The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Broken Oven bread

hreik's picture
hreik

Broken Oven bread

Hi All,

My double oven is still not here.  The heating coil on the bottom is way off and cannot be fixed and the door on the upper one is off it's hinge.  I couldn't wait to bake so flew by the seat of my pants in baking a four flour bread: AP, ww, Rye and Durum, w Durum and AP in the levain.  It is a variation of Essential's Columbia.  Very mild.  Did 3 small and 2 larger loaves. 

I had a bit of trouble w Sylvia's steaming method (my fault) and didn't get quite the oven spring as I'd have liked in the larger loaves.  Not bad for a busted oven.

Taste is very mild and not at all sour (my husband's preference) and I sneaked in some good non-AP flours totaling about 45% of the total (levain included).  He liked it... making progress w this Southern boy born and raised on Wonder Bread, yuk... lol. Hope proper oven comes soon.             hester

4 flours

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

How do you manage to bake like that in a broken oven I've no idea. How are you finding the durum flour? The great thing about sourdough is it doesn't have to be sour. With clever manipulation it can be tangy to mild. I must say I do prefer tangy which is what I'm trying to bring out in my breads. But when people hear sourdough they automatically think sour. I tell them it's just the process rather than the flavour it's describing. 

If you can do this in a broken oven I really look forward to when your new one arrives.

Who is Sylvia and what's her steaming method? 

 

hreik's picture
hreik

thermometer for the lower one, but even then the temps are almost random. 

I read here last week about Sylvia's steaming method; http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20162/oven-steaming-my-new-favorite-way  

Tbh it didn't work for me as well as my lava rocks, why I don't know.  And here's a link to someone that uses both. https://www.theperfectloaf.com/?s=steam 
That will be my next trial, hopefully w new oven.

Also, I too prefer a tang.  This last bake was an experiment to see if I could really eliminate the sour.  I can.  But i prefer it.  So I'm going to start baking v small loaves, like the top one in the pic.  So that when I'm tired of eating the bread I make for my husband, I can take out a loaf I made for moi.... w some whole grains/flours and some tang.

Thanks for looking.

hester

hreik's picture
hreik

of mellow and balancing flavor.  But the experts here told me if I was going to use it in a bread w other flours, in order to taste it's presence I'd have to have 20% - 25% of it in the dough.  And someone else, helpfully suggested using it in the levain.  So I did both, lol.  I think it mellows things out and next time might use more retardation and a stronger  rye flour for more balance and subtlety of taste.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

There are breads that have been posted on TFL which use an all durum flour for the levain AND 100% durum for the final mix too - if you want to start approaching those levels of durum in your bread.  

A lot of discussion on this specific bread was bandied about this past Spring on TFL and if you search for it by name, you'll see a whole host of references to, and bakes of it.

I've found that I can use any percentage of durum, right up to 100% with equally successful results.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

2 variations on the Pane di Altamura that I tried and had a lot of success with, and to me a more robust flavor than a 100% everything durum, both sub out the durum levain for a rye levain.  Give these a gander and see whether either might fit your bill.  The first is all durum in the final dough and the second is a 60/40 durum/AP mix.  The first of the two has the formula...

alan

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Hi Hester,

I, and a cadre of others here on TFL, use the same basic method that Maurizio also uses on his Perfect Loaf website.  What I do:

  • The steaming pans are both ultimately sitting below my baking deck and just above the heating element.
  • Roll up a single terry (or tea) towel and place in a Pyrex loaf pan filled halfway with water.  The towel will absorb some of that water over the next few minutes, so I will want to eventually add more hot water to the towel pan.  The pan & towel are heated in the microwave for a few minutes to give it a head start on heating up.  Once you designate a towel for this it will eventually get quite stiff and scorch over time, so don't use your Aunt Tillie's prized hand-me-down for this.
  • Place it in the pre-heated oven ~15 minutes before I intend to load the dough.  This will ensure that it is already producing steam and filling the oven box by the time that I'm ready to bake.
  • The steam will be lost as soon as the oven door is  opened, but the towel will be ready to go right back to work again as soon as the dough is loaded and the door is shut.

Meanwhile

  • A 9"x13" pan filled to the brim with lava rocks is already residing in the oven during the entire pre-heat stage.  One can use river rocks, spare engine parts, old prized silverware, etc.  It doesn't really matter what we use as long as it creates a good thermal mass and causes water to instantly turn to steam - but lava rocks are lightweight, and seem to be quite efficient at the task.
  • Heat up ~2cups of water in a tea kettle so that when poured onto the rocks it is already heated and starts to instantly create billows of steam.
  • Load the dough.
  • Pour the water onto the rocks.
  • Shut the oven door quickly.
  • Set the timer for ~13 minutes of steam.
  • When the timer goes off I determine whether I want to allow the dough a little more time to steam.  And then open the oven door and remove the loaf pan with the towel.  The water in the lava rock pan will have boiled off long before.

At this point I redistribute the loaves by rotating them left to right, front to back.  I find that the baking deck immediately above the lava rock pan is always "cooler" than the other half of the baking deck, and that ovens likely have warmer and cooler spots so I want to ensure that the loaves get equal opportunity to bake with the same heat.

Caveats:

  • Wear oven mitts that cover your wrists.  
  • Keep your face away from the oven box immediately after opening the door - superheated steam is invisible - stay  away from potential nasty incidents.  
  • Cover the interior oven door glass with another dry towel before pouring water onto the rocks.  The glass, even if tempered may just crack if stray water drizzles or spurts on it.  Even boiling water is a few hundred degrees (F) cooler than the door glass.
  • Admire the loaves thorough the oven door while steaming is underway instead of opening the door to peek at your masterpiece.

I don't bother spraying the loaves with water as Maurizio and many others do.  I'd rather not introduce water droplets directly on the surface of the dough.

There are a number of methods that folks do.  This is just what I decided on and, which I find works best (so far) for me. 

It may seem like a lot of "things" to do and be aware of, but after very few bakes, it is just second nature and becomes mechanical.

alan

hreik's picture
hreik

explanation.  I have plenty of lava rocks but won't be able to use any other pan if I use a 9" x 13" one.  Oven not big enough.  I have a cast iron skillet I can use for lava rocks and something else for the towels.  Why does it have to be pryex?  Can I not heat up water in a kettle, pour it over a terry towel in another baking pan and put that in the oven 20 min b/f the bake?  Then when I load the loaves and douse the lava rocks I can add water to the towel pan.  Seems to me it can be anything, not necessarily pyrex

alfanso's picture
alfanso

No absolutes here.  As mentioned, just what I use.  Completely agree with your "seems to me it can be anything".

There are endless ways to skin a cat - or bake a bread!  As I'd mentioned way back, there are plenty of "right" ways and probably plenty of "wrong" ways to do these things too.

And your perfect reply of heating the towel water up on a kettle is a great one.  Whereas I was stuck on the microwave thang, I think your solution is superior.  Thanks.  

And that comes back again to why not do "this" instead of "that" concept.  Hopefully we are all always learning and adjusting.

alan

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Funnily enough bakerbits (a UK based shop) has given a yeasted Altamura bread recipe in this week's promotional email. OK so it's not the traditional sourdough Pane di Altamura but it looks like a good one to try and a nice introduction to a durum flour bread. Here it is...

 

RECIPE: ALTAMURA BREAD

Start midday the day before you want to bake

At lunchtime the day before you want to bake, start preparing your starter leaven using your fresh sourdough starter. Take 30g of your normal starter and mix it with 40g of water and 50g of Sfarinato in a small bowl, cover with a plate and leave to ferment at room temperature until early evening.

Now do a second refresh by repeating the first, this time leaving it overnight at room temperature for 12-13 hours. This then is your 210g Sfarinato starter.

To make the dough, mix the Sfarinato flour with the water and your starter then leave covered for 30 minutes (to autolyse). Next, add the salt and dried yeast.

If you have a mixer, mix on slow speed for 2 minutes until well combined, then for a further 8 minutes on a medium speed until nice and smooth. Place the dough into an oiled bowl and cover and allow to ferment for 3 hours.

To knead by hand, for the next hour, using a wet or oiled hand, give the dough a stretch and fold every 10 minutes. That is, with the dough in the bowl, put your hand down the side of the dough and pull it up and across the bowl, rotate and repeat a couple of times. Keep the bowl covered with a damp tea towel.

Flour your work surface and shape the dough into a boule (round loaf) and allow to rest on the floured worktop for 25 - 30 minutes covered.

Reshape into the boule by turning dough over and gently pull into an irregular boule, taking care not to knock out too much air and place onto a piece of parchment paper – these loaves are not perfectly symmetrical and so don’t go into a proofing basket. Prove for 2 - 3 hours at room temperature until fully proved - you can check this by gently pushing the dough with your index finger. If it feels firm it is under-proved. If it bounces back quickly it still has more to go. When it returns slowly then it is ready to go…If it does not return, but deflates and wrinkles then it is over-proved.

30 minutes before baking preheat the oven and La Cloche to 200°C.

Bake the bread inside the cloche for 25 minutes and then remove the cover and continue to bake for a further 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown.

Test the baking by lifting the loaf and tapping the base which should sound hollow.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.

 

Makes a 1200g loaf
Ingredients:
600g Sfarinato di Grano Duro flour (Durum flour)
440g Water at room temperature
210g Sfarinato di Grano Duro starter (see below)
12g Super-fineHimalayan Salt
1g Bioreal Dried Organic Yeast
(A large pinch)

 

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

Just had a closer look and while it does use yeast this IS a sourdough. Want an all sourdough more authentic Pane di Altamura then skip the added yeast. I don't think it'll make much difference. Adjust accordingly. 

hreik's picture
hreik

I am wiling to try old and known recipes w my busted oven, will wait on any new recipe for my new oven.  Should come this week....  Little concerned that a width difference of 1/8" is going to require some carpentry work......... we'll see.
Thanks for that recipe and pic.

h

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

When venturing into an all durum flour bread watch the dough more carefully. Durum flour degrades quickly and is less forgiving than normal wheat. I don't think missing out the yeast will make much, if any, difference. I've done a few Pane di Altamura and while some have gone well others haven't and once you miss that perfect proofing time things go south quickly. I laugh now but you should have seen me haha! 

Really hope your new oven comes soon and it fits. Best of luck! 

hreik's picture
hreik

Hamelman also is very cautious about Durum.  I mix everything by hand almost all the time.  I prefer to 'feel' it out and can then get a sense of when to stop. 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

oven!  Well done indeed!

Happy baking 

hreik's picture
hreik

My baking lapsed all summer for irl issues.  Now the bug is back. So I persist.  The top oven is just not usable w a door that won't close.  The bottom one is usable, very imperfect, temps way way WAY off, but I'm not a perfectionist, so I just do it.
Thanks