bread video

[christo]

Not sure if this is an excepted or encouraged method... but

I used a bowl with lid for initial rise, formed the bread (it was barely foldable), dusted with flour and put it in a larger second bowl with lid for second rise.

After two hours or so, I tilted the bowl to see if the dough would roll or pull. It pulled. So I took a spatula, tilted the bowl and separated the dough from the bowl using the spatula. While tilted, I dusted the dough with flour again to keep it separated. I continued around the bowl. I now had a dough that was not connected to the bowl - but it was a little smaller than when I started. I put the lid back on and cranked up the oven. When it was time to put it in the pot, the dough seemed to recover.

Tipping the bowl into the pot - the dough slid around in the bowl vs rolling and for the most part dropped in to the pot bottom side down.

But...My bread did not get very tall. Could be the rolling around in the bowl or it could be that my pot was large - 14" diameter - and I think the drop really flattened out the ball. I did not get a very tall loaf but it was moist and had good hole structure and I loved the crust.

Christo

[Wlodek]

Re: bread video

Interesting comments in this thread on both cloche baking and very wet dough.

Since my oven is now at advanced-design-and-getting-the-bits stage, I tried cloche baking of quite wet sourdough the last two weekends. I used the Moro Cookbook recipe for tin baked bread, but used stoneground organic rye flour and whole rye grain pre-soaked overnight.

Apart from the fact that the bottom (bread's!) stuck to the cloche and I had to use advanced persuasion techniques involving mild violence and some foul language to get it out, the result (a quite heavy rye Vollkorn type) was quite handsome and very tasty according to my wife and in-laws.

I want to get the baking technique bythe time the oven is ready ... then I'll be learning one thing at a time.

Best wishes from still sunny Lake District,

W.

[CanuckJim]

Re: bread video

Christo,

Sounds like you deflated or overhandled the dough prior to placing it in the pot. Also suggest your pot was too large, hence a flatter bread. Try it with a 10 inch round pot. Also, how hot was your oven? It should be at least 500 F, preheated for an hour, before loading. It's good practice to mist your bowl(s) with spray oil before putting the dough in. Better release that way. Have a look at the video clips that go with the Wood-Fired Bread Cookbook. There you'll find one that shows the use of a plastic dough scraper to unload the dough from a bowl for no-knead bread.

Wlodek,

Did you preheat the cloche? You really have to do that to prevent sticking. Also, dust your peel with brown rice flour to get it to slide more easily. It might turn brown to black, but the bottom of your loaf won't.

Jim

[Wlodek]

Re: bread video

Thanks Jim,

I did not preheat the cloche, which was a mistake. I was worried that the hot cloche would explode, or at least crack when I drop the wet dough onto it. Will pre-heat this week-end.

I did dust the cloche with some fine semolina before putting in the dough for final proving, but it will have got incorporated into the dough (hindsight is so much easier than foresight ...)

Will report what happens this week-end. I will need to pre-soak the rye grains a bit longer too, as they were too chewy for my 5 y.o. junior

Best wishes,

W.

[christo]

Re: bread video

Thanks for the input, Jim!

I totally missed this thread revival. I was looking it up as I had not made wet bread it in a long time and it's cool today and feels like experimental bread season has started. I will check out the video and see how I can improve my scraping technique.

I will also try a smaller pot this time - I have a 2.5 qt stainless pot that I will try. I was pretty happy with crust and doneness on my flat loaf - so maybe I will back off the oven temp 25 degrees or so.

I also think I try to make my doughs tooooo wet. (Pizza dough included) I think I make dough too hard on myself. I'm going to try for dough the consistency of mortar this time and see what happens!!!

Failure or triumph - pics to follow!

Christo

[james]

Re: bread video

I'm late to this thread. Can I jump in?

Last year I used and Ikea porcelain coated cast iron dutch oven (Le Cruset alike) and this year I am using the Lodge Dutch oven. It's been working pretty well, though I am considering switching back to the porcelain pan, as it might make better steam.

My question on the cloche is how that works relative to cast iron. Does it do a better job of a steamy baking environment?

Hey Christo, there's no such thing as "too wet." :-) It gets harder to handle, but the results are worth it. Keep a lot of flour on your work surfaces, and keep you tools wet. I've been making the 80% hydration baguettes recently, which is a seriously wet dough. But you can do it!

James

[christo]

Re: bread video

As I did not know what a cloche was I looked on the internet and found this link.

no-knead bread | The Fresh Loaf

It talkes about no knead bread and shows a Cloche with some good looking loaves of bread1!!

Christo

[james]

Re: bread video

I have talked with the guy who runs The Fresh Loaf, and he's a good guy. He even has posted links to FB.com for us.

I've stopped making the no-knead bread and have been practicing my dough shaping before using the dutch oven.

James