We here at Curious Souls H.Q. are always looking for ways to save a buck or two. So, when shopping around online for a wort chiller for home brewing, we found the following prices: $65 @ Midwest (plus shipping) $70 @ Northern (plus shipping) $39 @ Amazon (plus shipping) So, off to the hardware store... 3/8" (internal diameter) Vinyl Tubing (10 feet) = $4.15 Sink to hose adapter (varies based on your type of sink) = $4.79 3/8" X 20' Copper Tubing = $24.13 Vinyl Hose Coupler = $2.49 Hose clamps (x2) = $1.70 Band-aids (x2 or x3 or x4) = $1.00 For a total of $38.26 (pre-tax, no shipping), we decided to roll our own. Here's how it went down... ( vid link ) And, of course, there is the joy of having made something all by yourself! Priceless & fun!
Seriously Ellen. those are some of the most beautiful baguettes I've ever seen! Rich's never turn out like that....
ReplyDeleteThanks!! There were two things (IMO) that made me successful:
ReplyDelete1. I used 100% white flour. On the Artisan Bread site, they definitely do mixtures of white and wheat but I wanted to give myself the best chance of success so I went with the easy to use flour.
2. I used a Poolish (at the direction of the recipe) which, I learned, is basically just a pre-mix and pre-rise (preferment) of a portion of the ingredients that is added to the rest of the ingredients when you start. It made me feel like my rise had a head start. It also made me feel fancy and French.
You two should try the recipe out. It took a lot of time from start to finish (maybe five or six hours, not counting the Poolish prep) but most of that was a series of 45 minute rest periods. Other than that, it was super easy.
I use to love baking fresh bread. That was before Andrea and McKenna went gluten free. Maybe they just didn't like my bread.
ReplyDeleteYours looks amazing. Go get that bottle of wine and enjoy it!
@Jay - Rich actually told me all about your bread making - you're legendary! The bread and the wine have been devoured...time to make some more!
ReplyDeleteI also attribute the nice crusty shell to the "humidifier" that Ellen added to the oven while baking.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/breads/f_b/french21.htm