The Fresh Loaf

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One loaf in the oven, the other still on the counter

beaker606's picture
beaker606

One loaf in the oven, the other still on the counter

Ok, so, let's get the brief intro out of the way:  41 year old dad & husband who started baking bread in May despite supposedly being on a low carb diet, been lurking around here picking up a lot of good info, and feeling a bit nervous of putting my question out there. Whew.

My (round) stone is a fine size for pizza, but I have a hard time getting two batons or boules to fit on it  and not have the loaves bump and grind during the oven spring.  I'd like to do it one at a time, but don't know what to do with the raw loaf while his brother is baking.  Do I need to retard it? Just let it be and stop worrying about it?

 

Kevin

 

 

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

In short, see if you can find a cooler location somewhere in the house for the second loaf to proof. This has been working reasonably well  for me lately. Actually quite well. My basement is about 12 - 15 degrees cooler than the kitchen right now, so actually, all the proofing is done there. I just bring the first loaf up a little sooner, to finish proofing in the warmer kitchen.

Otherwise, through experimentation, you might try refrigerating the second loaf, or the dough for the second loaf, a short period of time.

GregS's picture
GregS

One of my favorite sourdough recipes involves an overnight retardation. When you're ready to go the next day, just take one loaf out 30 minutes before the second one so it will be ready about when the first one comes out.

kristakoets's picture
kristakoets

Is your oven big enough to bake both together? If so, consider purchasing some Dough Joe's baking tiles. You can get them on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dough-Joe-Pizza-Baking-and-Grilling-Stone-/190560640303?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5e4c9d2f

 or direct and they also sell slightly damaged tiles for about half the cost. I purchased two sets and had my husband trim them to fit snugly in the oven...now I can use the whole rack surface to bake up to 3 1.5# boules. Worth every penny!

Otherwise, I agree with GregS...I usually retard overnight and just pull one out at a time to bake....if I am not retarding and need to hold one or more loaves, I simply stash them in the frig until the oven is ready :-)

cheers!

~Krista

beaker606's picture
beaker606

I liked the idea of finding a place in the house a little cooler and there is right in the kitchen itself.  There's an AC vent that comes out underneath the bottom cupboards making that corner noticeably colder than the rest of the kitchen. So one loaf on the counter above it and the other on top of the fridge and the timing was near perfect!

 

Kevin

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

Glad to help. Good you were able to find a solution.