments faster, but how much faster, in general? Would you add any additional water? Also -- a friend made one loaf with the bolted and one loaf with King Arthur, and noticed it was quite a bit stickier. It baked up fine, so I don't think it was over fermented, or at least not seriously so. Any thoughts on how best to use this great flour? Thank you!
Kevin - Not sure which flour you are using from GU, but I'd recommend their bread flour as a replacement for KA AP. I like their AP flour, but it doesn't make great bread IMO. If you do use that flour, you'll want to add about 5% more water, or about 80% total.
Thanks for the reply. I’ve been using their all purpose flour for bread. I will try the bread flour once this batch is done
If you want to use it up while still getting decent bread, you could use it 50-50 with KA bread flour and keep the hydration of the original recipe
I will do that -- thanks again.
I have a Roccbox pizza oven. Greatly enjoy using your NY pizza dough recipe with it in the summer. Toppings are always pepperoni, mozzarella, red sauce, and hot honey! Yum!
I have also used it for pita and that is delicious as well. Though hummus I always find a lot more time consuming than everyone says it is, and it still never tastes quite like it’s supposed to. The pita is the easy part. If you have a fool proof hummus recipe please share!
I am currently in India. I live in India because it's always good to be where you live. Over here summer is just now being overtaken by the knock on the door that is Monsoon. And I'm in highschool, which here in India is a big deal.
So....
Sadly... No plans
I'm camping at the lake with my daughter this week. I made a batch of dough the night before we left home and put in the cooler to cold-proof. We grilled a pizza Sunday and grilled flatbread last night. It's so satisfying to make fresh bread on a fire!