Cooking in Summer...

[Frances]

...is different from cooking in Winter!

Thought I had it all sort of figured out, but no. Some friends came over for pizza, the dough turned out too wet (higher air humidity maybe?) and kept sticking to the peel all the time... one pizza in the fire, toppings of the next one rolling all over the oven floor, fire nearly goes out because of the wet dough on top of it .

Then the oven lost heat a lot more slowly than I'm used to... and the sourdough rose a lot faster than usual... no room in the fridge to slow it down. So overrisen dough in a too hot oven. And the unbaked bread loaves spread and stuck together. Its still edible, but just not the same lovely sourdough bread I've come to know and love.

Feels as if with the warmer temperatures I've got to learn how to cook in this oven all over again. Today was not my day!

[sarah h]

Re: Cooking in Summer...

That sounds a lot like my last experience so you have my sympathies! Hopefully we'll both do better next time. I also sense we're not alone - maybe that should be a new thread - Worst WFO Disaster to Date - along with more cheerful news of how it all went wonderfully the next time!

[CajunKnight]

Re: Cooking in Summer...

I love cooking in summer. Everything changes a lot. Most folks cant imagine changing from inside to outside but its a fact of life when humidity changes our cooking style does also. Now I cant wait t o try and mess up in a WFO. If I mess up then I can fix it next time.

[Ed_]

Re: Cooking in Summer...

My own lesson for the weekend is that yard work and baking don't mix well. At least, not if you don't put a timer in your pocket or something. My bread, which I'm confident was going to be some of my best yet, was what the French would call "bien carbonis?". So I know how you feel.

[Frances]

Re: Cooking in Summer...

Oh dear!

Me too... been there, done that, scraped the T-shirt off the coals. Bought a timer.

But CajunKnight is right, messing up in a WFO is so much cooler than messing up in a regular oven.

[Frances]

Re: Cooking in Summer...

Blast, the temperature change seems to have thrown my baking right out!

Here's a pic of last week's bread. Its ok, but the dough was over risen again and so oven spring wasn't much good. And another pic of this week's effort, where I reduced rising time (too much methinks) and hydration to only 55%, to counteract high air humidity... it's like eating an (admittedly very tasty) lump of lead.

Lucky the sourdough thing worked out so well to begin with, or I'd probably be giving up by now... next week longer rising time again and maybe 58 % hydrated dough. And a greater appreciation if it does work properly...

[rlf5]

Re: Cooking in Summer...

My own lesson for the weekend is that yard work and baking don't mix well. At least, not if you don't put a timer in your pocket or something. My bread, which I'm confident was going to be some of my best yet, was what the French would call "bien carbonis?". So I know how you feel.

Thats exactly why I hang a stopwatch around my neck. I've tried to bake and do lawn work on two occasions and learned my lesson. The first time i thought I could mentally time it...the result was over proofed and subsequently over baked bread. The second time I brought the stopwatch, but I set it for the exact time...well i was in the middle of something so I said "whats a few extra mins". Well a few extra minutes is a bunch of bread with scorched tops and bottoms. So bring a timer....and set it for bout 5+ minutes before your cut off time...lol.

[Frances]

Re: Cooking in Summer...

HaHAA! Yuppeee!!

I'm sure you'll all be very glad to hear that this week's bread turned out perfect! The trick apparently is to knead the dough and fire the oven at the same time.

That's for 19 C anyway. It'll probably change again next week...