A brisket revelation at Snow’s BBQ

Brisket perfection at Snow's

Brisket perfection at Snow’s BBQ

This morning I made the 90-minute journey from Austin to Lexington, TX to once again partake of what’s often called the world’s best barbecue. (Since each hunk of meat and chunk of wood is unique, there can be no objective and absolute winner just as there is no world champion in the marathon, but Snow’s BBQ is unquestionably in the stratosphere.)

Smokemaster Kerry

Smokemaster Kerry and some chickens

The brisket was just as good as I remember it (Texas Monthly called it “soft and sweet as cookie dough”) but this time I was prepared for some serious eating so I sampled a rib and some melt-in-your-mouth pork shoulder (“tender and yielding”) and packed away more brisket, sausage, pork and chicken for further evaluation. After the meal I wandered back to the restroom and encountered Kerry the pit boss. He asked if my belly was comfortable and I took this as my invitation to strike up a conversation.

Tourist seatingI complimented the wonderful saltiness of the meat and Kerry grew concerned. “Sometimes I have a heavy hand with the salt shaker,” he told me. It was now that I went for the million dollar question: does Snow’s, as I’ve long suspected, brine its meat? Kerry was puzzled, what’s that. You know, a salt solution. “No, I just give it a good salt and pepper rub. As a matter of fact, the mixture’s right there in the Tupperware on your way to the bathroom.” Terry went on to tell me that he usually does the rub on Thursday night but this week he did it Friday morning for personal schedule reasons. And then it’s left in the cooler, and you take it out and start smoking Friday night? Yes, that’s what they do.

Aha and aha. Salting the meat and refrigerating it overnight is exactly the tenderizing technique I discovered at Zuni Café in San Francisco. (Out there they cut the meat into large cubes, salt it, freeze it, then grind it into hamburger.) The salty flavor disappears as the salt penetrates and loosens the muscle fibers. And if he short-cut the curing time this week it’s natural the saltiness would be more pronounced, plus I bet he put on a little extra to compensate.

I did find the Tupperware tub and lifted it up just as a genial lady (I think Kerry’s wife) entered the room. Her intervention kept from popping the lid open and sticking my finger in to taste it (something I’ll probably regret not doing for the rest of my life) but I did see that it was mostly salt, 95% or more, with just a few visible pepper flakes. So, salt your brisket then cure it for 24 hours before smoking. Can’t wait to try this on my own.

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What’s the best flour for baking bread?

What’s the best flour? In this post I will tell you. But you will have to sit through a bit of a windup first, even though I’m simplifying. I am not going to talk about stone ground flours or specialty flours or “clear” flour of the type that was used in my miche test. I am also not going to talk about bleached or bromated flour because I assume that taste is more important to you than snowy whiteness and long shelf life. Just good old fashioned “flour” which is made by grinding hard winter wheat after some amount of the outer shell and interior germ are removed.

For whole wheat flour, the only thing that’s removed is the inedible husk. If you bake a loaf using 100% whole wheat flour you will get something that is very dense and probably not to your liking. Several people have told me that they tried a bread recipe, from Burnt My Fingers or elsewhere, and didn’t get the results they expected. I ask what kind of flour they used and they don’t know; it was what was in the pantry. And that generally turns out to be whole wheat flour because it seemed like a “healthier” choice at the store. In reality, whole wheat flour should be used with caution, usually as a mix-in with other flours. Bread sold as “whole wheat” is typically no more than 40% actual whole wheat flour.

In my early years of bread baking, I used bread flour almost exclusively. It has a higher protein level (which is equivalent to higher gluten, because gluten = protein) than all purpose flour yet is white because the outer shell has been removed while retaining more of the protein-rich innards of the wheat berry. Then I learned from Jeffrey Hamelman that the King Arthur bakery uses probably 100 sacks of all purpose flour for every 1 sack of bread flour because American flour is already much higher in protein than the European flours on which classic bread recipes are based. I switched to all purpose, which is generally cheaper and more available, and haven’t noticed a difference.

Cake flour I don’t have much experience with, but it’s a very low protein flour, typically under 10% compared to 12.7% protein for bread flour, which may also be more finely milled. The objective is to reduce the tendency of the gluten to form strands so the crumb will be light and fluffy.

King Arthur All Purpose Flour

The winner… King Arthur All Purpose Flour!

Which brings us to all purpose flour, with a protein content of 11.7%. The best flour for most bakers east of the Mississippi is King Arthur All Purpose which is available and cheap, rarely over $4 for a 5 pound bag and often on sale for considerably less.  (If you have no political or moral aversion to Walmart, their prices are typically the lowest.) If you are on the west coast you will find that King Arthur is scarcer and more expensive and it may also be less fresh so you will need to look around for an equivalent brand. (In San Francisco where I used to bake, Central Milling and Giusto are popular choices.)

During my miche test I discovered that Michael London bakes with King Arthur Artisanal, an organic all-purpose with a slightly lower protein level than the pink-and-white bag of All Purpose. It’s also nearly twice as expensive in the 50-pound food service sacks. I bought a bag so I could try reproducing his recipes and I like it, but being a cheap bastard I frequently sneak back to the non-organic APF.

And what about “Sir Galahad”? Folks who peek into professional bakeries will notice there are many sacks of King Arthur Sir Galahad piled up. What is it and how can you get it? Well, according to the folks who work in the store at King Arthur, Sir Galahad is the very same thing as KA APF, just in a different package for professional vs. retail consumption. Hamelman, who likes to hold a few secrets, will only confirm that it’s “very close”. At any rate, Sir Galahad is only available in 50 pound bags from food service distributors, so you may have a hard time finding it and if you do, it may go stale before you get to the bottom of the bag.

That’s why, for the vast majority of home bakers, King Arthur All Purpose is the best flour for making bread. By the way, the King Arthur website is a great resources for recipes and baking tips, and they’ll sell you a bag of their AFP if you’re out of the retail distribution area and want to try it.

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Recipe: Easy Caramel Flan

Eagle Caramel Flan

Eagle Caramel Flan; if you want smoother edges than this, spray your cups or plate with a bit of Pam before preparing.

Everybody’s favorite Mexican-style flan is the same recipe found on the Eagle Brand Condensed Milk website. Just be sure to have everything ready before you start with the sugar because that’s the tricky part. 8 servings.

Ingredients:
3/4 c sugar
4 large eggs
1 3/4 cups water
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready a 9-inch pie plate or 8 individual serving ramekins, sitting in an oven pan big enough to hold them without touching. Beat eggs; mix in water, milk, vanilla and salt and beat again till smooth.

When everything is ready, heat the sugar in a heavy pan or skillet over low to medium heat. Stir constantly until it melts and turns a light brown. Pour immediately into the plate or cups; if you don’t do this quickly it will begin to cool and you’ll have to return it to heat and it might get bitter. The sugar will harden as it contacts the plate or cups; don’t worry about it because it will soften in the oven. Pour the custard mixture on top of the sugar and then pour an inch of water into the pan holding the plate/cups and place in the preheated oven. Cook about 55 minutes or until the custard is firm.

Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 1 hour; refrigerate and chill thoroughly before serving. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the plate cups then unmold onto a serving plate, inverting the plate above the custard then flipping them over so the flan is on the top.

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Recipe: Turkey Wiggle

Chicken Wiggle from Phi Beta Phi cookbook

Turkey Wiggle (nee chicken) from Phi Beta cookbook

A classic family dinner recipe that takes advantage of leftover Thanksgiving turkey or turkey on sale. Turkey Wiggle was served at my grandmother’s Christmas party every year when I was young and we never grew tired of it. Original recipe, from the Phi Beta Phi cookbook, is at left. I’ve substituted turkey for chicken and modernized it somewhat below. Serves 10-12 with side dishes, or 8 as a one-dish meal.

Ingredients:
2 lb (4 cups) leftover turkey meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 c turkey or chicken stock
1 c uncooked white rice
1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 c green olives, chopped
¼ c pimentos, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced and sautéed in butter or olive oil
16 oz package frozen peas

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Transfer to a casserole pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake 30-40 minutes until liquid is absorbed. The finished product should be moist, but not soupy.

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Recipe: Schüttelbrot (Alpine Cracker Bread)

Schuttelbrot

Schuttelbrot

My wife brought back this intriguing and fragrant flatbread from a trip to Bavaria. It is a traditional Alpine snack that is great with cheese and charcuterie. (The elusive taste element is fenugreek, which grows wild in the Alps and is locally called white clover. Do take a trip to the bulk jars to get some.)

Ingredients:
100g pumpernickel flour
250g medium rye flour
250g all-purpose flour
1 t yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ liter of lukewarm water
2 t salt
1 t fenugreek
2 t cumin OR fennel OR caraway seeds (or divide the dough in two and use a different seed in each half)
1/8 l buttermilk (1/2 cup plus 1 t)
4 t oil

Method: combine the flours in a bowl, mix, and form a well in the middle. Dissolve yeast and sugar in lukewarm water and pour into the flour well; stir to mix. Sprinkle the salt on the outside rim of the mass of flour (this is traditional but I don’t understand why you don’t just mix it in); add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, adding flour or water as necessary to maintain a fairly sticky dough. (Since this is mostly rye, don’t expect any gluten formation.) Return to the bowl and allow to rise for 25-60 minutes till risen by about 50%. Dust a surface with flour and roll out into irregular “patties”, as thin as you can get them without tearing the dough. Prick the surface of the dough in several places with a fork to prevent bubbles. Bake in 425 degree oven about 10 minutes, turn and bake 10 minutes more, turn off oven and allow bread to cool inside. Transfer to brown paper bag or a bread box (something that allows for air circulation) and dry. These can be eaten immediately but are better after they dry for a few days and become cracker-y. They’ll keep for a month or more.

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The meat I eat

Paul Willis and his piggies

Niman Ranch farmer Paul Willis with happy free-range pigs

If you have been reading Burnt My Fingers for awhile, you know I am a cheap son of a bitch. I rarely pay a premium for some fancy grade or brand name when I am fairly certain a less expensive product will do the job. This post is about spelling out my meat philosophy just a bit.

CHICKEN: I don’t buy the super cheap supermarket chickens because they taste like fish. I go a step above to get a “natural” bird which is fed a better diet free of hormones and antibiotics, and might cost $1.69 a pound when generic chicken is 99 cents. This is not so much because of humane concerns because I think chickens are pretty dumb, but rather pure self interest. I love the barnyard-raised birds from my friend Liza Porter but those go for $4 per pound or so, and are a special splurge.

BEEF: I like the flavor profile of an animal that has been fed mother’s milk, eats grass after weaning, and then is finished with grain to produce a more rounded taste with a good amount of marbling. This happens to be what they produce at my old client Niman Ranch, or did before the company was acquired by Coleman. It also happens to be what I usually get in Certified Angus for a much lower price, though there’s no guarantee because if grass is not available the animals will be fed grain or hay. I’m not tempted by the leanness of Select grade which is depressingly showing up more and more in the markets.

PORK: Here’s where I depart from cheapskate form, as a result of indoctrination by pig farmer Paul Willis who drove me past factory farm after factory farm in Iowa and made me understand the inhumane and unsavory conditions under which these pigs are grown. They’re more intelligent animals than dogs and they spend their entire lives in a narrow cage, standing on wire mesh, breathing in their own farts (the air in these buildings is so toxic that if the ventilation fails the animals can quickly expire). Whenever possible, I’ll pay the substantial premium for free range pork. Not only does it make me feel less guilty, but I think it tastes better due to the absence of fear and stress hormones that water down the meat.

LAMB: According to Bill Niman, most lambs are raised under conditions that are considered humane simply because they’re butchered so young; you will the same product and taste whether you buy from a premium source or get the New Zealand lamb in the supermarket.

FISH: I have drunk the seawater regarding mercury and eat very little of big fish like swordfish or tuna that have absorbed toxics from other fish down the food chain. I also find it more interesting to cook with smaller fish and am a big lover of squid which is brought to market in abundance by Moby Rick down the street from me in Saratoga. I stay away from farm-raised when I can because I don’t know what’s in the stuff with a notable exception being shrimp. Can’t get enough of the stuff and try to humor myself that the various aquaculture standards boards really are doing something.

Anybody hungry?

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Master Recipe: Beef Jerky

Beef Jerky

Beef Jerky

This is a “master” beef jerky  recipe because, with all the options available, I don’t want to be overly specific. Follow these general guidelines and you will have a delicious chewable strip of meat.

Ingredients:
Beef round steak, 2 lbs or so, semi-frozen then sliced very thin
1/2 cup “salty”: soy sauce, Worchestershire sauce, fish sauce (nam pla) or a combination
1/4 cup “sweet”: honey, maple syrup or brown sugar
1 t ground or 1 T leaf “spices”: a non-subtle spice or mixture that you like. Lots of folks like to include some sage. I used Penzey’s “Bangkok Blend” (I guess I was inspired by the nam pla) and added some red pepper flakes.

Method: Freeze beef until semi frozen yet not too hard to slice. Slice as thin as you can into strips, across the grain. Discard any prominent fat. Place in a zip loc bag with the other ingredients and marinate overnight or longer, squishing the bag from time to time to be sure all surfaces are equally exposed.

Next, you are going to cook the meat dry but without removing any of the flavorings. There are various ways to do this if you are patient. After you have smoked a brisket or turkey in your smoker, lay the strips of beef across the grill after and let cook overnight while the fire is dying. Or just put them on a silicone pad and cook for several hours at 160-170 degrees or as low as your oven will go.

Your objective is to end up with very dry beef strips. If yours aren’t ready, put them in the refrigerator and resume the next day. Finally, you’ll have pretty dry beef. Take a paper towel and wipe off any fat since that’s the part that gets rancid. Keeps several weeks and is great for camping/hiking trips.

COMMENT: So weird that the prices of beef cuts have reversed, and a good old fashioned round steak costs half of what they charge for innards. Jerky is the way to score on this opportunity. And you don’t need a dehydrator or large amounts of special ingredients to be a success.

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Recipe: Country-Style Miche

Two half-size miche loaves

Country Style Miches

A miche (pronounced “meesh”) is a rustic loaf made with high extraction flour. It’s big and hearty and gets better as it ages over several days. Great for sandwiches or just eating with some good butter.

Ingredients:
For the levain:
6.1 oz. (173 g) high extraction flour*
4 oz. water (113 g)
1.3 oz. (37 g) sourdough starter (I used my 50/50 WW/BF blend as for Kettle Bread)
Total 11.4 oz

Final dough:
Levain 10.1 oz (286 g)
1 lb 8.3 oz. high extraction flour* (691 g)
2 ½ c lukewarm water (564 g)
2 t Kosher salt

Method:

Preferment after overnight rise

Preferment after overnight rise

Mix levain ingredients, cover and proof overnight at 70-75 degrees. At the end of this time it will be spongy but not bubbly. In the morning, mix water and flour for final dough, reserving the levain. Autolyze 30 minutes; add salt and levain and mix thoroughly.

Proof 2 ¼ hours at 75 degrees; do five stretch-and-folds at 15 minute intervals then allow to rest for 1 hour. Remove and refrigerate 1.3 oz. as starter for your next batch (optional). Preshape on board and rest 15 minutes, first dividing in half if you are making smaller loaves. Shape the dough into one large or two smaller boules; transfer to floured proofing baskets seam side up. Cover and proof at 75 degrees for 2.5 hours.

A somewhat over risen miche loaf

A somewhat over risen miche loaf (dot was used to identify in my taste test)

Place one or two dutch oven(s) with lids in oven and preheat to 460 degrees. Remove dutch oven(s) using heat proof gloves and transfer the loaf/loaves to them. Slash the tops. Replace in oven and cover dutch ovens. Lower heat to 440 degrees and cook 20 minutes. Remove the lids, lower heat to 420 degrees and cook 35 minutes longer for one loaf, 40 minutes for two loaves, checking at 30 minutes for doneness. Remove from dutch ovens to cool and wait at least 24 hours before tasting.

*If high-extraction flour is unavailable, use a mixture of 40% whole wheat flour/60% bread flour.

Notes: the odd measurements in this recipe come from a variation of the Jeffrey Hamelman/King Arthur Flour “Miche, Point-à-Callière” we prepared in his wood fired ovens class. It’s further modified by the suggestion of KAF baker Martin Philip to do frequent stretch-and-folds then let the dough rest. You’ll find it much easier to follow if you use the gram conversions in parentheses.

If you make a single loaf the total weight will be about close to 2 kg which is really too big for our standard 5-qt. dutch oven; the bread will rise up the sides of the pan. For my second miche taste test I reduced all proportions by 25% and it fit the 5-qt. dutch oven just fine. You could also make two smaller loaves, or cook it on a baking stone (in which case you will steam the oven using your preferred method). Or, you can use this recipe as your excuse to buy a 7-qt. dutch oven (which is the size Chad Robertson recommends in the Tartine Bread book).

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Country miche taste test … take two

Crumb closeup of CM Type 85 and KF High-X

Crumb closeup: CM Type 85 is on the left

After my first miche test taste, there were a few loose ends. I wanted to add Central Milling Type 85 Malted to the contestants, and I wanted to try a smaller loaf after Michael London’s advice for baking in dutch ovens.

Central Milling is in Utah, with a major distribution center in Petaluma, CA. It’s very popular among west coast artisan bakers who can’t get King Arthur easily. (In general King Arthur seems to be an “east coast” flour and I’m fortunate to have their distributor in my own town of Saratoga Springs, NY.) Type 85 Malted is the choice for high-extraction miches and I left it out of my previous test only because they were in the middle of a packaging changeover and the product wasn’t available.

But this week my Type 85 arrived and it was back to the oven. I followed exactly the formula as previously except I reduced all measurements by 25%. (This is why you want to cook by weight, not volume!) Prep steps were the same except this bread got a slightly longer final rise, but at a cooler temperature than my previous bake so I think it balances out.

Miche Taste Test, Take Two

I baked smaller loaves (approx. 3 lbs each) that better fit the 5-qt dutch oven

You can see the results here. The loaves are a little better risen than the 2 kg miches with a nice even crust… I’ll use this ¾ formula from now on in my dutch oven miche bakes. You can also see that one loaf has a darker crumb than the other… that’s the King Arthur. We had no such difference in the first test so I’ll assume the Central Milling has less ash content than the King Arthur flours I used.

Cindy Corbett helped me taste again, and I expanded the inquisition to a number of friends and family members. These breads were very, very good. Moist, tender and wheaty with a wonderful aroma. Cindy’s first word was “mild!” The longer rise perhaps spread out the flavor molecules that were more intense the first time around.

Second miche sliced

Nice rise, nice open crumb

On closer tasting the King Arthur High-X had a very subtle undertaste that I’ll call chalky or minerally—I assume it’s the ash*. It made me prefer the Central Milling, but that was under the kind of back and forth tasting of bare bread that you’d never do in everyday use. With butter and slightly toasted, both loaves were as good as bread can be.

Thanks to Victoria Brooks and Nicky Giusto at Central Milling, and Allison Furbish at KAF, for facilitating this test. Thanks again to my technical expert Martin Philip and tasters Michael London and Cindy Corbett—and also to my local posse of “breadies” (you know who you are) for your opinions.

* Raymond Calvel confirms this, in his expensive but widely praised The Taste of Bread:  “At a higher extraction rate (from 83% to 85%), the flour produced will be grayish, and the taste will change. To a greater or lesser degree (depending on the rate of extraction and other characteristics of the grain), it will take on the flavor of the bran envelopes, with an aftertaste of ash.”
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Taste test: Country-Style Miche

Michael London, Cindy Corbett

Michael and Cindy at our miche taste test

A miche is a rustic loaf made with levain and flour that has retained most of its outer coating of bran and aleurones. Its most distinctive feature is its volume: the typical miche is 4 pounds or more and spreads out in the oven to the size of your head or bigger. The taste is intensely “wheaty” and it gets better (and more sour) as the days pass and easily lasts for a week or more.

The flour of choice for a miche is “high extraction” flour which has had some of its bran and germ removed, but retained 85% of the original amount. (Whole wheat is 100% extraction, meaning no bran and germ have been removed.) But high extraction flours are pretty hard to come by so I wanted to explore some options. One was a mix of 40% whole wheat and 60% bread flour that approximates 85% extraction. (Bread flour is 70% extraction, so this formula actually yields 84% extraction overall.)

Preferment

Preferment after overnight rise

In addition, I wanted to compare a miche made with high extraction flour to a miche made with First Clear flour. First Clear is a completely different animal consisting of flour after the whitest part of the endosperm (the nutritional center of the grain) has been removed; it’s the flour traditionally used for Jewish ryes in a culture where pure white flours were highly prized and this was what was left over. I was fascinated by some conversations on The Fresh Loaf, a bakers’ blog, where First Clear and High Extraction are sometimes described as interchangeable. Composition wise they’re not—to quote Martin Phillip, a King Arthur baker who provided technical support on this project, they’re “apples and oranges”* —but could the taste be anything similar?

Fully proofed loaf

Fully proofed loaf in banneton; the dots were used to tell them apart.

I started with Jeffrey Hamelman and James McGuire’s “Miche, Point-à-Callière”, a recipe in Hamelman’s classic Bread, but followed some modifications made by Jeffrey when my class baked it with him, and another modification suggested by Martin Philip. I’ll publish this recipe separately. It calls for an overnight preferment with the dough prepared the next day so everything happens pretty quickly. As with my kettle bread, I baked the loaves in 5-qt cast iron dutch ovens. All the flours were from King Arthur.

We waited two days for the tasting which was conducted at Max London’s, a well regarded local restaurant here in Saratoga Springs. My tasters were Michael London, a renowned baker and owner of Max’s as well as Mrs. London’s bakery next door, and Cindy Corbett, an accomplished home baker with a wood fired oven (that’s how we met, at a WFO class at King Arthur) who describes herself as “also a a practicing chocolatier and now pizzaiola (in warm months only)!”

Finished miches in dutch ovens

Finished miches in dutch ovens

The loaves were sliced for the first time during our testing, and tasted plain and with available butter. Michael first tasted the First Clear loaf and felt the texture was “gummy”—too much moisture! But in the end he liked the taste of this one best and commented it may be the moisture helped concentrate the flavor. (Moisture is also why it has such excellent keeping qualities.) He also commented favorably on the nose of all three loaves.

Left to right: First Clear, hybrid, High-X

Left to right: First Clear, hybrid, High-X

Cindy preferred the High Extraction, as did I. It has a wonderful nutty aroma and strong wheaty taste. The BF/WWF combination, which would be the only option available to most home bakers, looked very similar to the others in color and crumb but was a notch down in flavor, unfortunately. But if this was the only way you could make a high-extraction miche, I expect you’d be very satisfied.

Michael had a few other thoughts and tips for us. In his baking, he uses only KA organic flours because he knows they’re free of asbestos, insecticides and bromates and also “organic flour is going to be more lively when you mix it.” (For my bake, only the Hi-X was organic.) He complimented the salt level and mentioned that 90% of the breads he tastes lack sufficient salt. He recommended I switch to sel gris from Normandy which is what he uses exclusively–with only four ingredients, why use anything but the best for your salt?

Michael London

Michael London shared some of his own bread for comparison.

In the next few days, I continued to taste the First Clear and High Extraction side by side and they became even more similar to the point I really couldn’t tell them apart. Maybe it’s because all these loaves were made with the same North Dakota wheat, grown and harvested at the same time and then processed into different configurations.

I’m going to do a follow-up test with KAF High-Extraction against Central Milling Type 85 Malted, a very different High-X that is praised by bakers. When I do that I’ll reduce the size of the loaves by 25% to fit my dutch ovens better and see if that solves Michael’s gumminess problem (assuming is indeed a problem, and not just a characteristic of this 78% hydration formula). Stay tuned.

UPDATE: this post has been updated to correct the math regarding the WWF/BF blend.

* Specifically, he wrote me: In terms of comparing Type 110 with an ~85% extraction rate [i.e. High Extraction Flour] to First Clear which lacks the patent portion would be to compare apples and oranges at least from a functional standpoint (the patent portion contains the highest quality protein in the endosperm).
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