Mothers day rush job
Woke up a bit later than expected and had just enough time to complete yesterday's batch. This was a 24 hour bulk with slightly increased hydration to 73% and really delivered on flavor. It makes me wonder why o even bother with 6 hour ferment sometimes. Despite yesterday's batch being a quick bulk with lots of effort in shaping and oven prep, today's quick shape and bake is a reminder that it's the eating experience that most important. Yesterdays were more photogenic but today's batch is what I want to eat every day. Very
Delicate and flavor packed crumb that feels much like a French crueller doughnut. It seems something really amazing happens during the 18-24 hour mark of just sitting in the refrigerator. On a side note I made a laminate yesterday and have a sheet in the freezer and may post some pain au chocolate later ;)
Little bump in hydration and suddenly bubbles start to take on funky shapes that when combined with a bit of melted butter - this is probably one of the most enjoyable batches eating-wise. I don't know how much more shaping improvements I can coax from this oven and starting to think more and more about and electric setup. I know I am a bit low on heat and have probably compromised the mechanics of this oven by plugging vents etc. Well heres a shot of today's crumb just FTR ...
these look yummy.
It's funny how we seem to concentrate of the look (shape, colour, ears, etc) of our bread first, then pay attention to the flavour once we get the look down pat! Bread is an art, for sure...