Absent but busy, baker

Anyone visiting this blog probably thinks I gave up on the sourdough.

Wrong!

I bake all our own bread several times a week! I just ordered a new banneton, this time going for the more expensive Matfer one at £26.99 (just saying it made my eyes water), rather than the cheaper one I got last time which has already fallen apart after 18 months use (the other, cheaper ones, are fine still but the 1K round one was the one I used most). Matfer are industrial strength so they should last. I did toy with Vannerie which are hand made but really, that is too much for me.

Am also toying with idea of baking cloche, anyone have one? I feel it's a bit superfluous as my oven is a great oven which makes lovely sourdough, and next year we're building a wood fired oven in the garden. But I did wonder if anyone had one, and if so what they thought of it?

I did mean to do a post over the summer, as I had so many enquiries about 'what to do with my starter when I go on holiday'. Honestly people. You just put it in the fridge, enjoy your holiday, and refresh * the starter when you get back. One friend even thought he had to bring the starter with him on holiday. I'd have loved to have seen customs deal with that.

*take out half of it, refresh with 125g strong white bread flour, 100g cold water, stir and leave for about 12 hours before using it to make dough.