Nasa has nothing to do with making a good sourdough culture, nor has dancing in the moonlight!
Useful bread baking tips on flour, water and bread in general
- Never trust the amount of water given in a bread recipe, your flour could be (acting) different from theirs, absorbing more or less liquid.
- Use steam! Using steam (spray water on the sides of your oven, be careful not to damage your oven by spraying on electrical things) during the first 8 minutes in the oven gives the bread room for expansion and forces the enzymes in the crust to give your bread a nice color!
- Use a dough scraper, they are great for dividing dough and for dough folding, especially with wetter dough!
- Read a good book about bread baking techniques; we like ‘Bread’ by Jeffrey Hamelman, his recipes really work for us.
- Make your own sourdough culture. There are lots of articles about sourdough. Some are very technical and elaborate talking about sourdough starters as if the are designed by Nasa and need the upkeep done at moonlight, dancing around Stonehenge. All you need is unbleached organic flour, water, a jar and a spoon. Read our instructions on how to make your own sourdough culture.
- Do NOT store bread in your fridge because the temperature of the fridge (about 5 degrees Celsius) is about the worst climate for keeping bread so it’s the fastest way to old and stale loaves and rolls. Store it in your freezer or in a plastic bag at room temperature. The best thing of course is to eat it after it has (almost) cooled down, although some breads, like rye bread get a bit better with age.
- If your bread is a bit stale, do not throw it away but give it a quick ‘pick me up’ in the oven for 5 minutes at about 175 ºC / 345 ºF. You will lose some moisture but you will get your crust back. Be aware, this will work only once! Check out other tips on using stale bread.
Skip Davison says
I have a Thermador wall oven that has Bake, Convection Bake, Convection Roast and true convection choices. I think the true convection is fan with an element alone. Convection Bake is both elements and the fan without its heating element. True convection is with the fan and its element only. Convection Roast is both elements and the fan with its heat element also.
I normally use the convection Bake @ 450-500 degrees and I use a large pizza stone and spray water early in the bake. What are your thoughts?
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Skip,
It is our personal opinion that it would be best to bake bread without using any fan at all. If it is not possible to bake with the elements only with your oven settings we would choose the option Convection Bake too. Perhaps you could also block the fan in some way. But you do not write about your results baking like you do now, so we are not sure if you actually having problems with your baking results?!
Ed & Marieke
Marieke says
Hi Ozoz,
I think making your own bread is so rewarding. And we get such positive and enthusiastic reactions from family and friends. Hope you find the time soon…
Marieke
Ozoz says
Haven’t made bread since last summer… by hand or in my breadmaker. You make me want to get started again. Maybe one day….
Marieke says
Hi Kim,
I see you have some impressive artistic and food qualities yourself!
I am going to give those orange and white chocolate cookies a try really soon.
Have fun with the cooking!
Marieke
Kim, Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet says
Your blog is dangerous! I come here and want to eat everything!! The bread looks absolutely breathtaking!