Sourdough, Le Cruset baked
Since our no knead bread came out nice and crusty with a nice open hole structure, we decided to give our sourdough the Le Cruset treatment.
We followed our regular sourdough recipe, split the dough and baked each loaf separately in our Dutch oven at 450 for 20 minutes with the lid on and 5 minutes with the lid off. The internal temperature was about 190 at that point. I will update again with our review after we cut into it.
Update from 3/27
Really good crust and the inside was really soft. the softest sourdough we've ever made, not dense at all. The holes were a little more open but not nearly as big as our no knead version. Next up? Going to try one last mod to the bread, adding vital wheat gluten, something that is supposed to help bread at high altitude make those great internal bubbles. Over all though, very happy with these results. Superb grilled cheese sandwiches from this bread.
Update 11/24/2012
We made a super tangy version (will update soon with instructions) and added 2 tbs of vital wheat gluten. We baked one loaf in our Le Cruset and one in our heavy Calphalon so we didn't have to keep the oven on longer. It was quite warm this weekend. It was clear that the Le Cruset loaf was prettier. Closer to the loaves posted above. The one made in the Calphalon pan wasn't as browned. Next time we are going to set up both loaves of bread to proof on the counter before baking on separate tea towels. i don't want to jostle and disturb the second loaf while I try to get the first loaf off the towel and into the baking dish.
The verdict, the smell was definitely sourdough and even better, we had tiny holes inside as well. All we ended up doing was tasting and eating with a little butter the first time. I'm very happy with the results after adding vital wheat gluten for our altitude.
Update 12/22/12
We're making a batch of bread to keep our starter nice and lively and because we've got family in town. I know they'll enjoy it too. Keeping this as a record that I added the vital wheat gluten into the sponge this time. Mr. PB&C added it into the dough after the cold rise last time. Not sure if it will affect anything.
We followed our regular sourdough recipe, split the dough and baked each loaf separately in our Dutch oven at 450 for 20 minutes with the lid on and 5 minutes with the lid off. The internal temperature was about 190 at that point. I will update again with our review after we cut into it.
Update from 3/27
Really good crust and the inside was really soft. the softest sourdough we've ever made, not dense at all. The holes were a little more open but not nearly as big as our no knead version. Next up? Going to try one last mod to the bread, adding vital wheat gluten, something that is supposed to help bread at high altitude make those great internal bubbles. Over all though, very happy with these results. Superb grilled cheese sandwiches from this bread.
Update 11/24/2012
We made a super tangy version (will update soon with instructions) and added 2 tbs of vital wheat gluten. We baked one loaf in our Le Cruset and one in our heavy Calphalon so we didn't have to keep the oven on longer. It was quite warm this weekend. It was clear that the Le Cruset loaf was prettier. Closer to the loaves posted above. The one made in the Calphalon pan wasn't as browned. Next time we are going to set up both loaves of bread to proof on the counter before baking on separate tea towels. i don't want to jostle and disturb the second loaf while I try to get the first loaf off the towel and into the baking dish.
The verdict, the smell was definitely sourdough and even better, we had tiny holes inside as well. All we ended up doing was tasting and eating with a little butter the first time. I'm very happy with the results after adding vital wheat gluten for our altitude.
Update 12/22/12
We're making a batch of bread to keep our starter nice and lively and because we've got family in town. I know they'll enjoy it too. Keeping this as a record that I added the vital wheat gluten into the sponge this time. Mr. PB&C added it into the dough after the cold rise last time. Not sure if it will affect anything.
that is the most beautiful looking bread i've ever seen. :-) i've seen the dutch oven bread before. seeing all this makes me want to become bread scientists too.
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