April 22, 2014 - 8:37am
Loaf shape
It seems everyone's ideal sourdough loaf comes in the form of a boule (like on the front page of this site). With boules, are you all making sandwiches or anything with the bread or just eating the bread "naked?" Like I'm a sandwich lover...and I enjoy regular sized loaf bread. So I make all of my bread (except baguettes) in a loaf pan. With the exception of a lighter crust, are there any other things I'm missing out on? (in other words, why boules over standard loaf shape?)
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I think there's both a predilection towards hearth style loaves, since they're more the archtypical bread of the artisan bread movement, and a lot of us like using dutch ovens for steaming, which encourages the round shape specifically.
Also, I'm fine with making sandwiches out of slices of a boule, though I recognize that many people do prefer greater uniformity in that case.
I think more people make loaf-pan bread than we'll ever know, but there is nothing special in appearance to a loaf-pan bread, so we never photograph those. Just to let you know, a very large majority of the bread I make is in a loaf pan, so it is easier to slice up for sandwiches. It is very rare indeed that I make any other shape, unless you count pizza!
For me it's definitely because of the quality of crust you get baking in a dutch oven, so I make mostly boules. And I do use them for panini all the time. Basically the center gets sandwiched and the edges get eaten as snacks, or turned into breadcrumbs, stuffing, bread pudding, etc..
I agree it is a matter of preference, or taste. BTW, a good way to slice a boule is:
1/ make two small slices at right angles to each other.
2/ make every other slice from these two.
This way the slices will be more equal in size than if you took each slice from the original cut.
Ford
P.S. I make most of my bread in a loaf pan, also.
(not eating the bread in a sandwich) is also an experience worth trying. A wedge of bread tastes different at the thinly tapered end as compared to the thicker crusty end.
Do you like to bite and savour the pointed tapered end before dunking? Fortunately any shaped loaf lends itself to creative slicing.
Yes, dunking bread in almost anything (olive oil, barbecue sauce, etc) or spreading something like honey butter is soooooooo good, but I'm liable to eat the whole loaf in a single sitting doing that :)
Thanks for the perspectives, as always, everyone!! :)
I am a sucker for a crusty loaf, therefore I prefer hearth breads to sandwich loaves. If you want a crusty, more sandwich-friendly bread, why don't you shape it into an oval loaf (bâtard)?
My favorite sandwich place in Portland, ME, "The Works" makes all their sandwiches from bâtard shaped hearth breads. Except for the butts, the slices have all the same size.
Karin
Struan, shaped as bâtard
...good idea on batards...I think I'm just stuck in my ways & have trouble thinking about eating a sandwich that's in any other shape but square/rectangular :) On your advice, though, I'll throw a loaf on the stone later this week & see how it comes out. Speaking of which, offhand, I have a 13" fairly thin (~1/2", maybe a little less) baking stone (which I use on my kamado grill & haven't used in oven). Any idea how long it would it would take to get up to temperature (in this case, I'll be aiming for 425 degrees)? Thanks again!
My baking "stone" is a rack lined with unglazed terracotta tiles. They are also thinner than regular baking stones, and heat pretty fast, 25 - 30 minutes.