February 26, 2016 - 4:48am
Shall I do egg wash, sprinkling of seeds and scoring altogether after loading into a preheated dutch oven
dear all,
I would like to have my dough washed with egg yolk, with seeds or other stuff sprinkled and also some scoring patterns on the top. If I load the dough to a preheated dutch oven, I wonder if I can do these three things together after it's loaded. Because it should take me at least 5 - 8 minutes to finish these three things and I worry about the loss of hydration during this relatively long time frame.
Or alternatively, If I do it before loading the dough, say, on top of a cool surface, can I just hold the dough with my hands and drop it into the preheated dutch oven, without hurting the CO2 bubbles inside the dough? I dont feel like using any parchment paper.
Any advice? thanks!
liming
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rolling the top of the loaf in seeds after shaping and before the final proof. When ready, drop into the DO (or invert it and just put the dough on the lid) brush on the wash quickly to shine up the seeds and slash away, cover and bake.
thanks Minoven, that's a good idea! and that makes me wonder if it's ok to do egg wash and seeds topping before final shaping and proofing? the seeds will get stuck onto the egg wash.
thanks
Liming
A lot depends on whether the dough is upside down or not. If right side up, go ahead. But after shaping not before, right?
For final rising, I line my mixing bowls for each unbaked loaf with parchment paper, then use the paper as a sling to move them risen into the hot DO's. I no longer get burned by the hot DO's.
To improve the likelihood of seeds sticking to the risen loaf, before the transfer I spray each loaf with water, let that sprayed loaf sit for a minute, then do the sprinkling. The seeds stick well and I think I loose fewer of them in the bargain. Instead of the water spray you could brush the loaves with egg wash.
thanks richkaimd, I will try the paper sling method.
liming
hi richkaimd,
I've just tried to transport and load the dough using a parchment paper as a sling. The outcome is not good however. the dough gets stuck onto the parchment paper and had to very slowly drop off the paper under gravity force. I was worried that some air bubbles might be lost.
Can I just grab the dough by hand and transport it and drop it into the dutch oven?
liming
1.) The bulk rising of my slack dough breads happens in a large bowl. Once it has doubled, I carefully scrape it out onto a very well floured countertop where I divide it in half.
2.) I then pull each half into a ball, taking care not to degas it. I certainly aim to maintain its light and fluffy consistency. I then carefully place each ball, which at this point is well covered with at least a light coating of flour, into a bowl lined with parchment paper.
3.) When my DO (which I don't bother greasing with any fat) reaches 500 degrees F, I remove it from the oven, close the oven door so as not to lose too much heat, uncover the DO, pick up the dough using the parchment paper as a sling, lower it carefully into the DO, replace the cover, and put the DO into the oven, setting the timer for 30 minutes. After those 30 minutes are up, I remove the cover, close the oven door, lower the oven temp to 450, and set the timer to 25 minutes.
4.) At this time, I take the DO out, and tip it to get the bread out. I then pull off the parchment paper which sometimes sticks a little to the bottom crust.
5.) I then cool the loaf on a rack until it's a room temp.
Note: All of what I've said presumes you are baking a sourdough bread with 70% hydration. Such a dough is easier to manipulate, if, after it's doubled, you can refrigerate it for at least overnight before removing from the first bowl. And of course, remember not to degas it as you scrape it out of its bulk rising container onto the well-floured counter.
If this isn't clear, just tell me what you more you want to know about my way of doing things.
thanks, I think making sure that the dough is lightly floured is important. I didnt do that.
liming