Post by lemonsouffle on Jun 24, 2013 21:16:51 GMT
OK, it wasn't a big competition but when I saw that my local North London summer fair was hosting a 'Country Fair' with a produce section I couldn't resist entering a loaf of sourdough baked in the WFO.
I follow the recipe for the Mill Loaf from Dan Lepard's wonderful book The Handmade Loaf.
The recipe is roughly as follows:
the night before baking:
mix 300g sourdough starter, 100ml water and 100g white flour and leave at room temperature to start fermenting.
The next morning add 600g white flour,
300g wholemeal flour,
100g rye flour
2.5tsp salt and
550ml water
Knead gently and rest for 10mins.
Knead again and rest for 10 mins.
Knead again and rest for 10 mins.
Knead and rest for 1 hour and repeat once or twice more depending on what you are doing.
Finally shape into 2 boules and place in proving baskets to prove for about 4 hours.
Light the WFO and make pizza
I bake bread when the WFO is at about 220C as measured on the brick surface using the IR thermometer, any hotter and it burns on the outside and is raw in the middle, a bit cooler is ok but will take longer to cook.
After baking I had two candidates for the competition:
Although the flavour was good I felt the burst crust spoiled the appearance
. I had placed the loaves very close to the back wall of the oven and wondered if the extra heat from the wall had caused them to rise just a little too quickly on that side.
I chose the loaf on the right and so did the judges ;D
Afterwards I had a nice chat with the judge and a couple of onlookers about the joys of sourdough and wood fired cooking. It is so nice to meet other people who care about bread.
My winning loaf:
I also managed second prize with my Victoria Sandwich cake but that was cooked in the electric oven and so is much less interesting but it still tastes good.
LS
I follow the recipe for the Mill Loaf from Dan Lepard's wonderful book The Handmade Loaf.
The recipe is roughly as follows:
the night before baking:
mix 300g sourdough starter, 100ml water and 100g white flour and leave at room temperature to start fermenting.
The next morning add 600g white flour,
300g wholemeal flour,
100g rye flour
2.5tsp salt and
550ml water
Knead gently and rest for 10mins.
Knead again and rest for 10 mins.
Knead again and rest for 10 mins.
Knead and rest for 1 hour and repeat once or twice more depending on what you are doing.
Finally shape into 2 boules and place in proving baskets to prove for about 4 hours.
Light the WFO and make pizza
I bake bread when the WFO is at about 220C as measured on the brick surface using the IR thermometer, any hotter and it burns on the outside and is raw in the middle, a bit cooler is ok but will take longer to cook.
After baking I had two candidates for the competition:
Although the flavour was good I felt the burst crust spoiled the appearance
. I had placed the loaves very close to the back wall of the oven and wondered if the extra heat from the wall had caused them to rise just a little too quickly on that side. I chose the loaf on the right and so did the judges ;D
Afterwards I had a nice chat with the judge and a couple of onlookers about the joys of sourdough and wood fired cooking. It is so nice to meet other people who care about bread.
My winning loaf:
I also managed second prize with my Victoria Sandwich cake but that was cooked in the electric oven and so is much less interesting but it still tastes good.
LS
