SC - OOP - Sucess!!

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

And it came to pass on 18 Feb 00,, that Marian Deborah Rosenberg wrote:

> http://soar.Berkeley.EDU/recipes/baked-goods/breads/recipe1060.rec
> 
>   It would seem I don't have very good luck with yeast.  I was very
>   patient. 
> But, when it hadn't risen even the slightest bit in 6 hours, I proofed
> another packet and added it, then went back to sleep.  

When you say that you proofed your yeast... did you actually see signs 
of life before you continued on?  After ten minutes in warm water, the 
yeast should be foaming noticeably.  If so, what temperature was the 
place in which the dough was set to rise?  Cold temperatures will inhibit 
yeast.  It needs about 70-80 F to be happy.  Inside an oven with the 
electric light on works well for me.

> The dry/liquid
> ratio doesn't seem quite right, I followed the recipe to the letter
> (except for the olives) and had a very dry crumbly dough the first time
> around.  After adding the fresh yeast, I added 3 handfuls of flour and it
> worked fine.

The usual ratio is about 1 cup of liquid to 3 cups of flour.  However, this 
varies according to the qualities of your particular flour.  It's best to use 
the recipe quantities as a guideline and add as much flour as is needed 
to produce a dough that feels right.  It should be soft, like the fleshy part 
of your ear lobe, but not overly sticky.  ::sigh::  It's much easier to 
demonstrate than to describe.

Persist in your efforts.  Once you learn what bread should look like and 
feel like at various stages, baking will be much, much easier.

Brighid, who really needs to bake this weekend


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net