Which breads go first?

[RCLake]

mypsi,
I was raised in Ypsilanti, ND - small farm town of 200. Always knew we had a big brother town.

[gjbingham]

I believe Inishta's wondering about the heat of the oven. Correct me if I'm wrong Cjim - 550 F for hearth/artisan breads, 400 - 450F for enriched doughs (guessing on that last one). The internal temps given above are the point at which the various breads were done.

[carioca]

Thanks for the elucidation, Jim - although it would be no mean feat to measure the internal temperature of anything in the forno :-)

I had of course assumed you were talking about the OVEN temperature...

Thank you also for the practical tips! I am going to bake a few more rolls this afternoon - at the moment the oven internal temperature is about 450F (top of dome).

Ciao,

LMH

[CanuckJim]

Carioca,

Whoops, should have been more specific. When I refer to baking temps, I'm mean the temperature of the hearth bricks. When I refer to cooked bread temps, I mean the internal temp of the loaves. To get these last, I use a high speed digital probe thermometer. Details about that are in the WFO Bread Book available on the home FB site.

George,

Hearth temps for pan or enriched breads are a bit of a movable feast. Below 400 is probably ideal, although I'll be baking some biscuits this week with White Lily Flour provided by Dutch that calls for a 500F home oven, so I'll probably bake them at about 450 on the oven floor. Between 500 and 550 is the perfect environment for, let's say, 1 kilo (2 lb) sourdough boule.

It's wise to remember that each oven differs somewhat. These temps work well in mine, but minor adjustments up or down might be required in another.

Jim

[Dutchoven]

Jim
Spot on for the biscuits as far as hearth temp! Many restaurants in this area use stone deck ovens for their biscuits and it is usually in the 450 to 475 degree range. Don't know if we mentioned it in the note but, if you place the biscuits a bit tighter together and to the edges on the sheet you will get a higher and fluffier end product!
Best of luck!
Dutch

[gjbingham]

Good info. I was just winging it. I bake by the recipe for the time being. Cooking,,,, I can wing it with the spices /temps etc. I've got a pretty good feeling for it. Baking, no way. Read the book, be a robot.

[Frances]

I dunno... With the WFO oven been putting things in a heats I never would have dared before. All depends on how far the dough has risen and how far the oven has cooled down by then.

Risen dough, no room in the fridge to retard, oven too hot? Fling it in, maybe in the form of rolls, so they have a chance of being baked before the outsides burn...

Dough not risen enough, oven cooling down faster than expected? Ditto, with a longer baking time, and a bread that maybe tastes better toasted...

It strikes me the actual temps are far more flexible than I ever thought. The end product may not be perfect, but its usually still very edible.

[Bacterium]

you make a good point there Frances about oven temps being flexible.......the conditions seem to be different for me every time and its interesting to see the varying results.....

I suppose these variations help me decide the most favoured result......

[Dutchoven]

You are absoutely right...everyone's oven has its own personality and quirks...just have to pay attention...so it does not become too variable a variable...Jim has said that he sometimes does baguettes when the hearth is over 600 degrees...something I could not dream of...at least not right now...but he knows his oven and his doughs...not something everyone could try without experience
Best
Dutch