Bob
I'm assuming that your tongue was firmly in your cheek (Which cheek I am
not going to specify<g>) when requesting a cold start method for the Afghan
bread. I will however answer the serious point that the post raises.
Cold start methods are not ever going to be suitable for breads that are
produced in bulk, nor for those that rely on the "taste of the fire" that
slight scorching you get with contact betwen dough and a really hot
surface. You could cook a naan bread cold start and it would rise well and
fully bit it would not be charred in palces like a real naan should.
Ed and, to a lesser extent, myself, have encountered a lot of resistance
from the "Windowpane Whiners" about any baking technique that doesn't
square with "tradition" (a dangerously over used excuse for avoiding
thought) and this has resulted in us becoming needlessly Messianic from
time to time.
But the technique is viable and produces excellent bread and the only thing
that winds me up are those who won't even try it (I know that doesn't apply
to you) because "It can't possibly work".
But as Mo says about such closed minds "F**k 'em, plenty more where they
came from!".
Love
John