STIR THE POTS

100 Percent Rye

My Raadvad Danish bread slicer put to good use in my latest 100 percent rye bread. Clearly this tool is much more than a toy, and will be used to make some more rye and seeded bread, not just miche!

Raadvad (Bread Slicer)

Bread slicing isn't the most difficult task; basically it is a back-and-forth motion. Simple, right? But when I spotted this antique Danish slicer, I had to get it. It's ideal for rugged and dense breads, designed and engineered for performance. And I did give it a couple wacks on some pretty hard rye and spelt loaves, as well as a fresh baked levain bread. Some of my bread buddies poo-pooed me for it; others drooled and cheered me on. It'll be sort of a conversation piece in my arsenal of food toys. You should hear its "swish." Powerful. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tools

Quail eggs can be quite a bit of work to peel or crack, so I purchased a set of quail egg cutters. Menacing, they remind me of cigar cutters. But they do the job. Good purchase if your frying or poaching these little huevos!

Baking

 

The Proofer

How often do you get, what bakers sometimes call "blow out," referring to when a bread is "green" or too young or just not proofed enough. I've found it especially true in winter. 

Despite our lack of recent frost, I hit that wall with temperatures and baking this weekend. Cold air and sourdough are especially tricky. A "proofer" is a type of baking hardware that helps address such difficulties, and this weekend, Brod and Taylor, an interesting and innovative cookware design company, sent me their newest creation, a smartly designed (foldable!) proofer. 

Straight from the package, the valise styled proofer was simple to assemble. Even had they not provided instructions, the product was basically "plug and play," intuitive to put together. That said, I think the instructions could use some diagrams, for those among us with less basic intuition. More importantly. I could imagine them providing tables regarding temperatures for proofing, especially for wild yeasts. Giving their marketing director, Julie Dykstra, initial feedback, she kindly sent me this response by email. 

"We are in the process of upgrading the user guide to include more recipes and detailed instructions.  We've just this week posted a pizza crust recipe with detailed proofer time/temps, it's here:  http://brodandtaylor.com/bread-more/bread/tomato-and-herb-pizza/

Anyway, the advantage of their product is it shortens the waiting time of the proofing process. It also reduces the ugly looking loaves I described as a result of "blowout."

Here's something interesting. Since recieving and using the proofer, I have returned to using a thermometer, pretty important if you only depend on touch for indication. 

Anyway, here is one loaf I made so far with durum flour.

 So far, pretty good. In coming weeks, I'll provide updates on my experience with this interesting new device.