The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

You've got ears!

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

You've got ears!

I finally broke out the razor blade to score my loaves this weekend. I scored three of them, and my first (pictured) turned out the best.

The leaven was made Thursday night, placed in the fridge Friday afternoon.  It had probably tripled in size and was very airy.

I mixed the dough Saturday morning and by Saturday afternoon it was in the fridge. Well, most of it was in the fridge.  Some of it was used to make a pizza for lunch.

Baked three loaves Sunday morning one loaf after the other, and another pizza crust.

Recipe was the Tartine Basic Country Loaf x 2.

The Saturday pizza was excellent.

 

BobS's picture
BobS

Great spring and ear on the loaves, and that pizza is making me really hungry.

 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Thank you. I just realized I ate the pizza for dinner, not lunch. So all of the dough did in fact go into the fridge that afternoon. However, some of it came back out that evening to meet up with the crushed tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.

Now, if only I could get my toddler to try a bite of the pizza or the bread! :)

Darwin's picture
Darwin

The boule & pizza look terrific!  Never having had sourdough pizza I wonder, does the crust have the same sort of chewy texture as a SD loaf has?

congrats on the ears  ;)

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I made a second pie crust the following day as the one photographed and it was stretched very thin in the middle, and I overcooked it such that the pie was like a cracker.  I actually bent it and cracked it.  I will still add some sauce and cheese to it to see how it comes out though.

Over-baking aside, the pizza crust around the edge (the crown?) is chewy and requires a bit of tugging to tear  The covered part of the pie is quite tender and not as chewy, in part, I expect, because it is just a lot less dough to bite through.

These days I take a fork and poke holes through the dough to prevent large bubbles from forming, though I have to say that I don't mind pizza dough with lots of large bubbles either.

Darwin's picture
Darwin

One of the reasons I prefer SD is the texture. SD pizza is now added to my long list.  

SD lavosh might be an interesting experiment.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

perfect and the pizza a delight.  Well done and happy baking

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

So far, so good.I am on the cusp of buying some proofing baskets and a grain mill. I sure hope I like the bread more when I make the flour, or some portion of the flour, myself.

chouette22's picture
chouette22

Great ears! I see your cast iron pizza pan. So, from our conversation last week, did you shape your pizza directly on it, or did you use your peel to transfer it onto the (pre-heated) pan?

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I had the oven up to 500 or 550, then turned on the broiler on high.  I lifted my stretch dough and it basically stretched out to the size of my peel in about 5 seconds, and I laid it on the peel.  If the dough is just a wee bit smaller in diameter than my peel, I find that it fits onto the pan well enough. But it is better to make it 2 wee bit smallers because sometimes it still stretches out when getting it off the peel and then it flops over the edge of my very hot pan.

I actually remove the hot pan from the oven and put it on top of the stove before transferring the dough to it, because I am not confident enough with the use of my peel to do it with the oven open.  In fact, I think I lose less heat taking the pan out of the oven, placing the dough on it, and then putting the pan in the oven than I would if I left the door open while I put the dough on the pan from my peel.

chouette22's picture
chouette22

...for explaining your process! It makes sense to take the pan out of the oven for the transfer. 

tchism's picture
tchism

Looking very good!

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

This dough was made Saturday morning  (with the Levain made Friday evening), and the pizza was baked Tuesday night.