u/flirtycutie69

This is the second loaf I’ve made with fresh milled flour. For the first one, I attempted a sandwich loaf to start off easy. I was having fun with it, didn’t really follow the instructions and ended up with a bread that didn’t look great but tasted good, although much too sweet for me. So much so, that I kept looking until I found a recipe that looked like it wouldn’t be too sweet. Now, my second attempt, the bread came out looking nicer, but the flavor is kinda not it for me 🥴 I’m not sure why… I let it rise twice at room temperature (about 76-78F, and 45mins each time) and did a cold fermentation in the fridge for 18hours. The recipe mentioned that it called for less yeast because fresh milled flour is more nutritious which allows the yeast to multiply at a faster rate. And I figured it would be okay because the long, cold fermentation would also lend it more flavor. But… nah… it’s kinda bland. The texture is spot on, though. I’m not sure if it needed more yeast, or if it’s just the nature of the wheat berries. I used hard red wheat for this one and hard white for the previous one, so can’t compare flavors

This is the recipe:
400g hard red wheat
285g water
3.6g active dry yeast
7.9g salt

Also, any constructive feedback on my crust/crumb would be appreciated. And if anyone has a good recipe that’s not too sweet but also not too sour, please share 🙏🏻

So this is my first loaf of bread… and I really just let myself have fun and not take things overly serious. I’ve been watching videos since I got my mill and finally felt ready enough to just go for it and start learning hands-on. The first thing I forgot to do was adjust my mill to a finer setting, so about a quarter of my flour was course ground. I decided to use it anyway and in the end it gave it a texture I enjoyed. I did add more water to compensate for the coarseness… because why? I don’t know lol. One thing that resonated from all the videos I watched is that fresh milled flour is THIRSTY, so I figured the courser the thirstier. Another thing… the recipe (picture posted) callled for instant yeast, but I only had active dry yeast. I used it anyway and just threw it in there. Only later I remembered that I was supposed to “activate” it first. But now I’m wondering why that step is necessary? Is it because you want to make sure the yeast is alive in order to not waste your recipe ingredients in case it’s dead? If that’s the case, why isn’t instant yeast tested as well for the same reason to make sure you don’t waste your ingredients? I never see anyone testing instant yeast. The dough rose and was big and poofy over the pan. The recipe directions said not to score because it’s not necessary, but I did it anyway because don’t tell me what to do with my bread and scoring looks fun 😂. In the end the bread was soft and fluffy and had good flavor, I kept opening the oven door to look at it, because it smelled so good and I was getting impatient. Like I said… I let myself just have fun with this one lol. Although, it was a little too sweet for me. If I left out the honey would the recipe still work? Sometimes, it feels like all this is arbitrary and I could probably just throw ingredients together and it would still work. I don’t know though… how do you know when the dough is kneaded enough, risen enough, when it needs to be punched down, and all that? I just semi followed the timing on the recipe, but I would really like to learn how to “read” the dough and improve my skills. Any advice is much appreciated ✨

I love popcorn and recently learning so much about it. I love trying new things and discovering different ways to do things. When I realized about the different varieties through Amish Country, I went on their site and ordered the 4oz sample of each one. Just received it and so excited to get into all these! Will be popping corn every night for the foreseeable future lol. Open to any tips, tricks, and recommendations 🫶🏻✨🍿