Hi all. Just a little tip for when your bread dough feels more wet and difficult to shape than usual. Use a loaf tin! Yesterday I baked a wholemeal loaf, and for some reason it was wetter than normal. I might have mis-measured the water or something. No matter, when it came time to shape the dough I simply used a little flour to get it as controllable as I could, and shaoed it the best I could, then put it into a loaf pan. I let it cold proof in the fridge as normal, and when it was the right volume I baked it like I always do, using two tins. It came out perfect. Bread tins are an excellent way to deal with difficult to handle doughs!

I have a radical idea. Anybody interested in a live stream class on pizza making? I did a live class last year on using hybrid yeast and sourdough in pizza dough, which was a real success and the pizzas were awesome. We could get adventurous and have a two part class. Make the pizza dough together one day and everyone make the pizza the next day after an overnight proof. I could run the class at very low cost like the last one. I have also improved my video setup with a second webcam and stand to make running a class smoother. let me know your thoughts.🍕🍕 🍕

Vietnamese Bánh Mì baguettes are all about the shaping. That long, tight cylinder is what sets you up for the thin, crackly crust and that light, airy interior everyone’s chasing. It’s a great example of how technique matters just as much as ingredients. Small adjustments in shaping, fermentation, and steam make a big difference here. If you want to try it yourself, here’s the recipe we baked from:👉 https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/vietnamese-banh-mi-baguette?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share

Well, we have seen a steady flow of new members coming into the My Lovely Loaves skool community. I was hoping for 20 members within the first month or two, but we are already well beyond that and growing daily. As you will know I have begun making and uploading class videos, and I intend to try to get at least one new one per week for us to share. My apologies for all of the "ums and ahhs" in the videos. I find that I am much more self-conscious talking at a camera than to a live audience, but I expect that as I get into the flow of things that will settle. In the new year I am thinking of hosting a live Q&A where we can ask questions and share tips and ideas that we may have. I'll add a poll here to gauge everyone's interest. Anyway, once again welcome and keep an eye out for new videos and other developments as I get more familiar with the whole skool community thing. At this stage it seems to be a much more friendly platform than Facebook for this kind of thing. So everyone have a wonderful Christmas and New Year! I do intend to have a bit of a break from all this for a couple of weeks, but I don't think I will be stopping altogether. 😄