Bread With Jam

Tag: 75%

  • Pot Loaf

    I discussed a few bread baking tips with my sister, Sunny, today and decided I’d actually test some of these great tips to see if they work! It has been quite some time since I’d tried the Jim Lahey method of baking bread in a cast iron Dutch oven. Somehow, I’ve never been too attracted to the idea; maybe it is just too simple. So, using the Lahey-Bittman method of a quick rise (using a few drops of red wine vinegar in the dough), I began the dough this morning and just finished baking my first loaf. It looks great! I have another in the oven. I’ll be cutting into this shortly, but have no fear that it didn’t come out just as Jim said it would.

    As Jim explained in the video, I used very little yeast, water at 120 F, with an initial rise of 3 hours. I used 1000 grams of flour with 750 grams of water and divided the dough into two loaves. (75% hydration…) My pot is fairly large. I used a 475 degree convection oven for the entire baking process. For the uncovered portion, the time was about 10 minutes, maybe less, probably accelerated by the convection oven. The inside temp was 200 at the end of the baking.

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  • Simple Practical Loaf

    This bread was made from a 75% hydration dough that was proofed approximately 24 hours at a cool room temperature (around 65 degrees). Not long before baking, I poured the dough out onto a floured surface and gently shaped it into a loaf by folding the sides underneath. With the oven pre-heated to 550, I slide it onto the hot stone and then scored the top with a sharp chef’s knife (to avoid degassing from too much handling and cutting.)

    After the first few minutes, the oven was turned down to 450 for the remainder of the baking. Total bake time was probably around 40 minutes, but I didn’t measure it precisely. The internal temp was 195 at the finish.

    This will be breakfast, along with fruit, coffee, and jam!

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  • Daily Batard

    Here are a couple of loaves that just came from the oven this morning. I used 75% hydration and started with a poolish with 100% hydration, just flour and water of equal weights.

    I used the Eagle Mills All Natural All-Purpose Unbleached Flour from Costco. Having recently baked with King Arthur Unbleached White, I had forgotten how much heavier this flour is. However, it delivers a wonderful (and healthy) loaf.

    Good stuff!

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