Hearth bread - tranmere adelaide

[Brianjohnpike@icloud.com]

Hello
first post
i have a FB casa 2g90 oven, very happy with it for pizza every week.
Started making bread using Dutch ovens but want to move to making it directly on the hearth
Anyone nearby making bread this way willing to show me how?
Happy to pay in kind or barter something
brian

[SableSprings]

I have a friend with a Casa 2G90 and I have baked quite a bit of bread (and other things) in that oven. I usually do baguettes in his oven, primarily because of counter space during prep. I bake directly on the cooking floor generally in the 550F-575F range (~285C-300C). Takes about 15-20 minutes to get an internal bread temp of 205F (96C) when I pull the loaves. My dough is made with a levain & poolish made the day before the bake. After the final mix and bulk fermentation, I bench in about 400 g loaves and shape/final proof in a rice floured couche. When they are ready to bake, I use a flip board onto my loading peel (light dust of rice flour to keep the dough from sticking) and slide them directly onto the cleaned cooking floor. I've attached a picture from a Casa baguette bake (I normally do 4 loaves in a batch...again storage space). This picture had two regular and two with Asiago cheese on the cooling rack. Also have included a "my favorite tools" pdf that includes a picture of my flip & loading boards at my home oven (my build). Will also attach a pdf of a four loaf batch formula for your info. (p.s. Bill is the name of my Levain/sourdough starter )

Sorry, I can't show you the process in person...but it's really pretty easy with a little experience. Good luck and if I can be of any further help, please post your question here.

[UtahBeehiver]

Update, I see in the title you are in Adelaide so KD my be a bit far for you to connect in person with but he may be able to give you some insight over emails.

What part of Australia are you in, Karangi Dude has done a lot of bread and baking in he in the NSW area I believe. You can PM him and see if something can be coordinated.

[Brianjohnpike@icloud.com]

Hello SableSprings and UtahBeehiver
thank you for your replies

SableSprings, I love the look of your baguettes, I'm inspired if not daunted. It's been a long weekend in Adelaide and I made a copper blow tube and it is highly effective at clearing the hearth of dust (and yes, it goes up the chimney as you said). I also had a go at baking directly on the hearth. I had some pizza dough balls left over from the night before, I let them proof a bit and gently put them in. It worked reasonably well. I threw a few ice cubes into a hot cast iron pan that was hot in the oven to create some steam and I got a little oven spring.

Another question if I may: how do you look after Billy? I have been following Ken Forkish's book (I cannot speak highly enough of his easy to read and apply instructions, I'm having fantastic results in my cast iron pots) and I'm at the point of trying sourdough but his sour dough starter regime seems so wasteful. Do you have any tips for keeping a starter happy and ready for once a week baking?

UtahBeehiver, Adelaide is a long way from South Australia. I'll look him up. Thank you.

[Gulf]

Sourdough doesn't have to be wasteful. Don't throw anything out. Make pancakes...................Great Pancakes .

[SableSprings]

As Joe noted above, pancakes & waffles are a good way to use what you might consider waste when you are refreshing a starter. I've attached an old pdf I made for making sourdough waffles or pancakes from your starter. (Its also got a little info on my starter and his upkeep.)

I understand totally your concern about the apparent waste with keeping a sourdough culture. I keep my starter in my bread prep room at cool room temps (50F/10C -- 70F/21C) rather than putting it into the refrigerator when not in use. I have to say that when I found 25lbs/11.3Kg sacks of AP flour for less than $8 it eased my concern. To keep Bill healthy & happy at about a 3 cup size, I'm really only pouring out about two cups of starter and adding 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water per refresh. So, in the cool room I refresh 2x per week and 2 cups of flour is my possible waste...if I don't have pancakes or waffles a couple times per week ...not really too bad for the return. If you are baking twice a week, your "waste" will be even less. If you want, having a smaller starter is no problem as long as you have enough for the amount needed for whatever you're making.

If you don't use the starter often, I'm really in favor of spreading a thin layer of active starter on a sheet of plastic wrap and letting it dry. Flake the dried starter and put it into an air-tight container (or zip-lock) and pop it into the freezer. When you want to use it, simply bring it out of the freezer and mix it with water and flour a day or so before you need it. (When it's bubbling, don't forget to smear some on plastic wrap again to restock your freezer backup ). I've heard too many stories of people keeping their starter in the refrigerator and having a spouse or "visitor" to your kitchen throw it out because it smells bad . A dated, small pack of sourdough flakes in the freezer is just as effective (IMHO) for the casual sourdough user.

Hope this helps a little...

[JRPizza]

I do keep my starter in the fridge, and have been using it once a week for years (and years). To "wake" the starter, I use a ratio of one part starter, two parts water, and two parts flour. I pull it out the morning before I bake, stir it up, and use a very small amount to start with, usually about 30 grams. I add 60gm water and 30 each of white and wheat flour (have read whole wheat is good for the starter, even if you are baking primarily with white). About an hour before bed I add flour and water in a 1 to 1 to 1 ratio - one part starter, one part water and one part flour (again in a 50-50 blend). This gives me about 450 grams of starter (levain). I use 300 grams of starter for two loaves of bread, leaving me 150 grams to replenish my container in the fridge and the small bit of leftover goes in the compost pile. If I am only making one loaf of bread (150gm), I spoon out some of the mixture that has been sitting all day and then do the 1 to 1 to 1 addition, resulting in less starter to discard. I let the mix set for about an hour to stabilize before I add it back into my container, after first pouring off (spooning out really) about two thirds of the old stuff. When I get up in the morning I have exactly the amount of starter I need, and this process results in very little wastage. This is more or less the method I learn reading "The Bread Builders" by Scott and Wing.