BREAD baking

[Susan Otcenas]

Your loaves turned out gorgeous!

Thanks! I thought they turned out really well, given that it was my first effort. I'm looking forward to trying some seeded breads and herb breads too.

[tulip]

I think I need to make a concerted effort to clear out some milk so that I can fit a batch of dough in our fridge. I don't think I've made this since we freshened Sass because I can't spare the fridge space!

Maybe you could bake some bread using Sass milk in place of water. It would be like having goat cheese baked right in.

[five one]

Those lovely pictures reminded me I need to get back to bread baking. I let it slide during the summer. Has anyone tried the whole grain recipes? I didn't get that far in my experiments last spring. I'd much prefer the peasant breads to those made with all white flour (though those are decidedly yummy!).

One thing at a time however. Right now I'm up to my elbows in gingerbread cookie baking/decorating .

[Susan Otcenas]

Last night I made pulled some more dough out of the fridge to make another loaf.

I did everything exactly the same as the first time. Warmed up the oven with the pizza stone & broiler pan (for the water) inside, same temps, etc. Slid the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the stone.

10 minutes later. CRACK! My pizza stone broke into three pieces. It's Pampered Chef, so I'm pretty sure it's guaranteed, but still. Any idea why that happened??

Susan

Actually, on contemplation there is one thing that was slightly different. Last week, I let the bread rising for probably anhour and a half before putting it in the oven. (I got distracted doing other things.) Yesterday, it was only about 45 minutes. So, I guess the dough would have been a little cooler. But that's really the only difference.

[Biciclista]

Susan, it's not the bread's fault that the stone broke. The only thing that could do that is moisture in the stone. I"ve been using a "dutch oven" a porcelain clad heavy cast iron pot with a lid. it really works well. I think Pampered CHef owes you a new stone.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yes, the cooler wettish dough may have pushed the stone over the edge.
Susan, did you sprinkle the stone liberally with corn meal to prevent the dough from sticking to it too much?

Actually, many people complain about their pizza stones cracking at 450F or so. Many pizza stones are too thin. The Artisan bread book recommends getting the baking stone from Williams & Sonoma (also guaranteed not to crack or they'll replace it). I got it and indeed it was substantially thicker than the old pizza stone I had. Oddly, the pizza stone offered for sale in my local W&S mall store was a thin one. The thick one I ordered online, it was the only one W&S offered online.

The other technique you could use which avoids stones and streaming altogether is using a cast iron Dutch Oven pot. I have switched to it because the crust is always golden and shiny and crispy...perfect! Here are some pictures of my pot and the parchment baking paper I use to lower the loaf into the hot pot to start baking:
http://strumelia.blogspot.com/2009/0...utch-oven.html
and here is how my loaves turn out when baked in the iron pots:
http://strumelia.blogspot.com/2009/0...na-loaves.html
the loaves bake in the pre-heated covered pots first for 20 minutes at 500F, then I remove the lid (careful, it HOT) and bake another 20 minutes at 450F.

[tulip]

Lisa, your loaves are lovely. I also adore those old loop potholders in the photo--did you or your daughters make those circa 1979?? I wish I still had that potholder loom and all those loops!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa, your loaves are lovely. I also adore those old loop potholders in the photo--did you or your daughters make those circa 1979?? I wish I still had that potholder loom and all those loops!

Thanks Tulip.
Yes indeed, my two daughters made those old loop potholders....must be about 20 years ago now, when they were around 10 years old maybe. (gosh, can it be that long ago?!)
I cherish the potholders- I have about 6 of them. I remember buying the loom and the big bag of loops for them for Xmas one year....they loved it! Hey, you can still buy such things!

sigh....the last 'Atari-optional' generation...

[Biciclista]

my second loaf of bread

[tulip]

Mimi! You did it! You did it! I'm sooooo proud of you! Beautiful loaf, too!

[Biciclista]

I had a lot of help from Bleek

[Susan Otcenas]

Susan, it's not the bread's fault that the stone broke. The only thing that could do that is moisture in the stone.

I'm not entirely sure I agree. I have a photo at home that I'll post later. The crack radiated out from the center, precisely where the bread was sitting.

[Biciclista]

You and Lisa are probably right, but still, one would expect more from a stone!

[tulip]

I finally tried it the Dutch Oven way--and I'm hooked! No more pizza stones for me. Thanks for the inspiration, Lisa.

[jesvetmed]

You guys are making my mouth water with all those wonderful pictures! This after having just admitted I gained 2 lb this week on the weight loss thread!