but I ate it before I could take a picture!
This bread was much fluffier with bigger holes in it than any bread I'd made previously. And, judging by the two thick slices my boyfriend ate after claiming to be "not hungry" was that tastiest. Actually it was so tasty we pretty much ate all of it before it even had time to cool down. It had nice big holes in it, and a nice crispy crust. Not punching down the dough really made a big difference and improved the texture enormously. Also, some seasame seeds on the top added an extra something and made it look like a real bread. However, I must have overproofed it because it hardly expanded at all in the oven. Maybe next time I leave it to proof before going to work I'll put it in the fridge (I only worked for 3 hours today).
Well I actually made two loaves. The second one was a bit of a gong show. I didn't want it to develop a skin so I put a plastic bag over it for the second rise. Well of course it ended up sticking to the plastic terribly and by the time I got it off I deflated it completely. And it was already overproofed so there was nothing left for the yeast to eat. I didn't know what to do to save my stupid, completely deflated dough. So I ended up kneading some more flour into it, letting it rise for about 45 min and then baking. This one (a boule) actually expanded quite a bit more during baking compared to the other one. But seeing as I already ate a whole loaf of bread I haven't started on the second one yet so I don't actually know how it turned out yet. It does look like bread however, which I am happy about seeing as I pretty much destroyed it earlier. (there i got a photo of the other one. the one i ate right away was better though)
mistakes:
I'm feeling like maybe I have to much water in the dough: it's really super sticky and annoying to handle. Maybe I'll try it with more flour next time. Also, my slashes are totally not working at all: even in the second bread which expanded more during baking it sort of exploded down by the side instead of on the slashes. I'm thinking this is related to my dough being too wet? Also, I'm over proving it. Also, I shouldn't let it expand and touch plastic and get all attached to the plastic thereby deflating it.
not-mistakes:
Not punching down the dough really made it way better. Also using a mix of whole-wheat and all purpose flour was better than all whole-wheat. Steam = more delicious crust. Sesame seeds are good.
Replies
I to have problems with the slashes I think they have to be deeper in order to work. I tried that on few breads and they worked better.
my bread.
http://www.ourwholesomehomes.com/search/label/Bake-n-Blog
Megan sounds great if the bread was eaten so fast. Sourdough doesn't ferment as fast a bread made with bakers yeast so punching down the dough pushes out all the CO2 that makes the nice holes that you want. Just handle the dough gently and the dough will keep the CO2/holes.
Here is an idea of what you can do with the dough that stuck to the plastic bag, make flat bread out of it. You might try Pizza but there are many others like Pita, Naan, Focaccia, and Fougasse.
To much water? This is where you are going to learn to bake by feel and see if your hands remember how the dough should feel from batch to batch. There are breads that are made with lots of water so just be aware that they are out there. Here is what I felt was a good tip on how to adjust the dough if you think it is to wet. Start by adding a tablespoon of flour and kneading the dough to see if it helps. Keep adding flour one tablespoon at a time until you get the dough to feel that way you want it. This keeps you from adding to much flour and then having to add more water. You should get the hang of the feel after you have made a few breads.
Slashing seems to be a problem for lots of people including me. One hint tip I saw is that wet breads don't need to be slashed and they are reported to be harder to slash. So next time you have a wet dough try not slashing it .
Great work but you know we must have pictures! :-)
Thanks for the tips! Yes, i think my slashes were not deep enough and the dough was really wet so that's why they didn't work.
I made a sandwhich this morning out of the other loaf (the one that I had to knead extra flour in after I killed it) and the bread was pretty good. Had a finer crumb then I would prefer but was definatly edible bread (actually it rose a lot more than the other one). I took a picture of the bread on my webcam, I'll post it when I get home from work.
Thanks dimitry, I checked out your blog earlier. I liked the deatiled photos, it was nice to get a look at the dough in progress.