Re: Proofing Boxes - When I turn on the light in my JennAir oven the
temperature rises to 95 deg (with the door closed). But when I stick the
handle of a wooden spoon in the door the temperature goes to 78 deg and
stays there. I usually help the temperature to get started by turning the
oven on for 15 seconds, then using the wooden spoon handle to hold the door
ajar and keep the light on. The only down side is that you have to pull
the dough out during the final rise in order to preheat the oven for
baking, but once started the loaves will keep on rising at room temperature.
Re: Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" - Thank you to Reggie
for recommending this book. I read through most of it before trying any
baking. This is a good teaching book and is worth the read. (Joe Ortiz's
"The Village Baker" is still the best teaching book on bread baking that I
have seen but "Apprentice" is a close second.) The only bread I have had
time to bake is his Pain a l'Ancienne. When I read the story behind the
recipe the hyperbole and extravagant claims for the taste of the bread
seemed over-done, but when I baked it I could not deny that this procedure
resulted in the best tasting baguettes I have ever made. Considering that
the ingredients are nothing special, just the usual white flour, water,
yeast, and salt, the uniqueness of the bread is in the procedure. This is
a cold dough bread. The flour is mixed to a very wet consistency with ice
water and the kneaded dough is left to rise overnight in the fridge. The
dough is then left out on the counter to warm and finish rising to the
usual doubling the next morning. The dough is very wet so shaping the
loaves into baguettes is not really possible. The dough is handled very
much the way ciabatta dough is handled, by pulling and stretching into a
rectangle, then cutting lengthwise to create long, thin and rather ugly
looking dough strips. (It could be argued that this is really a ciabatta
dough shaped into baguettes but that's for the purists to debate.) There
is no final rise of the shaped loaves. Surprisingly, the dough-strips jump
to attention in the oven and form rather rustic looking baguettes. (Hence
the name "Ancienne"; I doubt that they had refrigerators in "ancienne"
times.) The crust was thick and very chewy. The crumb has an off-white
color and is very moist and irregular. The taste is superb. I've tried
direct methods, wet sponge methods and overnight bigas to make French and
Italian white breads but this method is by far the best tasting (and
easiest). Unlike most baguettes, even in France I'm told, this bread for
more than just soaking up soup.
Werner Gansz