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Te Toroa: The Wandering Albatross

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Te Toroa: The Wandering Albatross

Tag Archives: tartine basic country sourdough

Baking Steel: Two Day Sourdough Ferment

03 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by smkesler in Bread, Cheese, Pizza, The Potted Kitchen Garden

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bread, ham and mushroom, pizza, pizza margherita, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough

Disclaimer: To bake great pizza in a home oven requires a bit of experimentation for best results for your oven. Every home oven is different. This is what I have worked out for my home oven and my style of pizza. Your oven will be different. What works best for my oven may not work best for your oven or for your style of pizza.

Today I continue my Baking Steel pizza stone with the same dough used in Pizza at home: Baking Steel, this time after a two day cold ferment.

I placed a 1/2 inch Baking Steel approximately 8 centimeters from the top broiler of my oven, on top of a terra cotta paving tile.

Oven setup for 1/2 inch Baking Steel, located approximately 8 cm below electric broiler element.

Oven setup for 1/2 inch Baking Steel, located approximately 8 cm below electric broiler element.

I turned the oven setting to high. At the same time, I removed two portions of dough from the refrigerator.

Tartine sourdough, two day cold ferment.

Tartine sourdough, two day cold ferment.

My current go to pizza dough recipe is the Basic Country Bread recipe from Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread: just flour, water, salt, and leaven (from wild sourdough culture) at around 78% hydration (I suppose that would be about 80% total hydration if you account for the leaven which is at 100% hydration). I typically fold the dough once after 30 minutes, then divide the dough into 280g portions and place each portion in a separate container and place in the fridge to ferment. I typically bake with the dough anywhere from a 1-4 day fermentation.

Tartine Bread: simplified recipe notes (I add an additional 80g of water with the salt.)

After about 30 minutes, I shaped the dough into balls and let them bench rest for 30 minutes. Again, I found the dough easier to work with after about 45 minute bench rest. I need to remember to allow at least 45 minutes bench rest before stretching.

The dough was shaped and bench rest was about 30 minutes before stretching.  Handling was improved after about 45 minutes.

The dough was shaped and bench rest was about 30 minutes before stretching. Handling was improved after about 45 minutes.

For the first pizza, I forgot to set the oven to broil before stretching the dough, so after I launched the pizza, I set the oven to broil and propped the oven door slightly ajar with a metal spoon.

My mouth was watering even before this pizza was launched onto the Baking Steel.

My mouth was watering even before this pizza was launched onto the Baking Steel.

Two things: 1. Because I forgot to set the oven to broil before stretching the dough, the pizza stone did not have sufficient time to heat prior to launch. 2. With the door propped slightly ajar with the metal spoon, the broiler element stayed on, so the top of the pizza cooked faster.  OK.  Three things:  3. I must learn better how to drink beer and remember all my pizza baking steps!

I love the aroma of ham & mushroom pizza hot from the oven!

I love the aroma of ham & mushroom pizza hot from the oven!

I removed the pizza when the first spots on the cornicione were just turned black: 2 minutes, 53 seconds. The pizza was removed to a cooling rack for two minutes to preserve crispness of the crust before plating and slicing.

Note: I was lazy and did not turn this pizza halfway through cooking for an even bake. That is why the pizza is a bit more cooked on one side than the other. Even in a proper woodfired pizza oven, the pizza needs to be turned half way through cooking. I have added an 8″ round pizza tool to my wish list…

Less heat, less char

Less heat, less char

I neglected to let the stone heat under the broiler prior to launch so when the top was cooked, the bottom was not charred as much as it could have been.

Bubbles!  Delicious bubbles...

Bubbles! Delicious bubbles…

With the broiler element glowing through the entire bake, there was plenty of heat for great oven spring. Unfortunately, since I neglected to preheat the baking stone prior to launch, there was insufficient heat in the stone to bake the pizza from below and match the baking from above. The end result is that the pizza coloured on top before the dough was completely cooked through. I must remember to preheat the stone under the broiler prior to launching the pizza…

All things considered, this was a most excellent pizza.

Onto the second pizza: Pizza Margherita!

Just before stretching the dough, I set the oven to broil and let the upper element heat to glowing. Because this second dough ball had more time to relax on the bench, it was much easier to work with.

Pizza Margherita ready to launch.

Pizza Margherita ready to launch.

This time I actually remembered to preheat the stone before launch and left the oven door closed through the bake.

Pizza Margherita!

Pizza Margherita!

I removed the pizza when the first spots on the cornicione were just turned black: 3 minutes, 50 seconds. The pizza was removed to a cooling rack for two minutes to preserve crispness of the crust before plating and slicing.

Nice char from the preheated stone.

Nice char from the preheated stone.

Looking very good so far…

Those air bubbles in the dough create areas of thin dough and leopard spotting!

Those air bubbles in the dough create areas of thin dough and leopard spotting! (that’s a good thing)

This was a most excellent pizza. The cornicione was baked through, light and airy. The crust had decent char. Not too bad.

Note: As with a proper woodfired oven, the pizzas need to be turned at least once during baking for even cooking. I did not turn these pizzas, hence the uneven cooking. I have added an 8″ round pizza tool to my wish list.

I still do not have a non-contact infra-red thermometer, so was unable to check the temperature of the stone just prior to launching the pizza. I hope to buy one soon…

The flavour of the two day sourdough was more pronounced than the one day ferment and the dough was easier to work with: Greater extensibility and lower elasticity.

Next up… Three day fermentation.

From Today’s Bake – Tartine Sourdough Boule

18 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by smkesler in Bread

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Tags

baking, boule, bread, sourdough, tartine, tartine basic country sourdough

Tartine Sourdough made from organic, unbleached, stone ground white flour

Tartine Sourdough made with organic, unbleached, stone ground white flour

Today’s Bread: Tartine Basic Country Sourdough Boule

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by smkesler in Bread

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Tags

bread, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough

Today’s Bread: Tartine Sourdough – Just Photos

01 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by smkesler in Bread

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Tags

bread, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough

A Warm Slice and a Cuppa

18 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by smkesler in Bread

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bread, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough

Yesterday I prepared two sourdough boules.

The boules were retarded in the fridge overnight and I baked them off this morning.

 

With incredible restraint, I pulled a boule from the oven and let it rest for one hour.

There is nothing quite like a slice of fresh baked bread, still warm from the oven. It needs no adornment. Well, perhaps a hot cuppa…

Pizza: Salami e Olive

08 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by smkesler in Bread, Italian, Pizza

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bread, italian, pizza, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough

I mixed up a double batch of sourdough on Sunday, one batch for boules and one for pizza. Bulk fermentation at room temperature (17C) for both bread and pizza dough. Both pizza dough and bread dough were turned every 30 minutes for 2 hours. After two hours I put the pizza dough in the fridge for long cold ferment.

On Monday I divided the dough into 6 portions of 325g. Monday evening I made three pizzas and reserved three portions for additional cold fermentation.

Pizza dough was pulled from the fridge, folded, shaped, bench rested for 15 minutes. The oven was pre-heated on high for one hour and switched to broil just before I put in the pizza.

The crust was browning before the dough cooked through, so I modified the cooking. I let the pizza bake under the broiler for about 4 minutes, then switched the oven back to bake until the pizza was finished. This allows for a longer cooking time of about 7 to 7.5 minutes to give enough time to bake off the crust.

The bread dough was turned two more times, at 1h15m intervals, then divided, bench rested, and shaped. After shaping, dough was placed in banneton and retarded in the fridge until I baked it Monday morning.

36 Hour Sourdough Pizza

01 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by smkesler in Italian, Pizza

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

aubergine, basil, cheese, cold ferment, fior di latte, grana padano, italian, kalamata olives, pizza, pizza stone, red onion, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough, thyme

I pulled out the sourdough retarding in the refrigerator and divided it into three 260g portions. I folded and shaped the dough balls and let them rest while the oven warmed and I prepped the toppings.

When the oven came to temperature I switched the oven from bake to broil and made the first pie.

One portion was a bit smaller than the others, so I made a bambino pizza with Kalamata olives, red onion, fresh thyme, and freshly grated Grana Padano.

The next pie was topped with a bit of fior di latte, roasted melanzana, and freshly grated Grana Panano.

The last pie was topped with fior di latte, Kalamata olives, red onion, fresh thyme, freshly grated Grana Padano, and basil.

These pies cooked in about 6-7 minutes. I had some of the best oven spring I’ve ever had out of this dough. Next time I’ll mix the dough and probably give it four turns over two hours at room temperature, then bung it in the refrigerator for two to three days before using.

Sourdough Adventures: Sourdough Pizza

30 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by smkesler in Italian, Pizza

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

basil, cold ferment, fior di latte, italian, pizza, pizza stone, scamorza, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough

I have pizza withdrawal. I have not made pizza since I started making sourdough bread.

I drove to the farmer’s market at La Cigale and picked up fresh basil and some fantastic fior di latte and scamorza made locally by Italian Cheeses.

My first try making sourdough pizza dough…

I made a 2kg batch of sourdough, same as I do for my Tartine Basic Country Bread. After bulk fermentation was complete, I shaped 400g portions of dough into balls and let them bench rest for 40 minutes, whilst the oven came to temperature and I prepared the toppings.

I reserved enough dough to make two more pizzas and stored it in the fridge for a longer, cold ferment. I would normally have let the whole batch ferment for two or three days, but I really wanted to make some pizza the same day, purely for testing purposes…

The cornicione had good flavour. I may have to play around a bit to get the bulk fermentation timing right. The dough balls had good extensibility, but lacked some elasticity, perhaps due to too short a bulk fermentation or too long a bench rest. The dough may have benefited from a second shaping and bench rest to make up for a short bulk fermentation.

The cornicione showed decent oven spring, but I need to work out proper temps and timing with my oven, cooking on a terracotta paving stone. The electric home oven I currently use does not hold a high temperature very well. I may need to move the stones to a lower position in the oven. It is also difficult to get the stone to a high enough temperature to get much colour on the bottom of the crust.

The oven is set at the highest temperature setting and allowed to warm up for 1 hour. Just before I start to stretch a dough ball, I switch the oven to broil. These pizzas were in the oven for between 6-8 minutes.

I may make a couple more pizzas tonight to see how the dough handles after a 36 hour fermentation.

For my next batch, I may turn the dough every 1/2 hour for the first two hours, then store the dough in the fridge for 1-5 days.

Sourdough Crumpets

20 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by smkesler in Bread, Breakfast

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Tags

baking, bread, crumpet, egg ring, sourdough, sourdough crumpet, tartine basic country sourdough

Before I get to crumpets, here is a photo of yesterday’s Tartine sourdough boule, fresh from the oven…

Time for another sourdough adventure. Today’s challenge was to make sourdough crumpets. It was a great opportunity to use my cool 100mm diameter stainless steel egg rings.

I made the batter to recipe, which included two teaspoons of sugar. Next time I will omit the sugar, as the batter tended to burn a bit by the time I pulled the rings and turned them over. No real need for the sugar as the long fermentation of the leaven provides good flavour. I will omit the sugar next time.

These sourdough crumpets are delicious hot from the griddle, even without any toppings. They can also be toasted later on. I ate a few… and put the rest in the freezer. I’ll definitely be making these again.

Today’s Bread: Tartine Basic Country Bread

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by smkesler in Bread

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

baking, bread, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough

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