Comments for And Slaters Go Plop

Comment on Making Ciabatta by AskAnAtheist.org

AskAnAtheist.org — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:04:25 +0000

Cheers, Damian. Thanks for the recipe - I’m anxious to try it!! I got both of those starter recipes from a bread book I received last Christmas. That’s good insight - about starters not being that critical. As a newbie, I was trying to follow the recipe to the letter — sort of a Fundamentalist approach to baking! :)) I know I probably should have started with something easier, but I wasn’t as much interested in baking in general as I was in baking certain things - like the elusive baguette. It’s all part of a broader pattern. I did the same with home-brewing years back: I immediately started with an all-grain recipe in all home-made (or co-opted) equipment. It took me a few tries to get something drinkable - but what I finally ended up with, to my great surprise, was something that rivaled the European imports. I’ve still got a spreadsheet tucked away somewhere that, given the parameters of the finished product, calculates the all-grain recipe. I’ve also thought of trying to make cheese - but that’s a battle for another day! :))

Comment on Making Ciabatta by Damian

Damian — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:06:04 +0000

I’ve only tried to make baguettes once before and that was when I was only just starting out. It was a disaster if I recall correctly; something to do with dough getting stuck to tea towels in the final rise.

I’ve got a recipe that I’ll email you that doesn’t seem as difficult as the one you are using.

I’ve never heard of ‘Pate Fernentee’ but a Poolish starter is very similar to the biga I use for ciabatta. The thing to remember with these kinds of starters is that they’re really only to add flavour to the bread so you don’t have to be too particular about how long they ferment for. A few hours either way probably won’t make a difference.

My recipe recommends a very hot oven as well as high humidity where they suggest that you actually spray the inside of the oven with water at various stages rather than merely leaving a tray with water in the oven as I did with the ciabatta.

Anyway, I’ll email you my recipe. Let me know how you get on. (You’ve sure jumped in at the deep end!)

Comment on Do Egg Shells Deter Snails? by Damian

Damian — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:53:37 +0000

I’ll have to give that a go. But I hope they appreciate it as I’ve only got one very tasty bottle of Renaissance Pale Ale in the fridge at the moment.

Comment on Do Egg Shells Deter Snails? by AskAnAtheist.org

AskAnAtheist.org — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:17:45 +0000

I’ve heard that if you leave out a bottle-cap full of beer, slugs will drink it and die. Maybe it works for snails too. It may be worth a try, but only if you happen to have an open bottle of beer

Comment on Making Ciabatta by AskAnAtheist.org

AskAnAtheist.org — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:16:05 +0000

Damian,

You just inspired me to take another stab at making baguettes - so far, my attempts have been disastrous! Maybe baguettes aren’t the best place to start since I’ve never (successfully) made bread before - but I really really like baguettes!

My biggest hurdle is that I can only do it on the weekends and I have to be around all of Saturday to do it. The goal is to have them ready at breakfast time, but to do this, I have to begin mixing the 2 starters (Pate Fernentee and Poolish starters) at different times on Saturday (6:00am and 9:am respectively) so that they are ready to knead and turn by the afternoon, so that they can be ready by 6:00am on Sunday morning.

Please tell me I’m doing this the hard way and that you know of a much easier way!!! :))

Comment on Do Egg Shells Deter Snails? by Iain

Iain — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:50:28 +0000

But did you try using the egg of a chicken or of a fire drake?

If you use fire drake egg-shells the reason why snails — who are the mortal foes of fire drakes — won’t cross the shells is because of the well known fact that fire drake inner shell lining becomes highly spontaneously flammable when in contact with snail-trail mucus.

It’s simple zoology.

Comment on Do Egg Shells Deter Snails? by Damian

Damian — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:47:34 +0000

I thought you were saying that you had heard that slugs/snails could be used to protect seedlings

Hehe, guard snails. Now that would be handy.

Comment on Do Egg Shells Deter Snails? by Damian

Damian — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:46:12 +0000

Good point. Perhaps a a good test would be to create an enclosed environment where the snail has a place to hide during the day and access to a single seedling that is surrounded by broken egg shells.

Sounds like a lot of work though eh? Mini snail electric fences and whatnot.

I’ve currently got Blitzem snail bait out and can say with confidence that it is very effective as snails are often found heaving in agony after having crept over them. But Blitzem is also bad for any other creatures that might accidentally eat them and I’m concerned for my young blackbird family a couple of metres away.

Comment on Do Egg Shells Deter Snails? by Dale Campbell

Dale Campbell — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:34:59 +0000

(embarrassing admission: for a second there, I thought you were saying that you had heard that slugs/snails could be used to protect seedlings… from egg-shell adversaries??? Gotta love grammar, aye? )

Comment on Do Egg Shells Deter Snails? by Dale Campbell

Dale Campbell — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:30:04 +0000

Interesting.

It may not be easy to produce conclusive results with the method used here. For example, the snail could not live in such a small circle, so would be driven to cross the barrier - against it’s (possible) avoidance to the shells (i.e. the deterrance overcome by need for survival)?

Perhaps rather than ‘trap’ the snail/slug in a ring of egg-shells, maybe present it with two equally survivable options, one involving shell-contact, and the other with none. I don’t know what that might look like, but just an idea that came to mind…