Today's lesson: just bake it.

I have been getting much more relaxed about my bakes these days, a welcome improvement. My current mindset: it's bread. Nobody is dieing, nobody needs CPR, and the world will not come to an end if it doesn't come out the way I expected. And who knows what I may learn from the experience. 

I decided to make a really simple no-knead yeast bread that I have made before. It's a gift for a friend who really loves this bread. The recipe calls for a long, 12 hour bulk rise. Apparently the instant yeast didn't get the memo, didn't read the recipe, lol. I did 4 sets of stretch and folds in the first few hours, with the last one right before we ran some errands. We got home at about the 10 hour mark. The dough was pushing the cover off the bowl and threatening to ooze over the rim. We burst out laughing.... "It's the dough that ate NY!". ? 

It was very jiggly and full of huge bubbles. I was certain it was spent, over fermented. I thought about just shaping it for a loaf tin just in case the dough still had something left to offer, but opted to make a (somewhat wobbly) batard. The final proof  took an hour, with the poke test saying "nope, not yet" til I was running out of time. It went into the oven at 450F with the lid on 20 min, then lid off 30 min to internal temp of 208. There are several spontaneous burst points at one end and along the side (not all pictured). I suspect there was not enough steam to keep the crust from setting and allow the score to do it's job? The crust was crackling away while it cooled, and we went to bed.

This morning I cut a couple of slices off the end so my friend can dive into this at work, and I could have a crumb shot. ? Much better than anticipated, and exactly what she likes. I'm glad I didn't give up.

Just bake it. ?

 Edit > bread delivered. She just went back to work after having covid, and was touched by the gesture. It's easy to forget how a simple loaf of fresh bread can bring comfort, connection, encouragement. Perfection not required. ♥️