Meanwhile Back at the Bread 9-17-11
Over the past few weeks we have seen a trend of the loaves getting flatter with each successive bake over the course of the evening. My incorrect assumption was that the as the oven cooled the loaves were not receiving enough heat to get that classic “oven spring.” My brilliant wife Chef Kathy told me she thought the yeast was reaching a critical point and there fore each new successive bake had less power to rise. Her solution was to place half of our loaves in the refrigerator for two hours and then allow the final shape and rest before baking.
We baked on Thursday night with Kathy’s solution. The result was 102 loaves that were uniformly round and not one of them failed to achieve full oven spring.
If you have any baking questions that you’d like us to try to answer just send us a comment.
Warmly
Mad Coyote Joe
Hi Joe, Tammy here, Thank you letting us be bread testers,we love bread in this household.
ReplyDeleteLets start by saying the bread has beautiful color, shape and auroma. The flavor was superb!
The top 2/3rds of the loaf was a bit doughy so I took Brillant Chef Kathys advise and toasted it!
WOW! The flavors just burst into my mouth, leaving me to want for another slice! I like its hard crunchy exterior, but my family though it was too hard to eat so I wrapped it in plastic overnite and it is alot softer now. I however maintain its crunch by toasting it, try it with butter and a thin slice of cheddar!
Great Job Joe.
I have a great damper recipe from Australia you should try in your oven!