Hey all,

Quick question. I'm going to try to make poolish for the first time and I found the majority of recipes use honey to accelerate the fermentation process. Normally I would swap that for maple syrup. Anyone know of that would work here too?

This is just another method that proves you eventually come up with your own method.

This is using open baking on a stone with steam. I preheat the oven for about forty five minutes to an hour at 465F/250C (my oven reaches 475/246C at 465F/240C) to get it nice and hot. Then load my loaves and water, turn off the oven for ten minutes. Turn it back on to 450F/232C for ten minutes then rotating the loaves and baking another ten minutes, finally turning the oven off and leaving the loaves inside for ten more minutes. I get what I call a nice dark baker's brown on the crust.

Here is the recipe for the bread; https://www.bakewithjack.co.uk/blog-1/2018/7/5/sourdough-loaf-for-beginners

Next time I’ll put an egg wash on them.

They lacked a bit of time in the oven, and they're a bit bland because it's white flour only, but these baguettes look the best I've managed so far! Really happy with the results!

Two Parmesan Comte. One Dill Pickle. One regular sourdough.

I don't know how authentic it is to a proper Roman pizza bianca, but I was inspired by some bread I had in Vancouver this past weekend. I looked for some recipes and learnt a lot about pizza bianca along the way... but most of the recipes called for semolina flour, which I don't have and didn't want to buy just to try this, as well as a really long cold proof. Problem is I wanted to try this bread in one day because I'm impatient, so I kept searching and found this recipe. Didn't call for semolina, and had a much shorter proof time. It also recommended a baking stone, which I happen to have.

I may or may not have also been won over by the pictures they included of an amazing mozza and tomato sandwich. Decided yep, that's what I want to bake today.

I absolutely could not get them to be actual squares, but you know what? I quite like them rounded anyway. Sandwich was incredible, highly recommend. And now, more pics!

Crumb shot

I can't actually taste them over the burger, but the texture is perfect and they look gorgeous.

got a real nice crust on this one. i thought it was overbaked but actually it turned out in a way ive sought but found elusive for years. it has the golden crumb edge and satisfying cronch.

Ok I guess this is attempt 1.5. My recipe made two loaves. The first one I must've bumped the temp on the oven moving stuff on the stove because I was over 100° off somehow. But this one went in after. Much better than I expected! Maybe not a great as I hoped but, perfection is an illusion I need to stop chasing lol.

I was gifted a 9 inch pullman loaf pan and after many attempts, I finally filled the corners!

Seeing everyone else’s cool bread reminded me I had made this. First attempt rose too much but second and third turned out well. Good for gifts.

I've been working on this one for a couple of weeks. The whole idea in a line: a soft, sweet enriched milk bread under a dark, slightly bitter shell.

The first version asked the oven to make the crust. Turns out a dark crust on a milk bread just reads as baked-too-hot, and the crumb dries out before the outside gets where I want it. So v2 flips it: bake the loaf gentle, then build the shell on top, last, under the broiler.

Dough (one pull-apart loaf, 9x5 pan)

• 340 g bread flour
• 100 g tangzhong (20 g flour + 100 g milk, cooked to a paste, chilled 8-24 h, make it the night before)
• 130 g warm milk
• 1 egg (~50 g)
• 45 g sugar
• 6 g salt
• 7 g instant yeast
• 55 g soft butter

Method

1. Knead to a windowpane. First rise ~1.5 h, until doubled.
2. Divide into 8-9 pieces, round them, second rise in a buttered pan ~45 min.
3. Bake at 165-170 C (325-340 F) for 25-30 min. Pull when the centre reads ~90 C (195 F). Tent with foil if it colours early. No char in the oven this time.
4. Out of the oven: brush with 40 g browned butter + 25 g burnt honey. Then broil until deep mahogany, no black. That is a look, not a timer. Watch it the whole time, it goes fast.
5. Cracked black pepper and flaky salt on top.

What the finish should look like

Left is where to stop. Right is one step too far. That photo is the whole last step; match the left, never the right.

The ask I don't have a kitchen (long story), so this has been designed and reasoned but never baked by me. If you try it, could you tell me:

• internal temp when you pulled it
• did the shell land on deep mahogany, or tip into black
• rise times
• anything that fought you

What I'm least sure of is the broiler step and whether "deep mahogany" transfers to someone who isn't me. If it's wrong, tell me how it's wrong.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my first sourdough loaf at first glance, although I do think I got too much color on the top.

Its still cooling, but I'll make a post with pictures of the crumb when it's done.

Thanks to Claire Saffitz, I would have definitely ruined it if I didn't watch/read her NYT guide at least 10 times in preparation.

Got a little excited with the egg wash though 🤣

I've been making for a few years now, the urge ebbs and flows. Right now I've been baking like a madman, forcing my A/C to work overtime, with the goal of reproducing the crumb you see in the loaves they sell at the tartine bakery.

I don't know if it's possible, given that the recipe in their book is probably optimized for a home baker, but I'm giving it a good shot.

Right now I'm in the process of getting my starter as active as humanly possible, I believe that's the major weak point in my process.

10/10 will do again.

Followed Sally's recipe pretty much to the T. Next time I think I will try bread flour, and maybe add some seasoning to the dough itself. For this one, I sprinkled oregano and basil after it came out of the oven.

Hey everyone,

I'm trying to find a recipe to make a food item from a restaurant in my area. They have a big sign on the wall that says they make their bread out of poolish and Biga. Researching that I'm confused...poolish and Biga are two different kinds of bread right? Specifically I'm trying to make the dish I've attached to this post.

Does anyone know what this might be? It's that poolish dough? Don't suppose anyone has a recipe?

There are lots of other differences, but overnight cold proof on the left, and 2 days on the right. I think I'm starting to notice a pattern.

I like the idea of longer cold proof, for the sour flavor and general convenience. But the longer loaves are showing less pop.

My family emptied the freezer - all the prior loaves have been eaten. These are whole wheat 40% loaves made with beer. Smithwicks red ale to be exact. First time using beer - they smelled like beer until cooked, now they smell regular. We’ll see how they taste when I cut them after they cool a bit.