It’s common today for millers to tell you about the way grain is grown and the accreditation they have for making the claims they do – such as Soil Association, Organic Farmers & Growers, Red Tractor, for example – as many of us do care about how grain is grown, the pesticides and herbicides used, and how this affects agriculture, the land and biodiversity.
Increasingly, the issue of supporting UK farmers, and reducing reliance on big-... Read more...
There are times when want the heartiest, chewy, jaw-aching crust on my bread with a slightly waxy, vaguely dense crumb (open-texture optional), but other times…well, I like bread a little more insubstantial.
In a world once filled with cotton-wool bread, in days gone by (ok, the 1990s), I used to long for the sturdy muscle of a great sourdough, laced with rye and wholewheat and felt sad that it was back-then almost impossible to find.
... Read more...
Bespoke milling is the hottest must-do in artisan baking today, and a Mockmill - a home tabletop electric grain mill - allows you to mill exactly what you want when you want it, giving you the ultimate control over the final grains – what millers call the grist, as in the saying “grist for the mill” – that will become your flour.
Check out our deal on a Mockmill 100, including 3 FREE bags of BakeryBits organic grain* when... Read more...
Hot cross buns are a favourite of mine and although I like most Easter foods – Simnel Cake, Easter Eggs, and those chocolate crispy cakes with mini eggs on to – I am completely obsessed with hot cross buns and bake these for an extended Easter period. Who know, perhaps even into Summer. A rich yeasty glazed bun that toasts to perfection, packed with flavour and amazing fruit, that just needs a good slather of salted butter to melt into the ... Read more...
Every month I’ll get a message from someone crying out in desperation “HELP, my sourdough starter isn’t working”. Or that’s not bubbly, and occasionally the worry that it might have died altogether. On the latter it’s fairly unlikely that you have every killed it, these yeast and bacteria that make your starter are pretty hardy and just need a few comforts in life to keep them happy.
So if you’re not entirely sure whether your ... Read more...
If you put wheat flour, water (and some salt, if you like) in a bowl, mix it well, roll pieces of it thin and cook it on a hot metal bakestone you’ll get one of the earliest forms of bread, what’s known as unleavened flatbread. Easy to make, utterly delicious: today there are many people who make and enjoy this bread pretty much the way it was made hundreds of years ago. Perhaps the flour today is more refined and whiter, the texture lighter ... Read more...
Does this happen to you? You make a cake, or see a cake on a café menu, get very excited about what it will taste like… then drat, you find the cake flavour is underwhelming, lacking the spark and oomph you thought it would have based on its description. You, or the baker at the café, might have used the very best, finest, or dare I say it, most expensive ingredients but still it tasted flat. What’s gone wrong?
Be reassured, it happens to ... Read more...
Though we read news stories of millions forced to flee their homes and the Ukraine for safety, that’s not the whole situation. Right now bakers, cooks, front-of-house people and others are working daily to provide food to their community but also hospitals, army, the poor and anyone in need. I spoke with Anna Makievska, founder of Bakehouse artisan bakery in Kyiv which - as part of the larger Good Wine company - has the largest production ... Read more...
We're sometimes asked questions about rye flour, for example "what's the difference between dark rye and light rye?", and "is all rye flour wholemeal?". Hopefully we can quickly clear up any confusion you might have about rye flour and how it's sometimes labelled. Thanks to Andrew Wilkinson of Gilchester, and baking guru Dan Lepard for their input.
Like wheat flours, rye can be classified by how much of the bran and germ of the grain remains ... Read more...
There are several ways we can help the relief effort to support the Ukrainians who are fleeing the war in their country, as well as those staying at home to defend it. We also need to remember the many Ukrainian people working to bake and provide food for their communities, keeping everyday supplies flowing, even while missiles are firing above them...
At BakeryBits, we’ve worked with companies in the Ukraine that have helped us to help you ... Read more...
It’s common today for millers to tell you about the way grain is grown and the accreditation they have for making the claims they do – such as Soil Association, Organic Farmers & Growers, Red Tractor, for example – as many of us do care about how grain is grown, the pesticides and herbicides used, and how this affects agriculture, the land and biodiversity.
Increasingly, the issue of supporting UK farmers, and reducing reliance on big-... Read more...
There are times when want the heartiest, chewy, jaw-aching crust on my bread with a slightly waxy, vaguely dense crumb (open-texture optional), but other times…well, I like bread a little more insubstantial.
In a world once filled with cotton-wool bread, in days gone by (ok, the 1990s), I used to long for the sturdy muscle of a great sourdough, laced with rye and wholewheat and felt sad that it was back-then almost impossible to find.
... Read more...
Bespoke milling is the hottest must-do in artisan baking today, and a Mockmill - a home tabletop electric grain mill - allows you to mill exactly what you want when you want it, giving you the ultimate control over the final grains – what millers call the grist, as in the saying “grist for the mill” – that will become your flour.
Check out our deal on a Mockmill 100, including 3 FREE bags of BakeryBits organic grain* when... Read more...
Hot cross buns are a favourite of mine and although I like most Easter foods – Simnel Cake, Easter Eggs, and those chocolate crispy cakes with mini eggs on to – I am completely obsessed with hot cross buns and bake these for an extended Easter period. Who know, perhaps even into Summer. A rich yeasty glazed bun that toasts to perfection, packed with flavour and amazing fruit, that just needs a good slather of salted butter to melt into the ... Read more...
Every month I’ll get a message from someone crying out in desperation “HELP, my sourdough starter isn’t working”. Or that’s not bubbly, and occasionally the worry that it might have died altogether. On the latter it’s fairly unlikely that you have every killed it, these yeast and bacteria that make your starter are pretty hardy and just need a few comforts in life to keep them happy.
So if you’re not entirely sure whether your ... Read more...
If you put wheat flour, water (and some salt, if you like) in a bowl, mix it well, roll pieces of it thin and cook it on a hot metal bakestone you’ll get one of the earliest forms of bread, what’s known as unleavened flatbread. Easy to make, utterly delicious: today there are many people who make and enjoy this bread pretty much the way it was made hundreds of years ago. Perhaps the flour today is more refined and whiter, the texture lighter ... Read more...
Does this happen to you? You make a cake, or see a cake on a café menu, get very excited about what it will taste like… then drat, you find the cake flavour is underwhelming, lacking the spark and oomph you thought it would have based on its description. You, or the baker at the café, might have used the very best, finest, or dare I say it, most expensive ingredients but still it tasted flat. What’s gone wrong?
Be reassured, it happens to ... Read more...
Though we read news stories of millions forced to flee their homes and the Ukraine for safety, that’s not the whole situation. Right now bakers, cooks, front-of-house people and others are working daily to provide food to their community but also hospitals, army, the poor and anyone in need. I spoke with Anna Makievska, founder of Bakehouse artisan bakery in Kyiv which - as part of the larger Good Wine company - has the largest production ... Read more...
We're sometimes asked questions about rye flour, for example "what's the difference between dark rye and light rye?", and "is all rye flour wholemeal?". Hopefully we can quickly clear up any confusion you might have about rye flour and how it's sometimes labelled. Thanks to Andrew Wilkinson of Gilchester, and baking guru Dan Lepard for their input.
Like wheat flours, rye can be classified by how much of the bran and germ of the grain remains ... Read more...
There are several ways we can help the relief effort to support the Ukrainians who are fleeing the war in their country, as well as those staying at home to defend it. We also need to remember the many Ukrainian people working to bake and provide food for their communities, keeping everyday supplies flowing, even while missiles are firing above them...
At BakeryBits, we’ve worked with companies in the Ukraine that have helped us to help you ... Read more...