Using two loaf pans for one loaf?
Howdy. I'm working my way through Artisan Bread in 5, starting with (to me) are the essentials: making the recipe and then making shaped bread in a loaf pan.
I used the basic master loaf recipe (halved to 2 pounds) and put it in a prepared pan for the first time. With my previous method with the dough, I could just put that in the dutch oven. Doesn't work here due to the size of the oven.
The pan is a standard 8.5x4.5 inches. My wife, being the more intelligent of the two of us, suggested that I could just use a second loaf pan on top of the first to get the same result. I dismissed it at first, but kept thinking about it. Today, I tried it. It didn't rise above the pan height (that may be due to it only being two pounds of dough, not sure), but it sure got a brown, crispy crust and had an "escape" that was halfway down one side of the top of it. It's a gorgeous brown color and smells absolutely delicious.
So, I took a second loaf pan and put it on top of the first. Seems simple enough. It appears to have been successful, but I wanted to check on here if anyone has experience or cautions with this method.
I don't think you can claim bragging rights using two pans but you can brag about your wife and her intellect all you want to. :)
I have seen that done before! You essentially made your own dutch oven out of two bread tins. Can't remember if it was here on TFL or somewhere else though...
It will give a bit less of the Dutch oven effect because bread tins are presumably made from thinner material and don't store much heat energy in their walls, but the truly important feature - the bread being covered instead of exposed - is certainly working.
Some people preheat a Dutch oven for maximum effect; there'd be very little point to preheating bread tins, because they cool right down as soon as anything cold touches them anyway.
A lot of attention is paid, in some discussions, to what kind of pan people are using - and it's good to get this all worked out - but it depends on what kind of bread you're making, whether you would even want what a Dutch oven has to offer. Some types of bread are probably better without one. So focus more on "are you happy with the bread that's in front of you" - and if you are, then your pan worries are over. ?
cinnamon rolls. My oven is convection and I can't turn off the fan when heating the oven up... and the rolls go into a cold oven to bake. So I put another pan of the same size upside down on top to stop the rolls from setting too quickly on top.
hi ,
glad to hear you found this method... I use it all the time for whole wheat sourdough... my pans are heavy stainless steel loaf pans with a flat rim .. have not had to fasten them together with clips as some bakers do
usually I preheat the top pan and let dough rise in the other one...use gloves!
once the bread stuck to the top pan( oven spring was good)...so spray with Pam