Hey annie...I do leave the parchment. I place the sheet of parchment over the basket that the dough has risen in. I hold it tight and turn over the basket/paper and set it down on the counter and lift the basket off. I then tear the paper so it is just an outline of the dough with "handles" on the ends. I get the hot pot out of the oven and set it on the counter...I have soapstone counters which makes it great ! I take off the lid and slash the loaves with a tomato knife...I have found it does a better job than my lame, and then pick up/lower the loaves into the hot pots...spray a few sprays of water, and place the lid on. The loaves might deflate some during this process...it depends on how high the hydration is, but they always recover. If your loaves deflate and don't recover it is because they are over-proofed. They have no more ooommph left to recover from the trauma of placing them in the pot. My loaves have no yeast..only the sourdough. The dough ferments at room temp for only 1 hour after I shape them....then into the fridge and they only come out of the fridge right before I place them in the hot pot. Very little time at room temp. But...they rise well in the cold after that one hour start. Loaves that have regular yeast in them are much more prone to over-proofing so you have to be careful. You are better off doing a shorter proof at room temp and then bag the loaves and place in fridge to finish. They will have remarkable resilience and bounce back. You can do the poke test also. If the dough doesn't spring back/or the hole fill right back up then it is definitely finished proofing . It is something you have to get used to and do the same recipe over and over till you get the times and temps correct. What bread recipe have you had trouble with deflating ? I am using chestnut flour...not chestnuts...you wouldn't know it was in the bread. I don't care for chestnuts either ! :) c

I bake with Almond Meal/Flour a lot. I've used both - and generally I use them interchangeably. Almond flour is *very* expensive, so I mostly use Almond Meal. I get the best deal at Trader Joe's ($3.99/lb). I have several recipes. Here's one of my favorites and easiest. I'm making some Thursday night, so I'll post a picture, which will be worth a thousand words. Chocolate Dipped Almond Macaroons (they don't look like traditional Macaroons). - 3 cups Almond Meal or Flour - 1/2 cup Egg whites - 1 to 1 1/2 cups of Sugar (depending on how sweet you like them) (I tend to use less sugar, and part Splenda) - 4 tsp Almond Extract (or other flavorings of your choice) - Jam or fruit spread (optional) - Bittersweet or Dark chocolate, melted for dipping 1. Mix Almond meal with egg whites. 2. Add in sugar/sweetener and Extracts. 3. Let rest for 1/2 hour. Dough is sticky. 4. Scoop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets. Press into a circle about 1/4 inch tall. (dough is still sticky :-) 5. If using jam, press small indent in center and add a bit of jam. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 - 23 minutes (this is for large 2 ounce cookies, smaller cookies will take less time). 6. Remove to cooling rack immediately. 7. When cookies are cool, dip halfway into melted chocolate and lay on wax paper to set (I put them in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to help set). Bonnie 8. Eat.

loves2cook4six- You can find any number of How-To links and videos on line, but here's what I do for plain, unsweetened, almond milk. 1. Place 1-cup of almonds in a quart canning jar. Fill with clear water + 1/2 t. sea salt (mix to dissolve the salt). The salt aids in reducing the hard-to-digest phytates, but doesn't make the milk salty. 2. Soak at least 6-hours, or up to 24-hours. I do 24 if I want to easily slip the skins off the almonds, but you can leave the skins on if you'd like (I do both). 3. Drain and rinse well in a colander. Remove skins, if you'd like. 4. Place almonds + 2 to 2-1/2 c. of water in a high-speed blender and blend well for 5-8 minutes. This ratio of almonds and water yields a concentrated form of almond milk. I can thin it with water, as needed, when using it. You will find recipes that use more water. Your choice.... 5. Strain the blended almond milk in a nut milk bag (fine-mesh strainer, or several layers of cheese cloth). Twist the bag tight and squeeze the almond milk out of the pulp. 6. Refrigerate the almond milk and use within 4- to 7-days. 7. The pulp can be used "raw" in recipes (you can find many on-line -- I make a granola-like cereal, crackers, etc.). You can store the raw pulp in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, or freezer, until needed. To dehydrate it, I place it on the fruit leather sheets, spread in a thin layer. Dehydrate 125- to 135-degrees F. When dry, blend into a fine flour and store in the refrigerator (if using it quickly, or freezer, until needed. -Grainlady

Great information already posted... Here's an expanded version. Flour 101- -The more protein, the lighter the yeast bread - up to a point. Too much protein (gluten) will make bread tough, which is why commercial flour is a combination of protein levels so that it has an average amount correct for different baking needs. -There are two types of protein that make up the gluten group - glutenins and gliadins. This is what we generally call "gluten". Glutenins provide the elastic quality that allows bread dough to expand. Gliadins play a secondary roll by contributing to the viscosity and extensibility of bread dough. -Although durum wheat has the highest amount of protein of all wheat types, the main protein in durum wheat is gliadin, which makes it excellent for pasta, not bread, because of the viscosity and extensibility. This is the type of wheat I use for wholegrain pasta. -Bread flour is highest in the protein glutenins (great for yeast breads), milled from hard wheat varieties. -All-purpose flour is a mixture of hard and soft wheat so that it fits a protein profile that suits "all-purposes" for general baking. A little too much protein for really fine cakes, a little less protein than needed for really good bread. A middle-of-the-road flour. (Source: CookWise by Shirley O. Corriher) Percentage of protein.... Durum wheat - 13-13.5% protein - used for pasta Bread flour - 11.5-12.5% - use for yeast breads, pasta, pizza Northern unbleached all-purpose flour (King Arthur) - 11.7% - use for yeast breads, cream puffs, puff pastry, pasta, pizza Northern all-purpose flour (Robin Hood, Hecker's)- 11.7% - 11-12% - use for yeast breads, cream puffs, puff pastry National brand unbleached all-purpose flour (Gold Medal, Pillsbury) - 10-12% - yeast breads, cream puffs National brand bleached all-purpose flour (Gold Medal, Pillsbury) - 9.5-12% - biscuits, quick breads, muffins Bleached Southern all-purpose flour (White Lily, Martha White, Gladiola, Red Band) - 7.5-9.5% - Pie crusts, biscuits, quick breads, muffins Cake flour - 7.5-8.5% - Cakes, quick breads, muffins, pancakes ------------------------ Whole grain flour can have as much or more gluten than commercial flours. I'm using hard white winter wheat that has 13.1% protein - excellent for yeast breads. I've worked with wheat that had 16% protein levels. It takes more kneading to develop the gluten in high-protein wheat varieties and you won't get as tender a crumb as you do with lower protein levels. I also mill soft wheat for pastry, biscuits, cakes, quick breads; or mixtures of low-gluten flour (spelt) and hard wheat to make "all-purpose" protein levels when I need lower-gluten flour (cookies, quick breads, etc.). For low-gluten "cake" flour, I use a 3:1 mixture of soft white wheat and oats (or spelt) for fine cakes like chiffon or angel food. -Grainlady