Jan 13th, 2009

Rising in the new year

Last night, I sliced up a 950g block of fresh yeast into 25g portions and put them in my freezer.  It should really have been 20g, but my knife seemed to fall more naturally to 25. This morning, the flat smells like – well, like a living yeasty organism.  Old socks mixed with homebrew shop. When it gets light, I’ll don an extra jumper and throw open the windows to air the place.

The yeast thing is because I’ve become a born-again bread maker, thanks to a mixing machine, whose sturdy dough hook does all the kneading my wonky hands can’t.  So far, the resulting bread has been unexciting if mostly edible.  But I have ambition, fueled by the words on paper and screen of artisan bakers around the world. Years ago, my taste veered towards what I now know is Eastern European bread. (more…)