Playing with sourdough Hearth Bread and Flatbread Discuss Playing with sourdough in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; Wow! Talk about coinkidink! I was inspired to say the same thing. Great thought Jim. Could probably just drop the ...

[Dutchoven]

Wow! Talk about coinkidink! I was inspired to say the same thing. Great thought Jim. Could probably just drop the pieces on the bench a couple of times to degas also and then do the primary shaping or as some call it "rounding"
Best
Dutch

[CanuckJim]

Dutch,

Exactly. I've done both, and it seems to suit me to pat flat. Dropping the pieces a few times would accomplish the same object. Probably worth a try, not matter how it's done.

Jim

[rlf5]

I'll try that this evening with the sourdough rye loaf I'm making. Here's a few pics of the miche I made a couple days ago. The crumb is much better than last time. Lots of small air pockets and only one larger hole. I'm still trying to get the right temperature for cooking this loaf b/c the bottom always seems to scorch due to the long bake (about 45 min).

[Dutchoven]

Bottom doesn't look scorched to me...just looks like good bread. You could try lowering the oven temp shortly after loading to recreate the loss of energy the brick oven undergoes from the cold loaf of bread entering the oven. Just a thought!
Dutch

[rlf5]

The picture is a bit deceiving...believe me, I can use a bit of the bottom for charcoal. I'm actually using six firebricks as my baking stone. I preheat for about 1.5-2 hrs at 500F and then lower to 450 when I put the loaf in. After 25 minutes I lower to 420 and bake another 20-25 mins. I imagine the bricks aren't effected by the lower air temperature in that short amount of time since they are about 2.5 inches thick. A shorter preheat time may be in order for that loaf. The basic sourdough loaves cook perfectly though...500F preheat for 1.5-2hrs, 450 from loading to finish (about 20 mins).

[rlf5]

Here's a couple shots of a pumpernickel rye loaf I made last night. I'll cut it open this evening when I have some corned beef to put on it.

[DrakeRemoray]

Looks good! Can't wait to see the slice...How do you have time to bake this often? Are you retired? Rich? stay at home mom/dad? Inquiring minds want to know!
Drake

[rlf5]

Originally Posted by DrakeRemoray

Looks good! Can't wait to see the slice...How do you have time to bake this often? Are you retired? Rich? stay at home mom/dad? Inquiring minds want to know!
Drake

Ha! None of the above! Doesn't take up too much of my time since I only make one or two loaves at a time. And the loaves usually only last a couple days or so before they are eaten up (except for the 4.5 lb miche).

[DrakeRemoray]

Looks great, how does it taste?

Drake

[CanuckJim]

RLF,

Far as I can tell from the pic, your pumpernickel loaf crumb looks exactly the way it should. With this kind of bread, you'll never get the open structure of bread flour formulas, simply because of the weight of the flour. Well done; you're really getting somewhere. Just look at the spring and volume. Congrats.

Jim