Last week was a MUCH better week, thank f**k. For one thing I finally got to do some proper baking again, which I’ve not really done since I left E5, and secondly I got some pretty awesome news, on which more later.
It was a really important week for me as it enabled me to actually use the bakery and see if everything was in the right place and was working how I wanted it to. Oven issues aside, I was really please with how the week went, and the bakes got progressively better over time as I tweaked formulas and techniques, worked around the oven’s foibles, and jiggled around a few bits of furniture to get the place flowing better.
There’s still plenty to do, but I’m already feeling pretty comfortable, and am hoping that the more into it I get, the better the product will become. Of everything thus far, the Country White and Peckham Rye are coming out the best, both in terms of taste and look. The raisin and walnut and multigrain breads still need some tweaking, and I’m finding it really hard to get the pop and ears on the Peckham Rye rounds that I’ve been able to pull off to great effect in my Dutch oven at home. Saying that, from a purely functional point of view, I have a feeling that the Rye actually works better as a batard shape as it’s more practical for toast, sandwiches etc.
