Day 172

Sorry. I slept through most of day 170 and 171. Fever, chills, muscle and bone aches, plus, and not to be forgotten, lovely diarrhea. Not sure from what, but I can tell you that I am glad that has passed. Well, all but the diarrhea, that is. On to happier subjects.

I want to tell you about my new Apple AirPod Pros. They are amazing. I can listen to a book while making Kombucha, or doing laundry, or making the bed, all without having them yanked out of my ears, having gotten caught on any silly little protuberance in my vicinity. That is so annoying, not to mention, occasionally painful. The Pro version has little silicone buds that keep the pods from falling out of your ears, are (supposedly) waterproof, and are very comfortable. Worth every dime, in my estimation.

Well, I am experimenting on different bread recipes, and, I think I have come across, what could be, a winner. I have taken the recipe from Joshua Weissman, on Youtube, but made a few modifications. Unfortunately, I forgot to decrease the amount of liquid used when I added an egg. (Adding an egg, as just mentioned, causes the dough to become very wet, and sticky, and difficult to manage.) Then, I forgot to do the slap, and fold technique, to beat a portion of the air out of the dough. (You really only need to do this with a wet, or high hydration dough.) Consequently, when baked, it leaves a rather annoying tunnel, usually running right through the center of the loaf. And, unless you want to make a whole loaf of eggs-in-the-nests, it is difficult, though, not impossible, to make a sandwich. And, I sure as heck do not want to give it to someone who is expecting a beautiful loaf of bread.

This is from the original recipe.
This loaf had less bread flour, some sprouted whole wheat, and, an egg. I did the slap and fold technique because the dough was so sticky and wet. Best bread thus far.
No S&F technique here. You can see the tunnel all of the air caused.

After a few minutes of online research, I discovered the tip about, if adding an egg, you must decrease the amount of liquid. Normally, this would mean that you put the egg in the measuring cup first, then add the rest of the required liquid. I use the metric system of weighing my ingredients, so I checked on the King Arthur Baking Company website, and found that a typical egg weighs fifty grams, so I am golden. I think if I make that small change, I will not have such a wet dough that will require it being beaten into submission. Well, at least I hope not. A lot of incredibly important information in so little time. (I wonder if the youth, now a days, has any idea how long it would take, how arduous a task, getting that information would have been to obtain, without the internet?!)

I am off to try putting this information to practical use. I will return, eventually, to let you know what happened. Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover you mouth, and, protect your loved ones.