The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Pain Poilane (BBA) about to go into the oven

maawallace's picture
maawallace

Pain Poilane (BBA) about to go into the oven

I'm new here, and I thought i'd have my first loaf posted be a massive four pound behemoth. I let it retard for too long in the fridge, so I'm kind of nervous.

I'll post pics tomorrow!

Matt

gaaarp's picture
gaaarp

Great place to start!  I made one of those, and even took a tribute picture to Peter Reinhart:

Can't wait to hear how yours comes out and see photos!!

johnster's picture
johnster

I'd like to try the Pain Poilane, myself, once my barm is up to the task.  How did you manage the "sifted whole wheat flour" that the recipe calls for?  

 

Phyl, another good picture!  Well done.

 

Matt, how did yours come out?

 

John

 

 

gaaarp's picture
gaaarp

Thanks, John.  It was certainly an adventure.

I don't have BBA in front of me at the moment, but there was a substitute suggested, I think it was a mix of bread and WW flours.  I just used that.

johnster's picture
johnster

Working from home has a few advantages, one of them being that BBA is just down the hall!  The suggested swap is 50/50.  Ok, you used that.

 

Were you pleased with the outcome?  I've been experimenting with working more whole grains into our breads, and this one looks very nice, (I especially like the loaf's history in that is intended for feed a family for a week) but it's an awfully big loaf to bake if it turns out that I don't like it!

 

John

gaaarp's picture
gaaarp

John, sure it's a big loaf, but it's only flour, water, salt, and time, right?  The crumb came out a bit dense, but that was likely due to operator error (I think I should have given it more time to proof).  It tasted great, though.  I might try it again one of these days, now that I have a bit more experience with sourdough under my belt.

maawallace's picture
maawallace

I haven't cut into it yet, as I was finishing another loaf. I'm going to cut into the monster tonight. I scored one of my # cuts a little too deeply, and the bread decided to blow out a little on me there.

For the flour, I used 50% WW and 50% KA bread flour. My solid starter was 100% WW. My barm was exactly as it is in BBA, but mine didn't seem quite as active as it should have been.

I'll try to post pics tomorrow.

johnster's picture
johnster

That loaf is DEFINITELY on my hit list.  Along with a nice desem....I didn't build this sourdough starter for naught!  

 

Looking forward to your pictures,

 

John