Just Baking

Continuing on trying to make better artisan bread, I recently bought The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Reinhold.  I really enjoyed the book; it’s a good mix of information, and some practical techniques.  I don’t know enough to know if it’s the best book or not, but it does seem to be very highly respected.
I decided […]

Over last weekend, I decided it was time to try making a boule (a round) instead of the loaves I’d been trying out, which have been sandwich loaves, batards or baguettes.  Unfortunately, I didn’t leave myself enough time to make the pain l’ancienne from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice that I want to make.
Instead, I turned […]

As I’ve started getting into this bread baking thing, I’ve been reading a lot.  My current book is The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart.  It’s got a lot of great info in it.  But even before that, just reading on the blogosphere, I have been getting the urge to use sourdough instead of yeast.  […]

This past weekend, I finally got back to trying my hand at artisan style breads instead of regular white bread.  I hadn’t really looked before, but King Arthur Flour, one of my favorite sites, has a slew of online recipes, too.  I have a few books, but thought I’d try their European hearth bread recipe.  […]

I’ve been unable to post in a while, but right before Christmas, I tried my hand at cinnamon rolls. I’ve found I really like the King Arthur Flour cinnamon filling; you just add 1 tablespoon of water per quarter cup of filling, stir until it’s goopy, then use as needed.
I used a potato dough, with […]

This past weekend was really busy.  With the holidays approaching, my wife and I had parties Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and I had to smoke meats for a lunch this coming Wednesday.  While brisket, turkey and pulled pork were absorbing flavors from the cherry wood that was burning, I decided to make some more […]

For the past couple of years, I’ve asked for manly gadgets for Christmas…  Thermapen thermometers, welding gloves, you get the picture.  I have all the stuff I use now for outdoor cooking, though, including a good sized trailered smoker.  So what do I ask for this year?
Baking supplies!!!
I get some of my stuff from a […]

I’m a little stalled right now in my pursuit of artisanal breads.  The reason isn’t that I’m no longer interested or even that I’m not baking… It’s that the holiday season has started.
Why would the holiday season distract me from trying to make the perfect French country bread?  Easy… I’m very much a traditionalist when […]

For a beginning baker, I’ve probably baked apple pie more than any other baked product.  However, I do this only during apple season.  In Ohio, where I live, we have a really good apple season, and I enjoy using local apples to make pies.
The recipe I use is one that my mother taught me about […]

Thanksgiving is approaching fast, and I have been thinking of what I’m going to fix for that day.  It’s kind of a big deal of a day for my family.  It usually starts with biscuits and gravy sometime in the morning and ends with a huge meal with all the traditional stuff.
This year, I’m smoking […]