When all else fails.....

Read the Instructions!

It's a philosophy that has served me well over the years, and once again it has come to my rescue.

My old mixer, which I had for five years, suggested that when mixing dough you should add the water last. And it worked reasonably well.

Anyway when I brought the new mixer I assumed that the same logic would apply, however I noticed at first that the ingredients did not mix well, and required a bit of manual scraping half way through the cycle.

So I followed my own advice, and found that I should put the liquids in FIRST for this particular machine.

I don't know why,(and I hate that) but because the dough hook is smaller on this one than the old one, despite the bowl having a larger capacity, maybe that has something to do with it.

I am reminded of Rule 7 (c) of the INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA, 1972, which I had to learn for my Certificates of Competency all those years ago, and can still remember now.

"Assumptions shall not be made on the basis of scanty information, especially scanty radar information."

 

And by the way, the bread turns out even better now I am doing it according to the book.

I have just registered for "Brixham Means Business," a breakfast club for SME'S in the town, so we will go along next week and see what they have to offer.

Here are a few pictures of this weeks productions for Oats.

Organic Spelt Tin Loaves, Half and Half White/Wholemeal.

Organic Rye Sourdough.

Organic White Bloomer.

 

Organic Olive Ciabatta.

 

Organic Dairy-Free Teacakes.

Long Distance Order

Back to work on Sunday, with an order for Gravesend, 1 Condensed Milk loaf,

And 10 each of the Beetroot and Onion and Chorizo and Cheese rolls.

Also some Sourdough, Date and Banana Muffins.

Note the Brown Sugar.

I had also done a kilo of Rye and Seed Crackers for a Cheese and Wine party.

Something New

I had a request from Oats for a Ciabatta with chopped Olives in it, here's my attempt,

Before Baking

After Baking

In addition to the Rye Sourdough, (Now in Small loaves as well)

The Bloomers and Spelt Tin Loaves,

and the Rolls.

Next job is a kilo of Rye and Seed Crackers for the West Country Deli. I'll do them tomorrow

Brixham Sunday Market

After a long nights baking, we are ready to go, I have about 120 Rolls in 5 flavours and a few Focaccia to sell, my "Real Men Bake Bread" T shirt and all the gear to present my stuff.
There was a good response on Facebook to WCD's post and the sun is shining. I have to see Red Earth Kitchens and get some of their Millionaires Shortbread and Scotch Eggs for tonight's meal, apart from that I can man the stall. I'm taking the stuff down and bringing my car back, out of the way.

Some 'in progress' pictures.

I set up at 10am and made my first sale at 2 minutes past!

I had a pretty steady day, even though a few regular stallholders thought that it was slower than some. I passed the break-even point just before lunch and ended up making a good profit.

All in all, I sold 66% of what I took, the left overs will be used up during the week with soup or pasta meals, while some has gone in the freezer.

Strangely, the Chocolate Rolls didn't sell at all, only 5 went. On the other hand I sold all but three of the Beetroot and Onion, most of the Cheese and Onion and about half of the others. 9 of the 12 Focaccia went as well.

I also had plenty of positive comments, which was nice, and hopefully the whole thing will lead to a bit more business for myself and for the West Country Deli.

Preparation

Sunday is the Market, and I have finally decided how many rolls to make. My new mixer will do 1.5kg of flour as a maximum, so the logical answer was to make dough in batches of that size.

That means as many rolls as I can get out of the dough, I'll use the ends and offcuts for samples, cut up into small cubes.

The surprising thing is just how much non bread stuff I need. Obviously I require baskets to display the rolls, complete with inlay cloth and laminated signs for them. Tongs and gloves, pus bags for serving, some change to get me started, business cards etc etc.

I have settled on flavours, Cheese and Chorizo, Cheese and Onion, Cheese and Tomato, Beetroot and Onion and Chocolate. Also Focaccia in Onion and Pesto.

That should be enough to start me off, about 20 of each roll and 6 of each Focaccia. If I sell out by lunchtime, I will know for next month, also which flavours are more popular and thus worth doing more of next time.

That's 9kg of flour in 8 doughs, a kilo of Cheese, two Chorizo, chocolate chips, and all the usual yeast, salt, sugar etc. It should be enough to keep me busy on Sunday morning.

Pop-up Shop

I'm finalising the line up for the pop-up shop next month, I don't want to do too many products, nor do I want to run out, so it will be a bit of a balancing act, on balance it will be better to run out I guess.

I intend to do some savoury rolls, and maybe some Focaccia as well, I'll steer clear of loaves as there will be another bakery stand there, I'm going more for the unusual.

My Cheese and Onion or Cheese and Tomato spirals will be ideal, also the Beetroot and Onion, if I can get the dough right, and maybe Cheese and Chorizo.

I'll have to start on Saturday to get them all done, I think 20 of each will be OK and maybe a dozen Focaccia, that's 92 items or about 5kg of dough. Oh and some Chocolate Rolls as well.

Meanwhile it's been a busy week, I had an order for Oats for 8 loaves, 20 Rolls and 10 teacakes, then 24 hours later a top up for another 20 teacakes. They are Organic and Dairy free and rather good!

Also the West Country Deli asked for 500g of Rye and Seed Morsels for a Wedding Buffet mezze of cheese olives etc.

Then on Monday it's Millie's Seeded Rolls and Cinnamon Bread. I will be glad to get back to the day job for a rest.

Here are a few pix of this weeks production.

Onion Focaccia

White Bloomer

Spelt Tin Loaf

Teacakes.

I've just realised that this is my 100th post on this blog, so a small celebration is in order, I might make a cake? I'll tell you next time.

PS, the spellcheck on blogger doesn't like Focaccia, it suggests Dogcatcher!