1 June 2011

The Results Are In


I left you hanging on Saturday, would the loaves work out or not? Would leaving them overnight to continue rising work or would I be facing a disaster?
The rising overnight wasn't a problem, they rose beautifully. The one that was in the proper linen lined banneton came put easily but when it landed on the baking tray it sort of flattened a bit. I put it in the oven at 220C. This was where I started to worry because the time stated in the recipe was 50-70 minutes! This is a lot longer than I have baked any bread in the past but maybe it has something to do with the leaven. To be on the safe side I set the timer for 20 minutes. When I checked it had risen a bit and browned but not enough for me to worry and remove it so I left it for another 20 minutes. At that point it was definitely done and if I had left it any longer it would have burned. I now have an oven thermometer and that was correct so not sure if it was my oven or the timing that was wrong.
The second loaf was in a bowl in a tea towel and when I went to upturn it onto the baking tray the dough had stuck to the tea towel! It looked pretty ropey so I re-shaped it and into the oven it went. This one was a strange shape to say the least but rose very well in the baking. Again this was only in the oven for about 35 minutes.
Having said all that they tasted yum (just buttered with some blackcurrant jam) and had a good texture. I would say that the experiment was a success and I'm looking forward to the next loaf/loaves but I won't forget my fresh yeast in the fridge too. It really depends on the type of bread you want.

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