Adventures in Steam

[Mike Nolan]

Is the clay baker the one that you would soak in water then put the baker and the dough in a cold oven? I can see how that would generate a lot more steam than it appeared I got from my Dutch oven test.

I wonder if adding a little water to the Dutch oven to get things kick-started would help? Maybe spraying the top of the loaf just before putting the lid on?

I'm willing to try the Dutch oven method again now that I've come up a fairly safe way to put a loaf in a hot pan. Mine is a round Dutch oven, and boules aren't our favorite bread shape, but other than that, the method is one a lot of people like.

BTW, although King Arthur may not be carrying the oversize cookie spatula, it looks like it was made by Fox Run and is available on Amazon:
Cookie Spatula

[skeptic7]

My Cloche is the type thats used dry. I also used the Dutch oven without any additional water. I don't put the bread directly down on either. With the cloche the bread is a round cake pan, and a normal loaf pan for the Dutch oven. I can do that as I have an oval Dutch oven. I've gotten used to round boules out of necessity but given a choice I prefer other sizes and shapes.

[BakerAunt]

That cookie spatula is great. I also bought one back when KAF carried them, as well as a larger version for moving cakes and sweet breads.

[aaronatthedoublef]

The no-knead trend may have contributed to using Dutch ovens. Yes people have been baking bread in pots forever. But looking at Jim Lahey's "my bread" all of his recipes require a pot or a stiff pan in the case of baguettes because the dough is too soft to hold a shape on it's own.

And it doesn't seem as if it's less work. I have to admit I've always been afraid to use a Dutch oven but maybe I'll try it with a spatula or using it cold.

[skeptic7]

I can't understand the no-knead trend. I have a recipe(s) which doesn't require much kneading, but even that requires some kneading to prevent dry and wet spots where the flour wasn't well distributed.

[Mike Nolan]

I wonder what percentage of younger households have a mixer or a food processor? The bread machine trend is past, these days the instant pot is in, though.

No-knead recipes (which I think are somewhat mis-named, they're really 'not-much-kneading' recipes) give people who don't want to spend 10-15 minutes kneading bread a way to make something that probably tastes a bit better than the mass-market factory-produced breads.

BTW, the New York Times had an interesting article on the 'just bread' trend, which King Arthur Flour is part of. There's been an interesting discussion of that on the BBGA forum, but I think any publicity for good breads is a positive thing, whether they're made at home or bought at a local (artisan) bakery.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Yup. I really started looking at no-knead when I was teaching kids to make challah. The first time I used my KA stand mixer and they all went home and asked their parents to buy one.

The next three or four times I did it I made all the dough by hand to show them it could be done. I used a bowl, a wooden spoon, and a scraper - all of their kitchens had at least two of those three.

Anything that gets people baking is good.

Here is the KAF Just Bread recipe... They bread has a levain which calls for a sourdough starter but doesn't have a link to a sourdough starter. So I'm not sure how popular this will be for novice bakers.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[BakerAunt]

The recipe seems designed to promote King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, which is not often available locally. The Kroger in the larger town where we shop was carrying it but discontinued doing so.

Stand mixers are often on wedding registries, although it is an expensive gift. I bought my stand mixer using gift cards from friends who knew I wanted one, although I also needed to use some of my own money. (I let my husband have the Amazon gift card to use towards a new chain saw, so we are even.) Although a lot of people might receive such a mixer, I wonder how many use it more than occasionally.

Other than the people on this site, I don't have any friends or acquaintances or family members who bake bread, even occasionally.

[Mike Nolan]

Most of the interest in 'Just Bread' is a renewed interest in artisan bakeries, especially in less expensive but still artisan quality breads.

I agree that KAF's recipe is probably not one a new baker could attempt, because producing and maintaining a sourdough starter is a lifestyle choice.

I'm taking a sourdough class in TX next month, one of the teachers is Deb Wink. Long time KAF BC readers may remember her recommending using pineapple juice to get a starter going.

[Mike Nolan]

When our younger son moved to California to work for YouTube, one of the first things he bought for his apartment was a stand mixer. I wonder how much he uses it, though, because YouTube provides breakfast, lunch and dinner from Monday morning through Friday noon, so he only has to deal with cooking for himself for at most 7 meals a week, and there's a mall with a large food court a few blocks away.

While he was still living with us he got pretty good at making the KAF stuffed baguettes recipe, and he was experimenting with several cookie recipes.

[chocomouse]

I don't have a stand mixer, although I had one years ago when the kids were young and I made a lot of cookies. I do have a hand-held mixer, which will cream butter and sugar or whip cream. I would never make a stiff dough. My husband bought me a big Kitchen Aid once and I had it for a few days, used it, and had him return it. It took up too much space on the kitchen counter, was too heavy to move around, and I just knew I would hardly use it at all. I couldn't survive without my food processor or stick blender, or probably my spiralizer!

[chocomouse]

Mike, I do remember the pineapple juice discussions on the old Baking Circle, and carried over onto the Fresh Loaf. I've use pineapple juice myself, and it does wake up a lazy starter. I'm sure you'll enjoy Deb's class.

[aaronatthedoublef]

What are YOUR favorite whole wheat sandwich loaves? I want to try making one my kids will eat and so far I've never been successful.

Have fun at class Mike. Looking forward to reading about it.

[Mike Nolan]

The honey wheat recipe I have posted is one my mother-in-law used years ago and it was one of my wife's favorite breads growing up. I adapted it to use oil instead of lard. I've done it with butter, liked it better with the oil. Our younger son, who was on his own time schedule the last few years he lived with us, would make sandwiches with it twice a day.

It is about a 50-50 blend (I vary the proportions from batch to batch), and it has honey in it, so it is on the sweet side. I usually make it free-form but it does well in a loaf pan, too, you just have to be REALLY patient because it'll take 90 minutes or longer to rise, and some days it seems like it'll never get going. Sometimes I'll shove it in the oven with the light on to hurry it up a bit, but I can taste a difference when I do that.

[navlys]

Enjoyed reading through your adventure in bread baking and it makes me want to make bread when I return home from Florida.

[Author]

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