I have this mystery and hope to get some help in solving it. (This is my first post, BTW.)
My wife and I live in the Chicago area and own a vacation home in Door County, Wisconsin (250 miles North). I make a loaf of bread twice a week; about every 5 days. But there is a mystery ...
The mystery:
When I make my bread at home, it always turns out approximately the same size. When I make the same recipe at our vacation home (250 miles north), it always turns out about 20% larger. After the second rise, it has many more and larger bubbles, compared to the results at home; and about 20% more volume.
The facts:
1. Identical recipe ingredients - Same Red Star Active Dry yeast, same Morton iodized salt, same King Arthurs AP flour. The exception is the water, but I have even brought water from Door County to our home, thinking "Maybe it's something about the water," as it's well water, rather than "city water" (from Lake Michigan). Nope ... same smaller loaf.
2. Recipe is prepared exactly in the same way. I weigh the flour on a digital scale; heat my water to 90 degrees F., go through all the same motions, and bake it at 500 deg. F for 35 minutes and then lower the heat to 465 deg. F for about 15 minutes.
3. The oven at home is an electric Kitchenaid. The oven at the vacation home is an electric Bosch.
4. I proof in an identical stainless steel bowl, covered with aluminum foil, at room temperature (72-74 F during the day and 66-68 F at night).
The clues: I can't think of any, but one possibility: We are 3.1 miles from Lake Michigan at our home, but we're only about 100 feet feet from Lake Michigan in our Door County vacation home. It's sometimes more humid at the vacation home.
Thanks for your help!
My wife and I live in the Chicago area and own a vacation home in Door County, Wisconsin (250 miles North). I make a loaf of bread twice a week; about every 5 days. But there is a mystery ...
The mystery:
When I make my bread at home, it always turns out approximately the same size. When I make the same recipe at our vacation home (250 miles north), it always turns out about 20% larger. After the second rise, it has many more and larger bubbles, compared to the results at home; and about 20% more volume.
The facts:
1. Identical recipe ingredients - Same Red Star Active Dry yeast, same Morton iodized salt, same King Arthurs AP flour. The exception is the water, but I have even brought water from Door County to our home, thinking "Maybe it's something about the water," as it's well water, rather than "city water" (from Lake Michigan). Nope ... same smaller loaf.
2. Recipe is prepared exactly in the same way. I weigh the flour on a digital scale; heat my water to 90 degrees F., go through all the same motions, and bake it at 500 deg. F for 35 minutes and then lower the heat to 465 deg. F for about 15 minutes.
3. The oven at home is an electric Kitchenaid. The oven at the vacation home is an electric Bosch.
4. I proof in an identical stainless steel bowl, covered with aluminum foil, at room temperature (72-74 F during the day and 66-68 F at night).
The clues: I can't think of any, but one possibility: We are 3.1 miles from Lake Michigan at our home, but we're only about 100 feet feet from Lake Michigan in our Door County vacation home. It's sometimes more humid at the vacation home.
Thanks for your help!
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