November 12, 2005
The Resource Of A Lifetime
This is exactly what I need to get better with bread: PBS has Real Media and Windows Media copies of Julia Child’s Master Chefs programs. Select bread in the category and and hit the search [Note: Mac users, I had some problems with Firefox but Real Format in Safari seems to work mostly OK enough There maybe problems switching from one video clip to another which you work around by waiting and then pushing buttons],
Look for the Danielle Forestier segments If like me, you don’t knead enough or understand folding and shaping, this is a great pair of segments to see. Wow! I only thought I was making good bread. Sourdough may need a longer rise time, I know just enough to adjust for that.
Notice the diversity in techniques from chef to chef and the bread still turns out good. How long to knead? The answer is in the videos. I saw at least two techniques from two different chefs. The stand mixer, by hand. I tend to mix the techiques up my way but this time I tried mixing the starter (1/2C, flour (2.5C) and water 1C and I set out a half cup of flour for kneading in. I let the mix set in the bowl for 10 minutes. Added a Tbl spoon of flour and mixed some more. Let set for 10 minutes and then on to manual kneading. I use the slam method as shown by one of the chefs. She says 815 slams. I probably didn’t do that many, but I did a lot more that have before, about half way through I added the salt (2Tsp Kosher, less for table salt) and I just beat the dough against the counter until it did change it’s nature. It developed long strands in the dough. I even got close to passing the window pane test like written about and show in the clips, but I was tired by them. 10 Minutes of slamming/kneading, maybe more
That’s what it took. The previous experiences to get this far so I can really understand what’s going on in the video. I’ve touched a lot of dough in the last few months to see when it’s ready for the next stage. When I see a professional do it, I know I was just shy of being completely wrong.
I didn’t use the scale to measure my standard recipe (above). I wanted to, but the battery I put in was used. More used than I thought. I’m lucky to have gotten the starter hyradtion measurements that I did.