BREAD baking

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

One thing I was surprised to find was that our old refrigerator and freezer AND our oven were all at temps we did not expect!
I invested in a refrigerator/freezer thermometer, and found out that both our fridge and freezer were WAY colder than recommended even though they were set at 'normal'. I was able to turn both setting smuch lower and now have them fall within the proper range for fresh and frozen foods. This was one reason my dough was not resting long enough- it was way too cold when I took it out of the fridge each time.

I also got a new oven thermometer and it confirmed what I have long suspected- that our old 1970's oven runs much hotter than the setting control says. Now I know that if I set the oven knob to bake at about 410F, it really is baking at 450F!

These things make a big difference and are worth checking out.
We will be saving some money by lowering the fridge and freezer settings, for sure!

[tulip]

My Le Creuset casserole/dutch oven was a wedding gift from 1993, so maybe there have been improvements. All of my appliances are brand new, purchased in October when I started my kitchen renovation. My fridge has a built in thermometer, but who knows, the settings could always be wrong.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I got my new cast iron 6 qt. Dutch oven and 2 qt. covered saucepan from the "Cajun" cookware place in Louisiana today.

It's true that the quality is not as high as my old 1950's American cast iron items. They are, as I figured, made in China. They are heavier, thicker, and a little rougher in surface texture. BUT they will work fine for my baking purposes and now I can bake my usual two loaves of bread at once, together in the oven in my 2 iron pots. They just barely fit in there together! But fit they do!

Now I can look forward to cutting out 45 minutes of oven 'on' time every time I make bread. Something to appreciate during the summer, for sure!

[northstar]

This thread is inspiring! Your loaves of bread look absolutely beautiful. Off to find a copy of that book...hopefully I'll get to post some pics on here someday.

[laura jane]

Okay, this thread persuaded me to go out and buy the book and a few bread baking necessities. I'm going to mix up my first batch of dough tonight. My only question (for now) is, what do you keep the dough in to refrigerate? The book seems to go back and forth on airtight/non airtight container. Would a large tupperware container be okay or do I need something with a looser fitting lid?

[tulip]

I just put it in tupperware and don't close the lid all the way. Seems to work fine that way.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I use a tupperware type box, and I put a little folded bit of paper towel over one corner so the lid can't really snap on airtight.
One thing I've learned is the bread tastes better and has better texture if it's been in the fridge at least two days before baking. It's good for up to about 10 days.

My older daughter and partner came to visit this weekend, and I made two loaves of semolina bread in my two Dutch oven pots- the first time I used them side by side in the oven. They came out very nicely!:

The two loaves lasted about 24 hours amongst the four of us.