how wet would you say your dough was? difficult to work with? i have read that in order to get nice, open crumb like youve got you need a moist, slack dough? you think youre better off mixing/needing with a machine?
The slacker the dough, the better the results I've found.
I don't recall exactly how slack this one was, but this weekend I made a couple of loaves with a dough that was insanely slack. Using the standmixer helps because it would have been too slack to knead by hand. Then, instead of punching down while it is rising, I folded it a couple of times (like an letter), which develops the gluten better than punching down does. For final shaping, I had to cover my hands with flour just to touch it, but the result was a beautiful, open crumb.
I did about 5 minutes at the max temperature my oven goes (550, I think). Then I turned it down to 450 or so and baked it for... about 25 minutes, I think? I don't recall the time exactly, but I used an instant-read thermometer (which, if you don't have one, I highly recommend buying) to make sure the temperature in the center of the loaf was over 200 degrees. Anything less than that and, yeah, the crumb is gummy and kind of nasty.
Couple of ideas here
I think you need to knead this a bit more than you did here as the crumb isn't that well developed in all the parts of your loaf
Second, retard the rise. Give it 8 hours in the fridge at least and I think that you will like the results
how wet would you say your
how wet would you say your dough was? difficult to work with? i have read that in order to get nice, open crumb like youve got you need a moist, slack dough? you think youre better off mixing/needing with a machine?
The slacker the better
The slacker the dough, the better the results I've found.
I don't recall exactly how slack this one was, but this weekend I made a couple of loaves with a dough that was insanely slack. Using the standmixer helps because it would have been too slack to knead by hand. Then, instead of punching down while it is rising, I folded it a couple of times (like an letter), which develops the gluten better than punching down does. For final shaping, I had to cover my hands with flour just to touch it, but the result was a beautiful, open crumb.
Good luck!
guess i'd better start the
guess i'd better start the hunt for an instant read thermometer, or i'll have to be eating 'gum' for a few more times.. :P
the crumb and color looks
the crumb and color looks nice..
May i ask how long did u bake it at what temp? :)
Becoz mine always comes out with the crumb a bit too moist/gummy
french bread baking time
I did about 5 minutes at the max temperature my oven goes (550, I think). Then I turned it down to 450 or so and baked it for... about 25 minutes, I think? I don't recall the time exactly, but I used an instant-read thermometer (which, if you don't have one, I highly recommend buying) to make sure the temperature in the center of the loaf was over 200 degrees. Anything less than that and, yeah, the crumb is gummy and kind of nasty.