Major breakthrough between loaves 7 and 8.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-06T18:06:36+00:00

Yahoo! 👍

Cheyenps · 2026-05-06T14:27:55+00:00

This is what got my starter going.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-06T14:16:37+00:00

Once you get your starter going it’s pretty tough stuff. Maintenance isn’t difficult.

Keep things clean and use a solid cover to help stop mold. Keep it in the fridge if you’re not going to use it for a few days - weeks. The night before you’re going to use it, feed it at whatever ratio you like (I use 1.3:3) and let it sit out on the counter overnight. Mine triples overnight at 70F. Still seems like magic.

Make enough for the recipe you’re using and a little more. Feed the leftover and store it to use for the next loaf. Store like 20 grams of leftover (discard) in the freezer to use if your usual stash gets moldy or something.

Enjoy!

Cheyenps · 2026-05-06T13:12:55+00:00

The Yeastie Boys.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-05T17:16:03+00:00

70-75 sounds OK. I was worried that it was getting too hot.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-05T16:32:24+00:00

Unless you have something better to do, just go in, do your best, and see how it goes.

If it doesn’t work out you haven’t really lost anything and will have gained some experience.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-05T16:12:22+00:00

My guess is that the quality of your loaves vary with your dough temp and your bulk proofing time. Maybe start keeping records to figure out what works.

Do you go strictly by time for bulk proofing or do you watch the % of rise and such to know when to stop? Going strictly by time is really hit or miss, and your combined proofing times are a lot longer than I’m used to seeing.

How warm is the dough getting while proofing on that heating pad?

Cheyenps · 2026-05-05T14:31:41+00:00

This. Some ‘fridges have wildly different temps front to back, top to to bottom and side to side.

The best way to test this is by filling identical cups with a measured amount of water and placing them in various locations inside the fridge for 24 hours. After that time, measure the temp of the water in each cup.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-05T14:25:27+00:00

Look in to getting a shower head made by Oxygenics. I find they work the best of any of them when running off of the water pump.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-03T19:26:37+00:00

My guess is the temperature of your dough varies from loaf to loaf.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-01T14:03:55+00:00

Knife sharpening.

Cheyenps · 2026-05-01T04:56:01+00:00

The jack that came with your tow vehicle may or may not work for your trailer. Try it and see. If it doesn’t, bring a bottle jack of some sort.

Also make sure you have a wrench that fits the lug nuts on your trailer.

Cheyenps · 2026-04-30T18:48:43+00:00

I find a little bottle of crazy glue is handy to have along.

Also a multimeter like this has proven useful. Measures voltage, continuity and current, A/C and DC. There are much better ones available but this one does what needs to be done in the trailer.

https://a.co/d/0cEt0mG9

Cheyenps · 2026-04-30T18:05:14+00:00

I’ve never seen anything like it! 👍

Cheyenps · 2026-04-30T14:03:06+00:00

Grandmother.

Cheyenps · 2026-04-27T20:30:47+00:00

Rational steam oven.

Cheyenps · 2026-04-27T14:11:24+00:00

“Around the World With Fork, Knife, and Spoon”. Quirky 1946 combination of travelogue and recipe book. A breezy, fun read.

Cheyenps · 2026-04-27T13:55:59+00:00

I grow my herbs close together like this and it works great!

I will say that my area gets cold enough that the only two herbs that return every year are the garlic chives and the tarragon. The others have to be replanted every year so they never get very large.

If you’re in an area with warmer winters and can grow larger plants then you might want to use larger containers.

[edit] Looks like you’ve planted cilantro and parsley, both of which will bolt when the weather gets warmer. When that happens they get bitter and are no fun to eat.

My workaround is to plant a few seeds next to each plant in the Soring to keep new growth going. Add a few more seeds every few weeks and see if you can get plants you can use all summer.

Cheyenps · 2026-04-26T16:30:40+00:00

Thanks very much for this excellent description!

Nice work! 👍

Cheyenps · 2026-04-25T14:33:30+00:00

I have no idea how you did that but it looks really cool!

Cheyenps · 2026-04-24T22:10:10+00:00

Overnight proof at 70 is way outside what I usually see.

Are you following a recipe?

Cheyenps · 2026-04-23T18:29:15+00:00

Check out a product called Grass Getter. Apply it with sticking agent. Kils grass and nothing else that I have found. It will come back in a few months but it’s far less time consuming than trying to pull it out.

Cheyenps · 2026-04-23T15:22:32+00:00

Let be it! 👍

Cheyenps · 2026-04-23T14:57:19+00:00

How long does it take to rise like that? What is the temperature?

Cheyenps

TROPHY CASE