Living in a sub tropical environment is an interesting experience in the summer months.

It sounds so innocent doesn’t it?  Sub tropical.  Kinda vacation-y like, with coconut drinks and meat grilling on spits.

Ballz ass.

Spiked coconuts aside, actually living and cooking in one presents a unique set of challenges.  Pasta dough turns to shitty goop, and is virtually impossible to put through any type of shaper, let alone just roll out and love on.  Still working on that one.

But!  What loves 88% humidity and 90˚ temps??

Anyone?

Bread.  Luscious, luscious bread.

The Baker has been trying to perfect a sandwich bread, something a little softer in the middle but without the intense closed crumb of a brioche.  Actual recipe tweaks aside (melted butter and working with sponges), we realized that the magical land of “outside” is not just a sweatbox.

It’s a free, all-purpose proof box.

That’s no moon, it’s a space station.  Heh.

Any yeast doughs we put outside to rise just explode, it is wicked awesome.

Of course this little trick will only work until September, but hey.

Sometimes you have to use the environment you’re in to your advantage.