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@jonj thank you! It’s been a long time coming they did some cool texturing to the concrete today turned out awesome

I have been struggling mightily with my bread making recently. I had got to a stage where most loaves came out well and then things started to go wrong about a month ago and I have been delivering variations on shrunken, flat loaves consistently. Aaaargh. There were so many variables that I struggled to fix the problem, no matter how many times I tried to test an individual stage or method. I even resorted to re-reading other's posts and noted that @Syzygies talked about his flat as a pancake period and how minute doses of ascorbic acid helped him out of it. I didn't want to add yet another variable so I persisted with one last experiment over the last two days. Here is my journey for those who are novices like me. First I mixed and scoop kneaded the dough, using Trevor J Wilson's method. Got that tip from one of @Pequod's posts. Actually, that wasn't the first thing I did. Begin at the beginning. This record is going to be important for when something goes wrong again. This experiment was to test whether my move from one method of making leaven to another was part of the problem. I had been using a stiff leaven, made with 1 part starter to 1 part water to 2 parts flour. My loaves over the last month used Chad Peterson's leaven recipe which is made up of 1 tablespoon of starter to 200g of flour and 200g of water. Weird juxtaposition of tablespoons with grams and much less starter relative to flour in Chad's method. I ended up being busy and left the leaven to rise for longer than my usual 6 hours. It was much closer to 15 hours by the time I got to mixing the leaven in to the dough. I milled the spelt and wheat grain and hydrolysed with 85% water for about two hours before adding the salt and leaven. Adding the leaven and salt later is another Trevor J Wilson recommendation. Works for me in that I can get the flour hydrolysing in parallel with waiting for the leaven to peak. It was 9pm by the time I had finished scoop kneading the dough so I was in no mood to stay up all night folding at half hourly intervals for four hours before shaping so I put the two, separate lots of dough with the Chad leaven on the left and the Bertinet stiff leaven on the right, in bowls in the cool cellar. Cool bulk fermentation like this is great for allowing you to bake sourdough when you are ready and rather than having to stick to strict timings. The dough looked good when I got to it in the morning. I then formed it into balls for the bench rest. I used damp hands to avoid adding too much flour . Here are the balls after the bench rest. Relaxed but the not too flat so I figured they were good to be shaped to go in the banettons. I have been having problems with sticky dough adhering to the banettons so I liberally floured the top of the dough balls and the banettons before laying the balls in the baskets. The good news is that the dough already felt less sticky than normal at this stage. I got the extra rack in the proofer to allow for proofing two loaves at once. Here they are, going in for four hours or so. And here they are looking wet but plump after proofing. I had a load of calls for work yesterday but had marked out my schedule to say when to put the oven on, when to put the dough in and when to get it out between calls. I dashed down to check on progress and this is what I found. It was a dance around the kitchen moment. The lower loaf was better risen than my more recent attempts but it was still flatter than the beautifully plump loaf on the top rack using the stiffer leaven. Letting the leaven go for longer may have helped both bakes but the stiffer dough was the clear winner for me. I wondered if the lesser amount of starter in the Chad leaven will have been expended sooner but, given all my previous attempts used his leaven after about six to ten hours I don't think that the timing is the main reason for the difference. Looking lovely during the agonising two hour wait for cooling. You can't have everything. Still some big holes in the crumb. Something to work on. In the meantime, The Husband delivered half of the plump loaf to my father-in-law as part of his lockdown care package. Father-in-law was very happy with progress and remarked on the softness and plumpness of the loaf. At last.

We are up and running with the burn in. Delivery guy wouldn’t help me bring it in. Will garage for now and get buddies to help move it when the COVID scare is over.

While home in California for the year on academic sabbatical (I'm a math prof), I was hoping to take a weeklong bread intensive at the San Francisco Baking Institute. Actually, it's their second week that interests me (Artisan II: Baking Sourdough, Levain, and Wild Yeast) though I'm not sure about the time commitment. These classes may still happen, though everything is on hold because of the virus. It was through the book by Michel Suas, associated with SFBI, that I first understood "green" (not-aged freshly ground) flour, and the ascorbic acid fix: Mix ascorbic acid 1:20 with white flour, very thoroughly. Then mix that 1:20 with white flour for a 1:440 blend. One can measure this in grams to add, say, 40 parts per million ascorbic acid to one's dough. This is easy after the initial investment in finding and mixing ascorbic acid, and it did solve this problem for me. I've instead started to work through this book: Advanced Bread & Pastry by Michel Suas It was a Google Books excerpt that alerted me to "green" flour. I since bought the book from Amazon UK. It was incompetently packed, being heavy, and arrived very damaged. Return shipping was prohibitive, so they let me keep the copy (it's now in New York) and sent another. Equally stupidly packed, but survived somewhat better. Not the copy you'd choose from the stack in a brick and mortar store, but usable. I'd trust SFBI to do a better job of shipping, as it's their book. We're going through a time with a pretty odd relationship to science and expertise. Global warming or pandemic, it may be our downfall. Bread is a relatively light topic, but the mere existence of this book illustrates a vast chasm between what a French-trained professional with decades of experience understands about bread, and what "blind leading the blind" lay writers for amateur home bakers understand. I felt that I was making progress when I gave up Peter Reinhart for Lent. I nevertheless found reading Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread a breakthrough experience (even though we can actually go buy Tartine bread, and we find it unnecessarily scorched in its signature style). But these guys are all guessing, even as they're learning fast by talking to others. There's a tremendous amount that one can learn from attentive experiment, it's not a surprise that the most strikingly original bakers of our day are self-taught. But then one wants to solve a problem, like the problem of "green" flour. As a research mathematician, this is a quandary that I recognize. Work alone, be strikingly original, but give up on thousands of years of supporting insights and intellectual infrastructure. Work too hard to instead master this history of ideas, get sucked into conventional thinking and sacrifice all originality. Each researcher's identity ties to how they resolve striking this balance. Oddly, I could not learn how to pick a lock in my twenties, but I sailed through an evening lock picking workshop recently. One's mind slows down as one ages, but just as Tai chi can teach one to better understand one's body, there are net benefits to better understanding one's mind. When I teach others how to become researchers, this is what I teach. In lock picking in particular, one is trying many possibilities in rapid succession. In problem solving too, there can be critical phases where one needs to be able to rotate through hundreds of possibilities in rapid succession. The researcher who has spent decades studying other peoples' work can generate these hundreds of possibilities in their head, from experience. The lone original wolf, no matter how brilliant, doesn't stand a chance at keeping up. Sometimes they'll instead try one thing that is so out of the norm that experienced researchers would have never considered it, and be lucky, but generally being a lone wolf puts one at a disadvantage. When I want a lazy way to expose myself to hundreds of possibilities for how my bread might improve, I flip through the Suas book. At farmers markets I've met my share of bread bakers who freshly grind but don't understand "green" flour. The key for a professional operation is reproducibility. They're making the same breads day after day. Once they've found protocols that work, they're good. I keep trying new procedures and recipes, so I'm relying on ascorbic acid to get that variable out of my way. I really don't know what you might have discovered, but it makes sense. The balance of acids varies with the stiffness of the levain, affecting the chemistry of gluten formation. Tonight's sourdough rye put me way outside my comfort zone, because the levain protocol was so different. When I flip again through Suas, I haven't even tried most of his ideas that could be relevant to making a rye sourdough come out. I'll play with them one or two at a time, so I have some hope of relating these ideas to experience. So, hopefully you'll be able to replicate this success without ascorbic acid. If not, ascorbic acid is actually quite easy.

Patience grasshopper. It is stunning and I can totally understand what you are saying.

Cajun spice Duck and a mix of spices on these ribs that included cajun, hot, and sweet. Finished with a sweet carolina BBq sauce. Pics of the barrel in action. I heard lots of smoke kills any virus. OOps. sorry Tekebo posted this in the wrong aisle thought it was the Misc cookin I'll erase it tomorrow

Glad to share recipes; it will be up to you, however, to procure the necessary equipment and to source the ingredients!

I recently moved my new 32 BB up one small stair step and used 1/2 “ plywood with a piece of wood under the plywood and gap of the stairs. It worked ok but flexed a lot. I would recommend using 3/4” just for some extra comfort. It rolled great. I also tipped the UPS delivery guy $40 and he helped me. There are some great post on burn in. The common theme is don’t run out of beer. Also, no worries if something unusual happens, call Dennis or his team. They are very responsive.

Sounds a little bit like prohibition, before you know high speed boats will be running up and down the coast avoiding the coast guard and you'll be meeting with people in dark alleys buying the latest brew. Who woulda knew. You can always make your own, ask Toney for the recipe, although he guards it closely and it may be locked in his vault, under the circumstances I believe he would share

It felt really good yesterday. I just want it done so I can move my KK to its final spot.

Exciting times. I’d have 3 or 4 blokes handy when you take on stairs and 1/2 inch ply flexed heaps with my 23 inch. They roll very easily. Maybe some bricks can help pack out the ply on the steps. Burn in can be fun. Going up stairs might be easier to carry- there are ropes around the legs that allow you to put carry poles through for a 4 man lift, and a fifth man steadying. How many stairs? Have some fun burning in. Fill your basket, open the top vent 2 or 3 full turns, bottom vent 1/4 moon plus big circle. Light her up. Close the lid to second catch. Grab a beer. When the thermometer registers 100f, wind back top vent to a quarter turn open, and close the bottom vent to 1/4 inch plus third smallest circle. Grab another beer. Prep some food to cook. Grab another beer. When temp steadies around 350f to 400f open top vent to half a turn, play around with vent settings slowly opening them up and recording where the temp rises to. You will smell some acrylic around 500f- 600f. It’s coming from the outside only, not in and won’t effect your food. At this point closely scrutinise every tile looking for any lifting, fluid leaks. There are clear instructions how to handle these. Hold the high temp for a couple of hours until acrylic smell disappears. Don’t forget to cook your food. I had this smell during my first 3 cooks up to these temps, now nothing. Enjoy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't go messing with adjusting the dome just yet; you could create more issues than you have now. The bottom latch is adjustable. Loosen the two bolts and move the plate as needed. Re-tighten the bolts and check both the alignment and the tightness of the latch when closed to the 2nd position - it should be firm. This is critical for closing off the air supply after your cooks and snuffing out the charcoal. If this doesn't fix the alignment problem, contact Dennis directly for guidance.

You can always remove the dome and carry it through separately. Burn in isn't as big a deal as we all fear before we actually do it. As mentioned, just be sure you keep it going until the solvent smell stops. The charcoal tip from Tyrus is a good one for all high temperature operations, burn-in or cooks.

Congrats! The 32 is ~900lbs - so keep that in mind / have enough help handy. I brought the 42 though the house on 3/4 ply ( it weights in ~1600lbs). We had more steps to go up so used 2x6 rails underneath for the steps. Even with the ply it was heavy enough to dent the aluminum threshold of the front door - not sure if the same would be the case with the 32. Also, be aware of the clearance - I had to take the stainless housing off of the back (around the spring) and we had to pop the lid open to go through the door so the handle would clear. Good luck!

Yes, I mill the flour shortly before using it. At first the idea of milling was a bit daunting but it is now just part of the routine. Put machine on the kitchen counter, ask Alexa to divide the weight of flour required by the percentage extraction, weigh the grain, pour it in to the hopper to grind and choose the right grade of sieve to get the amount of flour I need. I use a mix of high extraction and whole grain flour in different combinations, depending on the loaf I am baking.

Your pantry is looking healthy Tekobo Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just sayin.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My little bit of hoarding has been to replenish my stock of plain white flour a little earlier than normal I found out that my local health food store would order bigger bags of grain so I picked up this 5kg of spelt on Friday. And these beauties and more came from Austria the other day. So far the einkorn has been very tasty but I have not tried the kamut yet. I bought these "wheat seedlings" and "spelt seedlings" out of curiosity but have no idea what they are. I guessed they might be sprouted or malted grain but those words don't check out in any German translation that I can find. Does anybody have any idea?

The latch is to the right of center of the locking pin, requiring force to close. I loosened the bolts on both the top and the bottom pieces, and found no adjustment movement on either. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wanted to make a donair but didn't have the exact ingredients so did a pizza/donair. Now for some cheese. Poured the donair sauce over the baked goods. The sauce was a little more runny than it should have been. I think that is because it had been frozen for some time. However it all tasted delicious.

NO Hammers! Post some pics of the latch, this can be adjusted.

One thing is the charcoal, last week I came home from the store with a 34LB bag and found when I opened it the small pieces you generally find on the bottom of the bag as being the common denominator throughout the whole bag. They were for the most part 1-2 inch pieces. So when you organize your basket take care to chose a mixture that will give you a good air flow otherwise climbing to temp may be slow.

Thanks for the advice. I only have to go up two small steps and down one. Just wanted to make sure the plywood is strong enough. I will report back when she’s up and running

Looking good Troble. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's looking pretty nice, you must be thinking who lives here, I don't recognize this place. Non slip surface, how is it on bare feet?

Good luck mate. Stand tall....the wind will change direction soon

You sound like you were offended by my comments. You shouldn't be. I was simply revealing the secret that I have been using my KK as a fire starter. I actually bought a chimney like yours about a year ago but I sent it back to Mr Amazon without using it because I decided I didn't want yet another piece of kit hanging around my (small) garden. Anyways, my current fire play has made me think again about getting that weird leather outfit you liked so much when I last posted about it. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B078N4XZBX/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A1P3LD41QEH1RS&psc=1 Ha. What surprises me is how much it takes to get and keep an Argentinian barbecue hot. Heating half a basket of coal/briquettes in the KK is a good start but not enough for a long cook. I am getting used to a less efficient use of coals in return for having the opportunity to play, with fire.

Well said tucker. There will be an end to this and unlike the gfc, this is not driven by greed. These moments will galvanise communities. To all who find themselves in extremely tough circumstances, don’t forget to ask for help. You will be surprised how many friend are sitting on the edges wanting to help. They just don’t know where they can help. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hang tough, it is a bad situation, about to get a bit worse.. but, it will pass, we will recover, the question is what scars will we carry forward?

Mac, looks like a Cheeseburger in Paradise! Great photo! As promised I included photos from The Mississippi Pot roast from yesterdays cook. Smoked the Chuck roast for 1.5 hours then placed in the foil tin with the rest of the ingredients and then cooked tightly sealed with foil for about 3.5 hours at 325F. Plated with some mashed potatoes and used some leftover duck fat and duck juice from a Sous Vide Duck Confit recipe and had a side salad that my wife has been making ....that I’ve been craving as of late. FYI, the Mississippi recipe came off of a You Tube video. Wasn’t sure if I would like it but I had this chuck roast burning a hole in my pocket and decided to defrost and give it a try. I was very happy with this recipe and will definitely make this again. Best, Paul

Strung two fresh elk tenderloins together with twine and smoked it. Iron Skillet sear after and here are the medallions. Was fantastic.

Smoked and reverse seared Prime Beef Tenderloin. Smoked to 127, pulled and wrapped in butcher paper. Smoker temp back to 650 and 90 seconds per side.

Sourdough beer rye bread.

Burger day today before tomorrow's snow/rain. Did a nice slow and low cook, about 275F until 160 IT. Cheese was previously smoked Cheddar. Dressed. Plated.

@Basher happy day. We poured concrete today!

@jonj IPhone 11 makes anyone look like a pro

I'd eat that in a heartbeat! Inspiring me to break out my molcajete.

Among so many other great photos, I liked the finished brisket on the grill with the KK logo underneath.

Mohogany, my favorite color. Brisket's like a good soup.....it's better the following day. Yum

Success, that's an understatement.

We’ll being sort of locked up these days I decided to spend the day cooking. While the KK was not included in this cook I thought I would still share with the forum. I was speaking with my 90 year old Uncle and he shared with me a simple salsa recipe his mom used to make when he was a kid. Being the proud owner of a pig like Mocajete I decided to make the fresh Salsa like Grandma...Simply a roasted tomato, garlic, banana pepper, green onion, cilantro and salt. Next up was a kettle of home made pork with Mole tamales....probably about 100 of these and in the final pic a plated traditional Mexican fare.......Tamales, Frijoles y arroz!

Success

@tony b thank you sir....it appears so but until I cut into it it’s not confirmed. The internal temp was 202-205 throughout so I’m sure it’ll be good but its still resting in the cooler. I’m making corn bread and mashed potatoes (Sour cream, garlic, rosemary & Parmesan cheese) now and I’ll cut into it in about an hour. I can’t wait I had a small piece break off when I took it off and it tasted heavenly

Wow. I remembered you posting before @Ticket2ride04 and went back to read one of your old posts. You were thinking of matte black at the time. Big change to be going for metallic bronze. I applaud your choice, it is a fun tile. Note the fact that it is a tile though. Pebbles still cook better...

Every state has closed their borders travelling within Western Australia we are advised don't. Ie Easter holidays are coming up and a lot of us go down south or up north . My company had a meeting yesterday this whole thing has hit them hard but to their credit they are in a financial position to offer me another 4 weeks fully paid work to help lock down their assets. And on top of that can pay me my redundancy .which is a considerable amount of money .which will soften the blow . Plus the government just past a package guaranteeing anyone loosing there job $1100 a fortnight. Literally a million if not more people have lost their jobs . After the 4 weeks are up I will trying my hardest to find work. Before total lock down. Take care everyone please keep your distance . Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk