JennyBlogs

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Terminology

New Sourdough Series

Sourdough Tools, in alphabetical order:

Baking Shell

Not essential, but a lighter alternative to a dutch oven

A baking shell is meant to be placed over the shaped dough while baking in the oven. It helps keep in steam, recreating the ideal environment for sourdough bread to expand and bake well. It can be used instead of a dutch oven.

A baking shell is lighter and potentially easier to store. It costs about the same as a decent dutch oven so won’t save you any money, and different shaped loaves need different shaped baking shells, boule or batard.

Baking steel

Not essential, but could be useful, especially if you already have one

A baking steel is a large piece of food-grade steel designed to be placed in an oven and baked on directly, often used in place of a baking stone. Steel conducts heat more quickly into the product being baked on it, which can be beneficial or detrimental, depending on what is being baked. It preheats quicker than a stone, and is also more expensive.

You can read more about baking steels vs. baking stones on Serious Eats.

While you can bake bread on a baking steel, the quicker conductivity of heat can mean bottoms of bread getting darker quicker, which is not ideal since this is already a problem with sourdough bread loaves.

While making sourdough bread on a baking steel can certainly be done, it was not necessarily made with sourdough loaves in mind, and there may be a learning curve to using it. It also would mean open-baking loaves, unless you have a special loaf-covering lid, such as the Brod & Taylor Baking Shell (see below).

Baking stone

Not essential, useful for open baking

Baking stone, or pizza stones, are a very useful tool for open baking sourdough bread. A large one will allow you to bake 2 or more loaves at the same time.

Open baking on a baking stone can prove to be more challenging than baking in a dutch oven since it can be harder to get adequate steam.

Read “The 4 Best Pizza Stones” on Serious Eats.

Bannetons / Brotforms / Proofing Baskets

Essential

Bannetons are special baskets for proofing sourdough in its final shape. It helps the dough to keep its shape before being tipped out and scored just before baking. They’re often made of rattan, which is breathable and helps the dough to form a slight skin. This in turn helps the dough keep its shape and makes scoring easier.

Bannetons come in different sizes and shapes, primarily round and oval, depending on if you plan on making boules or batards. Bannetons can also come in different materials, such as silicone, pressed wood pulp, plastic, cotton rope, and beyond. A word to the wise, make sure you’re putting the correct amount of dough for the size of bannetons you have.

I prefer the rattan bannetons, as they’re made from natural materials, are easy to clean, and offer excellent results for proofing bread.

For a budget option, I have seen quite a few sourdough bakers use these wicker baskets. They’re much cheaper, but they also tend to come in larger packs. If you don’t plan on baking more than 1 or 2 loaves at a time, I’d go with the more ethically made, higher quality rattan baskets than getting a large number of cheaper baskets.

Basket liners

Not essential, but very convenient

Basket liners can be as simple as cotton or linen kitchen cloths, or elasticized to fit specific sizes and shapes of proofing baskets. Liners keep your baskets clean, and help prevent sticking. Especially with doughs with inclusions, liners keep clean up very easy.

Using a square or rectangular cloth is more versatile, can be used with varying size and shapes of bannetons, and if large enough, can be folded over the dough and be used as a liner and cover, all in one.

Elasticized covers are quick and easy if you don’t prefer to line the baskets. Elasticed covers come in cloth or plastic. I know several people who use disposable shower caps. A word of caution on those, as you would want to check that the shower caps are food grade plastic, or just spring for “shower caps” that are made with bread in mind, and thus made of food grade plastic. But again, why use plastic when you don’t have to? Reusable covers are easy to wash and easy to use.

Bench scraper

Not essential, but very handy

A bench scraper is an indispensable tool you will find in just about any bread bakery. It effortlessly cuts through sticky bread dough with minimal stickiness. Whether or not you choose to invest in one for your home might depend on how often you bake bread and how often you need to divide it. If you regularly bake just one loaf, a bench scraper might not be overly appreciated. If you make 2 or more loaves regularly, or bread rolls, bagels, or any recipe that divides the dough into many pieces, the bench scraper will be your new best friend.

Another big benefit to a bench scraper is that it helps to clean your counter. Dried dough bits, sticky dough bits, flour, all can be effortlessly scraped off in a few seconds rather than fighting them with a cloth or sponge.

Bowl scraper

Not essential, but handy

A bowl scraper is a thin, flexible piece of plastic used to help scrape dough cleanly out of bowls. It is quicker, more efficient, and easier to clean than other tools.

Bread Proofing Mat

Not essential, but can be handy

Bread heating pads can help starter or dough to rise quicker. This can be nice in colder environments where fermentation slows down greatly and you don’t have a proofing setting on your oven. Mats often have a temperature range of 70°-120°F.

If you find yourself unable to settle into a schedule that works for you with longer fermentation, the bread proofing mat could be a good option.

Bread Knife

Essential

A good bread knife with a serrated edge will make your life so much easier when it comes to slicing bread, especially sourdough loaves with their hardy crust. It doesn’t have to be any of those fancier knives that some sourdough bakers use, although it could be. A classic quality bread knife will do the trick.

Bread Slicer

Not Essential

A bread slicer is a contraption similar to a deli slicer, but intended for bread.

It would be very handy for someone slicing large amounts of bread, but I just don’t slice enough bread to justify even thinking of getting this tool. I know of some who are just enthralled with theirs, but it honestly feels a bit silly to me. Maybe I’ll warm up to the idea.

Bread Sling

Not essential, but can be handy

Bread slings are nice to bake your breads on because they reduce waste and ensure parchment paper doesn’t crunch up around the loaf, leaving an imprint as it bakes.

Bread slings are not as nice for breads with inclusions (inclusions can leak out and stick to Dutch oven or baking vessel), if you prefer to use rice under your loaves to prevent sticking (rice can then stick to the edges of your loaf), or if the loaves end up over proofed or poorly shaped (will spread too much to easily transfer to Dutch oven.)

Bread slings were one of those tools I thought I would like more than I do. It’s not that they’re bad, but I love breads with inclusions and I don’t want to have to soak and scrub my Dutch ovens each time I use a bread sling. I much prefer to use a rectangle of parchment paper to easily keep any leakage contained, and easily thrown away.

Cloche

Not essential, but some prefer over a Dutch oven

A cloche is a cast iron baking vessel that can be used for baking sourdough bread. It can also be called an inverted Dutch oven. The Challenger cloche is a commonly used brand and frequently referred to as simply a “Challenger” rather than a cloche.

Cloches can bake bread, pizza, chicken, and more. They are very similar in idea to Dutch ovens. If you already have one, no need to get the other. If you’re deciding between them, Dutch ovens offer more versatility since they can cook soups, risotto, pasta and so much more. On the other hand, baking bread in hot ovens can be hard on the baking vessel, so it’s not a bad idea to have a bread-designated baking vessel (a separate Dutch oven or cloche) so as not to stain, say, your nice Le Creuset.

Danish Dough Whisk

Not essential, but useful

A Danish whisk is specially designed for easily incorporating doughs and batters. It’s not ideal for all mixtures, but it is inexpensive and can help make sourdough baking easier. It can also be ideal for any batter that shouldn’t be over-mixed (muffins, pancakes, etc.), pie fillings, even granola.

Doap

Not essential, but can be useful

A simple piece of food grade silicone in the shape of a bar of soap with bumps is an effective tool for getting that sticky, stubborn sourdough off of hands and dishes. It can help save your sponges and dishcloths from sourdough ruin.

This a tool that seems less talked about in sourdough spheres, at least that I’ve noticed, but because of this, it can make a great gift for sourdough friends. The downside is that it feels a bit pricey for what it is, $25, but the bright side is you’re supporting a made-in-America product and not another cheap Chinese-made something from Amazon.

Dutch oven

Essential, unless you’re already a pro at open baking or have another similar baking vessel (cloche, baking stone + baking shell, etc.)

A Dutch oven keeps bread in a smaller, enclosed area, trapping in steam for optimal oven spring, crust, and ear. It is invaluable for sourdough bakers, as this environment can be much trickier to recreate in an open home oven.

When I first started baking sourdough loaves at home, I wasn’t initially using a Dutch oven, and open baking wasn’t treating me well. Once I switched to a Dutch oven I started to see dramatically better results, despite not having perfect bulk ferment times.

Fiddle Bow Bread Knife

Not essential, can be nice

The blade of a bow bread knife is attached on both ends, giving it more stability and thus allowing the blade to be thinner. It can slice bread easier, and the space between the blade and the wooden bow part makes cutting even slices easier than ever.

With a bow knife you can only cut slices, and won’t be able to slice your loaf in half for that crumb shot. It can also only be used by certain-handed people, meaning, a bow knife used by a right-handed person wouldn’t be able to be used by a left-handed person.

Instant Read Thermometer

Essential for honing the sourdough process

An instant read thermometer can ascertain the temperature of your dough at various stages and while baking, all crucial components to understanding and honing in the sourdough process for beautiful and consistent results.

Sourdough is possible without an instant read thermometer, but without knowing the temperature of ingredients and dough throughout the day, the ever-important bulk ferment will need a more watchful and attuned eye, and troubleshooting will be more guesswork.

You can find instant read thermometers for as little as $15 on Amazon, or get higher quality ones, such as from Thermapen, for closer to $90 or more. I know of several bakers who use and are happy with the more budget options. I have no personal experience with them, as I was fortunately gifted a Thermapen classic many years ago. It’s reliable and still going strong!

Kitchen scale

Essential

A kitchen scale enables the precision necessary for making successful sourdough. It may be possible to make sourdough using cups and spoons, but it is not advisable.

Once you get used to using a scale and comfortable with baker’s math, you will start to understand recipes more, especially the simpler sourdough recipes that utilize as little as 4 ingredients. And once you’re used to using a scale with sourdough, you can use the scale for all your other recipes, upping your baking game and seeing more consistent results, all while actually making baking and cleanup simpler.

For more reasons why you should use a baking scale for all of your baking, read here.

For help converting ingredients from cups to grams, check out this conversion list.

Linen/Cotton Towels

Not essential, can be useful

Linen or cotton kitchen towels are versatile little things that can be used for lining and/or covering proofing baskets, aside from their common uses as kitchen towels or lining serving baskets or bowls.

As covered above under “basket liners”, lining proofing baskets is very useful in keeping them clean, especially when loaves have inclusions that may leak out. It is much easier to wash a few hand towels than it is to wash bannetons. They also help to keep dough from sticking to the basket.

My preferred method is to line and cover each loaf with the same linen cloth. It’s natural, breathable, and easy to clean up.

Loaf slicer

Not essential

A loaf slicer is similar in idea to the the deli slicers used for slicing deli meat, cheese, and such, except it is intended for bread. It cuts large, perfect slices every time, which can be especially handy for those who like to slice bread before freezing.

While I know of at least one baker who is very excited to own this piece of equipment, it is a large, expensive piece of equipment with a sharp blade that is a one-trick pony.

Loaf pans

Not essential, but offers another way to bake bread that is most likely already in your kitchen

Loaf pans may be more reminiscent of baking instant-yeast loaves, but they can also be used just as easily for sourdough bread.

In fact, loaf pans can be used in place of Dutch ovens or any of the other fancy equipment simply by baking the sourdough loaf in a loaf pan with a second loaf pan inverted on top of it, to recreate the enclosed, steamy environment. Some prefer the loaf shape for its ease of cutting.

Baking in loaf pans can also allow more loaves to be baked at once, 5 or 6 or more. It also allows a bit more flexibility with fermentation time and rise since the sides of the pan help support the loaf as it bakes.

Loaf pans come in various sizes, giving you the option to make standard loaves, or even mini or extra large.

Loaf pans also come in nonstick and uncoated varieties. Nonstick provides the easiest cleanup, but also means the dough is coming into direct contact with chemicals. Uncoated does not have the same chemical coating and cleanup can be a breeze if you simply use parchment paper.

Mason jars

Not essential, handy for feeding starter

Mason jars are clear, vertical, and already in many kitchens which makes them an easy choice for storing and feeding starters. They’re dishwasher friendly and come in different sizes for scaling up and down with starter amounts, as needed.

Wide mouth are the most convenient for feeding starter and cleaning jars.

Parchment paper

Essential

Parchment paper is a baking staple, and sourdough is no exception. Even if you use silicone bread slings, you probably use parchment paper for other uses in baking. And if you already have it on hand, you might as well use it for sourdough with inclusions (especially if it’s cheese!!) to keep from having to soak and scrub your Dutch oven.

If you are one of the rare bakers that manages to use only reusable products in your kitchen, silicone for lining all your baking sheets and silicone bread slings and such, kudos to you!

PH reader

Not essential

A PH reader can help you read the alkalinity of your starter to determine its health as well as to determine readiness of starter and dough for baking.

A healthy starter is one that is fed enough and regularly. If a starter is not fed frequently enough or not fed a high enough ratio at feedings, it can become weak and acidic. This can cause problems, including strange crumbs and less oven spring. Knowing the exact PH of starter can help eliminate any doubt with your starter, but isn’t strictly necessary since there is some simple troubleshooting you can do without necessarily needing a fancy tool.

Proofer

Not essential, but a fancy tool used for consistency.

A proofer is a container with controlled temperature to obtain consistent and reliable results every time. It’s similar in idea to an oven’s proof setting or the bread proofing mat. Temperature range is often 70°F-120°F. It can be used for starter, dough, and more.

The Brod & Taylor Proofer as pictured here can also be used as a slow cooker with your own dutch oven or pot, and suitable for making yogurt, sous vide, and other fermented foods. It has optional humidity and folds for easy storage.

Proofing containers

Proofing containers can really pertain to any container that can hold dough during bulk ferment. However, often when bakers refer to proofing containers, they mean the square, food-safe plastic bins of varying sizes with measurements written on the side. These are often used in commercial kitchens for many different things, and are especially handy for bulk ferment since you can easily see how much the dough is rising.

Unlike bread that is made using commercial yeast, sourdough doesn’t always wait until the dough is doubled in size. The rise of the dough depends on dough temperature, and is talked about in percentages. Tom Cucuzza from The Sourdough Journey has really nailed down bulk ferment times based on temperature and how much rise % you want to see. Using a square proofing container allows you to precisely mark a target line or track what percentage your dough has risen. Proofing in a bowl can be much harder to gauge.

If you’re someone who tries to stay away from plastic and would like to find a non-plastic container for fermenting larger quantities of dough, check out these large metal bowls from Webstaurant. They have varying sizes all the way up to 30qt which I believe can easily hold enough dough to make 12-16 loaves of sourdough.

“Proofing” is a bit of a misnomer since these containers hold dough during bulk ferment, not the final proof. Remember that bulk ferment is the first rising of the dough, when it is all together in bulk. When the dough is separated and shaped into its final shape, this second shape is called the final proof, or simply “proof”. For sourdough, the final proof is often done in banneton baskets.

Razor Blade Replacements

Essential

One of the first tools a sourdough baker will want to invest in is a good bread lame. There are a few different styles, but they can be a game changer. A select few bakers might have success using a sharp knife for scoring, but it is not ideal.

Once you have a bread lame, you will need to replace the razor blades periodically to keep your scoring easy and clean. How often depends on how frequently you are making bread as well as personal preference. Some bakers replace their razor blades every 8-10 loaves or so, others only every few months or less.

I have both a stick lame and a UFO lame, and I probably only change the blades every 50? loaves or so. Sometimes I use both lames to score, sometimes just one or the other. Other times I use the stick lame two times for the same loaf, utilizing the 5 minute score method. This method, while wonderful for getting an ear, can be hard on razor blades since the very doughy, partially baked bread gets stuck on there. Cleaning razor blades dulls them, and no one wants sliced fingers trying to get the dough off! I find that I can very carefully rotate the blade, so the clean side scores the bread before hand, then rotate and use the dirtier side to do the second score. Double sided razor blades can also be flipped and rotated in general so that all four corners are being used before being tossed.

Rice flour

Essential for some

Rice flour works well for keeping sticky sourdough from sticking to surfaces, especially bannetons during the overnight retard. If all-purpose or bread flour just aren’t doing the trick, try some rice flour.

Depending on dough and environment, some find using rice flour to coat their bannetons is all but essential to get their dough turned out easily. Others, myself included, find that rice flour is nice, but not essential.

Rice flour is also used for dusting on top of loaves to get that white contrast for scoring more intricate designs.

Shower caps / Plastic bowl covers

Not essential

Shower caps can be used for covering bowls, bread once it’s in bannetons, and more. They’re quick and convenient, and fairly cheap.

That said, I’d encourage you to look into other options. Using linen cloths to line and cover bannetons is a great way to stay away from single-use plastic, and much more aesthetic, no? It also doesn’t support buying super cheap plastic shower caps from Chinese companies on Amazon. If linen dries out your dough too much in the fridge, why not use the plastic grocery bags from the grocery store? Grocery store bags are usually a good bet that they’re made from food-safe plastic, and in many places, are free. Not all shower caps are food grade plastic, so something else to check into if you do decide to go that route.

Sieve, Sifter or Ball sifter

Not essential

Lightly dusting sourdough before it goes into the oven is completely optional, and mostly done for aesthetic purposes such as decorative scoring.

If you choose to lightly dust your loaves, this can be done a couple of different ways.

Fine Sieve: You can use a fine sieve to dust flour over loaves. Many people already have a sieve in their kitchen, which means purchasing an extra tool isn’t necessary. I even got away with using a small metal ball tea infuser in place of a sieve when I didn’t have a sieve for awhile there! The con of using a sieve is that you have to fill and empty it each time you use it, and if you set it down, flour comes out.

Can Sifter: If you plan on doing a lot of sifting, then a ball or can sifter can save time and make the job a little easier. They’re also inexpensive, usually $10 or under. Can sifters often come with a cover so you can keep the flour in the can, and keep the flour from getting all over when not in use.

Ball Sifter: Similar in idea to the can sifter, just a bit smaller and round. Ball sifters sometimes have a rotating feature so they can also be covered, keeping flour contained, or at least one side without holes so it can be set down without spilling flour.

Silicone Oven Mitts

Not essential, but advisable

If you bake enough bread, sooner or later you’ll end up with some burns. While short, cloth oven mitts are fine, long, elbow length heat proof gloves can save you some burns as well as making handling the hot Dutch ovens/baking vessels much easier.

The silicone hot and cold baking gloves are all the rage right now, offering either wrist or up to full forearm protection and extended temperature ranges from in the negative Fahrenheit up to 480°F / 249°C or higher.

Small Kitchen Scissors

Not Essential

Small, sharp scissors can be used to make little cuts in dough for more intricate decorative scoring.

A lame will get most bakers as far as they need in getting fancy with the scores, but for those that want specific and intricate cuts a lame can’t do, then a small pair of sharp scissors might be your next trick. Surgical scissors can be used with great success, along with embroidery or any scissors with small enough and sharp enough blades to cleanly cut dough.

Sourdough Home

Not essential

A sourdough home is a container that looks a bit like a tiny refrigerator. You put a jar of starter inside to be kept at a precise temperature. A sourdough home can heat when it’s too cold, or cool when it’s too hot. This enables consistency in feeding a starter and thus baking times, and with the precision even allows you to adjust the flavor of your starter.

Spray bottle

Not essential, but can be very handy for more intricate scoring or getting more steam into the oven while baking

A spray bottle is certainly not essential for making a wonderful loaf of bread, but for those wishing to score more intricate designs on bread that can be easily seen, then a spray bottle and flour are good tools to have. Lightly spraying the loaf after it has been tipped out of the banneton, then sprinkling with flour, helps the flour to stay on better.

Another good use for a spray bottle is to spray loaves and the inside walls of your oven just before putting in the bread. This is one way to get more steam into a bake.

Spurtle

Not essential, but very handy for stirring

Any spoon or long utensil can be used to stir starter or dough, but a spurtle is designed to have less surface contact thus making it easier to stir and having less to clean. If you know what it is to clean sourdough dishes, then you know that this is a great thing.

Beyond sourdough, spurtles are useful for stirring many things. They were originally designed for porridge and soups and such. A spurtle is really just an unusual wooden spoon, and can be used just about anywhere a wooden spoon can. They’re also inexpensive and a little thing that makes a great gift or a great addition to your kitchen.

Stick Lame

Essential

A stick lame is used for easily and properly scoring bread, allowing bread to rise in a controlled manner, rather than splitting at random as it rises. A sharp knife could be used, it’s true, but if you plan on making sourdough more than just once in a blue moon, than a lame is one of the first tools you should invest in.

UFO Lame

Not essential, but the tool to invest in for more intricate scoring

A UFO lame differs from a stick lame in that the razor blade is usually sticking out of a small wooden circle, or “UFO” shape, rather than attached to a small rod with a handle.

The smaller circular shape allows the baker to get closer to the loaf while scoring, giving greater control and precision in scoring. The UFO lame is usually the blade of choice for performing the more intricate and artistic bread scoring. The UFO lame is a more recent invention by Wire Monkey, my favorite USA small business lame maker!

Weck Jars

Not essential, but very convenient for maintaining starter easily.

Weck jars are another brand of glass jars designed for canning and preserving, much like Mason and Ball, that are very useful for storing and maintaining sourdough starter. The main difference is that Weck jars usually have wide mouths and straighter sides, making stirring in the jar and cleaning much easier.

Featured

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Terminology

December 04, 2024

Explore Italy: Assisi

December 04, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Just another absolutely stunning small town with important religious history perched on the rolling hills of Umbria. It’s a beautiful place for a stroll, not too big and not too small, with plenty to see but not so much you need an agenda.

Assisi in a nutshell

Location: Umbria, Italy

Best known for: A UNESCO world heritage site, Assisi is the birth place of San Francesco, one of Italy’s patron saints and founder of the Franciscan order, and Santa Chiara Offreduccio. Assisi is an important pilgrimage city for the Catholic faith.

Days needed to explore: 1+

What to see and do:

13th century two level Basilica Papale e Sacro Covento di San Francesco, overlooking Piazza Inferiore di San Francesco
Rocca Maggiore - a medieval fortress hovering over Assisi
Many churches with stunning art, including: Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, La Cattedrale di San Rufino, Basilica di Santa Maria, Chiesa Nuova, San Damiano, Santa Maria degli Angeli

Established: circa 1000 BC by the Umbrians, thought to be some of the oldest inhabitants of Italy. Assisi was taken under Roman rule in 295 BC, later under papal jurisdiction and ruled by despots, occupied by Nazi Germany while hiding Jews, to today, a major pilgrimage spot for many.

Typical foods to try:

Rocciata - a strudel like pastry filled with walnuts, apple, and dried fruit
Umbricelli al Rancetto - thicker, spaghetti-like pasta with a tomato based pork sauce with marjoram. Umbricelli is called pici in Tuscany, or strangozzi, ciriole, or lombrichelli in other areas
Stringhozzi al tartufo di Norcia - a pasta dish made with fresh long pasta, similar to fettuccine, topped with regional black truffles
Piccione alla Ghiotta - a tipical dish featuring pigeon, for the more adventurous fellows
Torta al Testo - flatbread filled with delicacies of the region for a tasty and very Umbrian sandwich
Olio d’Oliva di Umbria - look for the Umbrian olive oil with the DOP certification, specifically the “Colli Assisi Spoleto” which has 60% of the Moraiolo variety of olives, and the remaining 30% either Frantoio or Leccino
Prosciutto di Norcia IGP - the cold cut of the region
Corallina Umbra - a typical cold cut of Umbria, made with lean meat and chunks of fat

Why I like Assisi

Assisi is hard to forget with its hilly terrain, stunning church, and large piazza overlooking the valley. Part of the reason I like Assisi so well is because I didn’t plan or choose to go there, I was taken there by an Italian family and shown around.

When one of my dearest friends and I went on a trip to Europe together, one of our stops was to stay in Camucia with her old host family for a weekend. She had gone over as an au pair to help their son learn English. I had heard so many wonderful stories of them, and they were such kind and wonderful hosts. One of their treats to us was to take us around to see some different cities, including Cortona which is very close to Camucia, as well as Gubbio and Assisi. When your hosts are chattering away in Italian and you and your friend don’t speak much of the language, a lot of nodding and laughing and going along with the flow ensues. Being toted around by an Italian family to see Italian sights is not a bad way to do it. I also highly recommend going to a restaurant with an Italian family and letting them order for you, especially when they order an assortment of appetizers and such so you can get a taste of all the typical food. Well, I think I chose my main course, and remember the dad choosing a truffle pasta for his (probably the stringhozzi al tartufo!), and thinking maybe I should have gotten that, too. Trufflesssss, buonoooo.

We were at the Piazza Inferiore di San Francesco at sunset, and it was a picture-perfect sunset with brilliant hues of pink, purple, and orange; a fairytale moment, really. I took pictures, as was everyone else with a sunset like that! But pictures don’t do justice, they never do.

Assisi was a picture perfect evening of strolling around, seeing all the beautiful and important churches, eating good food, watching an unforgettable sunset, and spending time with new and old friends. It was very relaxing being able to follow along. I normally am the planner and organizer for trips, making sure we see and do and eat everything that there is. This often can leave me feeling a bit stressed to do all the research, afraid I might miss something important or cool. Not having to do this, and in fact not having much say in the destination, was refreshingly freeing. Leaving it in the hands of some locals was a great way to see Assisi!

More to Explore:

Explore Italy: Assisi

What to Pack When Moving to Italy

Explore Italy: Livorno

Explore Italy: Viareggio

38 Diaper Comparison

The Birth Story of Miriam

What I Miss About Italy

The Birth Story of Elyas

Explore Italy: Naples

November 21, 2024

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

November 21, 2024/ Jenny Morris

November 14, 2024

What to Pack When Moving to Italy

November 14, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Moving is a feat, and no less so when moving involves crossing the ocean. If you’ve ever thought about moving to Italy or a move is imminent for you, you might be wondering what to pack. Does Italy carry all the same goods as the USA?

Space is precious and expensive, and you don’t want to pack what you can easily buy over there. No need to pack shampoo when you know you’ll be able to buy shampoo over there, right?

Some things are obvious when it comes to what to pack and what not to, others are less so. You don’t want to leave behind something that is essential or a favorite, only to find it can’t be found in Italy.

I’ve compiled a list of things that you might want to consider bringing with you when moving to Italy, based on personal experience and that of other expat families. The good news is that it’s not terribly long. Some things might surprise you, I know they did me. Other things are highly personal and will really depend on what you value, your lifestyle, your hobbies, etc. and your attachment to certain brands. A lot will also depend on how long you will be living in Italy, how often you will be coming home, and how many suitcases/packing containers you’re bringing over.

The good news is that most, if not all of the items you use and need on a daily basis can be found in Italy. It can take time to find them, but they’re there. They might be a little different, but they work. It might take some getting used to not having your comfortable products and brands, but in the end you might find some things you like even better. Try to keep an open mind. Now living back in the States, there are several products I really miss from Italy!

This list will continue to be added to. See something the list is missing? Leave a comment or send me a message and I’d be happy to add it!

Se Volete Leggere di Più sull'Italia

Explore Italy: Assisi

What to Pack When Moving to Italy

Explore Italy: Livorno

Explore Italy: Viareggio

38 Diaper Comparison

The Birth Story of Miriam

What I Miss About Italy

Why You Should Use a Baking Scale

The Birth Story of Elyas

Explore Italy: Naples

Consider Packing These:

Baby items

Of course, baby items exist in Italy, but they can be significantly more expensive. Not only is it more expensive, sometimes it can be just downright harder to find baby stores and items. The selection is much slimmer. Online shopping, while becoming more of a thing, is not overly present in Italy.

Bring any of your favorite baby items you can’t live without.

A stroller is essential, but think about the sidewalk situation where you’ll be living. Many of the strollers you’ll see in Italy boast the large, all-terrain wheels. Dinky umbrella strollers may be nice for space, but not great on many of the bumpy, sometimes non-existent sidewalks. On the other hand, if you move to a place like where I lived for a bit in Incisa e Figline Valdarno, there were stretches of road with no sidewalks, and the train station had no elevator to get to the train platform. Two large flights of stairs up and down with a stroller isn’t fun. Baby carriers are sometimes preferable. Naples was another city we visited that a baby carrier was invaluable. Too many twisty turns, narrow sidewalks, stairs, and hills to comfortably push a stroller.

Baby Clothes: Some moms prefer to bring over baby clothes because they’re cheaper in the USA, sometimes higher quality, fit better, and overall there is a bigger selection. Knotted baby gowns, bamboo sleepers, etc. are hard to find or not really available in Italy.

Cloth Diapering: I wanted to cloth diaper my son, but I had a difficult time finding cloth diapering products. I could not find any stores that carried cloth diapers. In the end I ordered some pocket cloth diapers from Amazon along with some prefolds and other things. What I didn’t realize was the quality of the prefolds was significantly less than what you would get in the States. I ended up with a lot of leaks, and wasn’t sure why people I knew who had cloth diapered in the States seemed to be having such a different experience than I was all while using the same products.

Baking supplies and ingredients

It might seem nonsensical to bring food and baking items to a country famous for its good food. Some ingredients just don’t act the same, or are not available, so if you are wanting to make recipes from your home country, you might need to pack accordingly. Otherwise you’ll be subbing Italian ingredients and it won’t taste like it does back home.

Baking Powder: The Italian baking powder doesn’t act the same as American baking powder. Don’t ask me why, but I am among a number of people who always bring their own baking powder over. It doesn’t take up much room and lasts a long time, so why add one more uphill battle of trying to learn a new baking powder in your favorite recipes if you don’t have to?

Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is available at certain stores, but it is expensive and not as flavorful as the homemade stuff I’m accustomed to. Maple syrup is heavy and a liquid, but if I had extra room, I’d always sneak in a quart or two in my checked luggage. I know others felt the same way, must be an American and Canadian thing. Others found success ordering it online.

Peanut Butter: You will be able to find Peter Pan and Skippy peanut butter here for a hefty price (around 5euro for a small bottle) along with some other brands you’ve probably never heard of, like Calvè (made in the Netherlands), for a bit less, but with each their own unique taste and consistency. If you love and are partial to certain kinds of peanut butter, you might want to bring a few jars of your favorite kind with you.

Vanilla Extract: Italy doesn’t have real vanilla extract, they use either whole vanilla beans or the artificial vanilla flavor “vanillin”. Since vanilla beans are expensive and I didn’t want to use the artificial vanillin they have readily available in grocery stores, I would bring over a large bottle (16oz) with me to use while making and aging my own vanilla extract.

Other food items that can be found in Italy but are different and sometimes more expensive, would include

Brown sugar - can be found, but is usually a different kind of “brown” sugar, and can vary, depending on where its found
Canned pumpkin - can be found for about 4x the price of American canned pumpkin. I would often bring 2 cans if I had extra room to use at Thanksgiving time
Chewing Gum - Italy has chewing gum but their flavors are primarily licorice, not as minty, and flavors don’t last as long
Chocolate chips - Italy only sells mini chips, in white or dark chocolate
Ground Cloves - whole cloves are readily available, but if you don’t have a way to grind them, then bring your own ground cloves. I never once found ground cloves
Marshmallows - different consistency
Pecans - can be found, but often in tiny bags and quite pricy
Pretzels - different consistency

For more things that are difficult to find in Italy (and where to find them, if applicable) check out this post here.

Beauty and Personal Products

You may or may not realize how attached you are to the beauty and personal care products you use until you can’t find them. Italy has some great products, but change is hard. Some find success by gradually trying and changing over products…finding some mascara they like, finding some face lotion they like, finding some deoderant they like. Others use and love a specific product and just aren’t able to find a comparable product in Italy. They bring over enough to last them until the next time they are able to get some.

If using natural products is important to you, an extra challenge is added on having to find all-new, trustworthy and effective natural products in a new language and new stores. The good news is that a lot of the ingredients are the same in Italian as in English. The bad news is that despite what a lot of people in the US think, food and products in Italy are not wholly natural and pure. Yes, they do ban more ingredients than the US as far as I understand, but I was unpleasantly surprised at some of the ingredient lists in Italy. I guess I had imagined waltzing into the Italian stores and picking up any ol’ shampoo or lotion, etc., and not having to worry about checking the ingredients because everything in Europe is natural and wonderful, right? Not exactly.

Books

Books in Italy are, you guessed it, primarily in Italian, but you can find other languages. It might be harder to find them, but they do exist. You can also become a member at a local library where they most likely have foreign language sections.

For specific books you really want to have in English or other languages, I know many people who just bring them with them. Books can get heavy quickly, but you can’t find every book in Italy. After all, books are a one time purchase. I brought over some of my favorite cookbooks and a few reading books I figured I wouldn’t be able to find in Italy.

On the other hand, encourage yourself to read books in Italian. This will help expand your vocabulary and master the language. Italian has a specific tense called narrative tense (for written word), so not always helpful for speaking, but still helpful to learn. I learned a lot by reading. If your level of Italian is still basic, start with children’s books. Seriously. Even baby books I would learn things from. Once you start getting better, move on to books you enjoy and are familiar with in English. At one point I borrowed the Harry Potter series from the children’s section at my local library. It’s very enlightening and empowering to not only be learning, but also understanding and laughing at the humor you know so well, in another language!

Children’s clothing

Similar to the baby clothing mentioned above, I know some moms who prefer to bring over children’s clothes rather than buy them all in Italy. In the US they’re often cheaper, higher quality, and fit better.

Cotton clothing

I’m sorry, is there no cotton in Italy? I remember feeling a bit befuddled the first time I heard of others preferring “US cotton” over Italian made cotton shirts. Apparently, cotton clothing made in the US (or rather sold in the US) is thicker and more durable. Italian cotton is thin.

Once this was brought to my attention I started to notice, by golly, they were right. The cotton is not the same! Cotton clothes I had brought with me were thicker and tended to last longer. Clothing I bought in Italy, especially at some of the smaller boutiques, was very thin and light. I won’t say either one is bad or worse, you can decide that for yourself, but here are some things to consider:

Thicker cotton from the US will last longer
Thinner cotton from Italy stretches out more easily
Thinner cotton is lighter and very nice in the hot, Italian summers

Electronics and their adapters

Electronics can be a tricky thing to pack. Technology isn’t often intended to change countries, outlets, and voltage.

For the electronics you must bring with you, ensure you have the proper adapters and power converters. Check them to see if they might be dual voltage, usually with 120/240V written somewhere near the plug. Smart phones including Apple products are dual voltage, so that’s a good start!

Here are some random things that you would be better off buying in Italy:

Printer
Hair dryer, straightener, curler, etc.
Electric mixer, any electric kitchen gadget - I desperately wanted to bring my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Kitchen Aid’s aren’t cheap in the US, and they’re more expensive in Italy than the US. But with the weight of a Kitchen Aid and the risk of burning the motor even with a fancy power converter, it just wasn’t a good idea. I had read of people ruining their Kitchen Aids trying to run them on power converters and adapters.

A printer story: I somehow inherited a printer from a friend who moved back to the USA. The printer was from the US, and I’m really not sure why someone brought a printer over when they should’ve bought one in Italy. As it turns out, it came in handy with all of the documents and copies that need to be made with life in Italy. It didn’t require a power converter, just an adapter. The problems started when I needed to change the ink cartridges. The grocery stores didn’t carry the cartridge numbers the printer needed. I quickly found out that the printer was in US mode, and had to be reconfigured to European mode. Once reconfigured to European mode, I could buy the Italian cartridges and start using it again. As would happen to me, it took literally hours on the phone with several different people from HP trying to change the printer’s country setting, then trying to troubleshoot why it would not. It turned out the printer could not be changed, and HP sent me a whole new printer AND ink cartridges. Seriously, while Italian customer service averages on “average” at best, sometimes downright awful, HP was this shining beacon of “we’ll do anything to make this right” and not somehow always making it the customer’s fault. They even sent me a box and scheduled UPS to pick up and recycle the old printer so I didn’t have to. Why the long story? This is your warning to do your research before just bringing electronics to a different country.

On the bright side, I was able to bring an essential oil diffuser with me because it was dual voltage!

Important documents

While you might not think you’ll need certain important documents in Italy, you can make your life a lot easier by scanning important documents onto your computer and bringing copies with you. Paper does not take up much space and you would be surprised what you might need while you’re there, or even for taking care of business back home.

Some ideas of what to bring, scan or bring copies of:

Passports (yes that’s important!!)
Applicable visas
Birth certificates
Marriage certificate
SSN’s
Driver’s Licenses
Bank information

Medicinal Items

Over the counter medication is cheaper in the States than in Italy, among other medicinal items. Also, not all medications that are OTC in the States are OTC in Italy. You usually need a script for ibuprofen (in Italian “brufen” or “Nurofen”) and even acetaminophen or paracetamol (American brand name Tylenol, Tachipirina in Italian) requires a prescription for the 1000mg caplets.

You might also want to consider bringing any allergy medications and important prescription medications until you can figure out if/where you can get those in Italy.

I also know of a few people who specifically bring Neosporin with them.

Mosquito spray is another item I’ve heard people like to bring with them, especially if there is a favorite brand or kind. Italy does have mosquito spray, but I haven’t tried it to tell you how it works. I can tell you the mosquitos can be pesky and miserable in the summer. Italy does have these wall plug-ins that last 1-2 months and can be turned off and on as desired, that work excellently at keeping mosquitos at bay. They can be invaluable for those who suffer mosquitos, but I use them with caution because I’m not entirely sure what fumes they’re letting out. I avoid using them around kids where possible.

Sentimental Items

Bring anything of sentimental value that can’t be purchased in Italy. Space in suitcases and packing containers might be limited, but I always liked having a few key items from home. Jewekry, decor, children’s artwork, picture frames, etc, might be a wonderful source of comfort while away.

If you have children who have favorite stuffies or toys, consider bringing a duplicate for if/when the favorite item gets lost or worn out.

Ricette Italiane o Ispirate dall'Italia:

Shrimp Scampi

24 Hour Sourdough Pizza Dough

Paste di Pistacchio Siciliane - Sicilian Pistachio Cookies

Labor Eggplant Parmesan

Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Sandwich

Caprese Risotto

Insalata Caprese Tradizionale - Traditional Caprese Salad

Garlic, Oil, and Pepper Pasta - Aglio, Olio, e Peperoncino

Spaghetti with Tuna - Spaghetti al Tonno

Sicilian Almond Cookies - Paste di Mandorle

Butternut Squash Risotto

Pappa al Pomodoro

November 10, 2024

The 5-Minute Score Method

November 10, 2024/ Jenny Morris

The 5 minute score is a method used to help your loaf expand more and achieve an ear.

To do a 5 minute score, give your loaf an initial score before placing in the oven, then score it a second time along the same initial score line before continuing to bake as normal.

The 5 minute score can also be called a 7 minute score, etc. depending on how many minutes elapse before giving the second score. It can also be called simply the second score, but 5 minute score is probably the most common name.

Something about the second scoring often gives loaves the oomph they need to achieve the ever-coveted ear. If you’ve been trying to get an ear without much success, this is a popular method to try.

Using the 5 Minute Score to Get an Ear

In order to achieve an ear on your loaf of sourdough bread, a few basic things need to be in place. If other steps in your sourdough bread making process are too far off, even the 5 minute score won’t help you with an ear. The 5 minute method works best for those who are making mostly successful loaves, but just can’t quite seem to get an ear.

There is absolutely no harm in trying the 5 minute score, but if you still don’t end up with an ear, then something else will probably need to be tweaked in your sourdough bread making process.

Check Starter

Ensure that your starter is well established and healthy. It should be doubling or tripling within 6-8 hours after feeding, give or take a couple hours depending on room temperature and feeding ratio.

Check Bulk Ferment

Watch your bulk ferment time. Bulk ferment starts the moment the starter or levain hits the other dough ingredients. If you bulk ferment too long, your dough will overproof and won’t have the oven spring needed to produce an ear. Similarly, if bulk ferment isn’t long enough, the dough might not be able to produce an ear.

This chart from The Sourdough Journey is very, very helpful in nailing down bulk ferment times.

Check Final Proof

Watch the proofing. Once dough is in its final shape for proofing, don’t let it rise too much, whether you’re doing a cold retard or making dough and baking all in one day. Check your refrigerator temperature to make sure it’s not too warm and accidentally allowing your loaves to overproof.

Check Shaping

Check your shaping technique. If loaves aren’t shaped tightly with proper surface tension, they are more likely to spread. A flatter loaf will have a harder time springing up and getting an ear.

Check Scoring

Re-evaluate your scoring technique.

Try keeping the principal score in the middle plane of the loaf
Use a stick lame with a curved blade (blade curving up like a spoon)
Slice at a 45° angle to the loaf’s surface.
Keep slices shallow, especially if utilizing the 5 minute score. 1/2” is the deepest you should need to go. Any deeper than that and you risk the structure of the loaf and encourage excessive spreading.
Keep scoring swift and sure, as much as possible.
Make sure you have a clean and sharp razor blade on your lame. Some bakers change out their blades as often as every 10 loaves or so. While changing your blade frequently will ensure the cleanest and easiest scoring, changing that often isn’t strictly necessary. But if you make sourdough loaves regularly and it’s been a few months or years, go ahead and change out that razor blade.

The most fun (and frustrating) part about sourdough is there are always 101 things that could go wrong, and just when you think you’ve dealt with all the troubleshooting, something new happens. That said, the tips above are some of the most common culprits, and a good place to start.

Sourdough Loaves Baked Side-by-Side, With and Without the 5 Minute Score

5 minute score (L) and no 5 minute score (R)

top view of 5 minute score (L) and no 5 minute score (R)

I remember the first ear I ever got on a loaf of sourdough bread baked in my home environment. I may have jumped for joy. Then squeals of joy as my loaves continued to get ears. Then I got some new oval bannetons and I was not getting ears every time. I read about the 5 minute score and decided to try it. The results were fabulous. Consistent, impressive ears, every time.

To confirm, I baked two loaves side by side, one with and one without the 5 minute score. The loaf that got the 5 minute score developed a nice ear, while the loaf that had no second score did not develop an ear.

Thus, the 5 minute score became an essential step in my baking process. After playing around with timing, I found the 6 minute score to be the sweet spot for my loaves.

I didn’t look back for months, but also wondered why some bakers could easily get consistent ears without using a second score, while others turning out beautiful loaves also relied on the 5 minute score. Just another sourdough mystery, or is there more to it?

A Second Side by Side Experiment

No 5 minute score (L) and with 5 minute score (R)

More recently, I decided to perform another little side by side experiment with the 5 minute score.

This time I came away with a different conclusion. I liked the overall look of the loaf that did not get the 5 minute score. They were both nice looking loaves, but the loaf that got the second score seemed to spread a bit more, and almost got less of an ear, ironically.

Now, these two loaves are identical in every way except one: one has chunks of Parmesan cheese, and the other does not. Inclusions can weigh bread down and affect the bake certainly, but given that I bake frequently with inclusions and was consistently doing the 5 minute score, I don’t think this had too much of an impact on the results. After all, the more important loaf was the one that did NOT get the second score. I know well from the many loaves I have baked that the second score works a treat. I was more interested to see if I could go back to baking without having to use the 5 minute score and still achieve an ear.

Why the difference in conclusion for the two experiments?

I can only guess why these two mini experiments went the way they did. However, after some reading, I would guess that the 5 minute score helps most when the bulk ferment time isn’t spot on or there are problems with steam during baking. Since the steam and baking has been basically the same since I started, I suspect I have just been able to fine tune bulk fermentation a bit better, ever learning more my dough in my environment.

Conclusion:

The 5 minute score is a handy tool to have in the sourdough arsenal. It allows more leeway in being able to achieve an ear without having to have every single step in sourdough making, especially bulk ferment, nailed down perfectly.

In an ideal world we could all just bake sourdough bread and get an ear every time, if we wanted to. Since that doesn’t always happen, I will continue to sing the 5 minute score’s praises to achieve that sometimes elusive ear.

More Bakes:

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Morris House Rolls (Parker House Rolls)

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Flax Bread

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Overnight Bagels

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Buttermilk Bread

Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Muffins

November 07, 2024

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

November 07, 2024/ Jenny Morris

November 02, 2024

How to Test Your Flour's Hydration Capacity

November 02, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Knowing how to test the hydration capacity of your flour is a useful little trick that can save you time and ingredients in sourdough baking.

How much water can your flour hold, and why is it important to know this? In a word, how much water can you add to your loaf and it still be able to keep its shape?

Every Flour is Different

Each flour has a different capacity for holding water. The higher the protein content, the easier it will hold higher hydration amounts. All-purpose flours hold less water than bread flour or high-protein bread flour. Even one all-purpose flour to the next will have different capacities, depending on protein content.

Whole wheat flours are considered “thirsty” flours, and can hold more water.

The best way to figure out what the hydration capacity of your flour is, is to do a little test. If you’re unfamiliar with baker’s formula, what follows is a quick explanation to make sure we’re all on the same page.

Baker’s Formula

When baking bread, especially sourdough and artisan breads, you will often hear bakers talking about their ingredients in percentages. This is called baker’s formula, or baker’s math.

If you’re just getting into sourdough, and even for all other baking, here is another prompt to start using a kitchen scale if you are not already.

In baker’s formula, the flour in the recipe is always the 100%. Every other ingredient’s percentage is calculated from the flour’s weight. For example, a bread recipe that calls for 1000g of flour and 700g of water, means that it has 70% water, or 70% hydration.

Ingredient weight / Flour Weight x 100 = %

700g water / 1000g flour x 100 = 70%

This can be done with any or all ingredients in a bread recipe and is very helpful for understanding the recipe. You will start to notice that certain kinds of bread have lower hydration, like bagels, while others have quite high hydration, like ciabatta. You’ll be able to get a feel for what the dough will feel like and how the bread will turn out, without ever having made the recipe.

Hydration can vary widely in sourdough baking. Generally speaking, any recipe that calls for under 70% hydration is considered low hydration. Beginner recipes often hover around 65% hydration. Lower hydration means less tacky dough and easier to work with and shape. For an intermediate to experienced baker, 70-80% is usually a happy spot. Anything above 80% is usually considered high hydration and needs special handling and stronger flours.

To brush up on your sourdough lingo, read here.

More Sourdough:

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Terminology

New Sourdough Series

Testing a Flour’s Hydration Capacity

Measure out a small amount of desired flour into several small bowls. 20g is a good amount in each bowl, keeping it small and manageable, but still a decent enough chunk to work with. You can test different flours side by side. Keep all the bowls labeled or use different colors/styles, so the different flours don’t get mixed up.
Decide which hydration levels you’d like to test with the flour. Start with a hydration you feel the flour can hold comfortably, probably under 70%, then work your way up from there. Increments of 5% usually work nicely.
Calculate how much water to add, and mix into each bowl.
Thoroughly mix each bowl, kneading and working until a smooth dough has formed. If you don’t want to continue kneading a bunch of tiny pieces of dough, you can let them sit, covered, for several hours and check back.
Once the tiny bits of dough have had a chance for adequate gluten development, by kneading or by sitting, it’s time to check each one. You will probably have already noticed how each bowl of dough acts a little differently.

Now to Determine Which Hydration Levels the Flours Like

It’s easiest to start with lower hydration levels. The bit of dough should look smooth and feel elastic. It should pass the window pane test. If it doesn’t, the dough may need more time to sit or more kneading.

Work your way up the bowls, stretching, kneading, feeling as each bit of dough gets looser and stickier. You may notice as you work with the higher hydration bits that the dough will start to show some little tearing as you stretch it. Once the tearing becomes more noticeable, the dough doesn’t seem to be able to hold much shape, and the dough doesn’t pass the windowpane test, you have probably gone past the limit for that particular flour.

Two Flours Tested Side by Side

Here I tested out the hydration capacity of Kirkland Signature Organic All-Purpose Flour and King Arthur Bread Flour side by side.

I had five bowls for each kind of flour. Each bowl contained 20g of flour. I used a precision scale, but this isn’t necessary. The hydration levels were:

65% (20g flour, 13g water)
70% (20g flour, 14g water)
75% (20g flour, 15g water)
80% (20g flour, 16g water)
85% (20g flour, 17g water)

Each bowl was kneaded briefly, then left to sit for several hours. I inspected them after the initial kneading, later in the day, and again the next day. Each piece was stretched and shaped into a ball, and prodded plenty.

Conclusion:

Kirkland Organic All-Purpose Flour

This AP flour seemed to find its sweet spot around 75% hydration. The dough with 80% hydration tore easily and couldn’t quite seem to build up enough gluten to hold any kind of shape. Based on this, I would stay under 80%, maybe even under 75% for Kirkland Organic All-Purpose Flour.

Interestingly enough, shortly after I performed this experiment, a well-known sourdough master, Tom Cucuzza of The Sourdough Journey shared a post of a loaf he made. He said he used 90% Kirkland Organic All-Purpose Flour, and 10% whole wheat flour, and mentioned that he thought the Kirkland flour holds 80% hydration well. I found that highly interestingly, since in my own experience Kirkland flour is optimal at not much higher than 75%, as I found in this little test, beyond dozens of other loaves I have made with this flour. However, he also mentioned, and I have also seen others talk about, how Kirkland’s Organic All-Purpose Flour can yield inconsistent results. I can only guess, but perhaps being such a large chain with stores across the country, maybe they’re sourcing wheat from many different areas and fields, and thus, differing results. Their bags mention they are “mininum 11.5%” protein content, so presumably, some bags may contain higher protein and be able to hold those higher hydrations better, as some bakers have found.

King Arthur Bread Flour

The King Arthur Bread Flour did better at 80% hydration. It only started to lose its shape and show more signs of tearing at 85% hydration. Based on this, I would say the King Arthur Bread Flour can comfortably go up to 80%, perhaps a bit higher, but would need some high-protein flour mixed with it to go higher with good results, perhaps some King Arthur Sir Lancelot flour. I don’t normally prefer eating breads with hydration higher than 80% because of the larger holes.

Why Increase Sourdough Hydration?

Sourdough made with higher hydration is usually made for its open, lacey crumb. This particular structure is harder to achieve and thus one of the signs that “you’ve made it” in the sourdough world. While desirable aesthetically, many people (including myself) prefer a tighter crumb.

If you’re hoping for an open crumb or just want to play with a higher hydration for the fun of it, the method described in this post is a much easier way to test how much water your particular flour can hold rather than just making whole loaves and potentially having them not turn out, wasting time and ingredients.

Hydration Test Gone to Starter

Inadvertently, I left these bowls on the counter in nice summer weather for 2-3 days, trying to decide what to make with them. (I hate waste, I also don’t have a lot of free time between 3 small children.)

In the delay of deciding and formulating a recipe, these dough balls starting fermenting and turning into starter! I could’ve fed them and had 10 new bowls of starter, but one can have too much starter, you know! I turned these into some loaves of bread, instead.

I made some Honey Oat Sourdough Loaves, and they turned out great. They were super tangy from all the fermenting flours from the hydration test, a touch sweet from the honey, and a bit nutty from the oats. Honestly, to this day they might be one of my favorite loaves I’ve made.

Explore Italy: Livorno

October 30, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Livorno is a city on the coast of Tuscany with a large and impressive checkered seaside promenade. As luring as that may sound, Livorno is at the bottom of my list of favorite places I’ve visited. Now, it’s still Italy and charming, but in a country full of world class beauty and charm, this is one place I won’t be urging you to visit.

More Explore Italy posts:

Livorno in a nutshell

Location: Tuscany, Italy

Best known for: Its harbor, seafood, and seaside checkerboard-pattern promenade

Days needed to explore: 1+ - Livorno is small enough that a day trip is ample to explore this city.

What to see and do:

Terrazza Mascagni - the checkerboard promenade by the sea
Fortezza Vecchia - the old fortress standing at the edge of the Medici Port
Fortezza Nuova - the newer red brick fortress built during the Medici period to defend against pirate attacks
Quartiere Venezia - an area in the middle of the city made in the style of Venice, with canals, bridges, and such.
Il Mercato delle Vettovaglie - a large covered market with more than 200 booths of fish, fruit, vegetables and more to browse

Established: “Livorna” is first mentioned in 1071, and was inhabited by Etruscans, ruled by the Romans and Medici, and is now the capital city of the Province of Livorno.

Places to eat:

Da Gagarin di Chiappo Giuliano - for a typical Livornese snack, try the 5e5 “torta di ceci” or sandwich made with chickpeas
Il Frataio 1920 Antica Friggitoria - head to the friggitoria off of Piazza Cavalotti and follow your nose from there to get some fresh fried donuts

Typical foods to try:

Il Cacciucco - a very typical fish stew featuring inexpensive local fish varieties, cuttlefish, and octopus, to use up the “un-sellables” from the market.
Nettare di Capraia - a local amber colored honey
Torta di Ceci - the flat, savory chickpea cake typical to the region. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, it’s surprisingly satisfying!

Why I like Livorno

I like Livorno mostly because I don’t love Livorno. I know that makes no sense. Of all the places I’ve been to in Italy, I think Livorno would come the least recommended. And yet, I had such a good time here, and only good memories.

I originally wanted to see Livorno because I thought I had read another expat (Girl in Florence) writing about how well she liked Livorno, a good alternative to the ever busy Cinque Terre. I’m not sure if I mixed Livorno up with another town or I just completely missed her drift, but I found the two with very little in common aside from both being in Italy and both being on the coast.

Let me start by saying that I went on a day trip here. During the off season. On a Sunday. When it was rainy. If you could combine all of the elements to make an Italian city seem closed, those would be it. Tada, I managed to experience Livorno in as close to a closed, vacated, uninhabited state as possible, pre-Covid. So really, if you have been or decide to visit Livorno, it’s almost certain you will at least have a somewhat better impression than I do. You see, off season is nice, but in smaller towns it doesn’t always feel as full or fun. On Sunday, most businesses are closed. Then you add rain on top of that and ciao, nobody’s out and about.

We had a great time walking around, circling and circling trying to find somewhere, anywhere to eat. Laughing because nowhere was open. Trying to find a grocery or small store, anything, open. Laughing because of course they’re all closed on Sunday. Walking around to see what shops might be open. None, because it’s Sunday and it’s raining. Laughing some more. And of course, being Italy, when small shops are closed they often have those metal garage doors they pull down so you can’t even see what’s there normally, just a street of locked metal pull-down doors. Giggling some more at the wet, abandoned streets. Seeing some big building, probably important. Closed, and what a lovely fence around it. Not. Laughing some more. My biggest regret was not being able to visit the Mercato delle Vettovaglie. I had heard it was a great market, not so dissimilar from the Mercato Centrale in Florence that I love so well.

Now, the promenade is truly lovely, but I was also struck by how random it feels. The aquarium is just off to one side, with a gravel area around it, and the promenade just kinda starts. It goes on in all its elegance, then ends. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme to it. It feels like it deserves some beautiful gardens or walkways that lead up to it, not gravel and randomness. Perhaps in the summer when it’s not raining they have events or gatherings there.

Terrazza Mascagni looking out towards the Porto di Livorno

La Dolce Vita:

Explore Italy: Assisi

What to Pack When Moving to Italy

Explore Italy: Livorno

Explore Italy: Viareggio

38 Diaper Comparison

The Birth Story of Miriam

What I Miss About Italy

The Birth Story of Elyas

Explore Italy: Naples

October 25, 2024

Sweet and Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 25, 2024/ Jenny Morris

October 22, 2024

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

October 22, 2024/ Jenny Morris

When it comes to the retard, or overnight slow ferment in the fridge for sourdough, you might be wondering what to put your loaves in and how to cover them.

The best practice is to put them in banneton baskets or other similar proofing baskets, but other bowls or such can be used in a pinch, as long as the dough can easily be gotten out the next morning for baking. The dough is in its final shape at this point and shouldn’t have to be pried from a container or it will lose its shape. If you have some clean linen cloths, you can line your bannetons or bowls with those.

Now what to cover them with? Plastic? That is the first guess, since you usually want food well covered to retain freshness, flavor, and moisture.

Perhaps you’ve seen some of the sourdough bakers around covering their bannetons with cloths, rather than plastic. Is there anything to it? Wouldn’t your dough dry out if you cover it with just a cloth?

More Sourdough Experiments:

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Covering dough with plastic

Many, maybe even most bakers I know cover their dough for the retard with plastic. Whether it’s a large ziploc bag, a grocery bag, a shower cap, or a plastic cover made specifically for covering bread dough, there are many different ways to effectively cover your dough with plastic.

You’ll want to keep the plastic from touching the dough to avoid it sticking, but other than that use what plastic you wish. I would stick with food grade plastic since it is in such close proximity to food and runs the risk of coming in direct contact with food. For this reason I’m a little leery of shower caps since they’re made of cheap and sketchy plastic, although the ones I’ve linked are supposed to be food grade. I would also double check grocery store bags to see if they are indeed food grade.

Plastic will keep your dough moister and stickier as it keeps in all the moisture. Depending on your dough hydration level and inclusions added, this may be beneficial or detrimental to your bread.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that plastic keeps in heat better, so if your dough is very warm or is verging on over proofed, avoid using plastic so the dough can cool down quicker in the fridge. I’ve seen an instance where a baker was bulk fermenting her dough very well, but during the cold retard her loaves were still managing to over ferment. It came to her attention that her loaves were over fermenting because she was covering them with plastic in the fridge! Once she switched to a different covering, her loaves were fine.

Covering dough with cloth

Whether or not you line your bannetons with cloth, you can also choose to cover your dough with cloth. You can use an elastic linen covering, or if you line baskets with a larger square cloth, just fold it over your dough to cover.

That last option is what I do. I might be in the minority, but I find it preferable. It’s not plastic, it uses just one cloth for lining and covering the dough, and it keeps my bannetons clean all at the same time. I also don’t have to worry about retained heat and possible over-proofing. Does my dough dry out? It forms a light skin, but it doesn’t seem to affect the bake or oven spring at all. Sometimes the cloth can leave some imprints in the top of the dough as it slowly rises in the fridge, if anything is pressing down on it. As you can see in the photos below, the cloth helped to smooth out the dough where the plastic-covered dough retained signs of shaping and “clasping” more.

A big part of the success of the cloth covering will be what type of air circulation your fridge has. If the air circulation includes fans and rapid moving air, you may find your loaves dry out excessively, too much for using just cloth. I’ve seen others perform a similar experiment where their loaf that was covered in cloth turned quite stunted compared to the loaf covered in plastic.

A Side-by-Side Experiment

My fridge doesn’t seem to dry out my loaves much. I baked two loaves side-by-side, one having done its retard in plastic and the other in linen. The results were basically the same. If anything, the cloth covered loaf did a touch better, but see for yourself in the photos.

Both loaves are identical in recipe and method. The inclusions are green olives and feta. Both were shaped with the tri-fold caddy clasp method.

dough covered in linen, after 12+ hour retard

dough covered in plastic, after 12+ hour retard

plastic covered loaf on the L, linen-covered on the R

So much of baking sourdough comes down to your own environment. As usual, I would encourage you to experiment yourself. Either try a different way of covering than you normally do to see the results, or do it side-by-side as shown in this post.

More Sourdough Features:

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

https://jennyblogs.com/blog/2024/10/7/pasta-ai-quattro-formaggi-allamericana-four-cheese-pasta

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Terminology

New Sourdough Series

October 19, 2024

Avoiding the Sourdough Dark Bottom Crust

October 19, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Olive and Feta Loaf using the cookie sheet method for a lighter bottom crust

Sourdough is often synonymous with tough, crusty bread, big air holes that let butter and jam drip through, and burnt bottoms.

While the first two can certainly be true of sourdough bread, it does not have to be that way, and is usually done so by preference of the baker. However, I can’t say I’ve ever met a baker or sourdough consumer who raves about the dark, sometimes downright burnt, bottoms.

The dark bottom is a part of the beast of baking sourdough bread, as the bottom of the bread is in direct contact with the baking vessel in ovens at rather high temperatures for long periods of time. Fear not! There are several simple solutions to avoid this, and no need to have dark bottoms. You probably have all 3 main solutions right in your kitchen.

I’ve tried all 3 of the following bottom-crust savers, and all three are valid. Each has their pros and cons. You may find you prefer one method over the other, but that may not be the same as the next sourdough baker. I’d encourage you to go ahead and try them all to see which you like!

Cookie Sheet

Perhaps the simplest method of the three, all you have to do is place a cookie sheet below your dutch oven or baking vessel in the oven. You can place the cookie sheet on the rack below your dutch oven; the dutch oven does not have to be directly on the cookie sheet.

The photo you see here features two of my “Italiano” loaves using the cookie sheet method. Despite the color difference, they were both baked at the same time for the same length of time. The darker one has parmesan cheese and herbs in it, while the lighter has only herbs. I can also tell you, something about the lighting of the photo made the darker loaf look extra dark, almost too dark. But looking at it in real life, it actually looked nicely golden, not dark at all. So, that’s important to note, as well as different kinds of loaves will still get a bit more color when using the cookie sheet method.

(I knew of the cookie sheet trick long before I tried it, because I erroneously thought the dutch ovens had to be ON the cookie sheet. That wouldn’t work for me since I usually work with two dutch ovens side by side and wouldn’t quite fit on a single cookie sheet, and two cookie sheets don’t fit side by side in my oven. Ha.)

Pros: The cookie sheet method is great because most everyone has a cookie sheet, cookie sheets are reusable, and it works with a consistent level of color on the bottom without being too dark.

Cons: The cookie sheet method is not as great because it can potentially make your cookie sheets dark and stained, and if it’s not centered under your dutch oven part of the bottom crust can still over bake . I’ve had loaves where half was dark and half wasn’t, just because I didn’t realize the cookie sheet wasn’t under the entirety of my dutch oven.

If you bake sourdough frequently and enjoy this method, you could consider delegating an old, already stained cookie sheet to be the sourdough cookie sheet, or just get another cheap one for such a purpose.

Tinfoil

This method simply involves crumpling up some tinfoil to cover the bottom of the dutch oven. There is a bit of a learning curve, as you learn how big a piece of tinfoil to use and how much to crumple up.

If too little a piece is used or not crumpled enough, the bottom will darken all the same. If the tinfoil is crumpled too much, the bottom of the loaf may not darken or even develop a crust at all!

Once, when I exaggerated how much I crumpled the tinfoil, the bottom came out practically still as pale as the dough. The rest of the loaf was golden and baked perfectly, but the bottom was pale and sad. So, the tinfoil method can be taken too far!

Pros: The tinfoil method is great because most everyone has tinfoil, the tinfoil can be reused many times, and its effect is adjustable.

Cons: The tinfoil is not infinitely reusable, and results can be inconsistent depending on how the tinfoil is crumpled.

Rice

Another household staple that can be easily used to avoid dark bottoms. Sprinkle the bottom of the dutch oven with a handful or two of rice before lowering your sourdough into the oven. You’ll want to be sure to use parchment paper under your sourdough for this method, rather than a reusable silicone bread sling. Otherwise rice may attach and bake itself onto any bit of bread that is hanging over the sling.

You only need a handful of rice to start seeing results, but if you still want lighter bottoms you can use a bit more rice, 2-3 handfuls or enough to almost cover the bottom of the dutch oven.

Pros: Rice is a household staple, and the bottom color of crust is slightly customizable depending on how much rice you use.

Cons: Rice can only be reused a few times before it eventually becomes too dark and burned and must be tossed out. Depending on the amount of rice used, and how often it needs to be changed out, it may be the most expensive method. Not as friendly to use with reusable silicone bread slings.

More Tips for Avoiding Dark Bottom Crusts:

Consider lowering oven temperature. If you bake above 450°F / 232°C, this could be contributing to dark or extra dark bottoms. Play around with lower oven temperatures. The Sourdough Journey recently did an experiment with baking identical loaves at different temperatures, one at 450°F / 232°C, the other at 500°F / 260°C. I was pleasantly surprised to find his results showed improved oven spring with the loaf baked at 450°F / 232°C rather than at 500°F / 260°C, since I bake at 450°F / 232°C but had been wondering if I should be baking or rather preheating oven to 500°F / 260°C.
Check the quality of your parchment paper. Cheaper, thinner, parchment may contribute to darker bottoms. Look for “Heavy Duty” or “Professional Grade” rather than always the cheapest option.
Use a lighter pan. If baking in dark cast iron or similar baking vessels, try out something lighter in color, if possible. I use navy blue Tramontina brand dutch ovens, with light insides, and with any of the methods above, can still get very nice bottom crusts. I prefer to use a dark color for my breads, since they tend to get so spattered and stained up and are difficult to clean thoroughly. While the inside is light and gets stained, at least the outside hides any stains!

More Baking and Sourdough:

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Morris House Rolls (Parker House Rolls)

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Flax Bread

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Overnight Bagels

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Buttermilk Bread

Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Muffins

October 16, 2024

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 16, 2024/ Jenny Morris

October 12, 2024

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials for Beginners

October 12, 2024/ Jenny Morris

What are the tools you need to get started making your own sourdough bread at home?

Not much, honestly! Part of the beauty of sourdough is its simplicity. It’s extremely simple to make, needing only flour, water, salt, and some sourdough starter (which itself is made from just water and flour). There are many, many factors that will affect your bread, which is where it can get complicated and scientific, but it is a beautiful and addicting process that I hope you embark on and enjoy!

If you’re brand new to sourdough, maybe you’ve never made a loaf before or not even entirely sure what it is, I’ll walk you through what you need to get started. As already stated above, you probably already have everything!

Sourdough Ingredients:

Flour - either all-purpose flour or bread flour. Small percentages of whole wheat and other types of flour can be added in, as desired. For the sake of simplicity, it’s nice to start out with 1 - 2 flours.
Water - sourdough likes spring water, filtered purified water, bottled water…it doesn’t do as well on distilled water, tap water that has been treated, or hard water.
Salt
Sourdough starter - you can purchase one, find a friend who will share with you, or start your own. Soon I’ll put up a little guide to starting your own starter. It’s very simple, but sometimes can require a little troubleshooting. You only need flour and water.

Sourdough Tools

Getting Started

To make a basic loaf of sourdough bread, you’ll need:

a bowl for mixing
a kitchen scale*
something to cover the bowl with (plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, clean towel, etc)
a small workspace
parchment paper
an oven
oven mitts
a sharp knife
Dutch oven or similar enclosed baking vessel*

Simple, right? With these things, you can make sourdough bread. It is more than possible, and a good place to start before investing in more tools. It may not be the perfect loaves you see in bakeries or in pictures, but even if you start with allll the tools, your first loaves probably wouldn’t be perfect anyway.

*It IS possible to make sourdough without a scale or Dutch oven. However, the vast majority of recipes are by weight, as this is key to understanding sourdough. So while there are a few kind souls out there who have shared sourdough recipes that include weight and cups/teaspoon measurements, it is really worth getting a scale. You can find inexpensive ones for less than $15. Same goes for a dutch oven. Starting without one may offer more discouraging results than encouraging. Yes, you definitely can bake sourdough straight on a pizza stone, baking steel, or even a cookie sheet, but it’s trickier to get the proper amount of steam for optimal bread when you open bake like this. Starting with a dutch oven eliminates one more variable you may have to work with.

Not to mention, with both a scale and dutch oven, they are multi-purpose. Even if you don’t continue with sourdough bread, scales offer more consistent results for baking, and dutch ovens are wonderful for cooking.

If using a scale doesn’t appeal to you, for sourdough or any baking, consider reading this article to understand the benefits to baking with a scale.

There is not much between you and your first loaves of sourdough bread. Honestly, sourdough baking may seem intimidating, but if you can take that first step and simply try it, a whole new world of fun will be open to you, not to mention fresh, homemade, healthier bread.

Other kinds of bread:

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Morris House Rolls (Parker House Rolls)

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Flax Bread

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Overnight Bagels

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Buttermilk Bread

Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Muffins

October 09, 2024

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all'Americana - Four Cheese Pasta

October 09, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi is an Italian dish, luxuriously creamy yet deceptively simple to make. It simply requires boiling pasta, melting four different cheeses into some milk, then tossing the pasta in the cheesy sauce. Voila. Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi.

Italian version coming soon.

This is essentially the same dish, but Americanized. Instead of simply melting cheese into milk, this version takes the roux route. A few more ingredients, a touch more time, but more foolproof and able to be more inexpensive. Allow me to elaborate.

More flexibility on the cheeses

Because the Italian version melts cheese straight into milk, you have to be more mindful of which cheeses you’re using lest you end up with gummy chunks of cheese in the sauce. The cheeses used are often taleggio, Parmigiano reggiano, gorgonzola, and gruyère. Other alternatives include brie, pecorino, grana padano, fontina, emmental, Edam, stracchino or robiola.

Do you know what all of those cheeses have in common? They are all specialty cheeses, highly unlikely to be found in the cheese aisle at any grocery store. If you’re lucky, your grocery store might have a specialty cheese section where you can find all or some of these. Otherwise you’ll have to go to a specialty cheese place to find them. This makes this dish both expensive and elusive to make.

Enter, the Americanized version. When you make a cheese sauce with a roux, it’s more forgiving of which cheeses you add. Now, I still wouldn’t be reaching for fresh mozzarella, but it frees you up to use a combination of four different cheeses that might not normally work in the Italian version.

That said, two cheeses that seem to be classic in quattro formaggi, whether it’s the pasta or the pizza: Gorgonzola and Parmigiano. Sure, use the American made parmesan (just not the plastic-y pre shredded or grated kind though, ok?) rather than exclusively Parmigiano, but still use some kind of real parmesan. The other two cheeses you can be more flexible with. Sometimes I’ll use Asiago or mozzarella (low moisture, not fresh), Monterey, cream cheese, or other inexpensive yet decent melting cheeses.

Pasta, I Love Thee:

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all'Americana - Four Cheese Pasta

Simple Sesame Noodles

Shrimp Scampi

Herbed Six Cheese Pasta

Crispy Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts

Broccoli Cheddar Pasta

Greek Pasta Salad

Butternut Squash and Sage Pasta

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta

Garlic, Oil, and Pepper Pasta - Aglio, Olio, e Peperoncino

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

Spaghetti with Tuna - Spaghetti al Tonno

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all’Americana

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb / 500g short pasta of choice
2 Tbsp / 28g butter
2 Tbsp / 15g all-purpose flour
2 cups / 474g milk
2 oz / 57g low-moisture mozzarella, shredded
2 oz / 57g parmesan, shredded
2 oz / 57g Gorgonzola crumbles
2 oz / 57g cream cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, generously salt; cook pasta according to package directions, just 1-2 minutes less than stated cooking time.
In a medium-large pot over medium heat, melt better. Add flour, stirring for 1-2 minutes until flour is absorbed and lightly toasted. Add about 1/4 cup of milk, whisking briskly. When milk is mixed in and mixture has thickened, add in another 1/4 cup milk, whisking constantly. Continue adding in milk slowly, whisking all the while. Bring to a simmer.
Add in cheeses and stir until melted and smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.
Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup water. Add pasta to cheese sauce and mix to evenly coat pasta. Add some reserved pasta water as desired, to thin out and create an even creamier sauce, mixing for a couple more minutes until sauce coats and clings to pasta.

Jenny’s Notes:

The four cheeses can be swapped out, however to stay tastefully close to the Italian version, keep the Parmesan and Gorgonzola.

Yield 4-6

Author Jennyblogs

Prep time

5 Min

Cook time

25 Min

Total time

30 Min

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all’Americana

Four Cheese Pasta inspired by the Italian classic "Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi" with an American twist: made with a roux and cheeses that can be interchanged more easily. This dish is luxurious and cheesy, and easy enough for quick weeknight meals.

Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, generously salt; cook pasta according to package directions, just 1-2 minutes less than stated cooking time.
In a medium-large pot over medium heat, melt better. Add flour, stirring for 1-2 minutes until flour is absorbed and lightly toasted. Add about 1/4 cup of milk, whisking briskly. When milk is mixed in and mixture has thickened, add in another 1/4 cup milk, whisking constantly. Continue adding in milk slowly, whisking all the while. Bring to a simmer.
Add in cheeses and stir until melted and smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.
Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup water. Add pasta to cheese sauce and mix to evenly coat pasta. Add some reserved pasta water as desired, to thin out and create an even creamier sauce, mixing for a couple more minutes until sauce coats and clings to pasta.

Notes

The four cheeses can be swapped out, however to stay tastefully close to the Italian version, keep the Parmesan and Gorgonzola.

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 4 servings.

four cheese pasta, quick easy weeknight meal, dinner party pasta, Italian cheese pasta, pasta ai quattro formaggi

dinner, pasta

Italian, American

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @jennyblogsandbakes on instagram and hashtag it #jennyblogs

More Dinner Recipes:

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all'Americana - Four Cheese Pasta

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

Taco Salad

Cozy Lentil Curry

Simple Sesame Noodles

Shrimp Scampi

Green Tofu and Vegetable Curry

Smooth Potato and Vegetable Soup

Sticky Lemon Tofu

Herbed Six Cheese Pasta

Tofu and Broccoli Stir Fry

October 05, 2024

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

October 05, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Last updated October 8, 2024

Sourdough bread is delicious, but once you start playing with flavors and inclusions, a whole new world opens up. From cheddar jalapeño, pesto, or rosemary garlic, to double chocolate, lemon lavender or pumpkin, the options are endless.

The three main questions when it comes to inclusions are how much to add in, when to add them in, and how to add them in.

Sourdough Tips:

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

The 5-Minute Score Method

Sourdough Terminology

How much to add?

There is a general rule of adding not more than 20% of your flour weight in inclusions.

This is a good place to start, but certainly not where you have to stay. There is also confusion on this rule, as some say it’s 20% of the flour weight while a few say it’s 20% of the total dough weight. I actually read the latter way when I first started adding inclusions, and I must say everything turned out fine, for adding more than I was “supposed” to. Really fine, actually.

The best way to find out how much you should add is to try it out in your dough and environment with the inclusions you have in mind. You can start with 20% of flour weight, and work form there. Too much really only exists when your loaf starts getting too flat (for your tastes) or the flavor is too strong.

I noticed from the moment I learned the 20% rule that what seemed like every. Single. Recipe for flavored sourdough included more than the 20% rule, and I was really wondering why have a rule at all if everyone is going to break it anyway?

Cheddar Jalapeño with different percentage inclusions

I’ve played around with different percentages and found that I like 30% of flour weight. Anything above 30%, and my loaves start to get flatter than I prefer. Lower than 30%, and I don’t get enough of the inclusions. I like to use Kirkland’s (Costco) all-purpose flour (protein 11.5%) because it is organic, but I could probably push the inclusion percentage a bit more if I were to use King Arthur’s Bread Flour (protein content 12.7%). Stronger flours and lower hydrations can help hold more inclusions.

As with anything sourdough, there are many variables that go into this conclusion, so you’re welcome to try out 30% but also don’t be surprised if that’s not your favorite. It depends on what the inclusions are, how strong your flour is, how well the loaves are fermented, etc.

For some visuals, I baked off 4 different loaves, all cheddar jalapeño, but each with a different percentage of inclusions. First I went all out and did 48% and 36%, then another batch with 35% and 30%. I love lots of cheese in my bread, so didn’t prefer to go below 30%.

First batch with 48% and 36%:

Second batch with 35% and 30%:

Scoring to help differentiate between loaves: a wheat stalk with 3 spikes on each side and one with five on each side, for 35%. The 30% loaf had just one wheat stalk with three spikes.

It’s fairly easy to see the dough with the most inclusions is the flattest, while the dough with the least is the highest.

When to add in inclusions?

Inclusions can be added at 3 points, really. Which one you choose depends largely on what you are adding.

They can be mixed in right when you mix your dough.
This is best for smaller amounts or lighter inclusions, such as citrus zest, extracts, sugar, cocoa powder, etc. Heavier inclusions such as cheese chunks or even spices like cinnamon can have a negative effect on the bulk fermentation and it’s best to wait.
They can be added during bulk fermentation (during stretch and folds or coil folds)
I often do 4 sets of stretch and folds and find the sweet spot for adding in inclusions is the 2nd or 3rd set. This gives them time to get decently incorporated while still giving the dough a leg up in bulk fermentation. When I have too many things going and don’t get the inclusions added in until the 4th stretch and fold, the inclusions don’t get dispersed quite as well.
They can be added in during the shaping.
If you do a pre-shape, you can add them in then. If not, then you can add them in while you fold and roll your dough into its final shape, before placing it in its banneton.

For a small example of what it looks like to add inclusions in at different times and how that affects the final loaf, here are two loaves of pesto bread.

One has mixed the pesto in right at the beginning, with all the other ingredients.

The other, the pesto is laminated in instead of doing a 4th set of stretch and folds.

Lamination created a bit of a swirl effect, but it was harder to work with. Any time the oily pesto would pop through during shaping, the dough wouldn’t want to hold its shape, and it was difficult to shape it with the proper surface tension. You can see that I had difficulty shaping it by it’s slightly flatter profile, compared to the other loaf.

Mixing pesto in at the beginning creates a loaf with pesto evenly distributed, and was much easier to work with. In fact, the oil in the pesto getting mixed straight in even made the crumb a bit more tender, and was really lovely.

Taste overall was very similar, but for ease of making and the extra tender crumb, I would definitely just mix pesto straight in at the beginning rather than laminating.

While this is certainly not indicative of all inclusions, it’s a small insight into when and how you add inclusions can affect the final loaf.

How to Incorporate Inclusions?

How you incorporate inclusions depends on when you add them.

If making a chocolate espresso loaf, for example, you’d just mix in cocoa powder and espresso at the same time you’re kneading everything else together for your dough.

Otherwise, for chunkier things like cheese, fruit, etc, you can add them in during stretch and folds/coil folds as mentioned above or you can laminate them in.

To add during stretch and folds:

Start by sprinkling about a 1/4 of the inclusions over your dough in the bowl, then performing one stretch and fold/coil fold, stretching dough over inclusions and gently pressing dough into dough in other side to seal it shut. Sprinkle another 1/4 of inclusions on top and repeat a stretch and fold. Continue two more times until all inclusions have been added and each side has been stretched and folded.

If performing coil folds, it’s a similar idea, adding a little at a time while you pick up and coil your dough down, doing your best to get the inclusions evenly dispersed.

To add during lamination:

Lamination is a technique used in sourdough to strengthen the dough and is a great time to add in inclusions.

Spreading pesto over dough before folding back up

Start by lightly misting a clean workspace, then stretching the dough in as large and thin a rectangle as you can, being careful not to tear the dough. Evenly sprinkle inclusions over dough, then fold dough several times to get a tight and neat little ball again.

Lamination is my favorite way to get evenly distributed inclusions. I enjoy the lamination process, but it does take a bit extra work to clean a work space before and after rather than just adding the inclusions straight into the bowl with the dough for a stretch and fold. Lamination also isn’t as friendly when working with large batches of dough.

Tips for success when adding inclusions:

Play around with the percentage you like. It might not be the same for all inclusions!
If your loaf is going flat, you might have exaggerated with the amount of inclusions. Otherwise, rule out any other factors such as a weak starter, under or over fermented dough, lack of proper gluten development, lack of proper shaping, etc.
Using a stronger flour (higher protein content) can help to hold inclusions better.
Keep in mind that some inclusions will add moisture to your dough. You may want to lower dough hydration accordingly. I find great success with lowering hydration to under 70% when working with heavier and wetter inclusions such as cheese and fruit.
Some inclusions will affect the fermentation. Fruit and sugar will cause dough to ferment faster, so start checking your dough earlier than you normally would.
Try to keep inclusion chunks away from the outside of the dough when it bakes, otherwise they can burn. This is especially true of sugary things like fruit, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc. You can help this by simply sticking any outside pieces back under and into the dough when doing the pre and/or final shape.
I would recommend against using silicone bread slings for sourdough with any kind of messy inclusions, and stick with parchment paper. The slings are designed to just barely cover the bottom of loaves, avoiding leaving any kind of indentations on the bread. However, the edges of the loaf then often come into contact with the dutch oven, which can bake cheese, fruit juices, etc. right onto your dutch oven. Not fun to clean. Using parchment paper will skip the mess and keep your dutch ovens cleaner.

If you've read this far:

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Terminology

New Sourdough Series

October 02, 2024

Explore Italy: Viareggio

October 02, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Last updated November 3, 2024

Viareggio is an active town on the coast of Tuscany synonymous with beaches and Carnevale. This is the place to go for one of the largest Carnevale celebrations in Italy and beyond.

More Explore Italy posts:

Viareggio in a nutshell

Location: Tuscany

Best known for: Seaside access and beaches, Carnevale

Days needed to explore: 1+ Most people go to Viareggio for the beach or Carnevale, not so much the town. If you do explore the city, a day is plenty, but then again, one beach day might not be enough. In that case Viareggio is always an option to stay and take day trips from.

What to see and do: Viareggio is a very popular destination or seaside “escape” from the cities during the summer. In the late winter Viareggio hosts one of the largest and most lavish Carnevale celebrations in Italy.

Established: Viareggio is first mentioned by name in the 12th century, regarding a wooden tower built along the sea as a means of defense. It sprung up in importance when it became the sole sea port of for the Republic of Lucca in the 16th century. It was during this time that the Lucchesi built the still-present Torre Matilde to help defend against pirates.

Viareggio’s history is speckled with hardships, from originally being very marshy with mosquitos and malaria running rampant, battles and pillages, and the pestilence, to a large part of the city burning down in 1917, to being bombed during World War II. Despite all of this, Viareggio has always rallied and is today well known for its lavish Carnevale festivities as well as its beautiful beaches.

Typical foods to try:

Tordelli - derivative of tortelli, which are very, very similar to ravioli. Fillings can vary but the sauce is always a meat sauce
Scarpaccia - a zucchini cake that is so named for resembling an old shoe. There are two varieties, sweet and savory, but it is the sweet or “dolce” version that is purely Viareggina
Cacciucco alla Viareggina - a very typical fish stew featuring inexpensive local fish varieties, cuttlefish, and octopus
Pasta alla Trabaccolara - a poor man’s dish using more of those inexpensive fish varieties: Red mullet, scorpion fish, European Hake, and others.
Spaghetti con le Arselle / Spaghetti con i Nichi - spaghetti with wedge shells (small clams)

Why I like Viareggio

Viareggio reminds me of sunburns and crowded beachs, a little mini adventure/escape from the hot cement city to the salty seaside.

I grew up in Michigan, just a few minutes drive from Lake Michigan where the water is as many shades of blue as the Mediterranean, so I am no stranger to beautiful water and beaches. Ironically, I’ve never been much of a beach person, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like my key beach days each summer. Florence has no beach, and while there are lakes just a short drive away, not having a car meant the quickest way to get to the beach was taking the 45 minute train to Viareggio. This is close enough to make it feel attainable, yet far enough that it usually happens just once or twice a summer, realistically.

Viareggio is mostly private beach, meaning you have to pay to get in. The public sections are mostly a part of the National Park. Most go for the private anyway, and if you want to experience the beach like the Italians, you should try the pay-for-beach at least once. It’s usually somewhere around 30euro per umbrella, which comes with two beach chairs. If you have more than 2-3 people in your party, plan to pay for multiple umbrellas. Rate is for the whole day, however long you plan to stay. Note the picture above, as you may not be all that close to the beach. A boardwalk will take you down to the sea, often with a little faucet where you can rinse sand off before heading back to your umbrella. There are designated areas for changing. It’s still hard for me to pay for a spot on the beach, but Viareggio is a very Italian experience that feels like an adventure.

More than half the beaches in Vaireggio are private, but there are some free public beaches. One such free beach, is Spiaggia alla Lecciona inside the natural reserve. I’ve read there is a path, stroller friendly, through the pine forest to the beach. However, getting there requires a car, so not an option if you take the train from say, Florence. I believe there are some other free beaches, but they’re often overcrowded or not as easy to get to, so even for someone like me who loathes paying for water access,it becomes inevitable to pay to keep a beach day as relaxing as possible.

Overall, while I in no way dislike Viareggio, it is not amongst my favorites. I’ve been a couple times during the summer, and I think it would be interesting to go during Carnevale. Other than that, it’s checked off my list and there are many other places in Italy that I enjoy more than Viareggio and many, many others I would still like to see.

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September 28, 2024

Is an Autolysis Necessary for Sourdough Bread?

September 28, 2024/ Jenny Morris

When I first started making sourdough loaves at home, I wanted to have as much success as possible right from the get go, so I started by using as many techniques and tricks as I could, rather than starting with a basic recipe and adding in techniques as needed. Spoiler alert, my bread wasn’t perfect, and I ended up working in the opposite direction. Rather than adding in more things to make my bread better, I started taking out certain steps and techniques one by one, to see if they were really serving their purpose, or just wasting my time.

One such technique was the autolyse method. Some of the people I respect most in the sourdough world use an autolysis. So I did, too. It wasn’t until one day, reading another respected sourdough person who went off on a bit of a rant, that they claimed that autolyse isn’t necessary, and in fact they do not recommend it. As they said, autolysis is a process developed and intended for breads made with commercial yeast, whose rise time is shorter and would benefit from an autolysis. Since sourdough bread has much longer fermentation times, autolysis isn’t as beneficial, or so this person was saying. I haven’t been able to locate any one reliable source that states anything as clearly as “autolysis was developed for commercial bread products and yeast, not so much sourdough”, but let’s run with it for the purpose of this mini experiment.

This intrigued me, and in a way, relieved me. I’ve heard many a baker explain and laud the praises of an autolysis, and yet, I secretly did not enjoy the autolysis process. It just felt…cumbersome. Adding on more time. Harder to mix the dough. More on that later.

King Arthur has an interesting article on using an autolysis, including experiments with both sourdough and instant yeast. Their article tends to give confirmation toward an autolysis being the most beneficial for commerical yeast over sourdough.

On the other hand, Maurizio of The Perfect Loaf does a similar experiment, but with his loaves showing a marked difference with autolyse. He also really gets more into the science of autolysis and explains it very well.

What is an autolysis?

Autolysis (noun) - Autolyse (verb)

Simply, an autolysis is simply mixing flour and water together and letting them sit for a period of time. The water helps to activate some of the enzymes in the flour, developing gluten, before adding other ingredients which can have an effect on gluten. Adding salt “tightens” the dough, and adding the starter commences fermentation. When just flour and water are combined, they are free to act in a way they otherwise wouldn’t when salt and starter are present.

While I had already been wanting to experiment and see what the difference might be between a loaf that got an autolysis and one that didn’t, I felt spurred into action when that knowledgeable sourdough person said they don’t recommend autolysis. Now I knew that, should I decide to not always faithfully autolyse, I wouldn’t be alone in that camp.

I’ve now done this experiment two separate times. In my first experiment the result didn’t feel overly conclusive to me, as there were several other factors going on that affected the fermentation and bake. It didn’t feel safe to say one way or another if the autolysis was the reason for the differing outcomes, but now that I’ve done this experiment twice, I feel a little safer in sharing my results.

Before we finally get into my little mini experiment, a couple of things to note:

Sourdough is highly dependent on environment, ingredients, etc. so while I hope you find the results below interesting and informative, I would encourage you to do your own experiments for your own kitchen environment!
The results below are tested solely on unbleached white flours. One of the benefits of autolysis is that it can help break down bran, so may show more benefits in breads that use some percentage of whole grain flours.

Autolyse vs No Autolyse #1

Method:

Both loaves were made with 100% Kirkland organic all-purpose flour, 71% hydration, 1.6% salt, 20% starter.
For the autolyse loaf, water and flour were mixed together and let rest for 1 hour before adding in salt and starter.
For the No-autolyse loaf, all ingredients were mixed together.
Both loaves got 3 sets of stretch & folds
Autolyse loaf temped at 74°F, while No-autolyse loaf was at 77°F after the 1st set of stretch & fold and 75°F by the end of all stretch & folds.
Both loaves bulk fermented for 8 hours, pre-shaped for 35 minutes, then final shape for 35 minutes before into fridge for cold retard overnight.
Both loaves were baked in dutch ovens in oven preheated to 450°F for 35 minutes with lid on.

Observations:

Mixing the Flour and Water for the autolysis is not my favorite. I don’t enjoy using the autolysis technique when making bread for this reason. Unless working with high hydration doughs, which I don’t often go higher than 75%, it takes a few minutes to adequately mix the flour and water. Usually a bit of water is reserved from the autolysis to help mix in the salt after the autolysis is done. This means you’re mixing the dough without it having its full hydration, thus a stiffer dough. Then after autolyse, trying to mix just salt, a bit of water, and starter into an already formed and fairly stiff dough is not easy and may not get mixed in as well.

The Autolyse Loaf gets an advantage in gluten development. Because of the thorough mixing just mentioned above in order to incorporate all ingredients after the autolysis, the dough gets a leg up in gluten development. The No-autolyse loaf dough comes together easily and thus doesn’t require the same amount of mixing. During the stretch & folds this was quite apparent, with the Autolyse dough already showing good gluten-development and the No-autolyse loaf still being quite loose and elastic. By the end of the third stretch & fold set, however, the doughs felt quite similar; the No-autolyse loaf had mostly caught up.

Despite Bulk Fermentation starting at the same time for both doughs, they were not the same temperature. The reason for this is simple, and I really should’ve taken this into account for this experiment. I was using water that was slightly warmer than room temperature. When the bulk of the water is added for an autolysis, the time the dough is resting allows the water to cool to room temp, so by the time you add the starter and bulk ferment starts, everything is nicely at room temperature. Without doing an autolysis, the warmer water is added right in with the starter and all other ingredients, so the dough and bulk ferment temperature starts a bit warmer, although it will inevitably cool to room temperature over time. Because of this, my doughs had differing temperatures and thus different projected bulk ferment times.

Both loaves slightly over-fermented. Using the wisdom and work of Tom Cucuzza from the Sourdough Journey, I usually reference his chart for bulk fermentation times and rise %, although my starter does tend to ferment slightly faster than said chart. Despite my (even written down) projected bulk ferment times for each dough and times to start checking them, time got away from me and my three young children were needing me. By the time I was able to get to the dough it was already almost 2 hours after when I had originally planned to start checking the dough, and 1 hour after the realistic time of when it probably would have been ready. I pre-shaped both doughs at the same time since they were both already slightly over, with the No-autolyse being a little more over-fermented than the Autolyse dough.

Conclusion:

Despite some of the above noted variables, I loosely concluded that including an autolysis did not provide a noticeable difference in end product due to over-fermenting the dough. I decided to repeat this experiment, and specifically to get the doughs fermenting at the same temperature with a better targeted bulk ferment so it might be more obvious the effect of autolyse on the crumb rather than fermentation problems.

Autolyse vs. No-Autolyse Experiment #2

Method:

Both loaves were made with 100% Kirkland organic all-purpose flour, 71% hydration, 1.6% salt, 20% starter.
For the autolyse loaf, water and flour were mixed together and let rest for 1 hour before adding in salt and starter.
For the No-autolyse loaf, all ingredients were mixed together.
Both loaves received 2 sets of stretch & folds.
Autolyse Loaf temped at 77°F at beginning of bulk ferment, 75°F by end of second set of stretch & folds, then 76°F again at end of bulk ferment.
No-Autolyse Loaf temped at 76°F at beginning of bulk ferment, 75°F by end of second set of stretch & folds, then 78°F by end of bulk ferment.
Both loaves bulk fermented for a total of 6 hours 10 minutes. Autolyse loaf had a rise of approximately 70% while the Autolyse loaf rose approximately 45-50%. (Very much eyeballing that, so take that with a grain of salt.)
Both loaves were pre-shaped and rested for 20 minutes, then final shape into bannetons, rested 10 minutes, and into fridge for cold retard overnight.
Both loaves were baked in dutch ovens in oven preheated to 450°F for 35 minutes with lid on.

Autolyse Loaf (wheat design to mimic an "A" for Autolyse, if you will

No-Autolyse Loaf, wheat design mimicking an "n"

Observations:

Intersetingly, temperatures varied quite a bit between the 2 loaves. Despite being very careful this time around to use all ingredients at room temperature, the temperature varied not only between the two loaves but also at different times. Sure, it’s late summer so my kitchen ends up a few degrees warmer by mid and end of day, but the two loaves did not reflect this consistently. This leaves me with more questions unanswered than answered.

Why did the Autolyse Loaf end up 1 degree warmer still at start of bulk ferment? You would think, if perhaps the water from the measuring cup I was using was 1 degree warmer, the 1 hour that the dough sits to autolyse would be more than enough to bring the dough to room temperature. And IF the water was 1 degree warmer, the No-Autolyse Loaf would have ended up the 1 degree warmer since it gets all of its water at the beginning of bulk ferment. Not to mention, I used a large measuring cup of water, measured out for the Autolyse Loaf, and that water also sat out on the counter for an hour. It doesn’t get any more room temperature than that!

Moreso, why did the No-Autolyse Loaf end up a few degrees warmer by end of bulk ferment? The two bowls were side by side, no drafts or sun or any other factor that I am aware of would have heated up or cooled down one dough over the other. The Autolyse Loaf maintained temperature at 76°F while the No-Autolyse Loaf increased temperature by 3 degrees during bulk ferment. Fascinating. Its rise clearly reflected the warmer temperature, as it was significantly puffier than the Autolyse Loaf.

Despite the difference in rise % between the two loaves, I ended bulk ferment at the same time. I was trying to maintain absolute consistency between these loaves in method, rather than guessing different bulk ferments, pulling them at different times based on rise, temperature, and time. The bulk ferments were intended to be identical after all, as the doughs were made identically save autolyse, but the temperature fluctuations threw me for a loop!

The crumb ended up quite similar. Noting the difference in rise % and temperature between the two doughs, they still ended up with a very similar crumb. Reading the crumb and trying to ignore that information, I would not have guessed that.

Crumbshot, No-Autolyse Loaf on left, Autolyse loaf on Right

The Autolyse Loaf ended up with a slightly wonky shape. While overall I don’t think it has too much bearing on this experiment, it still bears noting. As you can see in the overhead shot of the Autolyse Loaf both before and after baking, its shape is not symmetrical. This is possibly due to shaping error, or also likely, the linen lining the banneton was pressing into the dough on one side and left an impression. I tend to think this caused the rise during the cold retard to more easily expand on the side where the linen wasn’t holding it down.

Conclusion:

Four loaves of bread is hardly conclusive. Again, and always with sourdough, there are variabilities. My home kitchen is not temperature controlled, sometimes life and children pull me away, among so many other nuances. However, I still enjoyed this experiment and thought you might find it interesting as well, so I thought it still worth sharing.

Overall, I think I will find myself skipping autolysis more often now, but will still include it in some instances.

Happy baking, friends!

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