First Forkish - Field Blend #2, sans retard
One of my Christmas presents last year was Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. While I've wanted to get beyond just reading the book and starting to bake from it, life has kept me well supplied with other things to do. There was the completion of the rye bread test bakes for Stan Ginsberg's upcoming book, a vacation to San Diego, a freezer well-stocked with bread that needed to be eaten before more was baked, test bakes of hot cross buns and Easter bread and salt sticks for some upcoming classes, and, well, you get the picture.
This weekend, stuffed head and hacking cough notwithstanding, I determined to try one of the breads. The Field Blend #2 sounded most appealing, given its complement of whole grain flours. Because of the aforementioned cold, my preference was for something closer to a straight dough approach, leading to the decision to ferment one loaf at room temperature (about 69F) and the other in my B&T proofer at 75F. The rationale was that the loaf in the proofer would ferment faster, allowing me to bake the first loaf (I have a single Dutch Oven) while the second loaf proofed more slowly at room temperature. It seemed like a good idea at the time, anyway.
As is often the case, real life did not conform well to my theory about real life. For reasons beyond my ken, the room temperature loaf was ready to bake at the point the proofer loaf was about 3/4 ready. So, it went into the oven first. It sprang beautifully, as I saw when removing the the lid 30 minutes later. And it colored up nicely after being exposed to the direct heat of the oven, too.
The crust was thin and shatteringly crisp. After being in a plastic bag overnight, that has changed to a rather chewy texture. The crumb is very moist and rather more even in texture than I anticipated. That is in no way a complaint, since much of this bread will be consumed in the form of sandwiches.
The one major disappointment is that the bottom of the loaf charred rather badly. That was a complete surprise, since the DO was at the same level in the oven as I typically use for the baking stone, which has never produced any charring effect. There may be enough head space to move the rack up one position in the oven but then I would be concerned about having adequate air movement around the DO after removing the lid.
After taking out the first loaf and assessing the results, I chose to drop the temperature from the recommended 475F to 460F for the second loaf. That produced better results for the bottom of the loaf.
The bad news is that the second loaf was past its optimal proof. While it regained much of the volume lost in its initial sag after being removed from the banneton, it didn't show any additional spring. It's still a reasonably good looking loaf but it could definitely be better.
Baking foibles aside, this is a very good bread. I enjoy the graininess that the whole wheat and whole rye flour flours bring to the table, along with the mild acidity. The crumb is very moist even though thoroughly baked and feels cool and creamy in the mouth. The unscorched crust provides a range of flavor notes from the caramelization and Maillard reactions. It is good stuff, all around. And, mind you, without whatever additional flavors would have developed during a longer, cold, retarded fermentation.
That cold fermentation would also have given me a wider window for baking the two loaves in series, had I used it.
At this stage, I'd have to say that I'm not a devotee of of DO baking. The additional risks and challenges that it imposes are, in my personal estimation, not worth the rather ephemeral benefits (primarily the thinness and crispness of the crust) it provides. It may be that if I had a gas oven and struggled to keep steam in it, my assessment would be different. As it is, I know that I can get equally good, if not identical, results by baking on a stone while keeping steam in the oven.
The whole scorching thing has me scratching my head. That has never been a problem for me with my usual setup in the same oven, even when baking at temperatures above 500F. My next bake from the book will utilize my normal stone and steam approach, rather than a DO.
Paul
Comments
when foiist using a CI DO. To fix it we did a couple three things. After 20 minutes of steam and 5 minutes with the lid off I take the bread out for the cast iron and finish baking ti on the stone or on the rack between 2 stones. I also don't pre-heat the oven as high only 500 F vs 550 F for the stone and only bake at 450 F under steam and 425 F convection to finish. No more burned bottoms. It just takes a while to get used to and figure out how your oven and the DO reacts to each other.
I don't get how the higher temp proofer assisted loaf actually proofed slower, although there isn't a huge difference in proofing times between 69 and 75 F like there would be at 80 F but still? or why the crumb is so closed? Seems like very strange bake in several of ways. I'm sure you will get it figured out soon enough. As long as the bread tastes fine then no worries. It's all up from here.
Happy baking
Hi Paul,
We are going through the same bit of Field Blend growing pains at the same time. Once I did cut into the boule, I also discovered the crumb to be a little tighter than expected as well as a bit moist. However, I had no problems with a scorched bottom, using a cast iron DO in a 475 electric oven. 30 minutes covered, 20 minutes uncovered. Perhaps one minor difference is that my DO was sitting on my baking deck tiles, and not directly on the backing rack. But it is delicious.
On another note, I baked two gros baguettes with the remaining dough. A taste and texture comparison: the boule had a slightly more open crumb, and a greater depth of flavor and character vs. the baguette. The case of both side by side right out of the toaster was quite obvious.
alan
The bread itself is wonderful, so no complaints on that score. Nor am I bothered by the crumb not having huge cells.
You are exactly correct, I think, that putting the DO on the tiles is protecting the bottom from the direct heat. It seems that the cast iron transmits heat much more rapidly, leading to the scorching. With some protection, that problem goes away.
Your baguettes were impressive.
Paul
I've never had a loaf scorch like the ones in your photos, but have experienced bottoms that baked darker than I wanted using a dutch oven in my electric oven. After asking here, I now put a pizza stone below the DO to help block some of the heat from the bottom. The DO doesn't sit directly on the stone, which is a separate rack one level lower.
Moving the rack that the DO sits on up higher in the oven also worked, but made removing the lid a bit harder due, like you, to not having much head space left.
Had I placed a baking stone under the DO, the scorching would probably not have occurred. I'll file that tip away for future use.
Paul
I have the same thing happen in my CI DO. Totally fixed by placing it on either a sheet pan or an AirBake sheet. I printed a label on my Cambro that says "DON'T FORGET THE SHEET PAN!" :) I imagine placing the DO on baking tiles/stone does the same thing.
Funny how many of us have baked Field Blend #2 recently. It is a delicious bread! The crispness of the crust won't be ephemeral if you store the bread cut side down on a cutting board instead of wrapping in a bag or plastic.
Cheers,
-Gabe
Actually, with TFL bakers, it appears to be a 100% agreement that some sort of shielding under the DO is needed to prevent scorching the bottom crusts.
Personal tastes being what they are, I'd as soon have a soft, moist crumb over the course of several days than a crisp crust. So, I'm quite willing to sacrifice crust crispness and keep the bread in a plastic bag. Definitely more gauche than chic, I know.
We are in complete agreement that this is a delicious bread.
Paul
Hi, Paul.
I agree - I think we all do. This is a very tasty bread. I too have experienced the charred bottom crust. My solution has been to cut a round of parchment to place in the shallow part of the Lodge Combo Cooker, sprinkle the parchment with a generous amount of semolina, and put the loaves on top of that. No scorched bottoms.
Note that I preheat the deep (top) half of the DO, but no the bottoms in which the loaves rest.
I suspect all of the methods mentioned help. Choose the one that makes the most sense to you.
I hope you're feeling better.
Happy baking!
David
Looks like you've had a successful bake, despite the odds. Although I don't see the pictures, for some reason, I'm sure it is as described.
Get well soon, Paul.
Khalid
I have a gas stove, and always bake in the dutch oven. When I remove the top, I lift the base, and nest the base into the lid. This seems to eliminate scorching.
Paul: Hope you feel better soon. Despite the bottom, it sure looked like a nice bread. Sounds like everyone's tips will do the trick next time to solve the problem. Best, Phyllis
I, too, had problems with burnt bottoms when baking either Forkish or Tartine loaves in DOs. I solved it by placing the dutch oven directly on a baking stone set on the lowest rack in my (electric) oven. Previously, I tried raising the DO to the highest shelf possible but that only resulted in burnt tops. With the dutch oven/stone combination, I must take the loaf out of the DO for the final 5 or 10 min of the bake and turn it upside down on the stone to get the bottom sufficiently brown! Enjoy this bread!