Having spent three months in
lockdown and not able to travel to the farm, it was always going to be
difficult to get back into the swing of the build. We have now had two visits
back – one to clean up and assess where we were at, and a weekend of hard graft.
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| Jane levelling off the stair treads, the finished article - only waiting for a hand rail, the tiles, and Quentin - able to lean against a rail. The first step is mostly taken care of now!!! |
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| Clockwise, from top left: Jane gave me a voucher for Axxe. We had fun, before heading to Capital Brewing for beers (shouldn't do it the other way around, if you are going to throw axes!); Jane, MacK and Hugo at the entry gate to the farm block; Rocket and the lads on a walk; Rocket in the cone of shame - post a foot surgery to remove a massive splinter!; Jane demonstrating her rendering technique on the columns in the living room. |
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| Clockwise, from top left: I made it a mission during lockdown to get my croissant recipe and method sorted. Very happy now - they are a little too good; Finished product; When we have guests joining us on the farm for working bees, we tend to pull out the asado, and cook over coals. Glorious!; This was a little brunch treat that I particularly enjoyed, and will become a staple. Pan fried foccaccia, pesto, ash brie and grilled tomato; Jane's favourite treat. Although I may have a winner, when doing plain croissants, and serving with a bowl of warm chocolate ganache! |
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| Progress on the house build. Clockwise, from top left: A mock up of our bathroom vanities, courtesy of Jane's welding prowess; our combustion heater - wow. What a difference in winter!; This room is almost finished (needs a floor), but shows the design finish; Out bathrooms are tiles (just need a bath now); We have stairs at the front of the house. Minimalist, in keeping with the woolshed design aesthetic; Leigh and Tom came up to help replace the 100kg window pane... ; the finished wall in the living room, with corrugated iron ceiling. Love this space; My first tiling space - the western deck. As at now, it just needs grout and edge capping. |
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| Hugo - Lockdown meant we had to come up with new and innovative ways to learn. He ably assisted Steve Brown in building the fire surround, and helped make scones during lockdown. In case you are wondering, he is way to big to bathe in the kitchen sink any more... |
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| MacK - Now knows how to make bread, and obviously doesn't get his athletic genes from me... Of the five events they did in his year group at school athletics, he came home with four firsts and a second. Lockdown meant they didn't run the zone competition. |
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| We were lucky enough to get to the snow for a mini break this year. Peter and Phyl took MacK for a week to do ski school, while Jane, Hugo and I went for a weekend. It was lovely to get away,a nd we have some good snow up there. Jane especially loved skiing in a -14 degree whiteout blizzard! |
2021 has been a hell of a year thus far. Our momentum on the
house build was great, and we were racing toward an occupancy certificate – and
then disaster. Covid hit Canberra, and with it an immediate plunge into lockdown.
We went into lockdown in mid-August, and have just come out in the last couple
of weeks. We tried to apply for exemptions to get to the farm, but were
continually denied. It wasn’t worth it to run the gauntlet – both Jane and I
would have been putting jobs on the line, and the fines were astronomical. We
just had to sit tight and wait. And wait…
We home schooled, and learned new levels of tolerance. MacK
learned to bake bread, and definitely has baker’s hands, and I worked on
perfecting my croissant dough. Both the boys have decided they are fishermen
(not sure how that works, given both Jane and I don’t fish…), and love to throw
in a lone whenever they can.
We haven’t posted since February, despite our best
intentions. The year has just been too busy with the build schedule, travel to
and from the farm, school and work. It is fair to say we are exhausted! The boys
have grown – MacK is almost as tall as Jane, and Hugo is bigger than the
majority of his class mates.
The house is now almost liveable – We now have tiled
bathrooms, and we have commissioned one of the indoor showers. One of the
kitchens is complete, and we have hot water inside! It is a far cry from the
early days, when we would cook in the shed, and shower from a canvas bucket. I
am amazed that Jane has maintained her sense of humour – the winter nights when
she would sleep on the floor under a gas heater with a beanie on would test
most, but are fortunately now just a memory. We now have a combustion heater in
the living room and real beds! Luxury…
Both Jane and I are developing new skills from the build.
Jane has mastered her rendering recipe and technique – and loves time playing
in the mud. The walls of the house look fantastic and are as tactile and earthy
as we had hoped. She has almost finished welding balustrades and handrails and
then she can get back to welding for fun! I have had a crack at tiling both
walls and floors, and we have definitely made the right decision to tile the
dry areas ourselves. I am a bit messier than the professionals we had in, but
the savings in time and cost is huge!
Out to the end of the year, our focus is getting ready for an
interim occupancy certificate assessment. Just waiting on one of our tradesmen
to finish outstanding works. Lockdown slowed us down, but we should be able to
reschedule again now! We had planned to move to the farm in January – this will
now be pushed out to April, at the end of the first school term. We will get
there!
It seems that if we are not totally immersed in the build, then one of us is busy doing something else. This weekend was an intensive cheese course for me – finally, as it has previously been cancelled twice as a result of COVID. The company is based in Brisbane and keeps their training equipment in Sydney, so the stars have really had to align to get this course off the ground. They do two intensive courses, and the first contains most of the cheeses that float my boat. The second has more of a blue focus, and I figure I can now get the Haloumi and Parmesan style recipes as an extension of what I am doing.
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| The course is heavily geared toward industrial cheesemaking practices, with an accompanying focus on sanitisation. Apparently that will be the cleanest our hands will ever have been! |
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| Cheeses in the very early stages of production. These are lactic set cheeses and our brie |
Toward the end of the morning, we started work on our Farmhouse Cheddar (it only takes 6 months or so to mature, as opposed to the 12 months plus required for an aged Cheddar), before being rewarded for an extremely busy morning with ricotta and spinach Canelloni in tomato sauce. I was truly surprised to see the work that goes into making Cheddar (not the stuff in the supermarket), and think we buy it far too cheaply! I am absolutely looking forward to tucking into this one in six months or so.
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| Me with some of my cheeses, and a rather ingenious cheese press |
We also made a ricotta, which is again surprising. As
complicated as Cheddar is to make, Ricotta is simple. Why we don’t make it at
home as a matter of course confounds me – and I think our home based menu is
likely to change somewhat over coming months. There was a real focus on
sanitation and process – both essential I think to get a consistent product
over time. I still think the best bit though is discovering that drops, tads
and smidgeons are legitimate measurements – and key in cheesemaking. That in
itself is reason enough to take up the hobby! After day one it was home to rest
up before hitting day two. In my case, that meant baking the weekly bread…
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| Cheeses all boxed up and ready for maturation. In the case of the cheddar, that will be 9 months or so... definitely going to test my patience! L-R on the bottom row: Farmhouse cheddar, Greek Feta, Ashed Fresh Cheese |
Day two was a bit less frenetic, in that we only made a
couple of cheeses from scratch, and finished off those we made the day before.
There was less instruction this time around, as Graham wanted to make sure we
had absorbed the instructions. We made a Greek Feta, and learned how to stretch
Mozzarella! Great stuff, and future pizza might be a bit special. We had a lot
more discussion around how to store and properly ripen our cheeses, and what we
might need in the way of equipment moving forward. The weekend finished with a
late cheese plate and a glass of wine, which is a very civilised way to end a
course!
On my way home, I also managed to pick up a piano… very old, very out of tune, but very free. We love those items. The boys loved it, and both played on the trailer while I was waiting for a bit of extra muscle to unload it.
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| Play it again Sam!!! |
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| I thought I might get in a bit of pre-reading prior to the workshop. Jane called me a nerd!! |
Leigh and I arrived last (in the middle of a thunderstorm),
as the session was about to get underway. The team brought out beers for
everybody, which was a bloody good start to the night. The beer was good too –
Capital Brewing “Evil Red IPA” for me! The butcher demonstrated on a sheep, and
we all had goats to work on in pairs. These had been recently shot, and hadn’t
had time to set. This made working on them a bit tricky, but was a great option
to keep costs down.
Having grown up spending a lot of energy splitting carcases
through the spine, I was amazed to see David (our friendly knife wizard) split
the carcase laterally into three – the fore and hind quarters, and the saddle.
So easy! By way of future reference, he taught us to feel back five ribs from
the front of the chest cavity, and cut from there to separate out the
forequarter. This will cut through just behind the scapula, and is a pretty
easy cut. Similarly, by feeling the top of the spine from the tail forward you
will feel the top of the pelvic bone – the Iliac Crest. Cutting through there
is very simple and leaves three very neat pieces. Separating the shoulders from
the forequarter is simple, and leaves plenty of meat on ribs for stewing chops,
and also the neck rosettes. In the saddle, he didn’t bother parting out a lamb
rack, but instead cut out the fillet and backstrap separately. This left plenty
of options, particularly for racks of ribs. Taking the hind legs off too was
relatively simple. Starting with the tail, and cutting back through the feather
bones, you will release the full leg complete with chump/rump. This is easy
enough to slice off. Bloody good night, and really quite simple.
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| The boys and the aftermath... I wasn't aware the photo shoot was supposed to be so serious! |
After we had finished our cuts, and had a couple of beers it
was off to the other end of the space for steak sandwiches, more beers and some
quality banter. It was an excellent demonstration of an experience led learning
opportunity, and I think we will take something from that for the farm in the
future. It was also amazing that there was only one or two degrees of
separation across the entire group – I guess that like-minded people are
attracted to similar opportunities!
They are going to run a sausage making event in another
couple of weeks in a similar format. I reckon that might be a good night for an
Uber!
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| Lazy summer days for our boys... |
On the build front, we have now completed all the gyprock
installation, and started the plastering. I think that will be a slow job! The
tile underlay for the western deck is laid, and we have a confirmed plan for
the balustrading. In even more good news, the first of the balustrade posts has
been installed and we have the rest of the fittings here to install the rest.
As soon as it cools a bit (we are currently in heatwave conditions) Jane will
be free to start welding the balustrade panels. And then the decks will be both
traversable and safe! There were two major construction efforts that were
starting to weigh on my mind, but we now have a way forward with both.
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| Clockwise from top left: The eastern deck has been an eyesore for a long time. Cleaning off a couple of years of accumulated rubbish! The finished product is just perfect! Doing just enough to have a beer on the deck before stopping for the day. |
The cool larder is almost complete (save tiling).
I had hoped not to take as long as we did, but there were challenges. In
any case, we are on the home straight with it now, and it looks really good.
The air exchange system works a treat, and I now know how I will add cool air
into the wine cellar when/as I need to. The other bugbear has been the living
room ceiling. When that is done, all the “construction” type stuff is complete,
and we are into plastering, tiling, painting and flooring – the finish stuff.
We have now confirmed exactly how we are going to do that as well – and it will
be significantly easier than what we originally had planned.
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| The evolution of a cool larder. There is insulation under a fibre cement floor, and the walls and ceilings are lined with foil lined foam insulation. The walls and ceiling are timber lined, and our air exchange system is installed and working. |
In other, non-building news (because our lives do have other aspects, although it is hard to know sometimes), we are all getting ready for the year ahead. I have a new job, at Army Headquarters in a strategic policy-based role. Jane is still at the hospital, but has been able to change her rosters to accommodate Hugo’s school schedule. MacK is entering the leadership cohort at school this year, and is rapidly growing into a young man. He stands well over five feet (in the old money) and walks the earth in size 9 (mens) shoes. He is a solid kid to go with it, and appears to know his own strength when playing with Hugo (most of the time!). He has developed a fascination with blades (knives, swords and axes) that extends to him wanting a forge installed on the farm so he can make his own blades. I suppose everyone has to have a hobby! And then there is Hugo. Our wee man – he is just gorgeous, and brings great joy. He seems to have a singing ability that he can’t have got from either Jane or me, but will see if that develops over time… He is looking forward to starting pre-school this year – five days per fortnight, and I think he will do well. He is naturally curious and is demonstrating an affinity with numbers.
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| I had a great day with MacK and Hugo at the National Dinosaur Museum - where you can also climb inside an astronaut suit... |
Back to the farm for a moment – While we are currently in a
heatwave cycle (and some are suggesting that the La Nina pattern is already
over), we have had good rains over the last 8 months. The citrus orchard is
just amazing… The kumquats are even better than they have been in the past, and
we look like we will get grapefruit for the first time. The oranges are all
fruiting, and I can’t wait for the lemons to ripen! I only hope that the
mandarin that I have in now (my third experiment) will survive and decide that
(unlike its predecessors) that it would like to stay for a bit. The other fruit
trees are thriving, and we might even get a couple of pears later this year.
Back in Canberra, I have mulberry cuttings that are starting to show signs of
life, so I might be able to provide Jane with the fruit she deserves yet!
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| I am finally getting the hang of laminated pastries - reckon these will be a fairly regular output from our kitchen in coming years. |
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| Simone had a glut of plums in her orchard, and we were very happy to take them off her hands. I pulled out a favourite childhood memory, with a spiced plum sauce |
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| I just love the sunsets we get on the farm - I don't think we can ever get tired of them |
I am sitting on our recently constructed ‘Summer’ deck (yes,
we also have a winter deck to take the best advantage of our seasonal vagaries)
while the family are asleep with an early morning coffee to get the body going.
As it is want to do, my brain has wandered off into a bout of reflection as I
gaze over the vineyards and olives (doesn’t matter where I sit, the views are
truly magnificent); and I have some thoughts/wisdoms (?) that I wish I had
known before we commenced this crazy venture. Six years ago now, and no sign of
wilting enthusiasm (a very good thing), although we do want to finish now.
Here are a few of the things that I think are important if
you are going to build your own home – and you have only ever done anything
else. Some of them we fell into quite naturally, but some are much, much later
realisations. These words of questionable wisdom are not in any order of
priority…
·
You will save money – so don’t try and save too
much money
o
Don’t try and hold on to all the savings you get
from not using trades. If you are saving $20,000 or more by doing the
plastering yourself, then spend whatever money you need to on the tools to do
the job right. There is a reason the professionals use the tools they do – it
makes the job easier! And you get a shed full of great tools!
·
Trade supply companies are not used to dealing
with you – so be gentle.
o
They don’t know that they need your business,
and most are not used to thinking about what you as a customer might want.
Remember – you will be spending a significant amount of money with them, so
make them earn it. There are plenty of other options! Most companies will just
take your order, and won’t help – don’t let them get away with it (wish I had
known this six years ago!).
·
Time/quality of work
o
For many of the jobs you might look at, the
difference between you and a trade professional is time. You can get the same
finish, but you will take longer, and you need to be prepared for a couple of
do-overs! As my plaster supplier told me – put the mud on, sand it and take a
look. If you are not happy, put more mud on and sand again. Mud is cheap.
·
There is nothing you can’t do
o
Nothing. You tube is great for this. When you
see something being demonstrated, you can see how much you can genuinely have a
crack at yourself. But give yourself time and the right tools so you stand a
fighting chance!
·
Everyone needs a job – including the little
people in the house
o
When we started, MacK was a baby, Hugo was in
the future, and Jane spent a lot of time kid wrangling while I worked with our
builder brothers (and we never lose sight of how lucky we were to have their
help). Jane is now our in house welder, and the boys help out in lots of little
ways. Particularly when we render, they will have the opportunity to get their
hands dirty. At the end of the day, everybody is invested in this place, and we
can all look back in years to come and say “We did this!”
·
Enjoy the process – take some time just to sit
o
There are times when you have to put away the
“ambitious build schedule” and enjoy what you have. We have had movie nights in
the house with open walls, and celebrated Jane’s 41st birthday with
no ceilings (over a very hot Summer). Likewise, we have had weekends where we
planned work and spent it in a hammock. Those restful times are important if
you are to maintain a love for the project, both during and after the build.
·
Cramps
o
The physical work will be new to you,
particularly if you are a weekend warrior. Sleeping on the floor is OK – until
you try to stand in the middle of the night and cramp up. Get a bed. The work
is hard, and you deserve proper rest.
·
It will take a long time.
o
Yup. You have to be prepared to maintain your
enthusiasm for much longer than you probably thought. But there is an end, and
you will see progress. And when you do, you need to celebrate. Likewise, there
will be periods where you bust yourself, and not see anything for your work.
·
String lines are important.
While this doesn't quite bring us completely up to date, it does show a bit more of what we have been up to. And I promise to me more diligent this year!
As previously promised, this collection of photos is to save me writing many thousands of words! These photos are taken from the past several months, and are a little dated - but helpful to bring you up to date!
Full disclosure - this was the Spring update from 2020 that never got posted... but worth pinning any way...
I know I had promised to be a little more regular with posts, but this year is proving to be a little more difficult to navigate than anticipated. COVID is only a small distraction, as we have fought with drought, bush fires, massive ICT network outages (at my work) and then the onset of a wonderful, life giving La Nina weather system that is punching much needed water into the eco systems. Coupled with that is grass that grows in front of you, and then grows some more!
We have managed to fit in some fun this year, with short
trips to the South Coast and the Snow – but have had to cancel our planned trip
to the Barossa to catch up with team McGlinchey (border closures). The constant
overlay through has been the house, and we have managed to get a massive amount
done. We are now in a sprint to finish, with the bank requiring us to have our
final certification in about 320 days! Money is tight, and trades quotes were
ridiculous, so we are mostly going it alone.
I have been able to get my green thumb on this year, and
successfully transplanted six established (and on the road to maturity)
multi-graft fruit trees into a new orchard precinct. They all took, and we now
have apples, pears, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums – and it
looks like we might get fruit this year! The citrus grove, after a particularly
hard couple of years, is looking a treat, with the trees covered in a snowdrift
of fragrant blossom. We have lemons, blood orange and kumquats; and I am
confident that some of the oranges and grapefruit might also fruit this year.
I have given a neighbour rhubarb on the condition that I can
get some when we move, and it is taking off. At home in Canberra, I have oaks,
Chinese elms, Japanese and Norway Maples and apples all growing. I have started
our hedging with a dozen or so rosemary cuttings and the thornless blackberry
that I rescued as an orphan in the lawn is looking like it will come good too.
Phyl was cleaning out Clare’s garden the other day, and found that a couple of
her feijoa branches had hit the compost heap and layered into root – just need
to get a couple of other trees to make sure I have both male and female trees
and we might get that fruit too!
As far as the house is concerned, we are part way through
laying the southern deck, and ceilings are up in about a third of the house. We
have selected the tiles for the bathrooms, and are almost ready for the tiler
to come in and waterproof. Jane is especially excited at the thought of being
able to shower inside the house. I kind of like the open-air option, and might
have to work something in to the final design! I reckon that by the end of the
Christmas break, we will be almost ready to render and paint! (Now that is
optimism!)
The boys are awesome, but growing way too fast. At nine,
MacK is 43 kg and in size 8 mens shoes. He has just come off an abbreviated
Aussie rules season where he showed that he has the potential to be a rangy
power house in that game. I still hold out hope for him as a flanker in rugby,
and think that Hugo will still likely be suited to the front row! Hugo’s
development is likewise leaping ahead, and he holds his own with the big boys
(until fatigue catches him!).
As busy as we are, there needs to be time for creative endeavours. On consecutive weekends in September, Jane and I got to spend some time at the Tharwa Valley Forge doing a course each. Jane spent a couple of days making a South American Asado and a stainless steel carving knife. Needless to say, we were pretty keen to try that out! Jan has now become mildly addicted to an American TV show – “Forged in Fire”. It is a competition show focussed on blade-smithing and edged weapons, and Jane is keen to get a forge and power hammer into the farm garage when we get there. I am more than supportive of this endeavour!
I did a leather work
course – focussed on creating a leather journal cover. Jane reports that I was
a little less than enthusiastic about the course (and may have appeared a bit
ungrateful when I received the voucher). I really enjoyed the day, and am now
looking to slowly build a stock of leather tools for the farm. Jane has already
eyed off a pattern for leather pigs – originally used as money boxes, she wants
to fill them with sand to use as door stops. Kind of cute I reckon.
Harriett is twenty or so this year, and has travelled with us to every posting location we have served in. The bread she makes is lovely, and the boys are pretty lucky to live on home bake sourdough bread. Johnny – a 200 (+) year old Turkish sourdough starter that a work colleague inherited, has now joined Harriett in the bakery. The bread from each of the starters is very different, and puts a lie to the thought that all starters are alike.
We are working on an ANZAC day bread with Johnny as the base
– it will feature walnuts, olives, honey and rosemary, and will be finished
with a rosemary and olive crust. The test loaves we baked were ridiculously
good! Bread making is helped through the addition to the Batterie de Cuisine of a professional dough mixer – all 130 kg of
ancient brilliance. I now get proper dough development, although I am still
doing a fair bit of hand kneading and shaping. Just need to get my hands on a
decent oven now!
Some weeks ago I was approached by the ABC through a very good friend about an interview on bread. I also provided a set of notes, and the interview was very well received, with hundreds of downloads. What follows is the notes I offered, which pretty much distil breadmaking into the essence of what it needs to be.
Nerding out on Bread!
Actually – the intent is exactly the opposite. There is nothing quite as nerdy as a bread nerd in full swing, and that adds a lot of mystery to what is a simple process with a bunch of complexities (see – back in the nerdiness already!).
When I started making bread I didn’t understand the
difference between a recipe written by a chef and those scribed by a baker (FYI
– Chefs don’t always get it right…) – and I definitely didn’t understand the
importance of hydration, fermentation time, acid development and importance of
the right flour. What I hope to do in this piece is to provide a couple of
developmental shortcuts based on my own experiences and observations, and get
you to making consistently delicious bread. I have tri ed to keep the science
out of it as much as possible – but let me know when you want to get your nerd
properly on – and make it practical. My aim is that everybody has access to
fresh, delicious bread that can come out of your own kitchen oven. Full
disclaimer – right now my breads are made in a shitty, tiny oven that struggles
to get to anything like the temperature it needs to. But we cope, and our bread
is good.
First up – the definitions and technical stuff:
·
Sourdough or yeast doughs: Depends on
your timeframe and what you want out of your bread. Sourdough definitely takes
longer, but there are recognised health benefits from the additional
fermentation. Yeasted doughs can be made with long fermentation also, and can
taste every bit as good as a sourdough. This is absolutely personal preference.
·
Hydration. This is a really important
concept, and refers to the ratio of water in the recipe to flour. The wetter
the dough, the more difficult it is to work. At the same time, you can get more
lift in your dough, and a better ‘crack’ on your crust.
·
Flour. Not all flours are equal. You
absolutely need a high protein flour. Protein refers to the gluten content in
the flour, and without it there will be nothing to support your bread as it
rises. Look for a protein content of at least 11%.
·
Gluten. Gluten is a protein that forms a
web of fine strands that stretch and trap carbon dioxide in the dough as it
proofs. Carbon dioxide is released by the yeast as it feeds on the
sugars/starches in the flour.
·
Regardless of the type of bread you are making,
you will have yeast. It will either be a commercial, predictable agent
that you add, or a wild, natural beastie that you culture through a process of
nurturing and love. Yeast can be frozen, and is killed with heat – when it
passes through 56 degrees Celsius from memory.
·
Proofing. Is the process where dough is
left to rise – or for the yeast to convert the sugars in the dough. You will
often see this in a recipe written as “leave in a warm place until doubled in
size”.
·
Time. The constraints given in recipes are
often unrealistic, and rely on the overuse of yeast. The bread is ready when it
is ready… Unlike almost all other kitchen processes, you don’t get to control
your bread. At best, it is a mutually rewarding relationship – ie you should do
as you are told, and work with the dough when it is ready.
·
Heat vs Cold. Dough will rise at cool
temperatures, just more slowly. The longer a dough ferments, the more flavour
it develops. You can absolutely make a dough and leave it in the fridge
(covered) overnight. It will take a little longer to be ready to bake when you
get going in the morning but that is OK. Get it started, have a coffee and walk
the dog. If you want it ready earlier, then get out of bed earlier!
·
Bakers Percentage. You probably wont see
this bandied about too much in a Chef’s cookbook, but it is a really simple
concept that makes life really simple. It is a game of ratios, where everything
is measured against the flour in a recipe which is always 100%. This helps in
recipe development to, and you can set up a really simple excel spreadsheet to
help if you are so minded. By way of example: A recipe with 50% hydration means
that for every 100gm of flour, the recipe has 50 gm of water. You can also work
backwards – if you are making 500 gm loaves, and want a recipe for three
loaves, then your dough weight needs to be 1500gm. Using a 50% hydration, you
will need to develop a recipe with 1kg of flour (but more about that later).
·
Cooking temperature. Regardless of what
the books tell you I reckon that domestic ovens just don’t get hot enough. For
bread making at home, just crank up the dial as far as it goes. The big trend
at the present time is to bake in a dutch oven. What this does is to more
closely mimic a commercial baking environment – but it does have its
limitations. I don’t use it, as my baking volume is just too much, and I don’t
want to be limited to a single loaf shape. I just bake on a steel tray in a
standard oven (for now – I do have my eye on a stone deck bakers oven when the
house is completed!)
·
Steam. Is steam important? In a word yes.
It will help keep the skin of the dough moist during the initial part of the
cooking process. If the skin dries out too much, you run the risk of the crust
forming too early, and the finished loaf being overly heavy. I generally find
that when the oven is full, there is enough humidity in the dough to provide steam.
The best way to inject a form of control is to keep a tray in the bottom of the
oven. As soon as you load your dough into the oven, pour a little boiling water
into the tray.
·
Oven spring. This is another one of those
‘wanky’ bakers terms that will mark you as a certified bread nerd when you
start critiquing your and others loaves (as in “Nice oven spring – its gunna be
a good loaf…”). Oven spring refers to the immediate cooking process that occurs
when the loaf is first loaded into an oven. The yeast that is in the loaf has a
final burst of development up until it reaches that magical temperature of 56
degrees Celsius.
Now for the recipes:
Simple yeasted dough
|
Ingredient |
Percentage |
Test |
|
Flour |
100% |
1kg |
|
Water |
65% |
650 gm |
|
Salt |
2% |
20 gm |
|
Yeast
(Instant, dried) |
0.5% |
5gm |
Cover your dough, and leave to proof. The temperature of
your proofing environment will determine the time it takes for proof, but a
rule of thumb is that the dough needs to double in size. Knock the dough back, and
scale into the loaf sizes you want. In my kitchen I use the following scale
weights:
Bread rolls: 120-130gm
English Muffins: 100gm
Baguettes: 350gm
Loaves: 650gm
Roll the dough into a ball, tucking the edges under (this helps build ‘surface tension’ that lets the dough expand properly in the oven. Without proper tension, the loaf runs the risk of falling flat in the oven – particularly when working with higher hydration). Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Shape the dough into the shape you want, and leave to proof for a final 45 minutes before baking. Again, look into shaping demonstrations on You Tube to get your method correct – it definitely affects the quality loaf you end up with.
Most loaves will take about 25-35 minutes to bake. The best test is to tap the loaf on the bottom when you think it is done – if it sounds hollow it is done. Pull it out of the oven, and rest on a rack to cool, and set the loaf. Try and wait at least an hour or two before you attack the loaf…
A word on crust colour: I like a dark crust, with a bit of depth to it. The colouration of a crust is more about caramelisation than burn – and if you want to get a real nerd on, research the Maillard reaction…
Sourdough
The first thing you need to do is to build and then maintain a starter. This is a very simple process when you get going, and has the advantage of extending the fermentation time. There are plenty of tips online for how to create your own starter. I currently use two starters:
·
Harriet – I built this starter when I first came
to Australia in 2000, and have used it through a multitude of postings across
Australia and a couple of deployments…
·
Johnny – I have recently been given this starter.
It is a 200+ year old culture, originating in Turkey. This is only fed with
wholemeal flour.
Both cultures are very different,
and make very different (but equally delicious) bread. Both of my starters are
what is called a liquid starter (the other option is a ‘stiff’ starter), and
the recipe below is based on that. If you start reading bread books, you will
start to see the term ‘levain’ – this is the French translation and is
interchangeable with starter.
I keep my starter in the fridge between bake days, and bring it out a couple of days prior. There is nothing scientific about my feeding schedule, except that it makes for a very active culture! I have left my starter in the fridge for up to 8 months without feeding/baking with it (typically when deployed overseas). It develops a grey liquid on top of the starter – just pour this off (don’t drink!) and start a feeding schedule again. When getting ready to bake, I will feed every 12 hours, and try to feed 3-4 times before mixing dough. It is as simple as taking a spoonful of starter, and stirring in equal quantities (by weight) of flour and water. Cover and leave on the bench until the next feed. A good healthy starter will slowly increase in volume over 6-8 hours, and then collapse a little. The choice of when to use your starter is a matter of preference, but a guide is that the culture will be sweet as it increases in volume, and then become more sour after it collapses.
My basic recipe follows:
|
Ingredient |
Percentage |
Test |
|
Flour |
100% |
1kg |
|
Water |
66% |
660 gm |
|
Salt |
2.66% |
26 gm |
|
Starter |
45% |
450gm |
Method: is the same as for yeasted doughs, but just remember that things will take a little longer.
Many commercial bakeries will add a little bit of yeast into their sourdoughs. This will assist in providing a little more standardisation to the process. I like the challenge of seeing what comes through at the end of the process! If you do want to add a little yeast, then it would be no more than about 2gms per kg (of flour).
I don’t use baskets to do my final proof. Instead I have canvas cloths that I dust with rice flour and semolina (to prevent sticking), and fold the cloth in between each loaf to help it hold its shape.
Recipe variations:
The base recipes above can be
manipulated in many ways depending on what you are looking to achieve. Some of
those options are as follows:
·
Flour – Instead of just using white flour, try
adding Spelt or Wholegrain flour (up to about 40-50%)
·
Liquid – if you want a slightly richer dough, switch
out some of the water for milk
·
For sourdoughs, play with the starter percentage.
Just remember that the starter is 50:50 flour:water, so include that in the
recipe calculations. I have done breads with anything from 15-45% starter
·
If you are making pizza dough, add a little
olive oil into the dough. This increases the extensibility of the dough.
·
I don’t add sugar, but a honey wholewheat bread
is lovely.
Tips:
· Retard the dough. This just means to slow
down the development of the dough by chilling it. You can successfully retard
the dough for up to three days before baking. This can help in the home kitchen
by allowing you to work within your own schedules.
·
Preferments. This is specifically the
case for yeasted doughs, and allows for some of the development that you get in
a sourdough. It is as simple as taking some of the flour and water from a
recipe, mixing it together and letting it slowly start to ferment overnight. Use
equal quantities (by weight), and enjoy the results.
·
Developing your own recipes. I suggest recording what you are doing in a
journal. That will aid you in determining what it is you are doing well/to your
taste for further replication.
·
Shaping the dough. Watch videos. I reckon
I did it wrong for at least 10 years…
·
Scoring the dough. Scoring is done to
provide a direction for steam to escape as the bread rises in the oven. It
allows you to define how the bread should form in the oven.
·
Bench work. Don’t feel like you need to
add flour to your bench when you are working with the dough – all you end up
doing is mucking your planned hydration levels. It might seem
counter-intuitive, but when the dough starts to stick, first try wetting your
fingers instead of using flour.
Most importantly – Have fun! The bread you bake will be more rewarding than anything you can buy.
I have had some really good feedback, including from a retired baker, whose family has been in bread since 1863! John would like to share his family starter with me - would be a stablemate to Harriet and "Jam Jar Johnny"...
