Homemade Bread

[levain]

Originally Posted by IDScarecrow

So my sister in law from the Boston area was visiting this week, and naturally I had to bake up some bread for her. We got to talking about bread, and I explained how I learned a lot about bread baking from ADVRider, of all places. She enjoyed my bread, but then she went on to say that nothing could compare to this bakery she had stumbled on to . . . "in Providence somewhere. Now what was the name of that again?" she mused.

"Providence? It wasn't Seven Stars, was it?" I asked.

"Yes! That's it! AWESOME bread there. Just amazing!"

We had a good laugh when I told her that was the guy I learned so much from on ADVRider. So, small world, and thanks Jim.

Thanks for that. So nice to hear people appreciate what we do esp. since we've evolved into a local coffee shop. It's pretty disheartening to stop into a store after you've been up all night and have someone tell you they love your bakery because the coffee is so good

[levain]

Originally Posted by pilot

That's really cool, Jim!

I do have one little thing I have to say about it, though. I would not have put wood decking right up to the front of it. You are liable to be dragging embers out on to the deck.

I haven't been baking lately. I've cut way back on my bread consumption, so I don't dare bake bread and have to smell it and not eat it.

Yeah. I woulkd agree with that Pilot and its something I brought up to the Architect and more importantly, my wife. They both said, oh no biggie, but I'll be sure to remind my wife the first time it happens! Gotta pick your battles.
That wood is Brazilian gold. Supposedly the only thing harder is ipe. The grain couldn't be tighter.

[lobsta]

Stopped into your Hope St. locale.
Best croissant this side of Paris.
Lunch samichies for picinick down by the bay, yummy.

[levain]

Originally Posted by lobsta

Stopped into your Hope St. locale.
Best croissant this side of Paris.
Lunch samichies for picinick down by the bay, yummy.

Much appreciated. Let me know next time you're in town. I'd be happy to show the bakery in nearby Pawtucket.

[noshoes]

[levain]

Originally Posted by noshoes

That looks better than most bakeries
Nice color. Volume. Hole structure. Great job

[MikeinEugene]

Originally Posted by levain

Yeah. I woulkd agree with that Pilot and its something I brought up to the Architect and more importantly, my wife. They both said, oh no biggie, but I'll be sure to remind my wife the first time it happens! Gotta pick your battles.
That wood is Brazilian gold. Supposedly the only thing harder is ipe. The grain couldn't be tighter.

I built a little bench on our back deck with Ipe'. I tried to light a scrap piece with a propane weed burner. I could never get it to light It would smoke & turn black, but never ignite.

[Mambo Dave]

Originally Posted by Dismount

Try it without the lid, and a pan of water in the stove with it.

Thanks. That's the way I used to do it - half cook with the pan of water in the oven, then take it out half way.

Then I went to using an upside down skillet on a rack above the bread (the theory being that the bread's own steam and a minor cover even on the next rack up was enough to create a steamy environment for the bread to rise), then finally tried the lid-style for half baking... which worked very well once, and not so well afterward.

I'm going back to the pan of water int he oven thing and I'll see how it does.

[Dismount]

Just don't you know....pour cold water into an empty hot pyrex dish.


Not that I ever Did such a boneheaded thing.



Or tried to pick the pieces out of a ridiculously hot oven.



Nope. Never

[Mambo Dave]

Sounds like another convert to some cast iron cookware has been born.

My bread gets cooked in a 8" skillet (measured from the top rim), and a small 6.5" porcelain coated skillet gets the water (that I'm back to using).

...

but then I wouldn't add water to an already hot skillet, either. It gets the water in it early, and gets put back in the oven for the pre-heat.

Originally Posted by Dismount

Just don't you know....pour cold water into an empty hot pyrex dish.


Not that I ever Did such a boneheaded thing.



Or tried to pick the pieces out of a ridiculously hot oven.



Nope. Never

[noshoes]

Originally Posted by levain

That looks better than most bakeries
Nice color. Volume. Hole structure. Great job

Thanks,
And oh so good with real butter.....

[slackmeyer]

Finally tried this no-knead bread, though I used some sourdough starter that I've had going for a long time, and no yeast. Otherwise I stayed pretty close to the recipe and timeline. Looks good, but I haven't cut into it yet:


Also last night I made some potato-fennel sourdough bread, it's my wife's favorite. I made a wetter dough than I usually do, and baked in a hotter oven, I like the results:

I recently bought another kiln shelf from the local pottery supply, so that I can have baking stones above and below the bread, and this batch baked at about 475. The one thing I still want for my bread baking is to make up some cloth lined baskets for rising. Seems like they do a better job of making a tall loaf than the couche does. I like a taller loaf just for practical purposes, the sandwiches fit in my lunchbox easier.

[straightrod]

^ So you put a kiln stone above your bread and do you cook directly on the bottom kiln stone? If that is so are the kiln stones ok with no traces of lead or you just use the stones for even heating? I like the idea of some mass in a standard home oven and have not thought of kiln stones. How far are the kiln stones spaced? Thanks

[slackmeyer]

Originally Posted by straightrod

^ So you put a kiln stone above your bread and do you cook directly on the bottom kiln stone? If that is so are the kiln stones ok with no traces of lead or you just use the stones for even heating? I like the idea of some mass in a standard home oven and have not thought of kiln stones. How far are the kiln stones spaced? Thanks

The basic ceramic kiln shelves (mullite or high alumina, they're usually called) are the same as most baking stones, but cheaper. I have a pottery supply close by, so I went over there and asked about cracked kiln shelves- I walked out with a nice thick one for $5, I had to cut it down to the size I wanted with a diamond blade in a grinder.
Yes, I cook directly on a kiln shelf/baking stone, and the upper baking stone is as close as it can be to the top of the bread, based on where my oven shelves are- I usually end up with about 6" between upper and lower. If you look at most commercial bread and pizza ovens, the decks are only 6-8" high on the inside, so you get heat radiating down from the top.
I notice on the pizza fanatic forums, a lot of people use steel plates as thermal mass, I guess to radiate/conduct more heat into the pizza than ceramic would.

Edit: I should point out that the no-knead bread in the first batch was made the way the no-knead recipe advises, in the enameled dutch oven in the background of that picture. I preheated oven and dutch oven to 475, put the bread in, baked for 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered. Worked very well, though I usually like to make more than one loaf at a time, which would be hard with that method.

[Mambo Dave]

Please tell me I didn't just poison myself.

Mixing and matching bread theories, just before baking I saved a part of the no-knead mix I baked days ago as a 'biga' (if I'm even spelling that correctly). My loaves are smaller - like 3 cups of flour - because it's just me eating them (maybe I've accidentally poisoned too many girlfriends with my cooking?)

I went and mixed that in with my no-knead recipe (that I put slightly less yeast in with) yesterday, and cooked it all up just now.

Somehow I got a true sour dough taste (strong! a bit stronger than any sour dough bread I've ever bought... but good!) in just that small time of allowing that biga to sit, and then re-using it. Like strong enough that I'm wondering, now, if I have bad bacteria or mold or something in it, because I've heard biga for sour doughs takes quite a while to develop its flavor.

Anyone foresee a problem with using parts of the last batch as the biga with a no-knead recipe? It seems to be leading me down the path of adding taste to the traditional no knead bread.

----

While they aren't baking stones, I leave my four cast iron skillets in the oven for the 500 degree preheat. I use two of them, hot, to bake bread now as my poor-man's dutch oven. Three of my skillets are the same size, so I just use one on top of the other, but upside down, as the 'lid' for the dutch oven. Between those, and the two left in the oven while I'm dumping dough into the first, there is enough radiant heat that I seem to be getting away without a baking stone. It may not be traditional, but I'd suggest to a lot of guys out there who want bomb-proof stuff to just use cast iron.

For my smaller 3-cup of flour bread I cook for 15 minutes with the top one on, then 20 minutes this last time with the lid off, at 500 degrees. I was trying 15 and 15, but it seemed too short of a time for both the crust and the insides.