"Dusty" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
> "Dick Adams" > wrote in message
> ...
> ...
> > they mean in that portion of the grand scheme of things
> > within my ken. Then, when I _want_ an opinion, I form
> > one.
>
> Me, I do pretty much the same thing. Except the formed
> opinion is usually wrong, but a place to start testing.
> [I work at fleshing out the input. That often means doing ancillary
> research and reading--as opposed to those that can only seem to manage to
> use comics as input...(:-o)!]
>
> As to storing bread, I came up eventually with this:
>
> Interval A is the critical one: The loaves sit on the cooling
> rack for this period.
>
> Interval B is where the loaves are bagged in plastic, further
> cooled when necessary, divided into portions which can be
> consumed in a day, and frozen. Slicing before freezing may
> have some advantage, esp. for single people living alone.
> For slicing soft loaves, an electric knife is good.
>
> Interval C is where the loaves are defrosted and eaten.
> Defrosting in a microwave oven makes sense. There is
> no reason to defrost more bread than can be eaten at a
> sitting, but, for convenience, we defrost a day's worth.
> A minute in our microwave is suitable for a half pound of
> bread.
>
> ... <good descriptions snipped for brevity>
>
> No doubt purists of the various persuasions will resent these
> mumblings, but I believe that my contention, that practically any
> bread-storage situation can be emulated by this A-B-C routine,
> cannot not be convincingly refuted.
> [No. Actually you've summed it up pretty well. I'd not thought about the
> issue in terms of intervals. But I think that you've pretty effectively
> laid out the "natural" sequence of events.
>
> I had hoped to get a more historic perspective on how this was done in
years
> past from our European readership. Ulrike pretty much outlined how to
> impose a storage system over your defined "interval" concept. Tupperware
&
> linen seems to be the ticket. Although I'm pretty sure that my
grandmother,
> living in rural south German farm country--a century ago, didn't use
> that...(:-o)!

I'm sure she used a bread-box!!!!

Ulrike

> Before I forget; I want to thank all of you for your replies both here and
> off-line. Some have been very useful--some not at all. But that's not to
> say that they weren't useful to others--so I'm grateful none-the-less.
One
> of the reasons I've worked so hard to recapture "the old days" in baking
is
> that retirement is finding me far from modern facilities--not, as my kids
> tell me, just because I'm a contrary cuss and hardcore curmudgeon in
> training...
>
> At any rate, being "off-grid" all of the time does impact how one uses
their
> resources. When a freezer is the size of a shoebox, it's frightfully hard
> to "just bag it and put it in the freezer". What do I do with next weeks
> dinner in the mean time?
>
> This is made even more difficult when you begin to appreciate that
freezing
> isn't free. It takes energy--a considerable amount. Too much to freeze
it
> one day, and then thaw it out in the "mikey" the next. Modern and
efficient
> as they are, it's still damned difficult to run a microwave oven on
battery
> power alone--at least not for long, even with the batteries and power
system
> that I developed.
>
> Same goes for some of the purists posting here, you think nothing of
heating
> your ovens nearly hot enough to melt lead for 3 or 4 hours as you seek the
> perfect stone temperature. I don't so much begrudge the gas necessary to
do
> that--that's cheap! It's the 300 mile round trip in a big truck over
rocks,
> through mud, and along road-less track to get the LP tank refilled that
> makes it really dear! And, FWIW; I've found a cold start to be far more
> effective than hot so far. This may not hold true for all types of
baking.
> But it has for the loaves I've been making.
>
> Case in point: our friend "Wcsjohn" roped me into making high-hydration
> breads (made me buy a power mixer and digital scale too, damn it! (:-)).
A
> wonderful change from the dense, dry, hand-made, rustic loaves I'd grown
to
> love. After making rave Ciabatta's from the recipe he posted here, I was
> ready for more (yes, I know, a real glutton for punishment).
Consequently,
> I pulled a SD conversion of a Coccodrillo recipe out of the oven
yesterday.
> Due to a small oven, I had to bake it in two portions. I split the dough
> (if you can call it that) into two relatively equal portions. The first
> went into a cold oven, the second--with about 35 minutes more "rising"
> time--obviously went into a hot one. The first loaf rose _nearly_ twice
as
> much as the second.
>
> For me, that's: game, set, match! These results seem to track exactly
with
> *all* of my previous experiences. That some mixes, techniques, or recipes
> fare better from different handling than mine is almost certainly a given.
> And, if you're happy with your results (long, deep pre-heats), I'm happy
for
> you--keep doing them! But in my experience (albeit limited) I've not
found
> an advantage in doing so...]
>
>
> Later all,
> Dusty
> --
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