Posts by ddunn

The burner grates seem fine to me, but I did not have an experience with any other professional stove. I still don't think the weight of the grates are near as important as the better temperature control of the eyes' flames found in the...

I am remodeling my kitchen and have purchased a 36" DCS gas stove w four eyes and a grill. It will be installed this fall. After a lot of research I decided on DCS over all others including Viking and Wolf, because of what I had...

I am looking for a source for hard white winter wheat berries to grind into flour. Anyone know of a vendor? Anyone else grinding wheat berries?

Great question about who eats all this bread, since I average baking 8-10 loaves a week. It is amazing how many friends you accumulate when you begin to make really great bread! Actually my co-workers and neighbors are the benefactors...

Two very good suggestions. I'll try them both. I have baked a bunch of bread to test the "dried surface" theory, and there is no doubt that that is the cause of the cracked crust.

The printed instructions that comes with the Lalvain du jour's Pain de Campagne yeast/bacteria does instruct to add warm water to it to make the sponge, and once the sponge is ready it instructs to add warm water to the sponge along...

I agree with both posts. As far as warming the water as per the KA instructions, I think I will ease it up maybe 10 degrees on the next making. Obviously there is something about this yeast and/or the bacteria that requires more heat...

Lalvain du jour's Pain de Campagne starter sold in the USA by KAF/Bakerscatalog.com produces a unique bread that I make regularly. However, the instructions call for 6 oz of warm water at the time of making the dough. Following the...

The loaves that were splitting were raised in a couche with 8-12 stays in the refrigerator. This would dry out the surface of the loaves and result in the cracked crusts. The reason my Pain de Campagne loaves did not crack although...

Thanks for the assistance with splitting crust problem. I have concluded that the problem is inadequate hydration. I'll test that out soon. It is nice being able to bounce bread baking problems off people who share this passion. ddunn