Bread attempt no.3

[KiwiPete]

I was quite inspired by James' breads as described in the "Steam Explosion" thread, so had a go at it myself.

I have made a couple of other attemps previously, but they did not turn out very well.

This time (fluke maybe) it turned out quite good.

The recipe was a modification of the basic recipe that James used, but modified for use with a wild yeast starter (the Austrian yeast from Sourdo.com)

recipe details were as follows:

425 grms of (pretty bog standard) bread flour.
250 mls of water
10 grs of salt.
1 cup (~150 grs) of active starter.

All the ingredients were kneaded with a bread machine for about 15 minutes and then left to rise/ferment in a 'coolish' environment (its winter time here) for about 12-13 hours.

An enamelled Dutch Oven was preheated in the oven at 220C and the dough was carefully transferred to the Dutch Oven and then cooked for about 15 minutes with the lid on and then another 10-15 minutes with the lid off.

It basically uses the cooking technique from the "No Knead" recipe, and it worked out very well. The bread did not last long...

[nissanneill]

Great stuff Pete,
I did my first bread attempt this afternoon and although it was OK, there is always need for improvement. Chek out my attempt :
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f25/...-veg-2158.html (Neill's pizzas, breads and roast lamb with veg)
the breads were cooked with the hot coals still in the oven almost immediately after cooking pizzas in 2 minutes, so it was pretty hot. Without an accurate temperature indication, I was cooking but mere guess work. I have an infra red thermometer on order and should be here any day which should make baking a little more predictable. I am also awaiting a source for longer thermocouple wires for the built in temp measurement that I incorporated in the foundation and also the dome.
I will try your receipe next time.

Regards,

Neill

[james]

Hey Peter,
Great to hear from you. Here a good story. A Kiwi we know from the Int'l school here is going to rent our old house on Via Vacciano and he will be able to use the oven there. Excellent. Super guy and an avid sailor.

If you want to keep going with this, after your bulk fermentation you can shape a boule the way Jim does in his video, and let it rest in either a banneton or cloth-lined bowl in the refrigerator overnight. Then slash it and slide it into the oven the next day. The overnight does a lot for the dough.

Neill,
Until your infrared arrives, you can use your hand. If your oven is too hot to leave your hand in for 3-4 seconds -- it's too hot for bread. Getting your oven under control is half the fun! Enjoy.
James