...and Then There was Bread!

And the bread was great! Yipee! I followed Peter Reinhart's recipe for Pain au Levain. The flavor was superior. The texture was sublime. I was hoping for a bit crisper crust, but that may be remedied by a spritz from the spray bottle just after hitting the stone.

The Boules were easily shaped in my makeshift bannetons (plastic colanders), though the loaves were a bit small for the colanders. In the future I would make one large boule and shape it in the banneton.

Small boule shaping up in the colander.

I used the boiling water technique for steam, by heating up a cast iron skillet on the bottom of the oven and pouring the hot water into that. I may mist the sides of the oven walls or the bread itself next time.


Slits made and ready for the oven


I tried a new technique that is supposed to mimic a brick oven. I used two stones in the oven. The hearth stone was placed in the lower half of the oven while about 5 inches above that I placed another stone on a rack and heated them both for about an hour. It worked pretty well.