>Also, I thought Lahey's bread looked burned. I have found that at
>500 F, (which is about the temperature advised by him and also for
>the breads in the Silverton book) the crust burns and I don't like
>it! Someone said to use 450 F (again, I didn't note the
>name). Lahey said that inside the pan it would be 212 F (something
>about moisture releasing). With the Silverton breads I've tried, I
>reduced the temp to 350 F and they were just fine and did not
>burn. Any thoughts on this? I know it's done to make a crispy
>crust and retain moisture inside, but burned crust is a real turn-off.
When you start at 500, are you backing off the temperature after 5
minutes or so? I've found that the challenge with the higher
temperatures is to keep enough moisture in my (admittedly mildly
broken) oven. After starting at 500, and then leaving it there for
the first 5 minutes, I usually bake at 450 for 1-2lb loaves and
400-425 for 3-4lb loaves.
The No Knead bread I made looked great, but I found the taste to be
lacking. The flavor seemed flat and bland. I was surprised given the
overnight "rise", but for me it didn't compare to my usual loaves
with various pre-ferments and kneading. Easy, yes, but I don't
usually think of baking bread as a particularly laborious process,
even entirely by hand, if you make good use of pre-ferments and a
nice autolyse.
off to feed the starter! =)
- brian