Happiness is cooking together. We had not cooked together since the 2019 Christmas in Vancouver. Despite the challenges, we all came home this holiday season. Though we were disappointed that we had to cancel the Christmas party with the usual suspects, we had more time to spend together with less running around. We had hot pot for Christmas eve, home made pasta and lots of sugar cookies for Christmas night, hand made pizza for the 28th, steam fish for the 29th, then an Asian themed dinner for January 2nd. On top of those, we opened more presents than ever this year. Everyone got sweaters or T-shirts from Space X, and we got an U.S.A. map to pin all the places we have been to. While we still cannot party with our friends, this is enough to make up for the last two years.
Success! After 12 batches, this one is a success, the best one ever.
Exactly 450g of flour left in the bag, just right for one Pullman loaf. Rise in a over with a bowl of steaming hot water for 90 minutes. The dough came out firm and bouncy and easy to work with, not overly sticky at all. Split the dough in two, rest for 15-20 minutes, shaped and placed in the center of the pan. Baked at 360ºF for 30 minutes.
The trick – be patient. Rising the dough too fast produces too much gas and makes rough texture. It also drains the yeast too early and the dough will not rise further during baking.
Use 600g flour last Saturday. Started too late and couldn’t finished it in time. The second rise was a mess. Kept the oven at 200ºF with a plastic wrapper over the Pullman pan. The dough raised up to the full height within 30 minutes, then collapsed the moment I pulled off the wrapper.
Made another 600g and still the dough collapsed after the second rise. A little bit googling found out it was a result of over rising and the yeast was exhausted before baking. Next time, rise the dough slowly in room temperature. Used imperial butter instead of sweat butter, what a mistake. The dough came out soggy and sticky after the first rise. Only real butter!
As all the team leads were away, we were asked to leading the hiking group this week. Went to the Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve. It is a newish trail, only open in the last few years, after I left Zoro. It’s a very nice trail but the weather was windy, cold, drizzle, with light snow, so we had the place almost to ourselves. The soccer field on the west end was closed, so we went to Menard’s for bathroom break. Overall 6 miles in 2.5 hours.