Recipe:
400g white bread flour
100g wholemeal bread flour
100g starter
325g water
10g salt
Method:
-mixed starter and water then added rest of ingredients. Mixed to a shaggy dough then left to sit for an hour.
– did stretch and folds until dough came together and put in a clean bowl.
– x4 coil folds every half hour. Left for a further 3 hours. (6 hours total)
– pre shaped and left for fifteen minutes. Then shaped using the tartine method (both these steps were new, I usually skip pre shape and just folded sides in and rolled to shape) and let it sit for 15-20 minutes (coul have been up to half an hour I'm not too sure) before putting in the fridge.
– cold proofed over night
– scored then cooked for 30 minutes in a preheated dutch oven with two ice cubes (first time using) at 230°c then took lid off and cooked for a further 15 minutes.
I'm absolutely amazed at how much difference these changes have made. I've made a few decent loaves but never gained much height on them so wanted to try some different things to improve the oven spring. Safe to say it has been very successful, the texture of the loaf is miles better aswell. The only issue I have with the loaf is that towards the ends the crumb is quite wild with bigger holes making it quite difficult to cut, is this just a shaping issue with me being new to the technique or could it be an issue with the fermentation? Thanks for any help 😊
by LongjumpingNose1202
13 Comments
It comes down to fermentation and gluten development which you’ve got right to achieve oven spring and crust blisters. Fabulous loaf, just could have been pushed further for a darker crust.
Perfect for me! Dont worry about those bubbles, its only a shapping issue.
Can you elaborate on the ice cubes?
That’s a really great looking loaf. Thanks for sharing recipe and process.
What did you change that you weren’t doing before
It looks beautiful. I’m saving this post to help me out.😉
Lovely looking loaf, I’ll give this a try! Maybe a stupid question but you just put the ice cubes in the Dutch oven? Are they squeezed in next to the loaf?
Shaping is an incredibly important step in most bread making. Creating a taught outer layer allows for a better oven spring and expansion overall. Once I got my shaping down my loaves always get much better, irregardless of the type of bread Im making. That and enough steam.
wow!!! gorgeous!
This looks great! I was planning on baking today so I’m going to try this to see if it helps mine. I’ve had the same issue.
Newbie question – when you get the loaf out of the fridge from the cold proofing, do you let it come up to room temp or just start baking?
Looks great, I’ll try your recipe!
How and when do you add the ice cubes. Just pop them into the hot DO with the loaf when it goes in?