Any Home Bakers Here?

[ceancharles]

Those look wonderful!

Duh, what is a converted starter?

Starter as I know it is typically AP or even bread flour and water or milk basically fermented. I have to "convert" one to whole wheat flour, I might even try to feed it buttermilk along with WW flour. It take a couple weeks in my house to get it really going, it never gets above 65 in here. So I'll have 100% WW bread Just an experiment though. That last loaf came out REALLY tasty and kiddo loves it.

I like your wooden slicer behind the loaf of bread, at least that is what I am assuming it is. did you make that?

I was going to make one but the time it takes was going to kill me. Too many irons in the fire so I bought it. Bread Pal. It's great. I use it A LOT. I'm the guy that fusses when the cheese or bread is cut crooked so it was a MUST have. Pricey but good quality and easy to use. Best reviews on bread slicers out there.

 

[ronott1]

Starter as I know it is typically AP or even bread flour and water or milk basically fermented. I have to "convert" one to whole wheat flour, I might even try to feed it buttermilk along with WW flour. It take a couple weeks in my house to get it really going, it never gets above 65 in here. So I'll have 100% WW bread Just an experiment though. That last loaf came out REALLY tasty and kiddo loves it.
I was going to make one but the time it takes was going to kill me. Too many irons in the fire so I bought it. Bread Pal. It's great. I use it A LOT. I'm the guy that fusses when the cheese or bread is cut crooked so it was a MUST have. Pricey but good quality and easy to use. Best reviews on bread slicers out there.

Drop everything and go to this website:

http://carlsfriends.net/

follow the directions for getting a start from them for free. Download the brochure pdf and when you get a real hundreds of years old starter going, you will be amazed!

I do not think you would need to use whole wheat in the starter. The big difference between white flour and whole wheat is the gluten. There is less gluten so there is less stretchiness to the dough--whole wheat will be denser. The percentage of flour taste that comes from the starter would not be noticeable.

Bread flour has the higest amount of gluten and you can get a dough enhancer from King Arthur Flour that increases gluten for whole wheat bread. A trick would be to use about 1/4 bread flour with 3/4 whole wheat flour. If you were using other grains that do not have gluten(like rice flour), you do not want to go below 50% wheat flour.

Another trick with using whole wheat or other heavy grain flours is to let the dough stay a bit wet for about 20 minutes before adding the rest of the flout and kneading. That lets the grains soak up some flour and will help the bread to say moist.

 

[3goodeggs]

I have to cook a lot of food for people tonight. I was going to make sausage with sauteed onion, peppers and mushrooms.
I have this huge aluminum flat bottomed wok like thing that my husband brought back from his mothers... it will fit the vegetables...now, What do you all think about onions and aluminum?
They are sweet white onions and do not seem to be too sulfur-ish,, but, I do not own aluminum pans so I have no experience.
Do I just use my stainless pans and saute multiple times, or try the bid aluminum one and get it over with?
I gotta get started on the cake.. so I will be back for your opinions in a bit. (I did not get a google answer that was definitive.)
Thank you all in advance.

 

[ronott1]

I have to cook a lot of food for people tonight. I was going to make sausage with sauteed onion, peppers and mushrooms.
I have this huge aluminum flat bottomed wok like thing that my husband brought back from his mothers... it will fit the vegetables...now, What do you all think about onions and aluminum?
They are sweet white onions and do not seem to be too sulfur-ish,, but, I do not own aluminum pans so I have no experience.
Do I just use my stainless pans and saute multiple times, or try the bid aluminum one and get it over with?
I gotta get started on the cake.. so I will be back for your opinions in a bit. (I did not get a google answer that was definitive.)
Thank you all in advance.

I know of no problems cooking onions in aluminium pans. I would use the wok, as long as you have a burner that can heat it up enough.

Health wise, aluminium has been shown to not be the cause of Alzheimer so cook away!

 

[3goodeggs]

Thanks!

 

[Alice28]

I made both @ronott1 Aunt Abbie's Peanut butter cookies (which I called cookies "A" to make it easier on myself) and @DigMyChicks peanut butter cookies (which I called cookie "B"), on Monday. Sorry it's taken me so long to post about them!

Cookie "A" had great flavor. The recipe seems to be for those nice BIG peanut butter cookies though. Mine I only cooked for 10-15min depending on how big I made them. They were really yummy! Good flavor and texture. Definitely a hit for peanut butter cookies. Would be great for a bake sale or just to eat whenever!

Cookie "B" was fluffier and held its round shape better without cracking as much. It didn't have as good of a flavor as cookie "A" (this was the vote from my tasters), however I think if I add 1/2tsp of salt to the recipe, that will bring the flavor up to par with cookie "A".

I am so happy with both and will put both in my recipe box. Aunt Abbie's (A) will be a great peanut butter cookie to make or bake sales, or just whenever. And the other peanut butter cookie (b), I will use for holidays when I like to make the peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies (some people call them peanut butter blossem cookies, the ones with the big herseys kiss in the middle). With how fluffy and light they are and the texture, they will be perfect for that! So I'm keeping both recipes and happy with both!

Cookies A are on the left, B on the right. I did A and B, so I could write on the bowls and make sure I didn't mix up the cookies! I now have both in the freezer so I can see how they do after being frozen. At holiday time, my cookie trays have a few cookies, and everyone is home at different times, so I have to freeze some of the cookies. I want to make sure both do well being frozen

and don't crumble when taken out! Will let everyone know in a week!

 

[ronott1]

I made both @ronott1 Aunt Abbie's Peanut butter cookies (which I called cookies "A" to make it easier on myself) and @DigMyChicks peanut butter cookies (which I called cookie "B"), on Monday. Sorry it's taken me so long to post about them!

Cookie "A" had great flavor. The recipe seems to be for those nice BIG peanut butter cookies though. Mine I only cooked for 10-15min depending on how big I made them. They were really yummy! Good flavor and texture. Definitely a hit for peanut butter cookies. Would be great for a bake sale or just to eat whenever!

Cookie "B" was fluffier and held its round shape better without cracking as much. It didn't have as good of a flavor as cookie "A" (this was the vote from my tasters), however I think if I add 1/2tsp of salt to the recipe, that will bring the flavor up to par with cookie "A".

I am so happy with both and will put both in my recipe box. Aunt Abbie's (A) will be a great peanut butter cookie to make or bake sales, or just whenever. And the other peanut butter cookie (b), I will use for holidays when I like to make the peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies (some people call them peanut butter blossem cookies, the ones with the big herseys kiss in the middle). With how fluffy and light they are and the texture, they will be perfect for that! So I'm keeping both recipes and happy with both!

Cookies A are on the left, B on the right. I did A and B, so I could write on the bowls and make sure I didn't mix up the cookies! I now have both in the freezer so I can see how they do after being frozen. At holiday time, my cookie trays have a few cookies, and everyone is home at different times, so I have to freeze some of the cookies. I want to make sure both do well being frozen

and don't crumble when taken out! Will let everyone know in a week!

Great review!

 

[Alice28]

Great review!

Thanks. I almost added "sorry I'm not the best at articulating this kind of stuff", but glad you think it's ok! Thanks for the recipe!

 

[N F C]

Good job @Alice28 , both with the review and with baking 2 different pb cookie recipes to try them out.

Anyone want some blueberry pie?


DH & I went berry picking at a u-pick early this morning. We got 12 pounds! I made 2 pies, 1 for tonight and 1 for the freezer. Gee, only about 8 pounds left...better get more!

(And boy, am I glad I put a foil-covered baking sheet under that pie...it was juicy.)

 

[Alice28]

Good job @Alice28 , both with the review and with baking 2 different pb cookie recipes to try them out. Anyone want some blueberry pie? DH & I went berry picking at a u-pick early this morning. We got 12 pounds! I made 2 pies, 1 for tonight and 1 for the freezer. Gee, only about 8 pounds left...better get more! (And boy, am I glad I put a foil-covered baking sheet under that pie...it was juicy.)

Me me me!!!!! I want some!!!!

I am trying coconut cream pie saturday! My son is excited, I told him we are going to make whipped cream this weekend