Back at it - trying to take my bread to the next level
One of my life's goals is to make awesome bread. I recently watched "Cooked" on Netflix and was inspired to get a SD starter going again. I took down Nancy Silvertons' book from the shelf and set out. Starter caught just fine, even had a blowout on the day I started baking! That stuff is hard to clean up.
Anyway, here's my notes from baking the "starter loaf", a basic white bread.
Day 1: Room temp: 67*, so I used 76* water. Wasn't able to get the dough above about 75* after kneading by hand, and the dough was slightly more than tacky. (I tend to add too much flour, so I was trying to avoid that)
To proof, I set my oven to "bread proof", which heats it to 100*. I didn't let it heat up all the way, put my dough in and turned the oven off. 3hrs.
Added salt, as per the directions, and kneaded again. Dough seemed "wet" after I got it out on the counter. I divided the dough (came out to 1 lb 15 oz each) and put it into a floured banneton, floured the top, and covered with plastic wrap. Should have floured the sides more... Those went back into the barely heated oven for an hour. From there, directly into the top shelf of the fridge at 5:30pm.
Day 2: Got up at 6:30 and took them out of the fridge, took off the plastic wrap and let them warm up for ~3 hrs. Book says to wait until they get to 62* and don't spring back when pushed. I don't feel like that ever happened... I waited another hour, checking the temp along the way, and moved them into the sun to try and force the issue.
Had the oven going already, 500*. Sprayed the stone, waited... put the loaf in, sprayed twice in 5 minutes, then lowered the temp to 450* for 20 mins. Rotated, 20 more mins. Pretty much the same thing with the other loaf... Below is the result.
The crust didn't break through the docking I had done... too much water sprayed in? Dough overproofed?
When I got the bread out of the banneton, it flattened out. Should have floured it more... But then during the bake it did this:
It inflated like a beach ball! Is that normal? Again, it seems like the outer skin of the dough was too tough/dry?
In the end though, here's the interior.
A little dense, but pretty good flavor. Not very sour, but it's a young starter so I wasn't expecting much.
So, to sum up - not a bad attempt, but I'm looking to take things to the next level. What should I have done differently?
This is my first post here and am looking forward to being involved in what seems like a great, helpful community. I'll be reading all of your posts to learn more - looking forward to reading your comments and maybe this will help others!
Mike
I'm not sure what you're asking. Do you have a specific complaint you would like the group to address?
Out of curiosity, what is your dough hydration?
Wondering hydration level myself. I use 80. I would also cook straight from the fridge because cold dough won't stick to bare bannetons as much as warmer dough.
This is just my guess as to why your crust didn't "break through". Go to the search box and look for different steaming methods, or use a Dutch Oven, or cover your bread in some manner during the first part of the bake. Other than that, congratulations, that's a nice looking loaf.
Thanks for the responses. Looking back, I guess I wasn't as clear as I thought about what I was asking for... I'm asking why I didn't get the "break through" that AnotherLoaf talked about. I'm wondering if I did anything... out of the ordinary? Another thing I didn't think of was the smell - my bread always seems to smell... flour-y? I'm not sure how to describe it other than it makes all my breads smell and taste the same - regardless of type. I want it to look and smell first-class.
I'm not sure how to derive the hydration, but I'll give it a go:
12oz starter (this was about? 100%)
2lbs 2oz flour
1lb 2oz water
So that means 40oz flour : 24oz water?
so that is 24 x 100 / 40 = 60%? Did I do that right?
Yes, that's right. Your bread got great oven spring and it doesn't look over-proved. My guess is that you didn't get the split you wanted because there wasn't enough steam.
I didn't steam much this time; I was thinking I was over-steaming with past loaves and though that might have toughened the skin. I've been reading up on steam threads here - who knew there was this much debate about it!
before it was deflated, salted, kneaded and shaped? It looks to me like it could have used a short rise, a rest after kneading and before shaping; adding a cooling down and second deflate before chilling, skipping the hour in the proofer.
I also think you meant slashing instead of docking. Docking might have poked the large gas bubbles inside before the bake, and I can't find docking hole marks in any of the pictures.
The slashes could have been grander, might have given the opening up you were hoping for. It could also be that the bannetons were especially dry from the long pause and dried out the dough skin more than regularly used bannetons. The following loaves (next bake) could be identical in recipe and method and come out different, perhaps with more stretch during the bake. Something more to think about. Don't change more than one variable for the next bake.
I had the dough in a 6-qt bowl, and it had risen fairly near the top. I deflated it pretty thoroughly and let it rest for maybe 20 minutes? before proceeding.
And you're right - I did mean slashing. I'm still trying to get a handle on just how deep to make the cuts and I think my old lame might just need sharpening a bit. I'll try a sharper knife next time.
That's interesting about the bannetons being dry - I'm sure they are. Should I mist the outsides maybe?
Naw, misting the outside might not do anything, Those big bubbles do need popping before baking, I zoomed in on the crumb and it looks pretty good. You could try shaping tighter with less warm up time after retarding. either before or after (or both) before baking.
My instincts tell me the loaf was shaped too soon and the slow rise too long. That's how the big bubbles got int there. Breaking them up or preventing them is key. You might also consider leaving everything the same and only turn down the temp on the proofer.
There are lots of things that could be different but if you want to know for sure, change only one variable at a time and take notes. :)
a plant by a bag of decorative lava rocks. Get an old 9x13 baking pan (I use 2 smaller ones) pans. Fill the pans wil lava rock and then half way full of water. When the oven hits the preheat temperature the stone is still 15 minutes behind the oven temperature but that is when you put the pan of lava rocks and water in on the rack below the stone. You will have to raise yo r stone a level to fit it in. 15 minutes later yur stone will be at temperature adn yu will have billowing steam.
When you load the dough make sure you do not put your face near the door of the oven as you open it or you will steam burn yourself beyond recognition - let the steam escape and then load the bread on the stone. Steam for 15 minutes then remove the steam from the oven. and continue baking until done. Your bread will be blistered and shiny and that beautiful brown color we look for.
The weird brown color and the non shine of your bread is the hallmark of a bread that was not steamed properly at the beginning during spring and bloom.
Happy baking
What do the rocks provide, the way you described it above? Cold rocks and water in 15 minutes before the bread goes in?
Interested in trying this method though - looks easier than what I am doing. Thanks!