I had some trouble with proofing this last winter. Made learning a bit harder. I too ordered a proofing box, but sent mine back for a refund without use. By the time I had it delivered found using either the oven with the light on, or the above range microwave withe above range light on, produced an almost perfect 80 degree environment. That plus now I'm generally just letting time take the work over the worrying. I have one great white bread that calls for 12g of yeast and should be done in about 4-5 hours total. Now instead I put 1g of yeast in, mix the dough at night and let it go thru the first proof on the counter overnight. Shape in the morning and by lunch it's ready to bake. Flavors are better with the longer fermentation.
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I just got a plastic bin, light bulb, and thermostat outlet that turns off the light bulb when it hits a set temperature. $40 :-)
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Pulled my starter, Frank, out of the fridge today to feed and get ready for tomorrow. Granted, fresh out of the fridge, I didn’t expect it to be super lively. Six hours after feeding, nary a rise. Couple hours later, now we’ve got action. I’m going to take it till 12 hours before the next feeding. Kinda want to see how high it’ll go, then use that to gauge my bulk ferment tomorrow.
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We call out starter Dos Baquis in honor of it's birth during the Corona pandemic.
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Made a half batch of King Arthur’s better burger buns this morning. Used the semi spent starter plus some commercial yeast. Good rise, but still not getting the color I’d like on top. Guess I need to check the temp in my small convection oven.
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Well, Frank is/was the Tank. More than doubled in six hours after feeding this morning. Pushed my schedule up. Started my autolyse at 10am. Mixing, folding, etc at 1pm. Just shaped and into the basket at 7. Lots of bubbles.

Going to try a different baking temp tomorrow. 475F instead of 500 like I’ve done on the last couple with the new pan. Not burning the bottom crust, but on the cusp. Then continue at 475 after removing the lid for 10 minutes, then 425 until done.
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Bob, I always brush egg white on my hamburger buns to get that golden brown look I want.
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Preheated my pan, pulled the loaf out of the fridge, scored and baked. By far th best looking loaf I’ve made. Until I cut into it. As my friend informed me, I have what’s known as “fool’s crumb”. Could be from lack of proper bulk fermentation. I honestly think it’s from creating big air pockets when I folded. Live and learn for my next bake. Still tastes good.
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Well you've got bread already prepared for Egg in the Hole breakfast. :-)
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You’re the second one to say that. Lol.
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Made some bagels with an overnight proof altering a recipe online I found. Also used starter instead of yeast.


ImageIMG_20200607_084322 by kydsid, on Flickr
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Dayum, Jason. Those look good. Bring on the lox and cream cheese.
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Thanks Bob. They are tasty, but still work in progress to get just right. Don't know if I need higher proteing flour (used my Bread Flour which should be over 13%), more kneading or more boiling time.

But good enough to keep experimenting and not feel bad about destroying the work. :-)
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Looks good! Too much yard work this weekend to get a chance to make bread, but this week's discard is currently fixing our problem of having too many blueberries in the fridge... blueberry muffins :-)
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Looks delicious guys!
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This weeks loaf. Same as last week, minus the lamination step. I think that what caused the large air pockets in my last loaf.
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This weeks loaf, right before removing from the oven. Nice oven spring. Wasn’t optimistic that it would rise that much, after unmolding it. Seemed flat. Had a long, 16 hour, cold ferment. Upped the hydration to 68% and added the sesame seeds to the outside crust. Finally found a source of the seeds with the adhesive backing. ***** putting them on one at a time. :-) (little Mitch Hedberg humor)
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Looks great ��
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Thanks. Going to do another bake this weekend. Just pulled my starter out of the fridge to feed. Shooting for 80% hydration. Also push the bulk ferment a bit longer.
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Did another bake today, with 80% hydration. Did a mix of 90% King Arthur bread flour/10% KA whole wheat white. Went a bit longer on my bulk ferment yesterday, but maybe not long enough. Didn’t get the open crumb I was looking for. Still not a bad loaf, but the mostly bread flour definitely makes for a more bland loaf.
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