Assorted breads from TBBA

The Bread Baker's Apprentice strikes again! First, we have Kaiser rolls. My wife was making sloppy Joes, so we needed something to put it on. Since I don't own a Kaiser cutter, I used the knotted dough method. It worked out really well!

These were unbelievable. Just like a Kaiser should be - thin, crisp crust, almost flaky. Tender inside.

Next came some Vienna bread pistoles. I couldn't resist cutting one open to have a second sloppy Joe :) These had a soft crust and a soft, spongy inside. Delicious!

After making those two, I still had about 12 ounces of pate fermentee left over. I decided to put together some French bread. As an experiment, I changed the hydration ratio from the 65% specified in the recipe to almost 100%.I used the stretch-and-fold method after the dough came out of the mixer, let it sit on the counter about an hour and a half, shaped it, and pulled out my couche. PHEW! It smelled like mildew! It had been slightly damp when it went away and developed mold :(

So I liberally floured a tea towel and put the shaped loaves on there, seam side up. When I went to roll the loaves onto my Superpeel later, all three had stuck to varying degrees. That's why they look a little deformed in the pictures.

That didn't stop them from being absolutely delicious! The crust was a little thin, but the crumb was outstanding. And the flavor, well, the picture speaks for itself.

-Joe