Flour AND bread burnt on stone
I made some lean bread this evening using a peel and a pizza stone.
Bread was lean bread and the pizza stone was placed on the bottom of the oven, pre-heated to 500 degrees (highest setting). I only own an aluminum peel, and when I made pizza on it in the past, the dough stuck to the peel so I made sure to liberally flour my peel. The formed loaves slid off just find on the stone, but 5-6 minutes into baking (still at 500), there was burnt oder and I realized the raw flour that I had used to dust the peel, and had transferred to the stone when I "jerked" the peel back to release the bread, had burnt. Additionally, the underside of the bread was completely burnt and ruined.
Some thoughts:
1) I should place the stone on one of the racks;
2) I shouldn't pre-heat as long;
3) I should score the bread on parchment paper using the peel, instead of start the cooking using flour on the peel.
Thoughts???
Cheers,
Joel
First the breads bottom shouldn't burn in an ordinary bake. Most oven manuals warn against placing anything directly on the bottom of the oven [it is an electric oven is it not?]. Sounds like the stone was directly on top of the heating elements which will result in an extremely hot stone and burnt bread bottoms.
Try placing the stone on a rack that's situated in the middle or lower middle of the oven next time.
You can clean most of the burnt material off the stone with a belt sander - 60 to 80 grit sanding belts are recommended.
Wild-Yeast
in addition to moving the stone as suggested above, use course semolina rather than flour - they act as little ball bearings and will help you get the pizza off of the peel and onto the stone. Also, after the first two minutes of baking use your aluminum peel to quickly get under the pizza and give a 1/4 turn rotation. That will also help keep from sticking.
500F is too hot for anything but pizza or small rolls. Use a lower temp (450F often works well for average-sized loaves) and put the stone on the lower third or middle rack. If the bread cooks too fast from the bottom and not fast enough from the top, move the stone to a higher rack. If it cooks too fast from the top and too slow from the bottom, move the stone to a lower rack. Good luck!
What is the heat source for the oven?
What kind of stone is it and how thick is it?
What was in the bread recipe?
How long did you pre heat the oven?
Jeff
What is the heat source for the oven? Gas
What kind of stone is it and how thick is it? Old Stone Oven 4467: http://www.amazon.com/Old-Stone-Oven-4467-14-Inch/dp/B0000E1FDA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350235316&sr=8-1&keywords=pizza+stone
What was in the bread recipe? Flour, yeast, salt, water.
How long did you pre heat the oven? 30-40 min
I think I'll start on parchment vs semolina next time and see if that works. Additionally, starting the stone higher in the oven should be better. The recipe I used (wiht previous success w/ the stone higher in the oven) was from Richard Bertinet's book, "Dough".
I incorporated some of my starter I have from my Tartine recipe for more flavor, and needless to say, I was not happy when my kitchen began smoking and I had barely browned crust on top, and smoking black burnt crust on the bottom. :(
I would place the stone on the bottom rack (not the oven bottom) and preheat for one hour @ 500 °F. Double check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer to check its accuracy. Reduce the oven temperature to about 460 °F as soon as you put the loaf into the oven.
Happy Baking,
Jeff
I put my stone on the second lowest rack and I have a heavy duty rimmed pan in the lowest rack which I use to pour hot water for steam. I use parchment paper to score my loaves with excellent results. I also have another stone on the top shelve. I pre-heat to 500 F and then lower to 450 when the dough is in the oven an add 1 cup boiling water in my pan.
I put my stone on the second lowest rack and I have a heavy duty rimmed pan in the lowest rack which I use to pour hoy water for steam. I use parchment paper to score my loaves with excellent results. I also have another stone on the top shelve. I pre-heat to 500 F and then lower to 450 when the dough is in the oven an add 1 cup boiling water in my pan.