u/JtheOwner

Fridge cleanup kahapon. I found a half block of properly stored processed cheese. Di ko na rin alam what brand. I cubed it up and added it to my sourdough through lamination. Bulk fermented for 5 hours, then cold proofed for 12 hours. This just came out of the oven and sobrang bango.

Will probably wait around 2 hours before slicing it open to check the crumb, tapos lamon nation na. 😆🫶🏻

Recipe:
510g unbleached bread flour
390g water
100g levain (1:1:1)
10g salt
180g cubed up processed cheese

Is this kind of discussion allowed here? If not, mods may delete. Sharing this as a PSA, especially for bakers who are just starting out.

I came across a TikTok post where a content creator who also runs a matcha bar pop-up found that her Arla Whipping Cream was already coagulated and no longer the smooth, creamy consistency it should have. She said she bought it from Marketplace at Power Plant Mall and only opened it the next day, when she discovered it was spoiled.

She immediately reached out to Arla Foods via Facebook and demanded accountability. The brand responded that there may have been mishandling. The buyer felt like she was being gaslighted into thinking it was her fault.
Now, for those starting a baking business, especially students doing side hustles, this is important.

If you encounter quality issues with perishable ingredients like whipping cream, milk, butter, and similar items, your first point of contact should be the store where you bought the item, not the brand right away.

Why? Because issues like spoilage are often due to storage and handling at the retail level. Things like temperature control, refrigeration, and transport fall under the store’s responsibility.

To be clear, I don’t think the brand was necessarily blaming the buyer. It’s very possible the product was mishandled somewhere along the supply chain, most likely at the store. And to be fair, once purchased, factors like delayed refrigeration or heat exposure can also affect the product.

That said, the proper process would have been:

1. Contact the store and report the issue.
2. Request a replacement or refund.
3. Then, if needed, inform the brand so they are aware of possible handling issues at that specific branch, which can also affect their reputation.

These things happen. But as buyers, and especially as business owners, we need to know who to approach first so concerns are resolved faster and more fairly.

Happy weekend everyone! 😁

Story time: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS9mpFsj5/

I recently bought a bag of Bagatelle T65 flour and decided to mix some into my go-to batard recipe. I wasn’t sure how a 100% T65 sourdough would turn out, so I played it safe and went with a 70/30 blend. Has anyone here tried using T65 at a higher percentage or even 100%?

Recipe:

- 350g chilled unbleached bread flour

- 150g chilled Bagatelle T65 flour

- 325g cold water

- 100g starter right at peak (aiming for a less sour loaf)

- 10g sea salt

- 65g seed mix, soaked in 65g water for about 1.5 hours in the fridge

Seed mix:

- 20g sunflower seeds

- 15g pumpkin seeds

- 5g white sesame

- 5g black sesame

- 10g flax

- 5g chia

- 5g poppy

Setup: Room temp controlled at 25°C

Timeline:

- 0:00 Autolyse flour and water

- 0:45 Add starter and salt. Instead of stopping at a shaggy mix, I massage the dough in the bowl for about 3–5 minutes until it starts coming together.

- 1:15 Stretch and fold, adding the seed mix gradually during each fold

- 1:45 Coil fold #1

- 2:15 Coil fold #2

- 2:45 Coil fold #3

- 4:35 End of bulk fermentation

- 4:35 Pre-shape

- 4:50 Final shape, lightly moistened the top and rolled it in extra dry seeds, then placed into the banneton

- 4:50 Into the fridge for a 10-hour cold proof

The next day, I preheated the oven with the Dutch oven inside at 220°C for about 45 minutes.

When I took the dough out of the fridge, I immediately noticed how much it had risen and how nicely puffed it was after the 10-hour cold proof. I scored it straight from cold and baked it covered for 25 minutes, then uncovered for another 20 minutes.

Adding 30% T65 gave me great oven spring, a crisp ear, and a very aromatic loaf. The crumb was lighter compared to using 100% unbleached bread flour, and the dough was noticeably easier to shape as well.

If you have access to T65 flour, I’d definitely recommend giving it a try.