Ok guys I have been quiet in here because sourdough is an art form with 90% very hard work and 10% luck. I kept a starter for a few years and made some fine loaves of bread in my brick oven. It is so much work. The oven needs to be full - 12 loaves for the crust to develop properly. Before you even ask
yes I tried different methods of humidifying the chamber with fewer loaves but it did not work as well as a full oven. Making and proofing 12 loaves of bread with a 6 qt mixer and no commercial proofing box is a nightmare. Even with a lot of batches Luck still played a roll in the end result. The weather plays a big roll in proofing in the utility room as it is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.
Yada yada yada.............. The horror stories go on and on. Ok when it came out good it was very very good. Which is not good for a diabetic
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The message here is that it is just too much work and I do not need to eat a loaf of bread and stick of butter at one time. Trust me when it came out good that is exactly what I did.
Here is a couple of shots of our oven when I just finished building it in November 2011. That is its first fire.
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My wife is the baker and worked in commercial french bakeries in the past before she went to the Culinary Academy of San Francisco and graduated from the 18 month chef program. She loves to try new recipes and just found The Pie And Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum at the used book store. She made this blueberry pie this evening. It is so delicious I cannot wait to have a slice with my espresso in the morning.
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I am just seeing what's up. Not trying to open a bakery (yet), just looking to have some fun and attempt a homebrew culture. I'm pretty sure that if I get a usable dough from this I will like the end results. Even if it winds up a complete waste of time, it only costs pennies at the moment, and Mike's instructions were pretty clear, concise and fun to read, so I figured what the hell...let's give it the ole college try. He seems quite satisfied with his loaves before this past week caused all the headaches...they sure look like they would be fun to crack into. And If I can make bread that's as good as what I can get down the road for 1/10 the price, I'm sold.
I will even start making my own panko from scratch...I already do minus the actual making of the bread anyway, and hard sourdough is responsible for my all time favorite crumbs, so rest assured something WILL come out of this eventually.
Tapioca starch...take the pearls and turn em into dust. The pro bakers first choice for fruit pie consistency, the only variable is how much to use. The good news is that I've never dried a pie out with tapioca, and it's quite forgiving. Just use a tablespoon or so.
I love blueberry, quite possibly my all time favorite, and I feel for ya having to exercise control with a bloob on the counter just haunting your mind.
Being in Finger Lakes country, we have a lot of wineries here. There is this huge harvest festival down in Naples called the Grape Festival...we have this insane phenomenon called a grape pie. It's like a blueberry pie but darker...almost black, with a floating crust, which is detached from the side by a ½" gap where you can see the guts. I tried making one a few years back with disastrous results. It's SO MUCH work too, as you got to get the skin and seeds out, and then use the skin to get the color back in. Quite a few extra steps that aren't present with a more traditional pie, and it's very tedious popping grapes.
There is probably a hundred or more spots down there in the Southern Tier where you can get one, but I like a joint called Monica's Pies. It's a little place down in Naples that's a local favorite...they also make apple fritters and a host of other seasonal goodies like honey and maple syrup and such, if you're in the neighborhood towards the end of September, check it out. People come from all over the country to stock up on wine and pies. They even post the official recipe on their website...it's not as easy as it looks, lol.
All this pie talk reminded me...back in high school, my good buddy had a textbook with a hilarious drawing put in by a previous student. It was this very well drawn little scene of an old round baker lady that had just put a steaming hot pie on the window sill to cool...there was a little young black boy hiding behind a wood pile around the corner, with a little thought bubble that said "I'm gonna steal the pie". Best textbook ever...I can still see the cartoon clear as day in my brain.
THEY'RE called KAAAAHBS Joe's dad's stuff
Got some home made vanilla ice cream on stand by to go on top. Thanks.
