April 7, 2012 - 4:55am
Delayed slashing
I recently attended a bread making demonstration given by an Italian baker.
He placed the unslashed bread in a covered Dutch oven heated to 500°F. After five minutes he removed the bread from the Dutch oven and quickly slashed the bread. He then returned that covered Dutch oven to the oven and reduce the temperature to 425 to 450°F and completed the baking process
Upon completion, the bread loaf looked beautiful and tasted great. Texture was perfect. The Baker claimed that delaying the slashing process results in a much more even looking loaf.
I would appreciate comments and discussion on this technique.