Help! Bread is OK- could be better
I have been experimenting with bread baking for about 2 years. My breads are pretty good and well received by hungry friends. I just feel the bread could be better. My bread is not overly dense, but every time I try a bread from one of our local artisan bakers, it is lighter in weight and I think, slightly tastier.
I make white, wheat, mixed flour and whole grain breads using various methods. Some sourdough and some yeast. I use KA bread flour and KA whole wheat mostly. I use active dry yeast, not instant. I weigh everything, monitor temps, and bake with a stone or vessel and add water to the oven for steam. I get a great rise, nice holes and good crust.
So my question is: What the heck are those artisans doing that makes their bread lighter? Could my bread be lighter in weight?
The first is technique, particularly in shaping the loaves. The bakers, who make hundreds of loaves for every one that you make, probably retain more of the gas and achieve a tighter sheath for each loaf. They have the advantage of extensive practice.
The second is managing fermentation; recognizing the optimum extent and getting the breads into the oven at that point. Which, I guess, brings up a third possibility: their oven versus your oven.
All of these are things you can address to one degree or another. The adjustments you make to achieve your target are going to be more subtle than those you had to make to achieve your present level of succeas. If you've been following alfanso's baguette odyssey, you've seen how a series of tiny adjustments and increasing experience have led to reliably excellent results for him. Keep practicing. You'll hit your target, too.
Paul
Thanks Paul,
I will read up on Alfanso's experience. Also since you mention managing fermentation, the heat level in my house is neither optimum nor constant so the rising of my dough is subject to fluctuating temps. I think I have it hitting the oven at the right time based on dough temp, feel, and growth, but the situation could be better, and is rarely predictable. I am intrigued by temperature controlled boxes but that's probably not going to happen. I will continue to experiment and tweak things though. Thanks for your reply.