![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Playing with my food.
Mar. 12th, 2012 05:47 pmI've been having some fun with food. I took the "cake" from the bottom of the mead and used it to make a levain Last week I took it out, fed it, and used it to make some bread.
It was a success. I don't have a kitchen-aid anymore, so the kneading was done by hand. I had a moderately wet dough, and the rise was pretty slow. To be honest, since wine and beer yeasts are said to be poor for bread I had my doubts. Not least because I've tried in the past to make a beer yeast do the job, and the result was underwhelming.
So, as it looked completely stalled after about four hours, I put it aside and left it until morning. It had doubled by about 18 hours, and I turned it out, degassed it some and set the stone in the oven to heat. I cooked it at 400F, for about 45 minutes. It was done when it came out, but still a tad moist inside.
The crumb was small-eyed, but open. The taste was good. A vague hint of something sour. Not sourdough, but something hinting at it. It was the yeast nose that made it worth the effort. It had the undernotes of the sort of yeast undertones that come off of Veuve Cliquot, or Tattainger. Not as sweet as a Bollinger, but nutty, and a hint of earthy.
I'm making some more right now, though it seems to be rising a bit faster (which may have something to do with the weather being warmer this week than last).
It was a success. I don't have a kitchen-aid anymore, so the kneading was done by hand. I had a moderately wet dough, and the rise was pretty slow. To be honest, since wine and beer yeasts are said to be poor for bread I had my doubts. Not least because I've tried in the past to make a beer yeast do the job, and the result was underwhelming.
So, as it looked completely stalled after about four hours, I put it aside and left it until morning. It had doubled by about 18 hours, and I turned it out, degassed it some and set the stone in the oven to heat. I cooked it at 400F, for about 45 minutes. It was done when it came out, but still a tad moist inside.
The crumb was small-eyed, but open. The taste was good. A vague hint of something sour. Not sourdough, but something hinting at it. It was the yeast nose that made it worth the effort. It had the undernotes of the sort of yeast undertones that come off of Veuve Cliquot, or Tattainger. Not as sweet as a Bollinger, but nutty, and a hint of earthy.
I'm making some more right now, though it seems to be rising a bit faster (which may have something to do with the weather being warmer this week than last).
