September 21, 2009 - 4:44pm
Peter Reinharts Sicilian Bread
I tried this bread around four times, 2nd time the bread had amazing flavor.. this time it was good, had a good crust but not the color I want. It thought I wasn't baking it enough but the bread just started to get browner and it didn't come out the way in Reinharts photo of it.
I'm using a electric oven, with stone but its a thin one and using steam. their was a good crust on the bread but the color and texture wasn't there.. there are alittle spots on the final dough.. could the dough be too dry?
I'm having trouble getting my breads to look like in the pictures. don't worry about the S shape he does, the dough kept sticking to the pan that I use to slide it on the stone.
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Hello,
Where is your stone in the oven, or your steam pan, and is the bottom of the loaf browned nicely?
I have made this recipe several times with good results. I have generally used up to 1/3-1/2 of the flour as semolina, usually added to the pre-ferment. The setup I use is putting the stone on the lowest shelf, and my steam pan on the highest. This protects the loaves from uneven and overcooking by direct radiation from either the top or bottom elements. For easy sliding, I would try using parchment under the loaf, it works wonders. Hope this helps...
The stone is in the middle rack and the steam pan is on the bottom.. I noticed that some on this forum say they use la clouches to get the wood burning effect and texture..
Hi there.
Have you tried this bread again since this loaf? I think Reinhart's book suggests baking the Pane Siciliano on parchment on a baking sheet. That might help you as you wouldn't have to transfer your loaf at all. Just shape on the parchment, proof and bake.
My first attempt at this turned out pretty good and made awesome breadsticks too.
the BBA Pain Siciliano recipe is one of my favorites. I use my leftover pizza dough as the biga. I do my final shaping and overnight proofing on parchment and have fantastic results. This is one bread I do not give away lightly, you almost have to be related to me to get a fresh loaf from me.