Round Five: Is this almost it?
May 25th, 2008 by Paul
Finally, a (near) success!!
Using a couche, or more accurately a chunk of heavy cotton cut from a painter’s dropcloth (yes, new but washed) and a very generous amount of rice flour/UAP mix (50/50) rubbed into the cloth, there was NO STICKING issue whatsoever. So the loaf had no opportunity to deflate. The result is, at last, a non-flat loaf.
The oven was set at 440ºF (although it should have been 475) and watched carefully through the entire baking process.
A distinct improvement from the last batch!
Things to do or improve next time:
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Slashing: Needs to be deeper and, perhaps, at more of an angle into the dough. The new cheapy dollar store knife worked well.
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Cover couched dough in plastic film to avoid top side drying more than bottom while it rises.
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Rig up better couche board.
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Less salt! Accidently added too much, though I’d taken out the excess, obviously not enough. Edible, for sure but just a touch too salty!
- Find a “softer crust” recipe; Mark still wants his bread to be more like packaged white bread: soft center with tiny holes, and a non-crusty soft crust.
- Still need a reliable oven thermometer.
So here’s our latest batch:
Nice crust colour, crumb is good although it could be a little fluffier, the crust isn’t too thick n’ chewy. Overall, not bad, and much much improved from any previous batches. Minor tweaks and it should improve considerably next time.
Posted in My Baking Updates
