Feb 8, 2012

4th Time's a Charm

As promised, pictures of attempt #4!

Went with one long loaf instead of two small round, followed the same recipe as #3, but changed the process a bit to give more time to ferment. AP flour and starter.
 
Results:
  • I like a medium sourness to my sourdough, so I threw in 1/4 teaspoon of Rapid Rise yeast. I know, that is not pure sourdough, but it makes it rise fast enough to avoid a 12 hour rise/ferment and reduces the sourness without negating it. 
  • It also went into the oven about 2 inches tall after about 90 minutes of 2nd rise, and in the first 10 minutes of baking shot up to about 6 inches! This loaf is rather massive. I have no idea why it expanded like that. Was it the tiny bit of Rapid Rise yeast going haywire in the steamy oven, or just the steam? I like the puffiness.
  • I bake about 35 minutes and in that time do 4 oven/bread mistings with water bottle. Nice chewy crust came of it. After super hard crust(#2), I greatly prefer soft crust.
  • I need to learn how to do those slits on the top of the bread. They're supposed to expand and be all fancy-pantsy, but mine didn't. I think I didn't cut deeply enough. It just looks like I wanted to paint lines on it. Oh well, still considering this loaf a success. Even if the end of it looks like it's got butt cleavage!

6 comments:

  1. LOL! OMG! Butt cleavage???? I never saw it until you mentioned it - duh?

    But wow, congrats.. It seems like I've been waiting for this "perfect" bread update forever!!!!

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    1. I can report that the butt cleavage heel of the bread no longer exists! I ate the evidence... *shiftyeyes*

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  2. Your loaf is beautiful, even without those slits you covet. I used to bake a lot of bread, but haven't messed with it in years. Talking about "mess", the rye breads are the absolute messiest doughs to work with. (But worth the trouble!)

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    1. Thank you! It is kinda pretty, but next time... there will be slits on the top if I have to climb into the oven with it and keep cutting as it bakes! Okay, maybe not, but I will cut deeper next time:)

      Never tried to bake anything other than some form of wheat, but the aisle of fancy flours at the grocery store has been calling me. And there's a multi-grain artisan bread I love that has little chewy bits in it and I'm thinking of exploring multi-grain next.

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  3. I appreciate all the work you’ve put into your blog! Definitely Worth Sharing :)

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    1. Hah, thank you. I would like to claim that I've been on this wild yeast kick as blog-fodder, but documentation here was more of an afterthought than the drive. Kneading helps me get to that meditative headspace where story problems magically resolve. And then after, I have bread! So, if I somehow time-travel to the past(or the future after the zombiepocalypse) I can still have puffy bread! It's really practical survivalist training. Or something.

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