More free education from Bethesdabakers. Does stretching and folding the dough during fermentation have any noticeable effect? Two identical white sourdoughs at 65% hydration: The dough on the right was stretched and folded three times every hour for the first three hours of a four hour fermentation. After four hours: When they were shaped the […]

I’m doing product development work for a craft baker who wants to introduce a new line of quality breads.  He’s successfully producing his first sourdoughs but wants to see more  impressive bubbles in the crumb. Obviously I’m aware that pushing up hydration is a way of achieving this but I’d never actually put it to […]

First off, Happy Birthday Louis Armstrong, the greatest jazz trumpeter ever, born this day 1900. So we are working our way through the Hot Fives & Sevens – the bakery is jumping while I knock out a variety of bread and a bunch of baguettes for a wedding Gert is doing tomorrow. The amazing thing […]

Thank you Maggie. Back at Bethesdabakin’ at Mair’s Bakehouse she gave me a recipe for Zwiebelkuchen, onion cake so I could make it for my neighbour Steffi’s mum when she came over from Germany to visit. Steffi’s mum duly arrived and I think I can say the Ziebelkuchen turned out pretty well.

A lot of people tried out Seigle d’Auvergne from Dan Leader’s Local Breads after it came out in 2007. It was almost like a benchmark of authenticity. Americans seem to have too much reverence for European authenticity – I know that’s a shocking generalisation but that’s the way it can feel. Anyway, he presented this […]

As you might have noticed, I find it difficult not to be flippant about things. But, if you could have come to Bethesdabakin’ at Mairs this year and didn’t you should consider the matter before next year comes around. Ignoring the venue and set up this year, where else could you spend two days baking […]

It’s not my fault – I don’t do sport. Gert wanted Portugal so it had to be Broa. Pleasant enough and the right shape for a rasher of bacon. Also did Pear & Rosemary Focaccia – a real looker:

  No, it’s not a flatbread. Well, it is but it’s not supposed to be. My attempts to be bold and innovative at Mair’s could politely be described as “a work in progress”. The latest edition of “Breadlines”, the Bread Bakers’ Guild of America’s quarterly journal has a recipe for Linseed bread from Steve Scott […]

You know me, black T shirt whatever the occasion to the extent that some people think I’ve only got one. Some of your younger bakers however can be quite brash. We’ve already seen that young tearaway Adam but here’s even younger Marcus making a fashion statement (I think): What’s more he’s got at least two […]

Here’s a wonderful picture of Ben looking like he’s trying to work out who nicked his starter. Someone obviously returned it safely. Poor old Ben was a bit upstaged in the two-wheels department this year by Adam’s heroic journey by scooter. But here’s a picture of his sandwiches in the course of construction for the […]