Two new breads

[gjbingham]

Re: Two new breads

Western Washington only gets temps in the teens a few times in a decade. Perhaps thats the difference.

[egalecki]

Re: Two new breads

Um, I'm in the mountains of Virginia and we're in zone 6a- brown figs, I think, aren't reliably hardy below 15 degrees. We've had a couple mornings below zero this month. I have to baby my rosemary bush too or it dies completely. Amazing what a heavy blanket will do.

It may be that it might just die down to the ground and come back (in which case it would be more of a bush, I guess). I have seen several bushes around which are probably figs, judging from the distinctive leaf shape, but I haven't seen figs on them.

Maybe I'll check with the Va Tech horticultural people and see if it's safe to plant it in the ground.

[gjbingham]

Re: Two new breads

Funny about the Fig tree. We had a fig tree in my yard in Tacoma, WA when I was a kid. It always ripened the fruit. Virginia is much warmer than the NW. I think your tree may just need a few years. Ours looked like it was 40 years old or more.

The fruit was great for throwing at people. It splatted on your adversaries back like bird excrement from 3000 feet! Awesome!
G.

[egalecki]

Re: Two new breads

They were dried figs. I have a tiny fig tree in a pot, but I've only gotten one fig. It's a bit cold for them to be reliable here. I suppose I could baby it like I do my rosemary bush, but I think it'll be hard to do when the fig gets bigger. Right now I just bring it indoors when the temperature finally goes below 25.

I have pounds and pounds of pecans from my mom's trees in the freezer. What kind of bread do you make with pecans? At the rate I'm going, I'll never use them all...

[Dutchoven]

Re: Two new breads

Elizabeth
Are they figs from a tree you have? We were able to harvest some figs earlier this year and we also picked a lot of pecans...70+ pounds of unshelled pecans...
Nothing like really fresh stuff...that bread does sound very good
Best
Dutch

[gjbingham]

Re: Two new breads

I'd throw that under a broiler and let it melt/and carmelize the cheese a bit. Sounds yummy!

[egalecki]

Re: Two new breads

No problem, George. I actually like golf. I stink, but it's fun. My father-in-law once said admiringly to me "you learn to hit it straight and it'll go a mile!". I've never learned to hit it straight, but then I've other things I like more, so I don't play that often.

The hazelnut and fig bread is amazing with cream cheese too. I don't even toast it. I bet it would be even better with a bit of mild goat cheese!

[gjbingham]

Re: Two new breads

I knew you'd finally begin to understand, Frances.

As Mark Twain said: "Golf is a good walk spoiled" (or something to that effect).

...or more in line with my game: Did you know that Golf spelled backwards is flog??

Sorry Elizabeth, digress..... Let's get back on the topic of two breads again.

[Frances]

Re: Two new breads

Cool... You know, that description made me feel for the first time that maybe playing golf might be quite fun after all

[gjbingham]

Re: Two new breads

Dutch, I'm all over that! I'm sure you've played in the fog. Nothing like sports in the fog.

I used to surf in the fog in San Diego. One of the coolist things you can do. You have no idea if a huge wave is just outside you, just on the verge of breaking. You just deal with the limited area of your vision and try to perform and not get killed.

Golf in the fog is somehow easier than on clear days. Expectations go down. Hit a ball into the the abyss, walk out to the normal areas you usually hit to, wander around until you find it, then guess where your next shot should go. Forget aiming at a pin, hope for the middle of the green. Somehow, the scores are similar, if not better than on clear days.

I think I should buy a fog machine for my house!

[Dutchoven]

Re: Two new breads

BTW Dutch, do you inhale, exhale, or just hold your breath?

Don't know!...Don't care!...Just hit it, go find it, then hit it again, etc., etc....

[gjbingham]

Re: Two new breads

Dutch! Great Yuks! You should have seen me out there on the links today. It is so wet that a drive landing in the fairway nearly plugs, then bounces backwards a foot or two. I took some enormous divits that normally wouldn't leave more than just a slight scar, and hit some splat shots that feel normal, but only fly about 2/3rds the normal distance. Winter golf in Washington is hilarious, but you need to keep all potentially dangerous weapons out of your bag. Hari kiri is always a consideration when you loose face so many times during one round. BTW Dutch, do you inhale, exhale, or just hold your breath?

Frances. Okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Look in your oven and tell me what the smoke is doing. Get it real hot prior to that with your bellows.

Elizabeth, the insulation you've got sounds excelent, if not excessive. That's a good thing. Obviously, that is not the problem. If you do as Frances suggests, and rake the coals over the entire floor, let it moderate, then remove them and give the oven time to adjust again, the floor and dome should pretty much be in equilibrium. I forget your numbers for dome height to circumfrence. If the dome was significantly higher or lower than a half sphere, then I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the floor cooled faster or stayed hotter (respectively) than expected. It may just be a variation in the properties of the bricks you used too. Perhaps different batches from the manufacturer ended up with different properties. Using something as simple as a baking sheet might delay the carmelization on the bottoms enough that you end up with a perfect loaf. Think outside the rectangle.

[Dutchoven]

Re: Two new breads

Elizabeth,
I think it more relates to a microclimate created by my dome in relation to the house. I'm sure that a flat angle iron entryway does nothing to improve the flow of smoke from dome to chimney.

Just my smelly opionion.

Sure George...dismiss the Coriolis effect and then try and explain away your convection current with some micro-climatic condition created by the straight iron angle and the top of your door and its relationship to your house......doing this type of thing to a newbie with a woodfired oven is just wrong!!!... ...if you're a newbie you shouldn't pay attention to the smoke direction...reminds me of the time I asked my adversary in a golf match if he inhaled or exhaled on his backswing...lets say I had no trouble whatsoever winning that match......oh and our oven is a barrel vault so I have no idea what direction the smoke moves...
Best
Dutch

[egalecki]

Re: Two new breads

Well, George, with 3 1/2 inches of vermicrete plus 2 inches of board under it, that floor had better retain heat. Or else!

I think I'm not patient enough. If I'd left my door on after swabbing longer, maybe I'd have seen the temperature come back up a bit. That doesn't explain why I only burned the bottoms of some of the loaves, though. The others were perfect.

We'll see what happens next time!

Dusty, I really like Whole Grain Breads by Reinhart. If you're into the whole grain stuff, that's the one. If you just want a basic bread book, Bread by Hamelman is excellent too- but I also have Bread Baker's Apprentice and like it. Which books do you already own?

[Frances]

Re: Two new breads

One idea that came to mind while reading your baking schedule Elizabeth, is that I let the oven cool down more slowly. I spread the coals after it burns white and leave it for half an hour, maybe more, them remove (or push back) the coals, and then I leave the oven to cool down slowly with the door on for another hour or two (or however long it takes) until it reaches the right temp.

My thinking is that the way you do it maybe the surface of the bricks is the right temp when you put the bread it, but the inside of the bricks is actually hotter and as soon as you close the door that heat comes rushing to the surface again. I dunno, what does everybody else think, does that make sense?

Goerge, apparently the Coreolis effect really does work on smnall scale things, too. Say if you pull the plug in a bath, on the northern hemisphere the water will always turn clockwise, on the southern anti-clockwise. And on the equator it'll go one way or the other. Strange but true (or so I'm told). And railway tracks that go in North-South direction always have one side of the track that gets worn down faster than the other.

Dang, you'll have me with my head in the oven watching the smoke all the time now!