January 29, 2010 - 4:28pm
Slash and burn
The two loaves in this photo are identical twins. They both suffered near-fatal overproofing (we went to lunch at the CIA, had wine, saw no reason to move quickly, got home late to find loaves spilling over the edges of the proofing basket).
The difference between the two is that I scored the loaf on the left, and I left the loaf on the right. Since the loaves were already fully proofed, the slashed boule fell and the the unslashed one sprang a bit to its maximum without rupturing the crust. I prefer the unslashed look in this case.
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What's the crumb look like?
Hi FnW,
Actually, the tall, unscored loaf had bit of a bubble at the top, although the bubble alone would not account for its increased loft. To my surprise, both boules had pleasing, open crumb, seductive color and aroma, and were extraordinarly good to eat. In the baking, we experimented with Shiao Ping's "hot oven, no dally" technique to achieve the crackly thin crust, which was very tasty.
On my previous bake I forgot to slash some of the bread and It had the same affect. although when I cut in to it there was a large bubble on top.
You can see the image how it had a bubble.
Are proofing baskets used for the final rise of formed dough to keep it from spreading outwards and getting a taller round bread?
Is that final rise called proofing?
Are they rough on the inside so you can pack the sides with flour to keep the dough from sticking to it?
Thanks.