MY baking STORY
I am a pastrychef. I wasn't always, however, I used to do hot food but I was always facinated by the science of baking. So whenever I had a chance, I observed and asked questions and tried recipes to further my baking skills. I even taught baking at a technical school. So, after 20 years in the hot kitchen, I am now pidgon-holed as a pastry chef. When I took a job as an Exec. Pastry Chef at an upscale country club, one of the things I was required to make was their famous Tomato Basil Bread. I followed the recipe precisely but when I took the loaves from the pan the sides were caved in! I panicked and asked a longtime employee who had made the bread before what I did wrong. I was told "Oh some times it does that, we don't know why." Evidently, others had the same problem but nobody knew why. Someone said they even sent the recipe to a culinary institute to see if they could figure it out. I was frustrated! There was no rhyme or reason. It didn't happen even time, it didn't happen to all the loaves in a batch, it was so random. No "scientific "pattern here. I played with weights, temperatures, baking time, still random results. Then one day I was shopping a picked up a bag of King Arthur Bread Flour. I figured it was woth trying, uit couldn't hurt. I made the recipe as I had done dozens of times before but this time----a miracle. All ten loaves has sides as traight as a ruler; no more concave loaves!!!! Was it really that simple? Could the flour be the answer? In my moment of triumph I decided to make another batch and another miracle----10 perfect loaves. I could not believe my eyes. My problem solved I found a wholesale supplier for King Arthur Special flour and have not had a cave in since. Thank you King Arthur. I am a convert! Pansy Michaels
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