First loaves of bread Hearth Bread and Flatbread Discuss First loaves of bread in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; You the man Jay! That's great info I can really use. It makes sense to spray after the loaves are ...

[Dino_Pizza]

You the man Jay! That's great info I can really use. It makes sense to spray after the loaves are in since you want that many pounds of dough to go in it. It will take a few minutes to lay them in and arrange. I never thought about the moisture you'll get from multiple loaves in the oven at the same. Also, I didn't realize I need to go to pizza temps then "load" the wfo. Again, thanks for explaining.

I'm going keep at this same recipe and tweak the firing until I get sourdough boules worthy of Davids "exquisitely crafted loaves" category .

Thank -Dino

[texassourdough]

On another bread site there have been some hilarious baguette photos uploaded. I may have some pretty pictures of bread but I have made my share of misshapen, weird, and strange frisbees, snakes, clubs, blobs, and, of course the accidental calzone and other charred delights!

Thanks!
Jay

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Excuse the bread beginners question, But if i may,,,, When I bake a cheesecake in my home oven I always put in a bowl of water to keep it from cracking, seems to work well for me... Would it be adviseable to put say a small metal can full of water in the oven when baking bread hoping it will steam ?
Mark

[texassourdough]

Hi Mark!

Sure! You could do that. Probably best to put it in 3-5 minutes before loading so it is boiling when you load. You want it to boil away by the ten minute point of baking. Probably a cup of cold water would be about right. Set it to the side, away from where you will put the bread. It might be good to pull the pan after 10 minutes of baking so the oven can dry out (if there is water left) (and until you figure out how much water to put in the oven.

In conventional ovens steaming is a highly discussed art. When I bake on stones inside I use two methods. I put a handful of ice in an aluminum pie pan about five minutes before loading. After loading I pour appx. 3/4 cup boiling water in a cast iron skillet full of lava rocks to provide "super steam" for the first ten minutes or so.

BTW... I would use a cast iron skillet for the steam in my WFO. Just put cold water in it and load it in the oven cold. (don't pour cold water in a hot skillet - it can crack)(voice of experience). It should boil in about 2-3 minutes.

Try it!
Jay

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

thanks jay,, I will pick up a little cast iron skillet to leave out by the oven,,

Mark

[texassourdough]

BTW Mark...

I haven't used a cast iron skillet in my oven for steam but I use them all the time for appetizers and stuff so having one convenient is a good thing. Only problem will be making sure it doesn't rust.

Sunday night as an app I did a pound of shrimp. 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup of butter, two cloves of garllic sliced, bay leaf, salt, pepper, cayenne (dash), a dash or Worcestershire sauce, about 1 T of rosemary (or thyme is good too, or both). Marinate the shrimp in this for about 1/2 hour (don't worry if the butter is solid). When ready to cook move the marinade to the skillet. Put in oven to cook the garlic - will be hot in about two minutes. Add shrimp and white wine - say a cup. Stir, put back in oven. Cover with an aluminum pizza pan (make great lids - I use them all the time down at the oven). Cook about three minutes. Pull the skillet. Stir and check for doneness. Probably go another minute. Pull just before done and let sit for five to ten minutes. Pretty good!

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

sounds like a great recipe,, will definitely give it a shot,, Love garlic.. And I will make sure to properly season my skillet before i use it

Mark

[Gromit]

Originally Posted by egalecki

If you want to try a nifty breakfasty loaf, try a white regular dough (like you'd bake in a pan) and add in cracked sugar cubes which you have coated in cinnamon. About 1/2 c per 9x5 loaf will do it. I knead them in after mixing. You get these cool pockets of sweet cinnamony goodness...

Elizabeth,

Thanks for this tip. I tried it this evening and the only problem was we couldn't wait till morning to try it. "The best bread I've ever had" according to my 4 year old.

[egalecki]

It is really really good. Your 4 year old has great taste!

[Dutchoven]

Originally Posted by Gromit

You know I am sick of all these baking books/blogs with one impossible picture after another of exquisitely crafted loaves (Reinhart, Glazer, Bertinet, TexasSourdough et al.) One day, I will publish the world's ugliest but most useful baking book: every recipe will be accompanied by at least four disaster photos with captions explaining what went wrong. Believe me, I will have no shortage of illustrations.

That was too funny!!! You could call it "exquisitely crappy loaves"...when I first came to Mississippi from NY a sign in front of the local hotel read "Welcome Crappie Fishermen!"...I am thinking OK they're crappie fisherman but it's pretty rude to tell everyone they're crappie by putting it on the sign"...about 6 months later I found out that crappie is the type of fish and they pronounce it "croppie"
Best
Dutch