Quiet day and Bread Flour

It has been a wet and cold day here in Peterborough.  The rain has flowed all day gently, giving the earth a good watering which it sorely needed.  I had hoped to do gardening again today but that was not to be.  Instead I have been sorting out stuff, getting it cleaned up and sorted.  I have stripped out four fermenting bins today in readiness for further action on the wine front.  I will also have the ginger beer plant to make up on Friday evening.  The plant has been working beautifully.  I have also made some more plain yogurt as I really use this a lot.

I have also placed an order for bread flour with Shipton Mill as I was getting very frustrated in not being able to source any bread flour.  I think it has been about but I just have not been there when they have had it.  The link for Shipton Mill is https://www.shipton-mill.com/.  They are exceptionally busy and you will need some perseverance and patience in accessing a link to a delivery slot.  You cannot place an order without having access to this link.  Once you can access it, they will email to you a code which you have to click on to gain access to the website and place your order.  This link is only active for 24 hours under the current circumstances. I have been back on the site for the past three days and eventually managed to get a delivery slot this afternoon between 2:00pm and 3:00pm. So stick with it and you will eventually get through. I have ordered Canadian Strong White Bread Flour a 16kg bag together with a 1kg block of fresh yeast.  I intend to freeze the majority of the yeast.  I will probably look again in a few weeks time to have a proper look at what else they do.  Probably some speciality flours might end up here at some point.  This is my first order with them.  Sixteen kilogrammes is a lot of flour but you could always place an order and go halves with someone else to ensure you have a reasonable supply.

I have heard very good reports of the quality of their flour from friends who bake bread on a regular basis.  The recipe section on the website looks good too and I am looking forward to trying some of the recipes.  I am not the greatest baker in the world when it comes to bread but if you have a go and keep practicing it does get better.  If you do not have the base ingredients however that becomes a bit of an issue.  It is a very good discipline to try something new on a regular basis as this makes you grow in practical terms and also gives you knowledge and experience.  I consider myself very lucky in this respect that I have been able to access the flour but that I have had opportunities to do so in the first place.

I am really looking forward to being able to play.  I have some nice large stone crocks that I can store the flour in.

Fingers crossed that the weather is better tomorrow

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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