A fun "little" bake
This past weekend, got to do a "little" experimenting. Didn't need to make a full loaf, and my daughter got me a set of silicone mini loaf pans. The perfect size for experiments. So, decided to try something simple and see if my wife liked it. She's not much of a sourdough fan (although she said the Durum Pain au Levain is the best bread I've made, so maybe it's my SD execution to-date that's the problem). Started simple and made a 90:10 white flour:WW loaf with raisin yeast water.
Overall, went fine. Two build levain. Only hiccup and surprise was how long the bulk ferment took. Second levain build progressed well (over doubled and nicely domed in about 6 hours), so I was expecting something similar during BF. Nope. No signs at all of any fermentation until about 7-8 hours into it. Lowered the temp and let it go overnight. Was sitting at 100% on the aliquot jar in the morning and moved to shaping. Wasn't sure how much more I'd get out of it with BF taking so long to start, so I was pretty cautious and didn't degas it much during pre-shaping and final shaping.
Final proof was about 2 hours and the aliquot jar had grown to 140% at that point. Didn't score it and wish I had. Had good oven spring that tended to go in all directions instead of up. One downside to the silicone pan is that it's not rigid and the dough forced it out at the sides. Makes a nice little plump loaf though.
Had a few larger holes in the final loaf. Not sure if that was due to not degassing enough or getting close to overproofed, but the end result turned out good and she liked it. Something to build on and try with a full loaf next.
Comments
What a cute little roly poly! Mini breads have been really useful for us to have on hand, to have with soup, chili, etc. I have taken to keeping 1-2 in the freezer. Last time I let one thaw on the counter, then stuck it in the air fryer for a few minutes right before cutting/serving. That came out great, it refreshed the crust nicely and warmed up the center just enough.
That is a great idea! Did not even think about making a few and freezing them. The mini pans came as a set of 5, and we have the air fryer too. Thanks for the tip!
Very nice loaf Troy. One comment I would make is that your bottom crust appears a bit pale and to go along with that the crumb at the bottom seems almost a bit wet still. I wonder if you’re baking low enough in the oven to get enough heat into the bottom of that dough. Other than that, nice bake. How was the flavour for you and your wife?
Benny
Thanks Benny. Trying to remember where I had it placed, and I think it was middle rack. I’ll drop it one next time I bake it.
I had to leave for some work travel that afternoon, so I didn’t get to try it. She liked it, so I know I will. ?