Teleidoscope

Fri, Jun 29, 2007

White Sourdough Bread, and Toasting

Posted at 10:10 pm MDT to Technology

I made a loaf of white bread today that came out really well. It helps if I don't forget it during the rises and let it over-do things. The acid in sourdough damages the proteins needed for the rise if you let it go too long.

White bread also rises better than whole wheat because the wholeness of the wheat doesn't weigh down the springiness.

1 cup moderately frisky sourdough starter (bubbly and liquid, but not showing hooch on the surface)
1 cup water 
1.5 tsp pickling salt (very pure, fine-grained, and not iodized)
a tablespoon or two of light olive oil (I kind of eyeball the oil)
about 2 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour

about another 1/4 or 1/3 cup of water
about another cup of flour

Put the first five ingredients in the bowl and
Give the Kitchenaid doughhook a workout until the doughball pulls away from the bowl.

Decide the loaf is coming out too small. Add the rest of the water and swoosh it around a little with the doughball. Add flour until the bowl cleans again.

Hand knead thouroughly on a board to make sure the outer layer of mostly flour and water is well mixed into the ball. (I have a special large board that is used only for baking, NEVER as a cutting board. It has a lip in the front so it won't slide back from the edge of the counter, and its own backsplash so the dough can't run away.)

Let the dough rise until doubled, and the dent doesn't disappear immediately when you tap it with a finger.

Return to the board and punch down, briefly knead and shape the bread, squishing or popping any large bubbles just under the surface.

Place in pan. Let rise in a warm moist place (I use my oven with the light on and a baking pan of hot water on the other rack) until not quite double and the dent is not quite staying when you poke it.

Preheat oven to about 350 (maybe a little higher: I set it at the 3 in the 350 on the dial). Bake for 35 minutes, then check it. Let cool on a rack until only slightly warm, then get it out of the pan to finish cooling on the rack.

Today's result was a tall loaf with a nice crust and a mild crumb with a nice body. It would make a good non-disintegrating sandwich bread.

I may need to toast it twice to make toast. I have found that toasters don't handle my homemade bread well. I think the adjustments I've made (like the olive oil) so that the loaf will stay edible until I finish it may increase the moisture content enough that toasting is delayed. I use a toaster-oven at home, which is helpful in dealing with non-industrial loaf sizes, but the regular toaster in Boston also lightly toasted homemade bread on settings that charcoaled store bread.

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Bozos 2: the Saga Continues

Posted at 7:36 pm MDT to Miscellaneous

I got everything I was working on wrapped up, cleaned up, and ready to hand over. I found out where they wanted their laptop shipped to, and how they wanted it shipped (which I planned to do on Monday).

Then around lunchtime today I got a call. The client decided they can afford two more weeks of my time. So I have next week off while their plant is shut down, then two more weeks on contract.

I'm not sure what I'm going to work on on the morning of Monday the 9th, since the features I was working on have been assigned to other people.

And I'm not sure management bothered to mention the contract change to the people actually running the project. They didn't inform people that my contract had been canceled: I had to take care of that. I could have just let the clock run out and vanished, instead of organizing the handoff of the stuff I was working on.

I won't be shipping out the laptop until Monday the 23rd...

Unless they change their minds again. I'm not holding my breath.

It is really too bad. I generally trusted the manager and technical manager I've been dealing with for the past couple of years, before this recent re-organization. But I'm not at all sure that the new manager is dealing in good faith. I just 'met' the new technical manager for the first time today in a morning conference call before I knew I was not leaving immediately, so he's still a mystery.

---

On a totally unrelated note, except that it involves my schedule...

I have bought memberships in MileHiCon 39 (October 26-28,2007) and Denvention 3, the 2008 World Science Fiction Convention (August 4-10 2008.

Note to anyone interested in attending: the rates for SF conventions increase over time. I paid $34 for MileHiCon, which increases to $36 July 1, $38 September 1, and $40 at the door. Denvention is currently $175 for the 5 days. I don't know when the next break point for Denvention memberships is.

I have also reserved my hotel room for MileHiCon. I haven't been to any SF Cons since 2001, but for many years SF Cons were my regular vacation. I know from experience that they are 24 hour multitrack events, and an available hotel is a necessity.

It will be strange, but nice, not to be stuck in the Dealer's Room during MileHiCon and WorldCon.

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