July Bread Course

[CanuckJim]

All,

This past weekend, the first July WFO bread baking course was held at Mary G's. Fortunately the weather co-operated and the promised thunderstorms held off.

The curriculum was altered a bit this time, because one of the participants, Brenda, shown on the left in the pic, hails from Whitehorse, Yukon, and plans to open a bagel operation there. Therefore, we made both New York and Montreal style bagels. New York style is made from a lean dough that's retarded after shaping. Montreal style is made from an enriched, slightly sweetened dough made on one day. Both are very stiff doughs to stand up to the boiling they get before baking.

Other breads on the list were: Pain a l'Ancienne Baguette, Ciabatta, Prince Albert Sourdough, and Potato, Cheddar Chive Torpedo.

The second participant, Tracey from Port Perry, Ontario, is in the middle, while the honkin hot WFO is in the background.

It really is a pleasure to work with such enthusiastic, committed people from around the world. For me, it's very satisfying to watch their eyes light up when they taste real bread they made themselves.

Jim

[JoeT62]

Jim -

I've already informed my wife that I'll be attending one of your classes next year. She made me promise to learn how to make a decent kalamata olive loaf.

Joe

[DrakeRemoray]

Joe, if you want to try before going up to learn from the master, Nancy Silverton's Bread from the La Brea bakery cookbook has a great olive loaf. Two kinds of olives, oil cured and kalamata. The oil cured almost dissolves into the dough and the kalamatas stay whole....yum!
Drake

[CanuckJim]

Joe,

You're definitely on. FYI, my Olive Boule is just about the most popular bread I make, kind of a signature loaf, if you will. It contains both brine cured black olives (which are mostly beaten into the dough) and chunky Kalamatas (which aren't). Also, in the meantime think about other types of bread you might want to make, including one or two that you've found tricky. Maybe we can work out the kinks.

I started out a few years ago making the Silverton formula that Drake recommends. It's definitely very fine, but extremely time consuming, with very long rise times, etc. Since then I've developed another formula based on Hamelman. It's also retarded, but the method is slightly different.

Thanks for thinking about doing it.

Jim

[Unofornaio]

Jim,
One of these days I will have to pick your brain on some specifics of retarded dough..that just doesn't sound good that way....

BTW I just received my June issue of Modern Baking its a trade magazine for bakers and has some interesting stuff. It covers a wide range from large chains to small guys. I cannot remember how I found them but I have been getting it for years. The link takes you directly to a subscription form, there is NO website. I think you would like it.

Subscription Page

J.P.

[CanuckJim]

JP,

Thanks for the link. I signed up right away. You might want to sign up for this freebie as well: Pizza Magazine - Pizza Today - the top pizza trade magazine in the pizza industry. It's a pro mag for the pizza industry.

Jim

[JoeT62]

Bagels. We will definitely have to do bagels. As an expat NY-er living in New England, I definitely miss my Ess-A-Bagel, H&H, and Bagel Oasis. Up here, they think Dunkin' Donuts makes a good bagel!

Seriously, I can't wait to get this build done so that I can start some serious experimentation and trial/error on the bread front.

[CanuckJim]

Joe,

You will be able to make as good or better bagels in your WFO. There are a few specific things to learn about making them, but once you know, you won't go back--ever. I'd have to call some of my customers dedicated bagel junkies. Here, people think Tim Horton's makes a good bagel. Same response: yeech.

Jim

[jengineer]

Tim Horton - better donoughts than Krispy Kreme, bagels suck, especially when you have one of Jim's

[Acoma]

Jim, would you show a photo of your oven? Are you just doing breads and bagels for personal?