ChemSlice
@chemers.bsky.social
I bake bread and pizza and perhaps this is a good place to post about it. Home baker interested in using sourdough, organic British and European wheat and heritage varieties.
First attempt at ‘kid-friendly’ sweet potato bread was interesting 😅. Need to refine those measurements next time. Still, made a nice crusty bit to suck on 👶.
May 15, 2025 at 6:16 AM
First attempt at ‘kid-friendly’ sweet potato bread was interesting 😅. Need to refine those measurements next time. Still, made a nice crusty bit to suck on 👶.
Back to sourdough after a holiday… having a go with a 100% wholemeal levain which seems to be working well.
April 17, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Back to sourdough after a holiday… having a go with a 100% wholemeal levain which seems to be working well.
Finally, the recipe:
Shipton Mill no. 4: 50%
Wildfarmed T80: 35%
Gilchesters Wholemeal: 15%
Hydration: 77%ish
Firm levain: 15%
Salt: 2.3%
Autolyse 30 minutes, add levain and 50g water, add salt after another 30 minutes, 3 sets of folds 30 mins apart, leave to prove until 50% increase in height.
Shipton Mill no. 4: 50%
Wildfarmed T80: 35%
Gilchesters Wholemeal: 15%
Hydration: 77%ish
Firm levain: 15%
Salt: 2.3%
Autolyse 30 minutes, add levain and 50g water, add salt after another 30 minutes, 3 sets of folds 30 mins apart, leave to prove until 50% increase in height.
March 25, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Finally, the recipe:
Shipton Mill no. 4: 50%
Wildfarmed T80: 35%
Gilchesters Wholemeal: 15%
Hydration: 77%ish
Firm levain: 15%
Salt: 2.3%
Autolyse 30 minutes, add levain and 50g water, add salt after another 30 minutes, 3 sets of folds 30 mins apart, leave to prove until 50% increase in height.
Shipton Mill no. 4: 50%
Wildfarmed T80: 35%
Gilchesters Wholemeal: 15%
Hydration: 77%ish
Firm levain: 15%
Salt: 2.3%
Autolyse 30 minutes, add levain and 50g water, add salt after another 30 minutes, 3 sets of folds 30 mins apart, leave to prove until 50% increase in height.
Baked 6 loves today, which is the most I’ve done in one batch (I gave one away before getting to no. 6). Some interesting differences:
March 25, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Baked 6 loves today, which is the most I’ve done in one batch (I gave one away before getting to no. 6). Some interesting differences:
Perhaps a weird shaping error? No issues with taste though!
March 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Perhaps a weird shaping error? No issues with taste though!
A couple of New York-ish pizzas cooked in a home oven on a baking steel. ‘Upside down’ Margherita (which needed less cheese next time) and an aubergine, lemon zest & juice, pepper and vegan mozz inspired by one I had at Omnipollos hatt in Stockholm. Still tweaking this but love the baking steel. % ⬇️
March 3, 2025 at 12:35 PM
A couple of New York-ish pizzas cooked in a home oven on a baking steel. ‘Upside down’ Margherita (which needed less cheese next time) and an aubergine, lemon zest & juice, pepper and vegan mozz inspired by one I had at Omnipollos hatt in Stockholm. Still tweaking this but love the baking steel. % ⬇️
This pic was taken at Tartine Manufactory in San Francisco and is the loaf I’m shamelessly trying to rip off here. The combination of thick crust, soft crumb and tangy flavour has been hard to replicate at home, though I should play to the strengths of the flour and ingredients found over here.
February 23, 2025 at 9:24 AM
This pic was taken at Tartine Manufactory in San Francisco and is the loaf I’m shamelessly trying to rip off here. The combination of thick crust, soft crumb and tangy flavour has been hard to replicate at home, though I should play to the strengths of the flour and ingredients found over here.
Further exploration of oat porridge bread & I think this is my favourite so far. Based on Vanessa Kimbell’s ‘Sourdough School’ formula with honey but with the hydration dialled down a bit vs the book, as it could easily end up in the high 90%s after adding cooked porridge!
February 23, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Further exploration of oat porridge bread & I think this is my favourite so far. Based on Vanessa Kimbell’s ‘Sourdough School’ formula with honey but with the hydration dialled down a bit vs the book, as it could easily end up in the high 90%s after adding cooked porridge!
30% YQ Population wholemeal in these. This was developed by the John Innes Centre and the team at Wakelyns from the ORC. They used 20 ‘parent’ wheat varieties to create 190 crosses and mixed the seeds. The increased diversity is more sustainable & led to greater ‘yield’ and ‘quality’ (hence ‘YQ’).
February 9, 2025 at 8:53 PM
30% YQ Population wholemeal in these. This was developed by the John Innes Centre and the team at Wakelyns from the ORC. They used 20 ‘parent’ wheat varieties to create 190 crosses and mixed the seeds. The increased diversity is more sustainable & led to greater ‘yield’ and ‘quality’ (hence ‘YQ’).
Ran out of yeast so made some sourdough grandma pizza. I always feel like you trade a bit of texture and lightness for flavour when you use sourdough rather than IDY for pizza. If anyone knows how achieve both with sourdough lemme know! Aldi vegan pepperoni is decent… watch it disappear after Jan!
January 31, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Ran out of yeast so made some sourdough grandma pizza. I always feel like you trade a bit of texture and lightness for flavour when you use sourdough rather than IDY for pizza. If anyone knows how achieve both with sourdough lemme know! Aldi vegan pepperoni is decent… watch it disappear after Jan!
20% Merchants Mill light spelt, 76% hydration. Definitely lighter than expecting so might play well with a wholemeal flour. Someone’s interested already! #sourdough #breadsky
January 29, 2025 at 5:11 PM
20% Merchants Mill light spelt, 76% hydration. Definitely lighter than expecting so might play well with a wholemeal flour. Someone’s interested already! #sourdough #breadsky
This is my sourdough starter/levain. It’s 50% hydration & made of a mix of white & wholemeal flour, which may surprise people who follow the Tartine playbook of batter-like 100% hydrated starters. Inspired by the Bread Code & Wayne Caddy’s experiments with lower gluten flour from the UK & Europe.
January 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
This is my sourdough starter/levain. It’s 50% hydration & made of a mix of white & wholemeal flour, which may surprise people who follow the Tartine playbook of batter-like 100% hydrated starters. Inspired by the Bread Code & Wayne Caddy’s experiments with lower gluten flour from the UK & Europe.
Sourdough focaccia v2. Lowered hydration a bit & it held its strength. It caught a bit on the bottom so a lesson from this one is to take it off the baking steel after 10-15 mins or bake at a lower temperature (I was thinking pizza and cranked the oven). Intentionally baked hard so not burned imo!
January 22, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Sourdough focaccia v2. Lowered hydration a bit & it held its strength. It caught a bit on the bottom so a lesson from this one is to take it off the baking steel after 10-15 mins or bake at a lower temperature (I was thinking pizza and cranked the oven). Intentionally baked hard so not burned imo!
Looks ready to go 🤞.
January 22, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Looks ready to go 🤞.
I had a big bag of Gilchesters Organics’ farmhouse light brown flour. Despite the ‘light’ tag this is is a high extraction flour. What you might lose in photogenic holey crumb, you more than make up for in flavour & you don’t get the dense texture often associated with pure wholemeal.
January 22, 2025 at 12:37 AM
I had a big bag of Gilchesters Organics’ farmhouse light brown flour. Despite the ‘light’ tag this is is a high extraction flour. What you might lose in photogenic holey crumb, you more than make up for in flavour & you don’t get the dense texture often associated with pure wholemeal.
In the pan & will be in a cold room (like 14°C) overnight.
January 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM
In the pan & will be in a cold room (like 14°C) overnight.
Added salt after 20 mins, then oil 10 mins later. Seemed to incorporate well & the result after a stretch and fold.
January 21, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Added salt after 20 mins, then oil 10 mins later. Seemed to incorporate well & the result after a stretch and fold.
Sourdough focaccia take 2 after a first mix… used most of the water, then resting for 20 mins, then adding salt with 20g water, then going to make a decision as to whether to add oil straight away or wait a bit as I find things can go wrong then due to the shortening effect of oil.
January 21, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Sourdough focaccia take 2 after a first mix… used most of the water, then resting for 20 mins, then adding salt with 20g water, then going to make a decision as to whether to add oil straight away or wait a bit as I find things can go wrong then due to the shortening effect of oil.
I love the ‘Caddy Clasp’ shaping technique for sourdough boules and batards (pioneered by Wayne Caddy of Sourdough Slingers) for its simplicity and consistency, but it can lead to some….. unexpected results 🍑
January 15, 2025 at 1:00 PM
I love the ‘Caddy Clasp’ shaping technique for sourdough boules and batards (pioneered by Wayne Caddy of Sourdough Slingers) for its simplicity and consistency, but it can lead to some….. unexpected results 🍑
Had a recent urge to get back into sourdough focaccia… here’s my last attempt from back in June 2023!
I think I went a bit overboard with the hydration (aimed for 90%) and I think it lacked the strength for mega bubbz 🫧.
Taking inspiration from Chatsworth Bakehouse and Flout Pizza on the next one.
I think I went a bit overboard with the hydration (aimed for 90%) and I think it lacked the strength for mega bubbz 🫧.
Taking inspiration from Chatsworth Bakehouse and Flout Pizza on the next one.
January 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Had a recent urge to get back into sourdough focaccia… here’s my last attempt from back in June 2023!
I think I went a bit overboard with the hydration (aimed for 90%) and I think it lacked the strength for mega bubbz 🫧.
Taking inspiration from Chatsworth Bakehouse and Flout Pizza on the next one.
I think I went a bit overboard with the hydration (aimed for 90%) and I think it lacked the strength for mega bubbz 🫧.
Taking inspiration from Chatsworth Bakehouse and Flout Pizza on the next one.
Porridge sourdough bread, in which cooked oats are added after the initial mixing of ingredients, was a bit of an obsession after trying it at Tartine. I’ve recently come back to it and struggle a bit with consistency but am happy with these ones.
75% hydration
15% firm levain
40% cooked oats
75% hydration
15% firm levain
40% cooked oats
January 14, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Porridge sourdough bread, in which cooked oats are added after the initial mixing of ingredients, was a bit of an obsession after trying it at Tartine. I’ve recently come back to it and struggle a bit with consistency but am happy with these ones.
75% hydration
15% firm levain
40% cooked oats
75% hydration
15% firm levain
40% cooked oats
New Year’s Eve Detroit Style Pizza made with leftover Christmas Gorgonzola dolce, mozzarella, mushroom, potato, onion, béchamel and chives.
Can’t remember exact stats, but it was around 70% hydration yeasted dough with oil and diastatic malt powder. Love how well this style handles toppings!
Can’t remember exact stats, but it was around 70% hydration yeasted dough with oil and diastatic malt powder. Love how well this style handles toppings!
January 13, 2025 at 12:27 PM
New Year’s Eve Detroit Style Pizza made with leftover Christmas Gorgonzola dolce, mozzarella, mushroom, potato, onion, béchamel and chives.
Can’t remember exact stats, but it was around 70% hydration yeasted dough with oil and diastatic malt powder. Love how well this style handles toppings!
Can’t remember exact stats, but it was around 70% hydration yeasted dough with oil and diastatic malt powder. Love how well this style handles toppings!
My Instagram has basically become a sourdough & pizza page so I guess this should be no different?
50% Shipton Mill No. 4
30% Wildfarmed T80
20% Merchants Mill Wholemeal
15% Firm levain
76% Hydration
2.2% Salt
50% Shipton Mill No. 4
30% Wildfarmed T80
20% Merchants Mill Wholemeal
15% Firm levain
76% Hydration
2.2% Salt
January 13, 2025 at 11:11 AM
My Instagram has basically become a sourdough & pizza page so I guess this should be no different?
50% Shipton Mill No. 4
30% Wildfarmed T80
20% Merchants Mill Wholemeal
15% Firm levain
76% Hydration
2.2% Salt
50% Shipton Mill No. 4
30% Wildfarmed T80
20% Merchants Mill Wholemeal
15% Firm levain
76% Hydration
2.2% Salt