To start, I swear by my equipment and cannot bake a good artisan loaf without these.  They are well worth the investment.  1) La Cloche (Can buy through King Arthur Flour) 2) High Gluten Flour (A good source is Honeyvillie Flour - Artisan Flour - they mail order and it is very inexpensive in a 50 pound bag).  3) Dough rising bucket - mine's from King Arthur) 4) a really good starter that has been maintained (I bought mine originally from King Arthur - but I also have a home grown version that works just as well).

I have been baking larger (2# ) loaves of rustic Italian formula free form recently. I decided to double the mix and drag out the large linen basket and try one more time to get the proofing right. Usually I over proof and the dough falls with a thud as I approach the slashing table with bare blades. I have been following Mariana's procedure for crusty Italian and my handling of the dough has been more on the gentle side with a strict 1 hour limit on the bulk ferment.

I baked this very large, rustic Italian loaf (pagnotta) a couple weeks ago from Daniel Leader’s wonderful new book, Local Breads, page 197.  He states that it is to bake until almost black or charred for the most authentic loaf.  I didn’t go quite that far but you can see it developed a lot of color which I always prefer in my loaves.

I'm posting this recipe for discussion as we have been talking about it on the Glezer firm starter thread.  I have made this bread often with variations because I did not have the high-extraction flour yet.  I recently purchased the Golden Buffalo flour from Heartland Mill in Kansas and it was superb.  I didn’t take photos of those so will next time I make it.

If you saw my previous picture, you know my starter is alive and well! It's escape attempt was so inspiring I decided to bake, even though it's been in the 80's and disgustingly humid lately.

I ended up producing two of the most beautiful loaves I've ever made. Great oven spring, good hard crust with those bubbles and blisters I've been trying to duplicate since visiting Boudin Bakery in San Francisco.

I think it was Susan that begged for bubbles. :>) Well here it is! My basic SD bread formula slashed with custom sharpened cookie cutters!

Eric

My daily bread,

I wrote an entry into my new blog today which I plan on continuing. I thought I would post this so Susan doesn't think I can only bake pale boules compared to some of the magnificient images I have seen here. I tend to find a way to bake 3-4 times a week now that I have the work flow figured out. So, if you have an interest in seeing more of "My Daily Bread", check it out.

Eric