June 1, 2009 - 8:07am
proofing round loaves on a flat surface?
Does anyone have experience proofing round loaves on a flat surface? I've always proofed mine in lined bowls, but Dan Leader in Bread Alone says to proof them on a well-floured board and to cover with a towel. I'm intrigued by this method, but I'm concerned that that the dough would spread out, resulting in a flat loaf.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
eric
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If you want to do this (and it's the technique I tend to use... mainly because I don't have a bowl I consider appropriate for the job :), the key is to get a nice, tight skin on the top of the boule during the shaping prior to the final proof. Oven spring will do the rest.
OK, I'll give it a try with half the loaves I'm doing tonight. I have trouble with surface tension on rounds for some reason. Seems that, regardless of how long I shape them, they don't hold. The gluten structure seems strong (window pane, poke test and all that jazz), but the dough just wants to relax I guess.
Yeah, that'll certainly happen, but I wouldn't stress about it. Trust me, the oven spring will make up for any losses in height you might observe as the dough relaxes and spreads out a bit.
Eric, refer to my post "Stuck on Italian" in the Forum Posts. I baked 2 Boules. When I shaped for baking, I did one freeform without a mold, while the other was in a Banneton. The one without the mold spread out slightly more as seen in the pictures. Good gluten development and good surface tension as a result of gluten development prevented too much flattening out.
Bix
I assume a firm dough will handle this better than a slack dough, is that right?
I'm just beginning, but did the ten-grain tyrolean from RLB's Bread Bible, had a very firm dough (due to my own errors in the process) with well-developed gluten, a tightly shaped loaf, and it didn't spread out one tiny bit -- it just expanded like a torpedo-shaped balloon, holding its shape perfectly!
Yeah, slack doughs are definitely far more difficult to proof free-form. In fact, for doughs like that, I don't think I'd ever attempt a boule, and instead stick with a classic batard/baguette or ciabatta shaping, as then you can use a couche to prevent the dough from spreading out on you.
Yep, I just had this happen with two loaves of mostly unbleached with some multi-grain. I added dried fruit (cherries, blueberries, raisins & cranberries from Trader Joe's) and pecan pieces since we love breads with fruit and nuts. The dough was wetter than I was used to when I made these in Tucson but I tried the free form any way. Here is a picture of two slices toasted and buttered waiting to be devoured:
The bread tastes wonderful but it might have done better in my loaf pans. Last night I baked another batch with cherries and walnuts (DH's favorites) and they rose beautifully in the stoneware loaf pans but I suspect they over proofed by the time they made it to the hot oven. I am learning that yeast breads rise alot faster here at 7200' than they did in Tucson so I was not prepared and they fell somewhat by the time I got them in the oven. Again, the flavor is very nice and DH will enjoy making sandwiches from these.
Unfortunately I managed to drop one of these loaf pans after I took the bread out so now I am waiting to replace it with one one eBay! I love this stoneware and have loaf sized round ones as well though I just packed them up for our move.
Melody in Santa Fe
Out of curiosity, is that bread supposed to have a denser, cakier texture? Because, just at a glance, if I had to guess, I'd say the dough in the pans hasn't been kneaded enough for a typical wheat bread (the dough should be nice and silky, while yours looks... and please don't take this wrong, it's juts an observation :)... a little lumpy and inconsistent). And the slices you posted looked quite dense, which would make sense if you were shorting the kneading process.
she definitely kneaded those at least a little. if not it'd have no holes literally.