Dear Reader:
I doubt that the rye flour mattered much. I just use it for flavor and it has similar properties to the whole wheat you substituted for it. I just started a batch of bread myself, and was reminded just how wet and almost gloppy it is. I wouldn't say sticky, as it pulls almost clean off the countertop, but I suspect your dough is just fine -- but not what you're used to or expectd. I have used the KA whole wheat white, but not in this recipe. It's a lighter strain of whole wheat flour for those who want whole wheat but not the dense, dark bread that whole wheat makes. I'd say if it makes your wife happy, give it a try, either using half and half or going right to 100% whole wheat. You may need to add more water and another pinch of yeast, as the bran tends to absorb more water. Let me know how it turns out!

Dear Reader:
Congratulations on the levain. As far as the sticky dough, I suspect it was a little too wet. Perhaps the brand of flour you're using doesn't absorb as much water as the King Arthur I use. So you might solve the problem by simply adding add'l flour. But note that this kind of dough will be stickier than what you mother mixed up because it *is* wetter, and there isn't anything intrinsically wrong with sticky. Ideally, it should be tacky to the counter but pull away almost clean and the first few turns. Check out my kneading video to get a better idea. Sorry I don't have a more definitive answer, but let me know how you make out.

Dear Reader:
Aha! You need to (re)read Week 19! Everyone makes this mistake at one time or another, but the hydration is the percentage of water to the flour, not to the total (water+flour+salt+yeast). So, we have 620g flour and 422 g water. The hydration (or baker's percentage of water) is thus 422/620 = 68%. I'm surprised you found the dough dry, however. It's usually a pretty moist dough, but if it feels dry next time, add more water. Different flours have different properties. Thanks for the question, and good luck!

Dear Reader:
Welcome to the dark arts. I look forward to hearing from you when you start baking!

Dear Reader:
Hmm. I wonder if there's something in the peaches that yeast doesn't like. Was the peach water fermenting (i.e., bubbling and had an alcohol-like aroma) before you added the flour? If not, I'd have to suspect the peaches and would have you start over using apples or grapes. If you peach water *was* fermenting, you may not be stirring enough at this stage. Try whipping some air into it several times and day, and if you still can't revive it, start over -- there's no shame in that.

Dear Reader:
If the levain doesn't work out, it sounds like you're on the way to good apple jack, at least. Mmmmm....apple jack....

Dear Reader:
Hey Rick, Glad you found the solution to your oven spring problem while the doctor making a house call. Especially since I didn't have a solution. Bon appetit!

Dear Reader:
Beats me.

Dear Reader:
Hi Robert, Hmm. If it's not holding its shape, it does sound too wet. Try adding a little more flour. Also, since it sounds like the bread isn't rising, are you sure your levain is good? It should become bubbly a couple of hours after feeding. Finally, after dealing with those issues, you might try forming the dough into two batards instead of a boule. The higher ratio of crust to crumb can help out a troubled loaf. Let the doctor know you make out.

Dear Reader:
I don't add whole wheat to my levain, but there are bakers who do. It will change the character of it a bit,so you might want to first experiment with only half of it. And of course, once you add whole wheat to it, you can no longer make true white bread (e.g., baguettes) with it. Stone-Buhr bread flour has a listed protein content of 11.5 - 12.1%, right in line with the KA all-purpose flour that I use, so you're in good shape there. (The grams of protein listed on the bag is an approximation: I like to to to a company's website for exact specifications.)

Dear Reader:
Wow, that *is* a thick stone (and probably a beautiful one as well), but I don't think it's too thick. What you're really doing is kind of cool: simulating a wood-fired brick or clay oven, where the fire is extinguished before baking, with the walls of the oven providing the heat. If the bread is good, and cooked all the way through, then stick with it; otherwise you might try turning down the oven a bit, in 25-degree increments.

The reason for the long preheating time btw is more due to the fact that the stone interferes with circulation and stops the heat from reaching the thermostat sensor than the thickness of the stone. I use my oven's convection setting during pre-heating to get around that problem.

Dear Reader:
I'd say you go ahead and grab a couple now. The only thing you'll be missing is the bonus of added natural sugar, which many starter recipes don't worry about. And you could always add a pinch of sugar to the apple water if after a couple of days it hasn't begun to smell a bit cidery.

Dear Reader:
You can't go wrong with the one from from King Arthur. In terms of what to look for, the thicker the better. And stay away from anything that says it needs to be "cured" first. It will drive you out of your house with the smell.

Dear Reader:
Dear Hero, Depending on how much levain you have, you may want to build it up with an extra feeding or two before dipping into 250g of it. Or feed before baking, and replenish after. I've taken to feeding the night before, btw, which allows a little more time to bake the next day and also yields a slightly livelier levain. As for yeast, I don't use fresh yeast, only instant. I've seen it in some grocery store in the dairy section, but these days it's generally sold only in bulk. With its short shelf life, I wouldn't bother, unless your monks insist on it, as mine did. The instant is just fine, and more consistent.

Dear Reader:
Sorry you were confused, Leslie. Yes, you did indeed "send it swimming," but you may be able to rescue it. First let me try to clarify a couple of things that I admit were not totally clear: 1. "Reserved tap water" refers to the the quart or so of tap water that you started with and first used to make the apple water. 2. Whenever I use volume references (a quart of tap water, a cup for the apples) these are imprecise measurements that don't really have to be precise because we are just getting some "raw ingredients" ready that we'll weigh out later in the course of making the levain. 3. "Grams" is a measure of weight, not volume, so wherever you see "grams" you weigh. In fact, other than the case I gave above, you always weigh. 4. On the last day, I wanted you to add "the remaining 100 g of flour and 100 g water," not all the remaining water. So you added, as I think you've realized now, 400 g (or 400 ml -- same thing) too much water. If you still have the levain, try adding another 400 g of flour, to get back to your 50/50 ratio. If it starts bubbling in a few hours, you're good to go. Hope this makes sense! Let me know how you make out.

Dear Reader:
Hi, Marta. I'm afraid all I said to Diane was that I wasn't familiar with it, not having the problem myself. You might want to check the King Arthur Flour website. They sell a gluten-free flour (and a cook book) but I've never tried either. Best of luck.

Dear Reader:
Simply lower your altitude by 5,000 feet and you'll be fine. Re parchment paper, yes, it will char in a 500-degree oven. Once I went to that high a temp (I actually preheat to 525 these days) I stopped using it, switching instead to a Super Peel or rice flour on a wooden peel.

Dear Reader:
"Coq au vin with fish" -- isn't that "poisson au vin"? Regardless, keep up the good work, and maybe I'll be able to catch up with you on my next tour.

Dear Reader:
Congrats on your perfect bread! Only 40 years? Actually, if I bake at least once a week, I never throw away levain. I feed the night before with the amount I'm going to use in the bread, so I maintain a steady supply. You can safely go a week between feedings with a mature, refrigerated levain. I've heard you can freeze it, but I've never tried it.

Dear Reader:
Not surprised ... I use my bench scraper for my kids' math homework.

Dear Reader:
I would think that Phoenix in summer can certainly have an effect not only on your levain but on your dough, so you might need to increase the water. However, the levain does start out a little stiff. It will get thinner later, to the consistency of thick pancake batter. But it shouldn't be as stiff as dough. Add a little more water, and don't worry too much about the correct ratios as this point, as add the subsequent additions of equal parts (by weight) of flour and water will even things out in the end. Good luck!

Dear Reader:
That's the alcohol in the bubbles you're smelling, and "pungent and cider" sounds perfect. Keep whipping in air and, with any luck, you're on your way - Bon appetit!

Dear Reader:
Hi Craig, That was a fun event in Portland. Re your bread, it's very possible that the dough *wasn't* too wet. Bakers today use much wetter doughs than, say, Fannie Farmer. That being said, opening up the crumb was the focus of much of my year of baking, so I know exactly what you're talking about (and unfortunately don't have an answer). As for the moistness, don't be afraid to bake the bread to a deep brown -- almost burned, and you can turn the oven off and leave the loaf in there for 20 minutes with the door cracked open for a bit. Also, try forming two batards, instead a boule. The thinner loaf and higher ratio of crust to crumb helps dry out the bread. But it sounds like not a bad start for your loaf with my recipe. -- Dr. Bill

Dear Reader:
Hi Inna, Without smelling your starter, it's hard to say, but it does take a while (a month or so) for it to mature. Make sure to whip in plenty of air to favor yeast over bacteria. Give it a chance, and if you don't like it, stick with your old starter. I'll bet you there's more wild yeast in there than commercial at this point. I'm not aware of any health benefits of wild yeast vs. dry. I love that you use the whey from homemade cottage cheese(!) in your bread and that you don't throw anything away. Thanks for the note.

Dear Reader:
Nocolien, I don't know what they teach about the metric system in the Netherlands, but 100 ml water weighs 100 grams. Sure, you can measure it by volume if you're more comfortable with that, but I guarantee you'll get more accurate results if you weight out 100 grams instead. You can weigh anything: solid, liquid, or gas. Regarding the other question, I have to plead guilty to confusing wording. What I mean to say is to replace the gray water that accumulates on top of the starter with an approximately equivalent amount of the water/flour mixture that it consists of, which is about a 3:1 ratio. So if you pour off 40g on grey water, replace with 30g of water and 10g flour -- clear? Glad to hear you made a successful starter -- you're halfway there!

Dear Reader:
I would think so. I'd throw in like 3, split into quarter, and see what happens.

Dear Reader:
Thanks. Hope you got the Father's Day gift you deserve. As far as the grapes go, I'd throw in like three handfuls. The amount isn't critical, as you're going to discard them later anyway. Let me know how it works out.

Dear Reader:
You again, Harris? If this is a foreshadowing of what's going to happen when we all have free health care, we're gonna need a lot more doctors. Anyway, I'm bailing out on you on this one. I've no idea. Perhaps you should consult a specialist. That being said...try it; what's the worst that can happen. Flour is cheap.

Dear Reader:
It's indeed a sad state of affairs. I need a life. Now, are you using KA bread machine flour, or all purpose? (Use the machine flour, if you're not). Try reducing the yeast by half of the original amount. But keep in mind you're taking advice (or not) from someone who (with all this idle time on his hands) never uses a bread machine (OK, so I used it once [chapter 38]), so take this all with a grain of salt. Or yeast. Or whatever....

Dear Reader:
Bet if you gave her a copy of the book she would :) Kneading my way only takes 5 minutes!! (Less time than to clean the bread machine, but some people use the machine ONLY to knead, and bake the bread in the oven, which isn't a bad compromise.) In any event, as much as it pains me to even attempt to diagnose bread machine problems,the bread doctor's Hippocratic oath requires him to treat all patients. So... Sounds like the bread is over-rising, so I'd cut back on the yeast and maybe use a really high-gluten flour like King Arthur bread flour if problems persist. (Now be a good dad and give your daughter a good read...even if she sticks with Mr. Breadman!)

Dear Reader:
I suspect that if you haven't used your levain for a few months, it's dead. An easy test: add some flour and water and leave it out for a few hours. If you don't get any bubbling (or it smells foul), it's dead, so you'll need to start over (local grapes are a good way to start, btw). If you're not baking regularly, you need to feed the levain weekly or so (you may need to discard some first so you don't end up with a barrel of the stuff. Now, I've heard that you can freeze it, but I've never tried that, so take with a grain of salt.

Dear Reader:
It kind of looks like the haze that appears on the inside of the windshield of your car (which is caused by outgassing of the plastics used in the interior). I suspect most apples, hazy or not, have wild yeast on them (as does the flour you'll be adding), but I feel better using one that has a visible haze.

Dear Reader:
52 Loaves should, I've been told, be available in all popular digital formats (Kindle, Nook, and others) within a couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience!

Dear Reader:
I believe that both of those breads (and I think black Russian is a little heavier than pump.) actually get their dark color from the addition of artificial coloring, which you certainly don't want to do at home. But you can make dark rye or pumpernickel at home by adding about a tablespoon of molasses and either a couple of teaspoons of liquid caramel coloring (or cocoa or coffee powder dissolved in a 2 tablespoons of water). Let me know if you succeed!

Dear Reader:
Hi Nicolien, Thanks for the very enjoyable note. Your father is right: American grain (esp. from the northern plains) is much harder than European grain. Ironically, Europe now imports quite a bit of it, as some bakers over there prefer a harder flour. Now, regarding bread, I have a German friend who, when she tasted my bread, said, "Now this is the bread I remember!" so hopefully my recipes will evoke the same reaction from you. Bon appetit!

Dear Reader:
Your faith in me is humbling. But I'm wondering if you heard the part of the interview where I said to throw out the bread machine :) Just for kicks, try the same recipe, but without Mr. Breadman. After mixing the ingredients together, let it rest for a half hour before you begin kneading (or you can knead using the machine, then remove the dough for the fermentation and proofing steps). Bake in a loaf pan or free form on a pizza stone and see if it still falls.

Dear Reader:
Congratulations on liberating yourself from that lousy machine! Now, I hate to tell you this, but...the answers to hyour question are all in 52 Loaves. Just click on that little "Buy" link on the top of the page. (The short answer, it's a little of both, plus experience, which makes it sound harder than it is.)

Dear Reader:
Hi Jim, Sounds to the bread doctor like the patient isn't breathing. I assume you're adding other leavening; otherwise if your breads are rising the sourdough isn't dead. If you want to make a new one, go to the "recipes" section and look up "building a levain." Ever better, read 52 Loaves, which has a full chapter on doing this. Good luck!

Dear Reader:
I'm afraid this question is out the bread doctor's area of specialty (home baking). But why let that stop me...I would suggest you propose doing a test: A small batch with the paddle, and one with the hook, and have all the employees do a blind tasting to see which one is best.

Dear Reader:
You could ask 2 bakers that question and get 3 answers. I planted hard winter wheat, though apparently due to my soil conditions, the wheat turned out rather soft...but still made good bread. Some bakers prefer soft wheat, so it comes down to when you want to plant/harvest your wheat. You could still plant spring wheat now, for instance, while winter wheat isn't planted till the fall. I can't help you with a source -- I just bought a couple of seed packets from a catalog...and it didn't even have the variety, just said "winter wheat." But good luck with it! Highly suggest the read 52 LOAVES first, though. Lots of tips on doing this.

Dear Reader:
That struggle you describe pretty much sums it up. It's close to a gloppy dough, but I haven't made enough ciabatta to give you a hydration percentage. Using plenty of flour on the countertop as you shape the loaf (you kind of stretch it out and fold it back on itself) will help it hold its shape in the folds of a couche as it proofs. Then, get it into a *real* hot oven damn quick - it will flatten out some as it hits the stone, but then pop back up when the oven spring kicks in. If you're not getting holes, add more water next time. Weigh everything and keep a log till you get it right!

Dear Reader:
To the survival of the starter, the ratio is not critical at all. But to later use the starter in recipes that assume your starter has 50% hydration level is another story. Since you say you want to insure you success, the only way to do that is to weigh the ingredients. So, you may as well get off on the right foot, get your scale now, and build your starter by weight, not eyes. On the right-hand side of my blog you will see a link to an inexpensive one that I recommend.

Dear Reader:
Thanks for the note, Michael. Oddly, I started with bread and have been gravitating towards pizza. Perhaps we'll pass each other midway. If you're near Poughkeepsie May 1, stop by the Artist's Palate at 4:00 for a taste of my peasant bread (plus other breads and olive oils).

Dear Reader:
We should all be so lucky. I spent a good part of my baking year trying to get some gas pockets into my bread, and they're especially hard to achieve in heavier breads like your rye. These voids are the result of the anaerobic respiration of the yeast (the same action responsible for bread rising), which occurs while the bread is both fermenting and proofing (aka the second rise) and also during the first few minutes of baking when, in a process call "oven spring," the high temperature of the oven fuels the metabolism of the yeast, and they exhale like crazy in a furious frenzy. Until they die. Now, why do these gases sometimes produce an even rising and yield bread with the consistency of a sponge, and sometimes coalesce into pockets? Good question, and I wish I had a scientific answer. I have found that using a levain, or starter (or sourdough), will usually give you more air pockets, as will using a really hot oven, like 550 degrees for the first few minutes, but it changes from one loaf to the next, and I have to confess, it's a bit of a mystery to me.

Dear Reader:
Hmm...This sounds like a setup, but the doctor will answer, regardless. Three possibilities: 1) If you're me, you'll realize that this is yet another symptom of a failing mind, and get a humiliating mental status workup (Chapter 28: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste); 2) You will have to eat a loaf of tasteless bread, which is so bad it won't even make decent toast; or 3) Congratulations! You just made a classic Pane Tuscano. You're a better baker than you think.

Dear Reader:
The best way to to eat it quickly, so you don't have to do. But if you must, leave it on the counter, cut down down, on a breadboard. Never wrap in plastic or place in the fridge, which hastens staling.