This weekend's baking 7-30-2011
Well, I'm back from a lovely week at the beach with family. I surely enjoyed the week, including Glenn's fabulous pastrami and corn beef with his and my rye breads. Glenn's Tartine BCB and my SFBI miche were also appreciated.
Yesterday, I thawed dough made for pizzas 4 and 6 weeks ago and frozen. I made a couple of pies, one with each of the doughs made with Maggie Glezer's and Jeff Verasano's recipes.
Pizza using Maggie Glezer's dough
Pizza made with Jeff Verasano's dough
Glezer's pizza dough retained its distinctive crispness. Verasano's dough was still more elastic than Glezer's but not as chewy as it had been before freezing. I would say that neither was quite as good, but both were better than any you could get at the chains.
Today, I baked a couple bâtards of Pain au Levain from Hamelman's Bread. This has become a favorite. Today's tweak was to shape the loaves using the method portrayed on the KAF videos but proofing the loaves in cotton-lined oval brotformen rather than on a couche.
The loaves assumed a rounder/less elongated shape during baking. I wonder if, en couche, with lateral support but no support at the ends, the loaves spread longitudinally more. Hmmmm ….
I have dough for my version of Gosselin's Baguettes Tradition in the fridge to finish tomorrow. I'll update this entry accordingly.
David
Comments
I have MG book out on my counter and have been thumbing through it all week. I was noticing her book, in a way I've never looked at it before...everything reminds me of being baked..well, in a wfo. I think it was the first time I paid such notice to her pizza recipes...it really is a wonderful book, one of the very best. Great time of year for pizza's but, then what time of year isn't...I can't think of anything nicer than a quick pizza fix and fresh baked bread, for a relaxing holiday! Welcome back!
Sylvia
The pizzas and pain au levain all look delicious, David.
Funny...I just proofed some hearth breads en couche that I've always previously proofed in brotformen. I didn't notice more lengthening of the loaf than usual. But my shaping is not all that consistent...always experimenting.
Glenn
I do recommend trying the bâtard shaping technique in the Hamelman/KAF videos.
David
"Artisan Breads" is a fine book. Of the breads I've baked from it, the Tom Cat Filone is my favorite.
That said, my breads have improved a lot since I last baked some of the other breads in that book, and I should give them another try.
David
I love this bread. One of the main reason's why I ordered the book was seeing your blog on this bread : )
added: I find my pizza dough after freezing is never as good as when used fresh. If going to be frozen I add even less yeast and I don't think I've ever kept it frozen more than a couple of weeks.
Sylvia
Hi David,
I'm sure you are right about the differences you noted using banneton and couche.
Your loaves above are so bold they almost look like boules; amazing oven spring from the cutting!
Top quality stuff, as ever
Best wishes
Andy
David
Really lovely crumb shot, David!
Did you bulk ferment/proof as Hamelman's formula says or did you do it for longer period?
lumos
I gave the bulk fermentation an extra 20 minutes. I proofed for about 2.25 hours. My kitchen was 78ºF. These times were based on my assessment of the dough. I suspect the longer fermentation time was needed because I used cool water in the mix. I didn't check the dough temperature at the end of mixing, though.
David
Thank you, David. :)
Talking of Maggie Glezer's book, Tom Cat Filone is quite high on my 'bread to bake' list along with Craig Ponsford's ciabata, though I haven't managed to gather my courage to challenge semolina flour. But one day....
lumos
Mouthwatering bakes David
I especially love that boldly baked crust of the batârds! And what an amazing score/oven spring.
Have a good week!
Freerk
You have a great week too!
David
Hi David,
Welcome back from your family get-together at the beach, sounds like a great time.
I have the impression you're not entirely sold on the shape of your loaves, which IMO look excellent. They look like the perfect hybrid between a batard and a boule, with a higher profile than you might normally achieve in either. As for the crust and crumb I don't think you could ask for anything better than these two splendid loaves. Nice baking!
Franko
Thanks for the compliments, Franko!
I was surprised, not disappointed, with the shape of the loaves ... Batoules? Boutards? Boulards?
David
Well that's the kind of pleasant surprise we all need more of. I'll be cutting up some of my linen sheet tomorrow to make a liner for the oval brotform I have. Sewing is not my thing, but I'm motivated since seeing your results. I like the sound of Boutards, it has a nice ring to it.
Franko
from Maggie Glezer and also first time for pizza in WFO. Not a success, but it was certainly exciting. Yours looks a lot better and in absolute terms - great! Thanks for the dinner suggestion. And gorgeous bread too. -Varda
"Not a success, but ... exciting" sounds like it could have been pretty traumatic. Wanna talk about it?
David
Just a lot of running back and forth between the oven and the house - pie snagging on the peel - burning parchment paper - solicitous yet amused looks from the hubby - you get the idea. File under needs improvement.
That certainly is my fattest file.
Glenn
Interesting about the frozen pizza dough. Both pizzas look great from here and the "Batoules? Boutards? Boulards?" look perfectly fine with lovely color, crust and crumb as always.
Howard