Identical Twins? Not!
Below are two loaves of bread baked from the same batch of sourdough. The only difference between the two loaves is when each was baked. The recipe suggested to ferment the dough refrigerated overnight and bake directly from the fridge the next morning. After taking the loaves out of the fridge first thing this morning, I preheated the oven, which took about 15 minutes, slashed the first loaf (the loaf on the top) and put it in. Meanwhile, the second loaf rested at room temperature during the 25 minutes baking time, and an additional 5 minutes to allow the oven to rebound to 475 degrees; a total of approximately 30-35 minutes. The difference is astounding! This is not the first time I have baked directly from the fridge, but I have never had another loaf to compare side by side. I have taught myself a valuable lesson, and will always let the loaves rest from the fridge for at least an hour before baking them. Any thoughts?