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Breads Like It Warm

Proofing is very tricky if you do not have a proofing cabinet with a built in thermostat. Do you need one? Not really. A proofing cabinet eliminates guesswork, but it is very expensive so you rely on your experience. Proof more and you get really large, open grain, fluffy breads (mahangin). Proof less and you get the dense (siksik) type. If you are a beginner, do not pull your hair if you cannot get it right the first time, 2nd or even your 4th try.

Bread making is all about timing. Babantayan mo, you will use a timer, you will make sure that you do not forget there is a dough proofing in a cabinet somewhere in your kitchen. Pag naging kulubot the first time, then try not doing it again, reduce the yeast especially if it is summer when the heat spikes up around noon time making your dough rise fast.

With free form breads, a little wrinkle on top may not matter if you are having the breads for yourself, it is a different case if you are already selling. A head ache if you are baking Tasty or Pullman (loaf breads) because if the dough is not baked right away and the dough has reached the top of the pan, you are out! I mean the dough is out. If you think baking loaf breads with the flat top lid on is easy, think again.

I never sold Tasty because loaf breads bake longer and i prefer Pandesal and Dinner Rolls. But just in case, the only advice i can give you is that watch out for the proofing and test, test, test. One of my students said "ang hirap pala nyan". Exactly. Read the recipe i gave you including the instructions, then make sure you have the mold you want to test with. If you picked a 10 by 4 by 3 mold, calculate the size of the dough, cover just one and open the other two so if the dough pushes its way out during baking (because there was too much dough inside), then at least you still have two perfect loaves with open tops.

Nobody said baking breads is easy. Judging by the thickness of the yeast dough baking books i got from The American Baking Institute and Asian Institute of Baking, there is more to baking breads than just yeast + salt+flour+water equals bread.

If you think you do not have the patience to spend 3-4 hours to finish 2 kilograms of dough ( i can do 3 kilograms and i am barely 5 feet tall), or have the time to read " baking nga ba makunat at matigas pag konti ang tubig" or " ano ba mangyayari pag nag dagdag ako ng egg sa recipe"?, do not go into yeast dough baking let alone take commercial bread making as a new career path.

You will be disappointed, you will not have the energy to handle the strenuous work it requires.

The dough is the master of the table when it comes to baking bread. Pag iniba mo ang weight ng isang ingredient, pag minadali mo ang proseso, pag tinamad kang mag hintay kasi inaantok ka na or dahil may gagawin ka pang ibang bagay, hindi ito pwede. The dough needs your undivided attention. Treat it with love, and it will pay you back big time. Make sure that your goal is to make this one big lump of dough into a masterpiece. Kahit Pandesal lang yan, pwede yang makapagpasaya ng isang taong may sakit, isang taong gutom na gutom, or isang taong malungkot.

Lastly, my reservation deposit has gone up from P1000.00 to P3500.00 and the usual 3 days is now 4 days. 2 days no time dough, and 2 days sponge and dough. I noticed that the flour i am using these days are changing and i need to switch to using the sponge and dough method to make my Special Ensaimada, French Bread, Pullman etc., to keep production on course. If i can find Wellington or Emperor every time i need them, no problem. But that is not the case anymore, my supplier does not want to carry both flours so i need to use the sponge method just to be able to keep the formula i have been using for so many years now.

This is good news for those who want to learn this method. The added fee is nothing compared to the added knowledge you will get. Let's face it, the competition out there is stiff and you have to swim fast to get on top.

Another reason is that the P1000.00 deposit is being taken for granted. Just because it was only P1000.00, three students for my April class did not bother to email back or call to let me know that they are not coming to class. I rejected 5 students for this session, even up to the 11th hour, Bong Abayan was asking me if i could at least admit his wife and i refused.

This was my last session so i cannot put them in the next class. It was embarrassing that on that day i was looking out the gate every time a car passes by. I was thinking maybe they got lost, but all 3 of them? With email, twitter, text and the old standby landline, who would have thought that people will not care.

Please have a heart to call if you want to cancel. Cancel even the day itself or at least the night before, just don't disappear. This is the reason why i am making sure that the next time i make a confirmation and if you do not reply, then that makes your reservation invalid. I will return your money, drop by anytime to pick it up no problem, but i cannot give you the slot you reserved for anymore.

Some of the April students packing up their breads. I normally pack their breads but this time i have to ask them to do it on their own. It makes the whole thing more fun. Good luck guys! Please read the summary i sent you. If you attended my class and failed to receive a baking lesson summary, please email be and i will send one to you.





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