Making Bread - What's Most Important???

Bread is pretty simple stuff.  There's only looks, feel from the outside, crumb  - texture, taste, holes - and the crust in your mouth.  Or put another way - looks, taste and texture.  So, of these three, what's important - and what is not?

I would propose that looks is the least important for the loaf you are going to eat.  Yet, it is probably looks that makes you choose that same loaf (unless you are able to taste it).

What's most important - I would say taste (including mouth feel).

If there was a fantastic looking loaf - that didn't taste good; or was too chewy or too stiff - who would want it?  It would be like those plastic sushi models that are in some windows.

If you found a loaf that didn't look so good, but tasted fantastic, then you found the diamond in the rough.  Keep it your secret or share it because it is the taste that makes you feel good.

But, if that loaf looks great AND, it tasted fantastic, then that's bread worth eating - even in a world of too many carbs.

Oats n Wheat with fermented steel cut oats

Fig n Fennel Artisan Bread

Black Mission Figs + Fennel Seeds = sweet fig flavor against a slightly licorice background with the crunch of fig seeds.  Crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.

18 oz loaves are just enough to be a treat with coffee or wine (or even beer), but not so much as to get tired of it.

It's a treat.  Of course, fresh bread of most varieties is a treat.  Enjoy.

A new bag of flour

When I get a new bag of flour - I transfer it from the 50# paper bag into several containers.  A couple of these sealable containers hold about 10 pounds each, one holds about 25 pounds and one about 5. I cut the 'identification label' off the bag and tape it the bucket.   I use a big scoop to transfer the flour - but I see the flour and smell it.  I see the consistency.

The flour is the foundation for the breads that will be built on it.  Whether it is the freshly milled rye or wheat berries that add heft deepness to the flour of the rosemary, thyme or dill that gives an altogether different caste to the lightness of the flour or the fig and fennel that provides the sweet/licorice-like contrast or the meatie texture that comes from flax meal and seeds added to the dough.

Then I think of what it will make.  Round crusty loaves for my customers - very soft on the inside and yet crunchy.  Flavorful from the resting time it gets with water and a little yeast, yet mild.  No preservatives, oils or chemicals added - just water, salt and yeast --- and time.

Baked on the stone - steam sprayed to help with the oven spring and crust building flavor.  Removed from the oven at it's finish temperature.  Only twelve approved flavors for sale - but endless opportunities to try.

And, the pizza crust - to hold the flavors that serve as a focal point for a family gathering.  It's a challenge to get that crust finished while also getting the toppings cooked, but not burned.  Subtle and bold flavors all held together with the crust which could be fluffy or crisp or somewhere in between.

And, the PB&J sandwiches for the homeless.  A hundred or more in the month.  Good calories and protein to tide them over  - as they take them where they go from the distribution point.

From a white powder in a brown paper bag on a big box shelf to joy and food and goodness.  Almost anything is a day away.  Smiles and nourishment and flavor and sustenance.   All in that bag - now in my kitchen soon to be in the hands of others.

What if you didn't have to Plan in Advance??? What if you could just say - Yes - I want some???

SameDay
One of my 'tester families' said that people just don't like to plan in advance.  So, to think today (Thursday pm) about ordering bread for delivery on Monday  - well that's just not on their radar.

True?  Is bread an impulse thing?  Certainly, ordering a day or three in advance of cutting it open isn't really an impulse thing - it takes planning.

Dill-Onion Artisan Bread - crispy on the outside and soft on the inside

Ok - what if .....

What if you gave me your email address.  What if I make a couple extra loaves each time I bake to order.  Then, when I have bread, you get an email telling you what kind of bread is ready and a link to the web store item.  If interested follow the link and buy it - first come, first served.

The web store will know the quantity available - and when it's gone, no more orders will be accepted.

If you are in my 'delivery zone', I will deliver it.   If outside - you have to come get it before 7pm.

How is that for almost instant gratification?

But, I cannot email you if I don't have your email address!!   Send it to me.

some details (aka, the fine print):
You will be notified by noon on either Monday or Thursday (the baking days) as to what variety is available.
You are on the email list - until you tell me you want to be removed.
There is no obligation on your part - until you buy (and pay) for a loaf.  Then, your obligation is to pick it up if you are outside of the delivery zone.  But, you are under no obligation to buy anything - any time.  
There are no preservatives in the bread - so please enjoy it soon after you get it (and don't forget to toast some).  
If the bread is delivered to the address you used to order and you are not home, the bread will be placed on your doorstep.  It's yours.
If you are outside of the delivery area, I will give you my address for pickup in an email acknowledging your purchase.
If you are to pick up the bread - and fail to do so by 7pm that night - you have made a gift of the loaf to me.  I can do whatever I deem proper with it.  But, I want you to have it - so please show up.

What Kind of Bread do we eat at My House?

Interesting question - because my house is the center of the experiments.
I eat toast most mornings.  My office is in my home, so I often have a sandwich for lunch.  And, though we rarely have bread with the evening meal, I do often have a piece of toast when the hunger bug hits in the evening.  So, we eat a lot of bread in my house - and I think I eat the most.

But, I want bread that I want to eat.  That said, I don't always have choices.

IF I had a choice, I would ALWAYS choose fresh bread.  I like soft and tasty bread.
I would always choose bread that is good for me - that is soft and tasty.

This morning, we had some Asiago Olive bread from a regional bakery - I think that part of the attraction is that you have to go 40 miles to get it.  It is a couple days old.  It has lots of items on the ingredient list including words I cannot pronounce.  But, it is soft and tasty.

I also have some 6 day old whole wheat bread left over from an experiment.

I was toasting the bread and putting a slice of chicken sausage and microwaved eggs (soft yolk) on top - basically burying the toast literally and flavor wise.

I chose the whole wheat bread for breakfast today - sliced very thin and toasted with butter on it.  With the hot sausage and egg on it, and then sliced into bite sized pieces, I ate it with a fork.  It was nice.

Yesterday, for lunch, I had chicken breast (sliced from a Costco rotisserie chicken) on the Asiago/Olive bread with mayo and a touch of salt.  It was very good.  The wheat bread was a little old for a sandwich, but the loaf bread was great.

My favorite bread is the Rosemary Thyme bread.  It's great for poultry sandwiches, toast with butter or just buttered.  But, it doesn't have any whole wheat in it = and that bothers me a little bit.  "They" say that whole wheat can be added to any recipe - at 20% with no ill effects and often at 40% with no heaviness - and dough conditioners can be added (lecithin, potato flakes, or oil) can be added to 'lighten up' dough made heavy with whole wheat.  Alas - do I want to complicate it?

But, a big part of the attraction of the Rosemary Thyme bread is the softness.  I don't think that a stiffer crumb, though tasty, would be as good.

That said, I am looking forward to some Onion Dill bread that is in fermentation right now.  Similar crumb and crust, but a different taste.  Best uses??  Hmmmm, I am not sure.  It certainly would be good with soups.  I think it would be good with poultry sandwiches.  And, I am sure it would be great just buttered - whether plain or toasted.

Rosemary Garlic Wow

Subtle Garlic.  Smooth and light Rosemary.  Flavors made for each other.  Blended in a creamy dough right from the oven.  Oh - and those chunks of garlic and here and there a whole clove - garlic with flavor softened by baking.  Soft crumb with crispy crust and sweet baked garlic.

That's the Rosemary Garlic Artisan Bread.
Pictures don't do it justice.

Pictures don't show the softness of the crumb

Pictures don't show the subtle smell of garlic and rosemary

Pictures don't show the crispness of the crust

Only a loaf of Fresh Fresh Bread can show the crumb, crust and taste of the bread.

My Fresh Bread Company's breads are prepared over 24 hours or more so the flour, water, salt and yeast ferment and, in this case, the garlic chunks permeate the dough.  Each loaf is baked individually and tested individually for doneness and then cooled to complete the baking process.  The immediate result is a crispy outer shell and a soft and tasty crumb. In this case, that crumb is infused with the flavors of dried rosemary and pieces of garlic cloves.

A simple pleasure.

White Sandwich Bread???

Bread making, to me, is a kind of art.  The combination of making the contents, giving it character and flavor and then making it into a form that is attractive are all parts of creating each loaf of bread.  And, when I think of an Artisanal Bread, white bread does not come to mind.

But, some people want white bread for a sandwich.  Even PB&J.  These sandwiches are just not the same with rosemary thyme bread or crusty double flax bread or caraway rye.  Sometimes, it seems, you just want soft white bread.

In fact, simple white bread is the easiest of all of the varieties to make.  It's a little different baking in a pan, but that's even easier than a free form loaf that needs to hold it's form to so a taller loaf comes out of the oven than what went into the oven.

Here it is - with the mushroom head and fluffy white crumb.  The crust is softer, but not soft.  Keep it in a plastic bag and it gets/stays soft.

Sometimes- white bread:  It's what's for lunch.