Irregular holes

[mrgweeto]

I will get this bread down pat.
I made my first coupe of breads the night after a pizza fest and I have to say they were very pretty looking. The crust was nice and crusty with the same (too uniform) crumb I have now. I posted several pix this summer of the bread. It is the one that has a hot pepper and oil in the product shot. Bread making, even though you use the same ingredients, is a lot trickier than pizza dough. We have our dough down to the point that all we have to do is look at it and it forms itself into a nice round and thin crust. As I get closer to what I want to see I will keep posting and asking questions. I'm going to swipe my brothers small gram scale and put that to use as well. I'm going to have to start exercising more or envite my friends over more often as I make more and more bread.
Thanks for all the info and I always welcome more.
Guy

[texassourdough]

Agreed on pizza vs. loaves! I do believe that making small batches with a specific target time (several hours) for use allows making better pizza dough than big batches with variable proofing times (as at pizzarias) but pizza is pretty forgiving for the toppings directionally cover variations.

Bread is naked! It is a lot like being an artist. The first steps are big and relatively easy. As you get better the steps become smaller and farther apart you have to work harder to achieve each step. At some point you "get it" (I am sort of there - but not totally - my "thereness" benefits from having gone through the process in art so I understand "it" and the path). Once you "get it" you have a lot of freedom - not that you quit striving but that there is a serenity and confidence and comfort in understanding. You still aspire but it mostly is for little things like your irregular crumb - little touches, details, and subtleties that give your bread its uniquity. And for each of us that "it" is different. Example: I really believe darker finished artisanal breads have more character than lighter loaves so I tend to push people to bake darker and experience bread "on the edge" (of being too dark/almost burned) but I will never argue with anyone that darker is better IF they have tried it and rejected it for that is a personal value/taste. It is not a universal truth that darker is better. NOTE: there are some breads that definitely should not be darker but...as a general rule...I feel most people will ultimately like most of their artisanal breads better if they learn to push it to the edge wherever they decide that is.

When I make suggestions, as I did to you...some of the suggestions are to encourage you to try things in a deliberate manner to help you gain experience to form stronger opinions. Developing soundly based opinions is ultimately what it is about.

As I said earlier, you are making really nice bread and have a good hand at loaf formation for you are getting tight boules. Keep after them!

As for friends...I typically work out four to five times a week so I can continue to eat bread. I give away a lot of bread. but...the ultimate challenge for me as a baker is the balance between what I give away and what I consume!

Bake on! You are so close to the loaf you want...
Jay

[mrgweeto]

Last nights bread was on the cusp of dark and burnt. I have to agree that, in my opinion, that darkness makes the crust taste so good. Having a vowel at the end of my name and enjoying cooking makes me appreciate bread making. It is an art form as you say. Like wine and grappa (which we have been making for over 40 years ) it is an individual taste. The nuances are what will give each bread it's character. Once I get there I will be the type that will experiment with different flours and other ingredients (olives, herbs etc). I just want to make sure that once I have it down I maintain a consistency. The other great thing about bread making is that they make great gifts.
You have to admit that there is nothing like that smell of bread baking. I have to laugh because when I took the loaf out of the oven last night I sat with it in front of my wife and was driving her crazy while she was tying to read. I was waving the smell at her and making her listen to the little sounds the bread makes as first comes out of the oven and rests. She knows how nuts I can be when it comes to food and cooking utensils.
Just thought I would share. I'm sure you and others are or have been there.
Guy

[texassourdough]

Amen!
Jay