I have enough dough for 4 loaves.

I only have 2 round bannetons (which I've never used, though they've made pretty wall decor, oy!)

And the bigger kicker, I only have one baking stone and oven.

How in the world do you juggle multiple loaves like this? I'm doing the first rise now. Once that's done, I'm guessing I'm going to stick half the dough back into the fridge, unshaped, then shape two boules in the bannetons and stick one banneton back in the fridge. Wait about 20 minutes or so while the first loaf rises, then pull it out so that it has time to rise while the first one is cooking.

I suppose the worst is that I have to turn my oven off rather than waste electricity while waiting for bread to rise after coming out of the fridge and taking longer. On the other hand, it's nearly 80F in my apartment. I might not have long to wait.

i have been baking loaves out of BBA for a couple months now with good to very good results. i have one question which i haven't been able to figure out, and would appreciate thoughts on. sometimes reinhart says to mix up the dough and then stick it in the fridge overnight, and then let it rise, shape, proof & bake the next day. for instance, i believe his poolish baguette formula is like this.

on the other hand, sometimes he says to mix up the dough, let it bulk ferment & shape it, then stick it in the fridge, baking it the following day. for instance, the pane siciliano is like this.

my question is: does it matter when in the process you retard the dough? i have followed his recipes fairly closely, but i'd prefer to put the dough in the fridge immediately after mixing. it takes up less space, and i've also found that when i let my shaped doughs sit for any length of time, they spread out and become pretty flat w/o too much oven spring. (most of the doughs i make are wettish.)

i assume there is some kind of difference to doing it one way or the other, since reinhart is specific about it. but i'm not sure what the difference is, or how much of a difference it makes. i tried searching the forums, my apologies if this has been discussed and i missed it.

if it makes any difference, i tend to make all my loaves with a 100% hydration sourdough starter + a little bit of commercial yeast (usu. 1/4 tsp or so).

Hello,

I'm trying to make my second rye starter. The first one is a big lump in the refrigerator waiting to see the bottom of the trash can.  With the second start I have going, I should be ready to start Phase 4 according to my recipe but the starter does not look like what the description in the recipe tells me it should look like.  Through the glass bowl I can see it is bubbling on the bottom but it has not doubled in size.  Should I go on to Phase 4 or wait another day?

I've been using all rye flour and pineapple juice.  My recipe is from Peter Reinhart"s ARTISAN BREADS EVERY DAY.

Thanks for your suggestions,

Kathleen

'Just tried to do a sourdough loaf with presoak and had it end up /very/ doughy. I've been learning for a few weeks now because most commercially-available breads are absolute garbage health-wise, and the good stuff (from the farmers' market or frozen at the natural foods -stores) runs a good $6-per loaf. I'm determined to learn and not afraid of making mistakes (as you'll soon learn.)

Anyway, trial went something like:

(36-hour 65°F to 70°F) presoak :
3c Bob's Red Mill Unbromated unbleached white
1/2c Hungarian high-altitude whole-wheat
1/4c whole-wheat germ
1 3/4 c low-fat buttermilk
1/2c low-fat yogurt

(12-hour 75°F) poolish :
1/16t Rapunzel Rize active dry yeast
1 1/2 c of presoak taken at its 24-hour mark

(20-min) proof :
poolish
2 1/2 T white granulated sugar (kneaded in)

final dough :
1/2t salt
2T cornstarch
15-minute knead
45-minute warmed rise
1T cornstarch
10-minute knead and frissage
1-minute stretch and fold
50-minute warmed rise

actual loaf :
30-minute preheated bake at 375 degrees F

Obviously I did a ton of things wrong. Mostly factors of timing, I felt. The reason I didn't do at least two more rises and a rest-period was because I was trying to get this ready for someone so they could have a few slices before they headed overseas for a few weeks. The dough itself had turned out well with quite a sharpness to it. The slices from the loaf were alright after being toasted for a bit. The crust turned out brown and very thin on top, and a bit thicker and paler on the bottom (like "German light rye" if you've ever been so lucky to've had it) and completely gorgeous; the dough had been too wet to really slash as it was going in, but it browned and split just slightly on its own during the bake. I'm kicking myself presently for not having taken a few photos.

So, since I'm not an optimist, but a utilitarian, I figure I can use the experience, and pose a few of the questions I came up with as the process went on. Questions follow:

Afterwards (after having sliced off maybe 1/5 of the shallow dome-shaped loaf) I lowered the oven-temperature to 200°F or 250°F and tried putting the bread back in for an hour or so but to no avail as the next slice came off close-to-as-doughy as the previous. I ended up cutting the whole thing into slices after that and leaving them in for maybe an hour after upping again to 300°F.
Q - Is there a reason bread seems to utterly refuse to bake after it's been sliced once?

Next... I know I could do a poolish simultaneously with the soak, but it occured to me...
Q - Is there such a thing as bread that's made entirely from poolish, or would such a loaf fall, or otherwise fail during baking?

I used cornstarch instead of normal flour during knreading because I wanted to minimize phytates that I'd get from adding dry flour back into the soaked mix.
Q - Do folks just use white flour to minimize phytates (because AP-flour generally doesn't have tons), or is there another flour (like potato-flour, or cornflour) or thing (like cornmeal) that is used for that?

Generally I end up with /very/ hydrated flour starting into adding the final ingredients, and kneading and so-on because I want to make sure everything's properly damp so my culture or acidic base can do its thing properly. Like I said, as I worked with the dough it was /very/ wet.
Q - Is there a standard method for adjusting for dough-hydration on the fly (keeping the above concerns about phytic acid in-mind)?
    Q - Will most doughs rise properly if not kept covered in order to help lower their moisture-content?
    Q - Should I just try sprouting my grains instead if I'm so paranoid about this stuff?

Finally, and you won't be quoted on this...
Q - Would a loaf with this amount of hydration ever rise and bake correctly?

After 1 year from the birth of our son I have returned to baking bread. The steam thing for crust and rise has never worked for me with certainty, and my wife thinks that it is a bit overly dramatic to have plumes of steam in the kitchen. So, I started to get the outer surface of the loaf really wet and every 5 min(for the first 15-20 until starts rising) remove the loaf and re-wet. All this from a cold start.

A child has been a phenomenal aid to the motivation of time management and systematic trial and error.  For those visual learners out there, I would like to share this side by side comparison below.

It seems that the loaf did not quite double. As can be seen by the rip at the upper left, it could have proofed a while longer, maybe until it showed a more pronounced clearing of the lip of the bread tin. The wetting technique allowed me to get this rise whereas before with steam I could not.

Below are 3 pictures:

1. The first successful sourdough 65% hydration.
   1. Crust was way too thick on the sides from the baking tin(450deg and too long time)

1. Same sided by second loaf same formula(for size and rise comparison).
   1. The first had just crested the lip of the baking tin but expanded to fill the shape of the tin.

1. The second loaf but the horizontal consequence of over proofing.
   1. filled with sharp cheddar and cracked pepper, while a monster to look at, it is to be reckoned with next to a pot of homade chicken soup.

      Strangely the second loaf at 65% hydration, when folding, when overproofed felt more like 85% hydration at mixing.

Merry Breadmas and may this season be full of life to you and your kitchen,

Parousia

I am fairly new to baking, especially yeast breads, so I've joined this forum to meet people with the knowledge and experience to help me become a better baker.  I have taken an intro to baking class at culinary school, but I'm still a total novice at bread.

I plan to make a challah to serve on Monday, 9/29/08 for Rosh Hashanah.  The trouble I'm having is determining when to prep and bake my loaf.  I work all weekend and have an important event on Sunday night.  I have all day Friday, Saturday night (6:30-12:00), and about 1 hour very early Sunday morning free for baking.  If I prep and bake my challah on Friday, will it be good on Monday?  If I proof the dough on Saturday night and retard the shaped loaf in the fridge overnight, can I expect it to be ready to bake on Sunday morning?

I imagine many artisan home bakers nowadays have trouble finding a block of free time long enough to make bread, and I'm wondering how the rest of you manipulate the process to fit into your schedules.

Thank you,

Adam S.

I'm having a fair amount of success baking simple hearth loafs w/poolish but wanted to know if anyone has successfully adapted these recipes for a work-out-of-the-house schedule (ie when is the safest time in the process to refrigerate dough for 8 hours).

I'm at home 6:30-8:30 AM and 6:30-11:00 PM (and then asleep!) What's the best schedule for baking a hearth loaf during these hours?

Here it is Thursday night, you've got your starter refreshed and ready to go. What schedule do the rest of you follow to pull your breads in time for Sunday breakfast?

Mine starts tomorrow, Friday afternoon, when I build my sponges, I work 1/2 days on Sat. so I come home and build my doughs and end up baking till about 12 pm on Sat. Is there a better schedule? maybe starting on Thurs. and retarding overnight on Friday?