French Boules

March 20, 2010 - 1:39am

jennyloh

Pain de Seigle

I made these today with a chef. This recipe was meant to go into a bread machine, which of course, the machine is me. I made this all by hand. I tried 2 things today. 1 was to cover the loaf with a claypot to bake, and another stay in the claypot to bake. Of course it turned out that the one that stayed in the claypot got a nicer crust - golden brown.

But somehow with this formula, the bread didn't rise too much, I might have overproof it - 1 1/2 hours. Went out for supper during that time, by the time I got back, the dough looks more than ready. The one with the claypot covered had a little more rise, as I baked it immediately after I return. Here it is:

The one that goes into the claypot, didn't rise much. Just a little jutting up from the top that I score.

Both were not as crispy as I like....I still do not have baking stone....sigh....I can't find it in China yet....can someone send me one?!.... But the inside is chewy, soft, and the taste is a little more salty - I don't know if this is because of the salt I added or the chef that was quite well fermented....weather was good over here in Shanghai...warming up...

The crumbs are well spread out, not a lot of holes. And the 2 loaves have slightly different taste, somehow the boule turns out to be less salty, why? perhaps I left it overnight in the fridge, it had absorb what ever is in the dough.

I guess I can say this is a pass?...

Jenny

www.foodforthoughts.jlohcook.com

February 26, 2010 - 4:33pm

jennyloh

Pain de Campagne Poilane - Claypot

For the love of bread, I woke up 5 am, with 4 hours of sleep just to see this bread rise and baked. I didn't regret.

Adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads, I tried my hand again on this Pain de Campagne Poilane. In addition, I also tried using a claypot to bake this.

I'm quite satisfied with my results, the crust was crispy, the texture is amazingly soft unlike those others that I tried. I would have liked more holes, but I think what matters is the taste. The taste is good, a little sweetness, if I changed to sourdough, it probably has better effect.

My 3 days experiences are here with recipe: http://sites.google.com/site/jlohcook/home/breadmaking/pain-de-campagne-poilane

By the way - after it cooled, the boule cracked a little and seem to have shrunk. Is that normal?

Read more about Pain de Campagne Poilane - Claypot
jennyloh's blog
4 comments
Log in or register to post comments

Pretty loaves

Forums:

Artisan Baking

If I do say so myself. The first bake of the new year got off to a good start.

We are going to my brother's for dinner tonight and I made these to take with us. I used "my" standard French bread formula but wanted a more dramatic presentation than my normal small rolls.