Summer Baking
Its summer in New England and its been a fairly nice summer but lately its been hot and humid. I know some folks live in this kind of climate all year round or in hot, dry climates but for me, baking in the summer presented a challenge.
This time, I think I got it right. Rising times are exponentially increased since its at least 20 degrees warmer in the house....with the a/c running....than in the winter time. It took me a few tries to get good looking loaves.
I set my starter out the night before and when I woke up in the morning, the container had exploded and starter was everywhere. It floated so I knew it was ready.
Since I started on my baking excursion, I have become everybody's bread supplier. I got a text from my recently college graduated son, who is touring for two weeks with his punk emo band....Mom, we're coming to stay at my apartment for a night...we're arriving late...can you make some vegan bread for us? Yeah, right. And of course Mom came through....since all the bread is flour, water, and salt...and maybe a little yeast since I was short on time....of course its vegan. But for the rest of the band who isn't....I added a huge salami and some cheese!
Next thing I see is a picture on Facebook of him with one of the loaves and a lighter with the caption "bread bowl" and I think we can all picture what he meant. ;-p
Those loaves were a bit over proofed but still tasty. This batch was spot on. 2-3 hours of bulk ferment with an initial period of slaps, whacks and folds, then stretch and folds every 20-30 minutes for the next hour and BF for the next 1.5 - 2 hours. I took a hint from Dabrowman and didn't bother with anymore proofing in the bannetons than the time it took to heat the oven and they rose just enough.
I even took a small amount of dough and made a "mini bowl boule for my reply to the Facebook post!
Wendy
Comments
Nice looking bread and great story! Always fun to hear the journey sometimes our bread takes :)
around here - now it is our favorite time to bake bread - which proves people can get used to anything:-)
I'm glad the hint worked well for you. i was always over proofing the loaves when I would shape them and then retard them for 12 hours and then let them warm up on the counter for an hour before firing up the oven for baking. Then I found out from David Snyder's SJSD recipe that I could bulk ferment in the fridge for 18-21 hours (even 40 hours) Let the dough warm up on the counter for an hour after a quick pre-shape cold, then final shape (still cool) and let it for a half hour outside in the 105 F heat for a quick, if hot, final proof firing up the oven and baking. Any longer than an hour or so, after final shaping, and the dough would over proof in that heat though. So it gets 2 hours to go from 38 F to 105 F before hitting the heat - must be a real shock to it:-)
I think it is just a matter of tring out new things until you find out what works for you at what time of year. I can't wait for the kitchen temperature to go down to 68 F so i can do an overnight bulk ferment, 8 hours, on the counter without it turning to goo and spreading all over the place!.
Your bread looks beautimous and it has to taste seven better - the kids sure are lucky!
Happy Baking Wendy