Quick sourdough bread question

Grumpysally

My doughs all ready, the oven is pre heating, but the recipe ( Hobbs House I think) says 30 minutes at gas 9. Surely thats too hot. Won't it be burnt on the outside and under cooked on the inside?

TonyMMM

Bread is often cooked in wood-fired ovens at much higher temperatures than that so I would follow the recipe and see how it comes out.

All ovens differ in the actual/indicated temperature so give it a try - just Keep an eye on it

[Deleted User]

yes it is too long at that high temperature. Reduce after 15 minutes. Don`t forget to slash and use steam. Will probably need 40 minutes in total. I do 250 for 15 minutes then down to 200

Mr_Singleton

AlisonW wrote: »

recipe says 30 minutes at gas 9. Surely thats too hot.

I baked bread this morning at 475F for 30 minutes in a Le Creuset casserole then took the lid off and carried on for a further 20 odd minutes.

Mr_Singleton

kittie wrote: »

yes it is too long at that high temperature. Reduce after 15 minutes. Don`t forget to slash and use steam. Will probably need 40 minutes in total. I do 250 for 15 minutes then down to 200

I don't think you can say that with the information the OP has provided.

Mr_Singleton

TonyMMM wrote: »

Bread is often cooked in wood-fired ovens at much higher temperatures than that so I would follow the recipe and see how it comes out.

All ovens differ in the actual/indicated temperature so give it a try - just Keep an eye on it

Great advice! :beer:

Grumpysally

Thanks for the replies. Some differences of opinion there, inevitable I guess

In the end I gave it about 20 minutes at mark 9 then when it looked like it was going to start to burn turned it down to 4 for another 20. It still wasn't cooked in the middle so whacked it back up to 9 and put foil over the top.
Mind you the temperature turned out not to be my only problem.

I'd left it to prove overnight in the fridge ( 2ne proving) in a colander lined with what I thought was a well floured tea towel. I took it out of the fridge first thing this morning and let it get pack up to room temperature. When I attempted to turn it out onto the hot baking tray it sort of plopped out like a big cow pat and the tea towel was stuck to it :eek:!
I managed to peel off the towel along with chunks of dough. So the resulting bread is about one and a half inches thick at the most with an incredibly hard crust and a pretty chewy middle. It tastes OK but certainly needs commitment to get through ( and lots of butter) Not sure if our teeth are up to it though.

If I could remember how to post photos I'd illustrate.

I'm thinking the problem could be one or more of a few things.
Too wet

Obviously not floured enough, I watched a BBC video after the event and they used tons of the stuff.
It was a brand new starter which I've made using spelt flour, so a large proportion of the loaf is effectively spelt so perhaps I let it prove too long. Again on the video the loaf was proved for, I think 2 hours the three, so perhaps overnight was over doing it or perhaps I left it at room temperature too long in the morning.

I also think I should have divided the dough and made two smaller loaves.

I might invest in an oven thermometer as I suspect my oven is wildly inaccurate,
I did have a terracotta tray in the oven as well but decided against actually putting the loaf straight on to it as Ive only used it once before and it took days to get the bread off it. ( didn't realise it had to be pre heated. ) Just as well as it was such a performance scraping the tea towel off the dough it could have ended up a nasty mess. I did transfer the loaf to it once it had cooked to try and crisp up the bottom as I'd put it onto baking parchment initially.

I'll have another go next week. I've revived the starter with wholemeal flour, as I'm planning to make pancakes tomorrow,( a delicious bonus discovery ) so hopefully that will reduce the ratio of spelt.

Grumpysally

One question about baking in pots / casseroles / dutch ovens. Doesn't the bread stick to the sides and doesn't the crust go soggy if you are using a lid?
That's two questions.......

Mr_Singleton

AlisonW wrote: »

One question about baking in pots / casseroles / dutch ovens. Doesn't the bread stick to the sides and doesn't the crust go soggy if you are using a lid?
That's two questions.......

Two questions... one answer...... NO.

Without knowing what recipe/method you're using its impossible to know what went wrong but I would say if the recipe/method came from a reputable source I'd have definitely followed it to the letter at least on the first try. Don't be scared of a dark crust... trust me a dark crust will give you a much much better flavour.

As I've said in previous posts regarding home bread baking I'm a huge fan of the bread baking book by Ken Forkish called "Flour, water salt yeast". It's not suitable for out and out beginners but if you've got a few decent loaves under your belt its well worth the slightly more complex method.

I've already used most of one loaf and the other is in the freezer but if I remember I'll take some images of next weeks bake.

If you get a chance to see the book I mention above the loaf is on page 158 "Field Blend #2". Also look at how dark the loaf on the cover is!