First bread post of 2015! Not the first bake of the year, because this was made for Phil’s birthday on the last week of December. He chose the whole menu, which consisted of oysters on the half-shell as a first course, and clam chowder as the main dish. Also according to his request, no dessert to keep things moderate. Perfect for me. The bread was all that bowl of chowdah needed to shine in its creamy glory!
WARM SPOT SOURDOUGH
I am not going to share the full recipe (from Ken Forkish’s book Flour Water Salt Yeast), but you can find it online with a visit to Karen’s site. And don’t just limit yourself to that recipe, look around and be amazed by her talent. Just a recent example: she tackled Pretzel Rolls, the traditional Laugenbrötchen. That is on my mile-long list of things to try this year. Now, back to my sourdough…
A little walk through the method… The bread takes three days to prepare, but don’t let that intimidate you. It is worth your time. The interesting twist in the recipe is keeping your sourdough starter at a higher temperature of fermentation, around 85 F. During the winter that can be a challenge, but I am the lucky owner of a bread proofing box. Problem solved. Because the starter ferments at a higher temperature you will need to refresh it more often than usual, but as I mentioned in my previous sourdough post, Ken is particularly helpful in laying out a nice schedule for each of his recipes.
After the bulk fermentation, in which I gave four folding cycles to the dough, the bread is shaped, and retarded in the fridge overnight. From the fridge it goes straight into the hot oven, no need to bring it to room temperature.
One of the things I did differently in this bake was to flour my banetton, cover it with plastic wrap (Saran Wrap type), flour the plastic and place the shaped dough for its final proof, seam side UP (going against Ken’s usual method). Next morning, I inverted the bread on parchment paper, slashed the surface and baked it with my normal method of steam (Dutch oven covered with a wet lid). Ken likes to allow his breads to open naturally, so he proofs the shaped loaf with the seam side down, then simply inverts it on the baking sheet without slashing. I did this on my first time making this recipe a couple of months ago, and even though the bread tasted as good as this one, it failed to open in a more dramatic way. Take a look:
Maybe it is just a matter of personal preference, but I rather help the bread open in a more defined way. One more remark before I go: I liked the use of the plastic wrap because it gave me extra confidence removing the bread from the banetton. I’ve had too many situations of dough sticking and compromising the shape of the loaf in the end. I suspect my skills to shape the loaf and generate enough surface tension need improvement. Until then, I will be using this trick, and if you had problems with dough sticking give it a try…
The bread had good oven spring, the crust was just the way we love it!
So there we have it, another birthday celebration, with good music, juicy oysters, delicious bread, and a warming bowl of soup, all in the comfort of our home! Life is good…
I am submitting this post to Susan’s Yeastspotting event…
ONE YEAR AGO: Bran Muffins, Rainbows, and a wonderful surprise!
TWO YEARS AGO: Cider-Marinated Pork Kebabs
THREE YEARS AGO: Golden Age Granola
FOUR YEARS AGO: Mushroom Souffle for Two
FIVE YEARS AGO: Stollen
That crumb makes me drool just a bit. What a gorgeous loaf and that birthday dinner sounds quite special.
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The crumb turned out pretty good this time! One never knows, it’s always so exciting to slice the loaf! 😉
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This looks amazing! I’m jealous of your bread skills, and your proofing box. What is it and where can I find one?
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THank you! The bread proofing box was featured in one of my “In My Kitchen” series, you can find it at the end of this post
I will add a link to the body of my post so it’s easier for others to find it if they are interested… 🙂
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Thank you!! I will check it out 🙂
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Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.
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Thanks for the re-blog!
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Gorgeous!
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Thank you! It was a nice baking project, with a happy ending, which is even better!
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That is a fantastic looking bread. We’re baking a bunch of bread today for the week. Nothing like fresh baked bread!
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Agree with you… I don’t bake that often anymore, but in a way that’s even better, each baking session becomes something special
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What a beautiful crust you have here! I can smell the bread through the photos… 🙂
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the steam generated by the Dutch oven, in my opinion gives the best crust
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Sourdough is the best! I love keeping up with all your adventures in bread baking,
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Glad you enjoy my sourdough posts, I certainly like when a recipe works so well…
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Such a lovely loaf! I’m a big fan of sourdough, never tried making it though.
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Sourdough baking can be a bit intimidating, but once you dive into it, it is a lot of fun, and quite forgiving too…. most of the time is hands-off, waiting, until the final baking time
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Clam chowder and this gorgeous loaf … I’d be in heaven too.
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Easy ticket to heaven! 😉
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Sally, thanks so much for the shout out! That plastic wrap method sounds interesting. I’m going to try it when I use my cane bannetons (I usually use plastic ones, which I can spray with oil and flour and then run through the dishwasher). Your crumb look perfect, and I’m now going to b rebellious like you and proof mine seam side up =) Thank you again! Awesome bread!
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Karen, I’ve been flirting with the plastic ones – and your comment is giving me the green light to stop by amazon.com and do some serious clicking. You know, the help the economy thing – it’s my story! 😉
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My story too. I’m sticking to it.
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he, he, he…. I got it… and it will be featured on my next post, with a quote to you, my Dear Enabler! 😉
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It’s a bit of work, but it’s given you a gorgeous loaf. Well done!
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Thanks, Beth! Bread baking is such a rewarding experience (when it works well… I’ve had my share of disasters over the years… 😉
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Such a gorgeous sourdough loaf!! I might have to wait until summer to attempt it because it is nowhere near 85F in my apartment (much to my chagrin).
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It is a catch-22, isn’t it? When the temperature at home is ok to get the sourdough going, it’s too hot to turn the oven ON… (sigh)
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Love this. Will make it! 🙂
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Hope you do, Serena!
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If you were trying to create the perfect crumb, well I think you’ve nailed it my friend. Especially from that “crumb shot” picture, one can tell this was the perfect loaf of bread. Great job my friend and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Same to you, glad to see you here….
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Love the crumb shot! You are a master at home baked bread, Sally, Happy New Year!
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Thank you! Not a master by a looong shot, I have my share of disasters, they just don’t show up in the blog, you know… I am deceptively selective… 😉
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That looks TASTY!! Making a sourdough is seriously on my cooking bucket list, but I have been bread shy while trying to lose weight after the baby! lol!
Anyhoo, I found your blog through a fellow blogger, and just thought I would stop by and say hi! It would totally make my day if you did the same… or better yet, keep in touch!! ❤ – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
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Hello there! Nice to “meet” you … yeah, bread and losing weight is not a good combination, unless you are able to exercise serious portion control… 😉
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Mike’s birthday is also the last week (in fact last day) of December! It looks like Phil had a marvelous menu. This bread looks divine. I can almost taste, feel and smell it. So glad the first bread post of the year is a sourdough – my favorite! I hope you had a marvelous holiday season Sally and that the new year is off to a great start. And here’s to our thoughts of summer to keep us warm!
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Counting the weeks for summer, my friend…. Mood is rotten at the moment. Can you believe I had to take a cold shower this morning? COLD. You would not want to be around our home as it was happening. Not pretty.
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that bread is amazing. I don’t care if it takes 3 days or 6 I am all over this bread recipe!
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You and me both. Who cares if it takes a few days? Worth it. Every single crumb of it.
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