Baguette

Hello beautiful people,

This past week I have been trying to do baguettes but It just wasn't working out. I tried at first with a 70% hydration thinking it would need to be that much and then again but letting the dough proof overnight and nope. They kept coming out flat, no spring in the oven, and heavy. Needles to say I didnt take any pictures because they were just hard to stomach. But when all fails with bread there is always soup and stew to eat it with.

Looking through my pictures last night I found one of my 2011 trip to Bosnia. 

Yesterday I found some time to get a recipe modified and try a 65 percent hydration dough. I prepped the dough in the morning went through a fold each hour three times and stuck it in the fridge overnight. The dough was nice puffy and light. Scaled, shaped, preheated the oven to 550F, slashed and loaded.

I think one of my problems with the other loafs from last week was my baking. It was early, I was rushing it, didnt pay attention to the dough and it also much colder then ideal temperature for proofing (darn you vermont).

 Half Baguettes 

-220g of mature strong starter
-590g King Arthur all purpose white
-20g King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat
-400g water
-8g Sea salt
-3 Tbsp Olive oil (I always use the best olive oil, its just not something to mess around with)
- 3.14159... Love

1. The mix
Flour, water, Starter, and olive oil on low mix for 10 min with a 20min rest.  Add the salt last, mix for 3min and let it rest for an hour.

2. The Folds
Fold the dough into itself every hour three times. After the last rest period, cover with plastic and put into fridge overnight.

3. The Shape
Take out the dough in the morning, divide into fours and start shaping each one at a time. Here is a video on shaping.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdNRogR10nM  (skip to the 2min mark and just do the pre-shape) When you do the shape just loosely roll and stretch the loaves but make sure not to tear them. Let them stretch naturally. Make sure to not shape the loaves the way this guy does it in the video because he is beating on them so much. :( sad dough.
Put your baguettes on a couch or cloth that you dont care getting dusty or doughy.

4. Bake
Preheat the oven to as high as it will go (mine was at 525F) and let your baguettes rest while this is happening. Get your loading peel ready and your knife/lame clean.
Make sure you also have about a cup of water to toss into the oven before loading your loaves.
Slash your loaves and let them bake for 20 min at 475-500F. 

Enjoy!!

Miche de Chaz

 Hello dear friends,
As a collective of bakers and adventurers we are currently under the task of choosing a different name for our blog because there are plenty of yeast coasts out there. We love baking bread, riding bikes, adventuring, coffee, tea, crafting and all the great things in life. Soon we will be under a different name and might be posting more than just our baking projects. Here is a picture of a beautiful man and his Miche in Lyndon.

Stay tuned, tomorrow I will be posting my Baguette attempt which is in the fridge as we speak. Enjoy!!

Tinder Hearth Family

Here are a few pictures of a lovely family and bakery that makes my heart melt.
LOVE YOU BROOKSHIRE.

 Svetlana

 Sam doesn't know where to start

 That shiny gold visor is the secret recipe to the best pizza west of Italy

 Berto

 Pizza masters

 Crosint

Best Miche west of France

Krompiruša

Hello dear friends,
Its been a while since we posted and its mostly because of our busy summer. I have been in beautiful Brookshire, ME and its been a indescribable time. Its that time of year for me to get on the road and maybe pick up another trade of work. I don't know what awaits me but im excited. I just talked to Ben and he is still at Scratch Baking co. in Portland, ME. If you haven't checked it out then you must. Great bread, cookies, all sorts of cakes and sweet things.. oh and the bagels they are simply the bomb.
Ben's suggestion was to post as a means of knowing what we are up to and just to keep baking. So here is my post with more to come.


This is a traditional meal in my home land, Bosnia and Hercegovina. It is a no yeast dough prepared for phyllo sheets. This would be a similar way you would prepare dough for  home made baklava. The dough is similar to bread dough at about 60% hydration and once its well mixed and kneaded it sits covered with oil for about half hour or longer. Some people also put it in plastic bags overnight which works really well. In my experience the dough is easier to stretch and work with if it sits in the fridge covered with olive oil. 

The stuffing ranges from different cheeses, leeks and potatoes, potatoes-diced onions-pepper, beef with diced onions, spinach and cheese, really anything that is around you. haha
After the dough has rested then it is divided into one pound sections, rounded put on a cloth on the table and covered with flour. The pictures can do the rest of the descriptions for how its rolled and assembled.  Enjoy, Prijatno

Norwich Sunflower Mod.

Hello all,
Its been a while since we have posted but I would love to first and foremost congratulate Wesley John Hatch and Chris Mullen II on their Kickstarter project. If you folks would love to check out some backwoods local Vermont independent film, than here you go http://lowsoundsbytheshore.com/ or on facebook noooo. Not facebook!

Back to Bread stuff!!!

Last week I made a few loafs modified from the modified Norwich recipe on wild yeast. I dont have the measurements with me but I think Ill get pretty close.

All pictures are taken by John Matyas

Autolizzzeee:
1K of Flour (mine was all purpose KA)
600g water @86F
1Tbs Olive oil (as pure as you can get it)
-Mix for about fifteen minutes and pour some olive oil in the mix
-Let sit for about an hour or two

Sourdough starter:
300-350g  100% Hydration Sourdough starter
go with the higher number, what bad can happen??
I fed my sourdough starter twice on this day and it was fabulous and very active

-Mix the sourdough and flour/water/oil mixture for about twenty minutes and add about 18-20g of salt during the mix.
-Bulk ferment for two and a half hours with 35min folds.
-Shape and let proof in cloth for 2Hrs and pop them suckers into a 450F oven, spray the oven or put a dish with water in for about 15min and they will be done in 30min.

 Enjoy friends and please contact us if you have any questions. Ben if you happen to be reading, I miss you and I'm coming down to the coast with my bike tonight. Wanna ride, bake bread and get a few beers??

Sunriser Rye

Baked these two loafs a few weeks back but have been too busy with work to post. I picked up another job as a assistant baker for Bread and Butter farm. Im excited to be learning a much as possible about every bit of rye information I can get. The owner and head baker, Adam has completely shifted to rye and spelt which is amazing. I myself am on the slow shift of having a 100% rye sourdough starter. I would really love to grow my own rye around vermont and brew beer and bake bread with it. Maybe some whiskey as well haha.

These loafs were 60% Rye, 100% Hydration 1/2rye - 1/2wheat starter, 40% spelt, and about 20g of roasted sunflower seeds. Added 85F water to ingredients, giving me a final mixed dough of 83F. Mixed for thirty minutes and bulk rest for 5hrs. Baked at 475F for 25 min with steam in the beginning.  It was a tasty loaf and it didnt last for long. I had to go to work after baking them so I didnt get to take a picture of the beautiful crumb. 

BourbonBeerBread.

Used Smuttynose Zinneke Belgian Stout for 50% of the hydration in this 100% whole wheat sour loaf.  Wanted to use Allagash Courieux, but at $19 a bottle, the $6 Smutty took its place. Toasted walnuts and fresh apple chunks for a little extra.  Dense and sour!  Not such a great idea with the fresh fruit, made great toast though.