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baking bread
Feb. 14th, 2026 03:52 pmFollowing up on this post...
Following the directions from KAF, I made a stiff levain (2:1 flour:water, with a little bit of starter) Thursday evening and left it to rise for 12 hours or so, by which time it had roughly doubled in volume and was noticeably softer -- soft enough to stick to the plastic container a bit, but firm enough that I could pull it out in one piece. Made a loaf of dough on Friday, but just when it was ready for a final rise before baking, we had to leave the house for a Gesualdo concert. (Which was very well done musically; the theatrical aspects may have been well done too but we couldn't see much of them.) So I formed a loaf in a loaf pan, stuck it in a 2-gallon ziploc bag, and left that in the fridge overnight.
Around 2 PM Saturday, I put the loaf pan (in which the loaf had risen significantly) in a soaked Romertopf and put that into a cold oven, turning the thermostat to 450°F and setting a timer for 50 minutes. At that point the top of the loaf looked done, but the bottom and sides didn't, so I turned off the oven and gave it another ten minutes without the Romertopf and the loaf pan. Cut two slices for the "hot out of the oven" experience, then put it back in the still-cooling oven for another 20-30 minutes, as it looked fairly moist in the middle of the freshly-cut surface. Tasty, though.
Following the directions from KAF, I made a stiff levain (2:1 flour:water, with a little bit of starter) Thursday evening and left it to rise for 12 hours or so, by which time it had roughly doubled in volume and was noticeably softer -- soft enough to stick to the plastic container a bit, but firm enough that I could pull it out in one piece. Made a loaf of dough on Friday, but just when it was ready for a final rise before baking, we had to leave the house for a Gesualdo concert. (Which was very well done musically; the theatrical aspects may have been well done too but we couldn't see much of them.) So I formed a loaf in a loaf pan, stuck it in a 2-gallon ziploc bag, and left that in the fridge overnight.
Around 2 PM Saturday, I put the loaf pan (in which the loaf had risen significantly) in a soaked Romertopf and put that into a cold oven, turning the thermostat to 450°F and setting a timer for 50 minutes. At that point the top of the loaf looked done, but the bottom and sides didn't, so I turned off the oven and gave it another ten minutes without the Romertopf and the loaf pan. Cut two slices for the "hot out of the oven" experience, then put it back in the still-cooling oven for another 20-30 minutes, as it looked fairly moist in the middle of the freshly-cut surface. Tasty, though.
