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Re: Door for bread baking???
I was traveling when this topic arose and missed it or I would have gotten involved early on. I am adding this because I sense there are some practices and problems that understanding traditional bread making may help.
First, as a correction, my oven is a Forno Bravo Casa which is much lighter than a Scott barrell vault and it is pretty well insulated on top but the base is done Alan Scott style which means it has somewhat higher hearth heat losses than it appears the better insulated ovens on this listserve. I don't consider the hearth heat loss particularly significant to bread for the baking time is too short.
The traditional bread baking pattern for WFOs is as Elizabeth said, You don't simply heat it to clear but rather continue firing to push heat into the refractory. On a FB style oven that is probably about twice your clearing time as a minimum with three times not a bad idea. And that is a good robust fire, not a wimpy (by comparison) pizza fire (though bread after pizza should not be a problem if the fire has gone for several hours). I usually close the oven fifteen minutes to kill the fire and then remove the coals though it can be done later. Mopping at this point is not appropriate as it reduces refractory heat.
Once it is heat loaded you close the door and let it continue to heat soak so that the temperature in your refractory equalizes somewhat. When you start your bread you want the temperature several inches into your refractory to equal the temperature in the oven so that when you cool the oven with the mopping, bread, and spraying the refractory interior can release heat back to the oven. (If you only heat to clear and stop the surface will be hot but when you cool it down the temperature rise in the oven the refractory may not have enough heat to bring it back into the proper baking zone. In any event the temperature behaviour will be slow.
The standard heat soak period is 45 minutes to an hour on my FB oven depending on how long I fire. It can be longer on true Scott ovens. At that point the temperature on the hearth should be about 575 to 600 in my experience but that is somewhat a function of the oven. Clean the oven at this point if you did not earlier. If your oven is a lot hotter leaving the door off for five minutes and/or swabbing can speed the temperature drop. You should, however, close the oven for a few minutes to let it come back up to temperature before loading. I like to load with the temp between 550 and 575 on the hearth - my dome will usually be around 600 to 625.
Spraying before loading should probably be modest for you don't want to depress the oven temperature any more than necessary. Reswabbing is probably better for most ovens. Load the bread as fast as possible to minimize heat loss. Then close the door and using the smallest gap possible spray in the oven (for some that will mean no door but the goal is to spray as little as is necessary to minimize temp drop while keeping as much steam as possible in the oven). As indicated in earlier emails I find that when I have 15 pounds of dough in my 1 meter oven I really don't need to spray (though I usually do lightly just to make sure...) You want to avoid spraying the bread - simply spray up toward the ceiling.
Loading will typically drop the surfacte temperature of the hearth dramatically - to say the 300 range and the dome will probably drop to 400 due to the steam. This is when the heat you put into the refractory becomes important for it starts heating the oven. The temperature should rise fairly quickly back to the 400 range and then rise more slowly up to 475 or so by the end of the bake.
The ideal oven temperature will create a loaf with three colors - a medium golden brown for the crust, a dark grigne on the slash edges and potentially dark speckling over the loaf, and a lighter "rip". If your oven is too cool or too dry or overproofed you will tend to get a lighter, not-golden brown crust that is more uniform over the loaf.
If the bottom is burning it is in my experience that the hearth is too hot. I have never seen the bottom burn when the hearth temp is below 575. The wet dough simply won't let the bottom of the loaf get hot enough in my experience.
If you don't heat soak the oven - keep heating it for at least another 45 minutes after clearing, the refractory heat will be too low meaning the oven can't recover (heat back up) like it should. The result will tend to be that you need to bake longer and will tend to get pale loaves.
If you don't let the oven equalize you will have some of the problems above (the heat will not be driven into the refractory as much), the oven will be too hot (and will tend to char the surface and restrict oven spring while not baking the interior very well because you will need to pull the bread before it is really done), and you may burn the bottom. (Though the details depend on how much heat you packed into the refractory before you stopped the fire.)
In any event, if you are not consistent in your oven management you can expect inconsistent results and baking times. It will probably still be good bread but not as good as it could be.
Good Luck!
Jay
I was traveling when this topic arose and missed it or I would have gotten involved early on. I am adding this because I sense there are some practices and problems that understanding traditional bread making may help.
First, as a correction, my oven is a Forno Bravo Casa which is much lighter than a Scott barrell vault and it is pretty well insulated on top but the base is done Alan Scott style which means it has somewhat higher hearth heat losses than it appears the better insulated ovens on this listserve. I don't consider the hearth heat loss particularly significant to bread for the baking time is too short.
The traditional bread baking pattern for WFOs is as Elizabeth said, You don't simply heat it to clear but rather continue firing to push heat into the refractory. On a FB style oven that is probably about twice your clearing time as a minimum with three times not a bad idea. And that is a good robust fire, not a wimpy (by comparison) pizza fire (though bread after pizza should not be a problem if the fire has gone for several hours). I usually close the oven fifteen minutes to kill the fire and then remove the coals though it can be done later. Mopping at this point is not appropriate as it reduces refractory heat.
Once it is heat loaded you close the door and let it continue to heat soak so that the temperature in your refractory equalizes somewhat. When you start your bread you want the temperature several inches into your refractory to equal the temperature in the oven so that when you cool the oven with the mopping, bread, and spraying the refractory interior can release heat back to the oven. (If you only heat to clear and stop the surface will be hot but when you cool it down the temperature rise in the oven the refractory may not have enough heat to bring it back into the proper baking zone. In any event the temperature behaviour will be slow.
The standard heat soak period is 45 minutes to an hour on my FB oven depending on how long I fire. It can be longer on true Scott ovens. At that point the temperature on the hearth should be about 575 to 600 in my experience but that is somewhat a function of the oven. Clean the oven at this point if you did not earlier. If your oven is a lot hotter leaving the door off for five minutes and/or swabbing can speed the temperature drop. You should, however, close the oven for a few minutes to let it come back up to temperature before loading. I like to load with the temp between 550 and 575 on the hearth - my dome will usually be around 600 to 625.
Spraying before loading should probably be modest for you don't want to depress the oven temperature any more than necessary. Reswabbing is probably better for most ovens. Load the bread as fast as possible to minimize heat loss. Then close the door and using the smallest gap possible spray in the oven (for some that will mean no door but the goal is to spray as little as is necessary to minimize temp drop while keeping as much steam as possible in the oven). As indicated in earlier emails I find that when I have 15 pounds of dough in my 1 meter oven I really don't need to spray (though I usually do lightly just to make sure...) You want to avoid spraying the bread - simply spray up toward the ceiling.
Loading will typically drop the surfacte temperature of the hearth dramatically - to say the 300 range and the dome will probably drop to 400 due to the steam. This is when the heat you put into the refractory becomes important for it starts heating the oven. The temperature should rise fairly quickly back to the 400 range and then rise more slowly up to 475 or so by the end of the bake.
The ideal oven temperature will create a loaf with three colors - a medium golden brown for the crust, a dark grigne on the slash edges and potentially dark speckling over the loaf, and a lighter "rip". If your oven is too cool or too dry or overproofed you will tend to get a lighter, not-golden brown crust that is more uniform over the loaf.
If the bottom is burning it is in my experience that the hearth is too hot. I have never seen the bottom burn when the hearth temp is below 575. The wet dough simply won't let the bottom of the loaf get hot enough in my experience.
If you don't heat soak the oven - keep heating it for at least another 45 minutes after clearing, the refractory heat will be too low meaning the oven can't recover (heat back up) like it should. The result will tend to be that you need to bake longer and will tend to get pale loaves.
If you don't let the oven equalize you will have some of the problems above (the heat will not be driven into the refractory as much), the oven will be too hot (and will tend to char the surface and restrict oven spring while not baking the interior very well because you will need to pull the bread before it is really done), and you may burn the bottom. (Though the details depend on how much heat you packed into the refractory before you stopped the fire.)
In any event, if you are not consistent in your oven management you can expect inconsistent results and baking times. It will probably still be good bread but not as good as it could be.
Good Luck!
Jay
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