April 9, 2015 - 10:57pm
Have I FINALLY achieved an ear?
Part of todays's bake was Forkish's white bread with poolish. No dramas at all untill final shape, proof and slash. Suddenly realised I had too much dough for my banneton, panic!! used my loaf tins with a floured teatowel instead. When I tipped it out, it spread out like larva, panic again! quick, quick slash and into the oven. almost a disaster loading but pushed a bit and all fine and so just waited for another "ciabatta" type loaf. but no, must have done something right as oven spring was fine (i think) and...... did I finally get an ear? crumb is good so quite happy with bake. Potato water Sd and multigrain sd proofing in fridge and I will. bake them in the morning.
crumb shot below.
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Congratulations! Very pretty loaves. :)
Hubby is looking over my shoulder and said he wants some, just like yours. (Wait till he finds out I have only einkorn and rye flour...) Does seem like it's that time of the year for white bread. Time to go shopping for flour!
yeah, my hubby wanted bread for "kaffee moecke" and sourdough isnt as nice for that. I haven't tried einkorn yet but will one day. Rye is on the list for we we get home again after our up coming trip to Switzerland (among other places) to see family. I am just using up everything in the pantry for now.
happy baking!
Very well done!
Those would be great loaves without an ear... but you got that too! Well done.
Well done all the way around.
Happy Baking
I too found getting ears very difficult. I was baking tasty bread long before I got my first ear. I kept playing with different docking/scoring tools and the angle I used to dock them. But now... Years later I've learned that getting good ears is a 4 step process.
1. Final shaping. You must close all of the seams tightly. You must get lots of tension on the outer skin of your loaf.
2. Final proofing. Both under proofed dough and over proofed dough can have negative effects on getting those pretty ears. Go on youtube and study proofing. How much your loaf should be allowed to rise and what to look for when it is ready to bake. The poke test is very good.
3. Docking/scoring technique. The depth of your cut and the angle of the cut is important. Again study that on YouTube.
4. Getting steam on your loaf for the first half of the baking time is critical. The steam will keep the skin of your loaf soft and pliable and allow the maximum overspring. The amount of oven spring your loaf archives will dictate how pronounced your ears are.
So... If your final shaping leaves an escape route other than your docking cuts... The steam will escape elsewhere, no ears.
Over and under proofed dough... Will not achieve maximum oven spring, no ears.
Docking... Dough cut at the wrong angle will just stretch out with the loaf, no ears.
No steam... The outer skin will become hard during the oven spring process which will not allow it to open up, no ears.
Ears... Are an art form that can only be achieved by perfecting all 4 steps. It's hard to learn but after you figure it out, it's really pretty easy.
Some of my loaves...
your comments are really helpful - on my next bake I will modify a few things and see if I can get there. mind you - will have to do some study first as you suggest. SD bread has become quite an addiction!
Breadhead's are obsessive geeks that have the passion to conquer the science and technique's required to create sheer beauty out of flour, water, yeast and salt.
I bake bread to create beauty with my hands, not so much to eat quality bread, that part is just a benefit of my need to master something has been done for 1000's of years.
I baked my first loaf of bread when I was 58 years old and retired. I had the time and desire to study. I baked a loaf of bread a day for over a year, just to continue learning.
I have another addiction too... BBQ, real BBQ, not grilling. It's very similar to baking bread. Baking a quality loaf of delayed fermentation sourdough bread takes about the same amount of time as smoking a pork butt... About 16 hours. Neither requires much work but both require great technique, good planning and lots of waiting for things to happen.
Do yourself a favor and learn the bakers percentage system. It will up your bread game substantially. You will understand bread in a different way. You are no longer a slave to a published recipe. Sourdough recipes are ALL the same anyway... With slight differences in water, salt and flour percentages.
Watching this video was a MAJOR game changer in my bread baking hobbie.
http://www.stellaculinary.com/podcasts/video/what-is-the-bakers-percentage-video