Bread!

[Gingersnap]

I can't be the only bread baker on CU. Who else bakes? What are your favorite breads, techniques, or tips?

I'm staying home today (well, I'm not skiing) so I'm waiting for my bread to rise right now. It's a carefully cultivated frontier sourdough. I'm toying with the idea of baking it in my dutch oven.

[megimoo]

I can't be the only bread baker on CU. Who else bakes? What are your favorite breads, techniques, or tips?

I'm staying home today (well, I'm not skiing) so I'm waiting for my bread to rise right now. It's a carefully cultivated frontier sourdough. I'm toying with the idea of baking it in my dutch oven.

Cast iron ?

[Gingersnap]

Cast iron ?

Enamel over cast iron. See the method here.

Okay, I prepped the dutch oven and my bread is doing it's final proof inside the DO.

[Phillygirl]

What do you normally use to bake it in?

[Gingersnap]

What do you normally use to bake it in?

Depends on what I'm after. I often use this kind of pan:



Sometimes I use conventional bread pans or a stone. For black bread I sometimes use a pullman pan:



The point of the DO method is to create a perfect boule with a very thin, shattering crust and a good crumb. The idea is that the DO retains humidity and allows a slower but much more even heat transfer.

Or it could just be big fad like no-knead bread was a few years ago. We'll see. ;)

[megimoo]

Enamel over cast iron. See the method here.

Okay, I prepped the dutch oven and my bread is doing it's final proof inside the DO.

I baked a southern style cornbread in my dutch oven .A cross between Tex Mex and Poorboy style .I started with two pounds of bacon on two sheets in the oven and saved some of the bacon grease for the batter and poured some into the bottom of the dutch oven when it was hot.

Add to the bread batter some green chopped jalapeno,a few chili ahumado (aka chipotles) and a bunch of crumbled bacon and some cream corn .After the pot was up to about 500 F remove it from the oven and pour in the batter over the hot bacon grease. After a few minutes put on the lid and back in the oven for a few hours.

Handling that pot as heavy and hot as it was requires a new pair of heavily insulated oven gloves and if you have a ceramic stove top best not park the heavy, hot pot on top of it.The loaf turned out to be crispy at the edges and most flavorful but it gave some people here a massive case of heartburn.Bacon grease generates a lot of stomach acid .

[Gingersnap]

It's proofed now and looks good. I decided to actually use an over thermometer for this project so I'll put it in at 450. Stay tuned.

[megimoo]

It's proofed now and looks good. I decided to actually use an over thermometer for this project so I'll put it in at 450. Stay tuned.

Spritz the loaf before the cover goes on !

[Rockntractor]

Amateurs, store bought flour.

[Gingersnap]

Spritz the loaf before the cover goes on !

I did! It came out very nice although it over-proofed a little. I made the mistake of going out to lunch while it was rising that second time. It's still good-looking and tasty, though. :)