Bread

Newbie in need of help! Hot ovens etc.Submitted by Bakingmadtoo on May 22, 2013 - 9:15am. Hello to all. I have been 'lurking' for a while and am diligently working my way through all the old threads (yes, all of them!) and I have been learning lots and lots.You certainly are a knowledgeable bunch. I have several questions,but expect I will find the answer to some yet, so will hang fire. But this one I could do with a little help with for starters.Heating my oven. Nearly all recipes say to heat the oven for at least an hour to just about the hottest setting (for a domestic oven anyway). I simply cannot afford to heat my oven for that long and have no choice other than to bake bread as soon as it reaches temperature (I have an oven thermometer so know that my oven is pretty accurate). I know that the heat is needed for good oven spring . So, bearing in mind that I can't preheat for hours, what can I do to get the best spring possible? I have an enameled steel pot with lid that works as a substitute dutch oven, many baking sheets and pans and various tins. I use a tray that I fill with hot water in the bottom of the oven for steam. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated, thank you.

Apprentice an Artisan in Cleveland?Submitted by Davidkatz on May 22, 2013 - 9:04am. Hi,i am looking to work alongside an artisan baker in or near Cleveland Oh a few hours a week.i plan to open my own boutique artisan bakery in Israel some time next year.Thoughts, offers, ideas....David

Cobs Bread CanadaSubmitted by NewBaker416 on May 22, 2013 - 6:05am. I just started working for Cobs Bread and I want to share my, so far, horrible experience with you all.In August I'm heading out to western Canada to apply for real work that pays a large amount (my current employer doesn't know this). In the meantime I had to find a night shift job in order to fit my families' schedule. So I browse through online ads and find "Night Shift worker needed at bakery". I have no experience at all in baking but I applied for the hours not for the job. I get a call back, interview, and sure enough I'm hired within 2 days. My boss is well aware I have no experience. He said, "Its OK, we will train you".So I start my at my new job processing dough through the machine to make the loafs, also dressing pastries. No problem, I don't mind this at all. Mind you my shift is 2am to 10am.  As the first week comes to an end, I notice my supervisor and boss pushing me towards operating the mixing bowl and even the oven. It turns out they want me to take over my supervisors position as the bowl operator (so he can get more sleep and less time at the bakery), which requires alot of skill and experience. Me being a team player I was willing to try. Remember they are fully aware I have no experience. They start telling me how I'm slow, and rolling there eyes at me for any small mistake i make. I am not comfortable with the position they want me to do as it takes on alot of responsibility and crucial thinking. Maybe a bit too much for a newbie.Last night was by far the worst however. They wanted me in at 1am to run the bowl all night with the help of a girl who has 10 years baking experience. Starts off she was 30 min late. As time time goes on she keeps telling me because of my slowness "we're 30 min behind", no b**** we're 30 min behind because you showed up 30 min late. Continuing on, i messed up a measurement and she freaks out. She's now banging things around, and talking to me rude. This makes me more nervous as my nerves are starting to bounce off the walls, so i made more mistakes. She gets worse "For fuck sakes" she says. "Its not rocket science its basic math". Now I feel like s*** and i just want to leave, but i don't want to quit my job. I ended up apologizing later on in the shift but she kinda just rolled her eyes.I'm now on my day off, and I don't even want to go back, but I'm not a quitter. I have to hang in there until August comes and I head for out west. I would have went out west already but I need to save some money up and prepare for the trip. I guess I'm just writing this to post my frustration and let people know what its like to work at Cobs Bread In Canada (I wont say which one i work at). I have a weird feeling my store will read this and figure out who it is, which i don't care. Just so you know its 1am or 2am start times at cobs and you don't finish until about 10am. No breaks what so ever! Which i know is illegal in Ontario. Also the boss tries to keep me just under 40 hours a week to avoid giving me benefits, which he told me i would get in the interview. And whats up with the little grade 9 girls working at the front of the store? Why don't you hire older people who don't leave because of high school? Weird. And I cant believe how they are all so into bread lmao! Like really? You get frustrated over bread? My supervisor and the rude b**** are so into the shop that they don't own, there working there ass off to make someone else rich lol. Get a grip! Cant wait to leave!

Sleepy vol-au-ventsSubmitted by Juergen Krauss on May 22, 2013 - 5:32am. I shouldn't be baking when I am too tired, especially not something new:I did only enough turns for croissants, getting 32 layers. Butter everywhere!The next try was much better, with 256 layers:But this time I think the problem is the oven. Fan only, and the door seems to loose a lot of heat.I rotated the baking sheet every 10 minutes during the bake.Cheers,Juergen

Stuff it with any fillings you like and you have a simple and delicious lunch. And if you make them small, individual-serving-size, you can pack them for a great school lunch. There is no end to the flavor combinations. This recipe can be made with any of the doughs in our Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day book, but today I made it with the gluten-free dough, which is super tasty and easy to work with. Because the dough doesn’t have the same gluten-full stretch, we have to handle it slightly differently, but it is just as simple as traditional dough with the right technique. 8 ounces pizza dough (about the size of an orange) from Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day - you can divide the dough in half for individual-size portions. 1/4 cup tomato sauce (or any sauce of your choice) 3 to 4 ounces mozzarella (or other cheese, meat or veggies) Basil (Spinach or arugula would be tasty too) Olive oil for drizzling Salt Egg wash for brushing on top (one egg whisked with one tablespoon water) Preheat oven to 500°F with a Cast Iron Pizza Pan or Baking Stone on the bottom rack. Dust a sheet of parchment with rice flour, dust the dough with flour as well. Press it into a disk. Make sure the dough is still able to move on the sheet. If it sticks, add more flour. Roll the disk out to an 1/8-inch thick circle, making sure it isn’t sticking. If a spot sticks, use a spatula or bench scraper to work flour under the stuck part. Top half the dough with the sauce, cheese and basil. Sprinkle with salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Use a bench scraper to lift the uncovered side of dough and fold it over the fillings. Egg wash the edge with a Pastry Brush. Fold the edge together to prevent the fillings from oozing out as it bakes. Brush the top with egg wash and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. When it comes out of the oven drizzle with more olive oil. Let the calzone sit for a few minutes to allow the filling to set slightly before cutting into it.

Braiding SourdoughSubmitted by Lap on May 22, 2013 - 3:58am. I am looking to braid my sourdough. I normally retard in the refrigerator for the overnight before baking. I assume I braid before i retard. Most of the discussion in the forum appear around Challah....Has anyone done? Any pointers....guess I need to roll before? Thanks.

MixersSubmitted by lamberta72 on May 22, 2013 - 12:59am. I know, I know - mixers .. pls don't yell at me I'm old!  In short, have a 6mo KA Artisan, hate it, am selling it.. Want an Assistent, none here in Australia, can import but no service here.  Looked at the Bosch 86 but prob overkill at 1600W.  Make bread just for myself, don't eat a lot of bread (carbs!), so scale recipes back to 500g flour weight and I prefer slightly higher hydration breads.  Am looking at the Bosch MUM 56 (900W) .. anyone have experience with one and are you happy with it?  Dough hook looks a little flimsy.  Have checked previous posts.BTW I just made David Snyders San Joaquin Sourdough (my most ambitious loaf yet) and it turned out beautifully, despite all the usual interruptions, phone calls, visitors etc.  Don't it always happen!!Sondra

Moving on from Chester St ...Submitted by PiPs on May 21, 2013 - 11:54pm. Due to creative differences I am moving on from Chester St Kitchen to pursue a new venture ... I wish all the team at Chester St the very best for the future.... stay tuned I guess :)Happy baking everyonePhil

hot tip Submitted by yozzause on May 21, 2013 - 10:41pm. Hi FOLKSI responded to a post by Khalid the other day that started with reference to flour bags  and a job as an apprentice of cutting up the heavy hessian bags that the rye flour and rye meal used to come in, they were 150lb bags in those far off days.The hand mits are used by the men working the 40 - 50 tray travelling ovens also the 40 tray peel ovens for protection from the hot tins or trays but also needing to have their hands and fingers free for alternately loading the oven.hands free to pick up things  tins or trays  to load ovens        ready for action flipped  ready for the hot stuff these ones are purchased from a supplier of bakery and butchers supplies made from terry towelling far better than using tea towels that the students tend to use,( must be a chef thing ) but can be quite dangerous if the tea towel has been used on anything damp as the heat quickly starts to produce steam that then makes the tray get so heavy that i have seen them drop the goods on the floor.i think i could easily make these myself too right tool for the right job  kind regards  Yozza (Thats me just in case there are talent scouts out there)

Dough HookSubmitted by bures on May 21, 2013 - 10:19pm. I have just purchased a Bosch Food Mixer with a dough hook.I made the bread by allowing the appliance to mix the ingrediants for about 5 minutes. I then took out the dough and kneeded it by hand for about 10 mins, Let it rest for an hour, knocked out the air  then another hour before going into the oven.Superb loaf of bread, best I have ever made.Now, I purchased this Bosch with the objective that can do all the kneeding for me, rather than my hand method.A breadmaker carries out this task by replicating my hand process, ie, it never leaves the breadmaker from start to finishCant find anything on the net on how a Dough Hook can complete the entire kneeding process liker a breadmaker ?Any comments would be appreciated