u/Guilty-Accident-8286

I made 2 loaves this weekend after a few weeks away. I was really happy with them.

850g bread flour
150g whole wheat
850g water
200g starter
22 g salt

Mixed flours, 800g water and starter by hand and fermentolyzed for 40 minutes. DT was 74F. Hand mixed for about 5 minutes and then added the salt and remaining 50g water and hand mixed for a couple more minutes. Had to run an errand, so after an hour I gave some aggressive folds to build some strength, followed by 2 more gentle sets spaced out by 20 minutes. Waited an hour and gave 1 more gentle set and continued to bulk for 1 more hour.

Bulk was 4 hours total around 75F and the dough rose 50% and was domed, very airy and jiggly. I divided, preshaped and bench rested for 20 min on the countertop. Then, I shaped one into a batard and the other into a boule and threw them in the fridge overnight.

Baked in a cast iron cloche and combo cooker the following morning at 500 for 20 minutes covered and 450 for 22 min more uncovered.

Family crushed most of the batard. I used the boule to make BLTs with some farmer’s market tomatoes. Then I used what remained of both and my leftover tomatoes in a panzanella with some shallots, cucumbers and fresh basil. I should have taken pictures of these too but neglected to do so.

Homemade bread is the best!

I love making this dish at home. You can marinade the chicken in yogurt and cook it under the broiler to crisp it up and get some char. The rest is onion, garlic, chili peppers and ginger with tomato paste and spices (garam masala, cumin and coriander) that are cooked in butter and then thinned out with water and some cream. Served with steamed basmati rice. This was delicious.

This was a simple dish I threw together. I bought some bulk Italian sausage from my local grocer and browned it in some olive oil with some extra fennel seeds. I pulled it out with a slotted spoon and added a diced onion to its rendered fat and cooked that until softened and added 3 cloves of chopped garlic and some chili flakes. I cooked for a minute or so more and returned the sausage to the pan and added some white wine I had opened (maybe 1 cup or so). I cooked it until the wine was almost evaporated and then threw in some canned whole tomatoes with their juices that I broke up with my hand. I reduced this down and added a little heavy cream at the end for a bit more richness. I cooked some rigatoni in well salted water until just shy of al dente and finished the pasta in the sauce with some reserved cooking water. I added some parmigiano reggiano in the bowl. Came together in about an hour and tasted great.

This was a 73% hydrated sourdough pan pizza. I cooked it in a 12” Lloyd’s pan in my home oven.

Made a couple of pies tonight with dough balls I threw together yesterday. Was excited because I found some low moisture whole milk Grande cheese at my local grocer which I have never seen out in the wild. Ripped them on a 550 baking steel. Snapped pics of the roni before it was gobbled up. The second was similar with some sausage too. All were tasty!

I think this went over and started to collapse, thoughts:

450g strong bread flour
50g whole wheat
425g water
100g peak starter
10g salt

Autolyzed flour and water for 1.5 hours (DT was 79F). Mixed in starter with rubaud method. 10 min later added salt and 25g water I held back. Mixed with rubaud method. Dough was smooth and strengthened. Performed aggressive stretch and folds to build additional strength for high hydration dough separated by 20 min for first hour (3 sets total). Performed 1 coil fold to build strength/structure (1.5 hours into first proof). Had dough in my oven on proof mode, but temp got away from me. DT was 82F three hours after adding starter and it had already doubled (slide 4). Took out, pre-shaped (post preshape slide 5) and rested for 15 min. Shaped and put in fridge overnight. Baked today 500 for 20 min covered and 450 for 20 min uncovered. Dough kind of sagged, much less oven spring than normal and weird crumb. I suspect it just got away from me. Removed a piece prior to taking crumb pic (slide 3). Do you agree on my assessment?

I made my first sourdough Detroit style pizza last weekend. I was inspired by a post by fellow redditor u/Fear_OW who previously shared some amazing pictures and their recipe. I followed theirs with only very minor modifications: scaling to my pan size, incorporating a cold proof to accommodate my schedule, and increasing salt slightly based on my personal taste.

525g Dough: makes 1, 10x14 pie
Bread flour: 100% (266g)
Water: 70% (187g)
Starter: 20% (53g)
Salt: 3% (8g)
Sugar: 2% (5g)
Olive Oil: 2% (5g)

I targeted a DT of 78F and mixed the dry ingredients minus the salt first. Added water and starter and mixed by hand until shaggy. Fermtolyzed for 40 minutes. Added the salt and oil and mixed it by hand until it was incorporated. Rested 10 minutes. Continued to hand mix until I had a smooth dough ball about 5 minutes. Performed 3 sets of aggressive stretch and folds separated by 20 min. and allowed to proof for about 2.5 hours and observed about 20% rise maintaining my temp the whole time. It was late so I put the dough in an oiled rectangular glass container and threw in the fridge over night.

Day of bake I took out my dough around 10AM, my house was 72. I transferred the dough to an oiled Lloyd’s pan and let it proof on my counter top covered. Every 30 or 40 minutes I worked it to the edges of the pan. This took about 3 attempts. By 6PM my dough was minimally doubled, airy and very active - not overproofed but well-proofed.

This was baked in a 500F oven on a steel for about 13-15 min total (some on the steel some off to avoid over cooking the bottom).

It’s summer and I am thinking about fall and looking forward to making bolognese again. This was a batch from last winter. I prepare it on the stovetop and then transfer to a pan and slowly let it cook down in a low oven (slide 2). I mix it up (slide 3) and toss it with some pappardelle that I finish cooking in the sauce with a little pasta cooking water. I make big batch so that I can have pasta and then a lasagna bolognese.

Edit: added recipe in comments

I fried some beer-battered cod, made some tartar sauce and served it on a toasted brioche bun. Next time I would sauce the bottom bun instead but delicious nonetheless.

Saw a recent post from fellow redditor u/Fear_OW and tried their dough recipe. Can confirm it was excellent! I had only made Kenji’s DSP on Serious Eats in the past that uses ADY; firmly believe sourdough is the way.

I made some breakfast sandwiches with those custardy eggs that you bake in a water bath (technique I learned from cook’s illustrated). These had avocado, bacon, arugula, cheddar and some mayo that I seasoned and thinned out with some grilled lemon juice from last night’s dinner. I served them on some brioche buns that I briefly toasted under my broiler. They were delicious.

I baked some eggs in a water bath and made them into breakfast sandwiches (technique I learned from cook’s illustrated). These had avocado, bacon, arugula, cheddar and some mayo that I seasoned and thinned out with some grilled lemon juice from last night’s dinner. I served them on some brioche buns that I briefly toasted under my broiler. They were delicious.

I made this weeks ago but have thought about it often since.

I am really happy with my pizzas from last night. An upside down (pictured post and pre basil and pecorino romano addition) and a pepperoni with pecorino Romano and basil. Great structure and flavor.

If you are interested in making these, I am thrilled with my dough and results:

Made 3, 370g dough balls for 14” pies.

Bread flour: 100% (589 g)
Water 63% (371 g)
100% hydrated sourdough starter: 20% (118 g)
Fine sea salt: 3% (18 g)
Sugar: 2% (12 g)
Olive oil: 2% (12 g)
Diastatic malt powder: 0.3% (2 g)

Combined dry ingredients except salt and mixed in starter and warm water (DDT 78). Waited 40 min. Added salt and olive oil. Hand mixed until it was a cohesive ball. Bulked for about 3 hours with three sets of S&Fs spaced at 30 min each. Dough rose 20-30%. Maintained dough temp consistently. Balled into 3 dough balls and refrigerated for 2 days. Brought to room temp for about 4 hours before baking and my dough balls doubled in size.

Stretched to 14” and launched on a steel I preheated at 550 for over an hour on the top rack of my oven. Cooked about 7.5 minutes.

I am really happy with my pizzas from last night. An upside down and a pepperoni. 370g dough balls for 14” pies. Bulked and then cold proofed for two nights — I brought them out a few hours before launching where they came to room temp and rose to about double in size. Cooked for 7-8 min on a steel in the top rack of my home oven cranked as high as it will go. Great structure and flavor.

Posted a video but looks weird/filtered lo-res (at least when I viewed it on here vs the original on my phone), so here is the final pizza of last night. 7.5 min on pizza steel I preheated at 550 for 1 hour+. This is my NY style sourdough but I let it cold proof for 3 days. I usually do 1 and was worried it might lean sour but not at all — tasted complex and delicious!

I slang a few pies last night - made dough three nights prior and cold proofed. My buddy took a couple of videos of me finishing it post-bake that I strung together. Was low on pepperoni so filled in some gaps with a sweet fennel sausage. Sauce was early girl tomatoes that I blanched, milled and strained and cheese was low moisture whole milk mozzarella that I cubed. Baked on a preheated 550F baking stone for about 7.5 minutes. Super tasty!

For the second week in a row, I made a couple of pies in my home oven and they were delicious! 1st was pepperoni and basil and the second was nduja, sweety drop peppers and shaved red onion. Both had low moisture whole milk mozzarella and a sauce I made by milling Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes. Preheated a baking steel for 1 hour at 550 and cooked pizzas for ~7 min.

Here is how I made the dough:

Yields 2, 370g dough balls for 14” pizzas

Bread flour 390g (100%)
Water 245g (63%)
Starter 100% hydration 78g (20%)
Salt 12g (3%)
Sugar 8g (2%)
Olive oil 8g (2%)
Diastatic malt powder 1g (half a teaspoon) (0.3%)

Desired dough temp is 78F.

Hand mix all ingredients except salt and oil. Rested 30 min.
Add salt and oil. Hand mix.
Perform 3 sets of folds over 90 min. Bulk until 20-30% volume increase. Divide into balls and put in fridge for at least 12 hours or for up to 3 days. Bring to room temp before launching.

Cooked a couple of sourdough pies. I keep coming back to this pepperoni and basil combo because my kids and I both love it. The second one had Nduja, sweety drop peppers and some thinly sliced red onion. Both were sauced with milled Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes and topped with low moisture whole milk mozzarella and finished with some Pecorino Romano. Next time might add the Nduja post cook.

I have been focusing on dialing in my tartine country loaf. This was 80% hydrated. I pushed bulk further than normal (75% rise around 78F) because I knew I had a short cold proof (7 hours). I think I developed sufficient strength and tension for the hydration level. The ear was very pronounced and more than I desire.

My initial cut (slide 2) had an inconsistent crumb structure but the second cut (slide 3) was very desirable. My goal would be moderately open/even like slide 3. This was custardy and soft and the crust was complex and crisp. Is the inconsistency shaping, my fermentation or just the nature of bread?

Recipe:
450g trailblazer bread flour
50g whole wheat
400g water
100g starter
10g salt

Hand mixed all ingredients except salt and 25 g water. Dough was 81 degrees. Left for 45 minutes untouched.

Mixed for a couple of minutes by hand. Rested for 10 minutes. Added salt and remaining water and mixed again by hand. Dough was pretty smooth and temp was 78F.

Performed a set of stretch and folds at 20 min. And two more sets stretched out by 20 min each. Dough was 78. Continued to let bulk for 3 additional hours. Dough was 81 and appeared to rise 75% by volume. Gently preshaped as dough felt strong and rested for 15 minutes. Shaped and dough was very airy with large bubbles forming.

Cold retarded in fridge for 7 hours.

Baked at 475 for 20 min covered and 450 for 20 more uncovered.