No oven preheating
Fellows,
I would like to share the results of weekend baking fun. I have mixed some flour that I had available at home: APF, light spelt, whole wheat and red fife. Added enough water for 70 % overall hydration. Mixed flours, lukewarm water and salt (yes I like salt in my autolyse) and rested for 30 min. Added the starter that I had fed the night before and kept at the counter (14 C). Mixed all together and let the bulk fermentation start. Applied 3 folds and stretches and after 6 hours bulk fermentation was done (room temperature was around 13 C / 55 F). Shaped one batard and one boule and baked in a clay pot at 220C for 45 min + 7 min until brown (all without preheating the oven).
I have a mini oven in which the clay pot barely fits in. This time I did an experiment and started baking without preheating the clay pot and oven. It seems the result was quite good. I was impressed since I thought it was important to preheat the baking pot prior to loading the loaf. The batard was baked first and then I retarded the boule for 30 min in the fridge before it went into the clay pot that was mildly warm from the first bake.
APF | 480 | g |
Light spelt | 50 | g |
Whole wheat | 50 | g |
Red Fife | 50 | g |
Lukewarm water | 435 | g |
Starter @ 100% | 62 | g |
Salt | 10 | g |
Total flour | 661 | g |
Total water | 465.7 | g |
Total hydration | 70% |
Not much whole grain flour in this baking. The taste was subtle and earthy with a velvet crumb and crispy crust. Very pleased with this simple baking and the experiment without preheating the oven was a success.
Follow up to this post here:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/54659/no-oven-preheating-cold-start-straight-fridge [1]