Method 3 has a typo! It says "bowling water" instead of boiling water. Otherwise very informative article, thank you very much for the insight!
In reply to Method 3 has a typo! It says… by Jarrett (not verified)
Good eye, Jarrett! Thanks so much for pointing that out; we're fixing it now.
I baked my first loaf of sourdough bread last week using homemade starter and KAF’s Rustic Sourdough Bread recipe (which also uses commercial yeast). I baked one loaf in a Le Creuset Dutch oven preheated for 30 min and lined with parchment paper. It was delish but the crumb was dense and didn’t have the lovely holes pictured in your steam methods! I would like to try your extra tangy sourdough bread recipe baked in my Dutch oven this weekend. Do you have any tips to ensure the bread crumb is less dense? Can I bake the entire amount of dough in one boule in the Dutch oven? I really don’t want to bake two loaves. You helped me before with my sourdough starter and I finally got that figured out! Thanks so much!
In reply to I baked my first loaf of… by Tawney (not verified)
Hi Tawney, I'm so glad to hear that you got your sourdough starter up and running and are finally able to bake delicious sourdough bread! The combination of sourdough starter and yeast called for in the Rustic Sourdough Bread recipe does tend to deliver a denser, almost cake-like crumb, so I think choosing a recipe that is entirely naturally leavened is a good first step towards achieving the open crumb structure you're looking for. Of course, a lot of factors go into developing all those beautiful holes (it's never just one thing when it comes to bread). In addition to utilizing your Dutch oven for steaming purposes, you'll need to aim for a wet dough with adequate dough structure that is properly shaped and proofed. I know, a tall order for a beginning sourdough bread baker! And the Extra Tangy Sourdough Bread recipe can be particularly challenging in this regard because the rise times are so open-ended, which leaves it up to the baker to decide when best to shape and bake the bread. For this recipe I would be cautious not to add extra flour (weigh the ingredients, if possible), and once the dough is rising well and becoming airier in texture, proceed to shaping. It will helpful to allow the shaped boule to rise in a well-floured brotform or a bowl lined with a very well-floured cloth. Place the boule seam side up in the basket and cover well, so that the dough doesn't dry out as it rises. Bake a bit on the early side rather than allowing the dough to over-proof in the shaped form. When you're ready to bake, you can gently turn the loaf out of the basket onto a piece of lightly greased parchment, score the boule, and then carefully lower it into the preheated Dutch oven. If your Dutch oven is at least 4 quarts or more, you should be able to bake the entire recipe as one large boule. Remove the lid about 20 minutes into the bake and continue baking until done. Overall baking time will likely be 40-45 minutes, when baked at 450 degrees. I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes!
In reply to Hi Tawney, I'm so glad to… by balpern
Thanks so much for the advice Barb! I do have a kitchen scale and a large Dutch oven so I’m going to give it a shot. I’ll keep you posted!
James Marshall Oathout
I took Jeffrey's video course on baggettes a couple of years ago. My last batch, while good, was a little too crisp on the bottom (whixh was on parchment on previously heated stone). Just wondered - what would be the result if the proffed dough was placed in hot oven (with steam added) on a COLD stone? I hate to try it just as an experiment, since this method takes five hours. Thanks
In reply to I took Jeffrey's video course on baggettes a couple of years ag… by James Marshall… (not verified)
Hi James, while the cold stone may well prevent the bottom of your baguette from getting quite so crisp, it will also give you a less pronounced rise, as it's the heat transferred directly through the hot stone that contributes most to vigorous oven spring. I would also caution you from placing a cold stone in a hot oven, as this might lead to thermal shock and damage your stone. If your baguettes are getting too dark or hard on the bottom you might want to experiment by reducing the baking temperature by 25 degrees. This should still be hot enough to give you good oven spring, but may prevent the bottom crust from over-baking. Barb
While the results are clear, I do wonder about the purported cause being keeping the outer crust soft during the initial oven rise phase. At least for home ovens at 450-500 F. Steam is not what we usually see it as a cloudy vapor. It is invisible and contains a huge amount of energy which it releases when condensing on anything. That is why steam burns are so instantaneous and severe. I do wonder if the action of steam (water vapor) isn’t to quickly impart a large amount of heat to the loaf exterior much more rapidly than either the 500 degree air or radiant heat of the oven can do alone. Convection ovens try to do this by keeping fresh hot air against the food, but while one gram of air can exchange one calorie of heat per degree, steam can exchange 540 calories / gram plus one more for the steam temperature. That steam does this without drying out the surface, it certainly will cook it fast. Remember steam radiators? They were a very efficient way to move a lot of heat around a house. It is one of the best heat transfer methods in existence.
In reply to While the results are clear, I do wonder about the purported c… by Dana Johnson (not verified)
If your idea of the mechanism were correct, I would expect spraying the loaf to ruin the effect, since it very clearly slows down the process of surface hearing of the loaf (all that extra energy to input just to get the water warm). Additionally, while steam is great for heat transfer, once condensed on a surface is water, and it requires just as much energy to heat up that water as originally conferred to the surface through condensation. In other words you actually do not get an overall faster heat-up process for the loaf or the oven as a whole.
my bread baked in a covered baking dish has a very tough crust, it is even hard to cut until it has been in a plastic bag for a few days. how can I prevent this?