This is my second loaf using the steam pan method, putting the water in the pan after the dough is in the oven, as suggested; plus a refresher steam ten minutes later. This dough was never in the fridge so it was thoroughly at room temperature when it started baking. Plus, this dough was only about 33% whole wheat. Those factors all combined produced a much more buoyant loaf.
Category: Batard
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Steam Power! Part 2
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Steam power!
I baked my second loaf using the oven stone this morning, and as I was getting ready to put the dough in the oven, I remembered Dad saying something about “misting the oven.” This is a step I haven’t taken before, and I’ve noticed a couple things.First, when I’ve made loaves in the dutch oven – which helps retain more humidity around the loaf when you have the lid on for the first 2/3 of the bake – the resulting crust is…well, quite crusty (in a good way).
When I’ve made loaves without the dutch oven, either cooking them on a baking sheet or on the oven stone, the crust is much thinner and softer.
So I thought, perhaps this “misting” step is important for the crusty crust.
I didn’t have a mister, but looking in Peter Reinhart’s “Artisan Breads Every Day,” I found the author suggested one can also use a “steam pan” to add humidity to the oven. He recommends adding hot water to a pre-heated steam pan (below the oven stone – be careful not to spill water on the stone) just before putting the dough in the oven.
Since I was in a hurry, and not reading the directions that carefully (like, how much water?) I put cold water into a baking sheet that just happened to be pre-heated under my stone (lucky break, I often store pans in the oven for lack of cupboard space). It created quite a blast of steam and warped the pan so much I thought I might have a spill. (A little more water and the pan un-warped). Then I closed the door and waited another five minutes or so before putting the dough in (should I have done it right away when there was more steam?)
The bread that finally came out was indeed more crusty – somewhere between the dutch-oven bread and the no-steam/no-dutch-oven bread. Also, I had to let the surface get quite dark before the internal bread temp finally crested 180 with ease – when I put the thermometer in the first time, the dial virtually crawled from 175 to 180.
After cooling, I cut into the first couple inches. Crust aside, the inside looked good. A bit more dense, particularly toward the bottom, but this was a 50/50 whole wheat dough. I’ll add some pictures soon.
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Straight from the oven, daddy-o…
Made the bread pictured here this morning from all-white dough that I’d had in the fridge for a day. 70% hydration.Proofed at room temperature for about two hours on lightly oiled parchment paper.
Slid parchment paper right onto inverted aluminum baking sheet in the oven and baked at 500 degrees for 25 minutes.
Cooled for 1/2 hour before cutting.
Final result – nice chewy/creamy texture with large crumb and some good holes. Very soft, but not doughy at all. Thin, soft, well browned crust. Not as crusty as dutch oven loaves I’ve made, but very good nonetheless.
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New Cast Iron Pot Baking
I tried a couple new tricks with this batch. First, I bought a new cast iron dutch oven the othe
r day, and I’ve been dying to try it out. I believe it is a new model in the Lodge line-up. It has a lid that doubles as a skillet. I got the 5 quart model from Amazon.Second, I used 500 grams of my standard Costco flour and 500 grams of Hodgson Mill Organic Whole Wheat less the 1/3 cup of Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten that I added to make 1 kilogram total, with a 75% hydration. The Vital Wheat Gluten is often recommended for course whole wheat flours to help hold in the gases during fermentation. I didn’t do the window pane test, but will next time. I’d like to try this VWG for pizza dough.
I made the dough right after work yesterday and let it set on the counter, covered in a plastic container. I heated up the oven this morning around 3 AM and baked the boule first at 475 (convection) in the pot and after 20 minutes removed it for browning. It didn’t rise as much as I expected. I haven’t cut into it yet, but I’m sure it will be good. But could be better. I may use more dough next time. This was roughly half of the whole batch.
I formed the epi last, and it had more time to rise. It came out fantastic. I had a hunk of it for breakfast with a second cup of coffeee. The picture only shows about half of it. I used the rest of it for sandwiches for lunch. Is it noon yet?
