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Book Review: Cooked by Michael Pollan (Part 3) — 13 Comments

  1. Good morning Joy! I use an attachment to my Kitchenaide mixer for grinding my wheat. I run it through a couple times to get it as fine as I can. Yes, wheat bread is challenging. I also purchased Gluten to add. But I don’t always use it. It is healthier for us if we don’t. I haven’t baked bread for a year now. Grandma living with us now consumes a lot of time. I am going to get back into it by the end of October (life should be slowing down). Living on a small farm in Missouri we try to produce as much as we can. We butcher a steer every year and about 25 Cornish cross chickens (really very large). We garden to get some nice fresh produce and we eat it until it no longer puts on. My kids some times get tired of Okra or Zucchini but by mid winter they are wishing we had some again. It feels really good to provide foods to your family that you have raised on your own. This sounds like a great book. I will have to find it and add it to my library.

  2. Wow – you are going all out with Cooked! Micael Pollan really inspired you although I suspect you were heading that way anyhow. I have the audiobook on my deak but haven’t gotten to it yet. I look forward to the second half.

    In the olden days I made all our bread using a grinder and locally grown wheat. It was so satisfying – both the making and the eating. I made about half of it with sourdough. It’s my favorite flavor but it can be very temperamental. There is some interesting literature on the subject, if you are interested. There’s an expert in Idaho (I think his name is Ed Wood. He’s written a number of books.) who has collected different strains of starter from all over the world. Some are quite ancient. As soon as the weather cools off I’m dragging out my bread pans.

  3. I only make bread in my machine. But I sometimes make bread like things in the oven, like scones and foccaccia. Of course that does taste better, but my oven is rather small, so a whole bread might not even fit, haha.

  4. I frequently make my own bread – normally a whole wheat bread with lots of seeds – it’s such a deeply satisfying thing to do. I’ve often thought about trying my own sourdough starter, but I don’t really eat enough bread to keep a sourdough starter going – one loaf of bread lasts me about a week. I’m really impressed that you are grinding your own flour – that’s awesome.

  5. I love to make bread! I’ve recently made pita and chapatis but I’ve been thinking it’s time to make a nice big boule of bread. I love that you grind your own flour! That’s something I’e never considered. I guess it’s time to check our your Flour Power review and possible the book. Your reviews are always so informing and interested to read. Thank you for that!

  6. I often take advantage of my bread machine for kneading and rising, but I rarely bake in it. I prefer to bake on a stone in the oven. I have experimented with sourdough in the past, but the whole feeding it thing gets tiresome after a while. On the other hand, now you’ve got me interested in getting another starter going.

  7. I’m not much of a bread maker, and if feels like it’s not worth it now that my breadmaker has given up the ghost. Maybe one of these fall days I’ll find some inspiration and change my mind!

  8. This book really does sound fascinating. I need to read it. I appreciate good bread, but haven’t ever really been a bread maker. My husband goes through periods where he is inspired to make bread at home, I always applaud his efforts.

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