ovenless baking

This was my first experiment with stovetop ovenless baking.  It is also my first bake (or cook) with the date and apple yeast water I started last week.  It seems to be a good leavener, but is quite slow to get started -- presumably the YW has a much lower yeast concentration than dough.  I made a levain at 75% hydration (100% yeast water) the previous day in the afternoon.   I was expecting it to be active that day, but it had just started moving when I went to bed, knowing that it would probably peak while I was sleeping.  I had a 75% hydration autolyse dough on the counter for a few hours and moved it in the fridge overnight, where it waited patiently for the levain to mature. 

I finished the final mix in the morning and baked it early in the afternoon.  I believe the starter had a pH slightly over 3.9 at the time of the mix and a nice 3.66x rise (estimated by water weight test in the same jar).  The pH was 5.23 at the time of the initial mix.  By the time the aliquot rose by 1.1x or so (estimated by eye (it seems smaller due to the perspective in photo)), and a poke test seemed to sag slightly, the pH was 4.6.  This felt high, but seemed plausible for YW, although I have no data points for it.  Perhaps the proof could have been pushed further, but I wanted to be slightly conservative in this bake.  I decided to place it in my preheated stovetop oven at this point, while it still had some spring left.

The makeshift oven was constructed from a Challenger Bread Pan, two thick aluminum flame deflectors, two layers of staggered clay oven tiles, and a few sheets of aluminum foil.  In initial pre-bake experiments, I noticed a significant differential between the top and the bottom heat (not surprisingly), so I preheated the top to 500F on a separate burner prior to the bake.  I aimed for a temperature around 425F or so, which I checked on the bottom pan while the lid was preheating.  After placing the lid on top, I expect the internal temperature raised significantly, so I tried to check the pan at various locations with the IR heat gun to make sure it wasn't excessively hot.  I'm guessing the temperature of the pan under the bread may have been too high.  I was expecting a dark bottom, so I placed aluminum foil and parchment paper on the bottom pan to help mitigate this prior to unloading the proofed dough to bake.  I thought it might be a good idea to add a pair of the clay tiles inside the baker, but they didn't fit, and having only one would result in a significant discontinuity on the bottom of the loaf.  Next time I think I will use more layers of "corrugated" aluminum foil to create air pockets.  After placing the preheated lid on top, I added an inverted baking bowl and two sandwiched baking sheets on top for a tiny bit of insulation and to trap some of the rising heat.  I probably should have placed the trays first and the inverted bowl on top.  Adding a thick blanket of rockwool or another high heat insulator to the bowl and trays would be a good idea for a more permanent setup. 

I baked for about 35 minutes before removing the top.  The bottom was burnt and the crust seemed to be quite hard, but, all things considered, it looked fairly reasonable.  I may look for some low profile trivets on the next one, in order to raise the bottom of the loaf off of the direct heat from the bottom of the pan.  I'm fairly sure the lack of ear was due to premature crust formation from a somewhat unavoidable hot and dry environment.  I may try to seal the seam next time with aluminum foil, dough, or oil, although, lowering the temperature might be sufficient.  The shape seems consistent with initial oven spring followed by a quickly hardened crust.  I would probably aim to lower the overall temperature and add more ice cubes to allow more spring next time.  I thought about using my oven probe to get better readings on the internal temperature after the lid is in place and things have stabilized, but I think the wire would allow steam to escape.  I am slightly concerned about the inside being underbaked, but will find out soon.  I haven't used this flour for baking in my home oven yet, and I haven't used YW before, so I don't have much of a control for this bake.  I also haven't baked on a stovetop before.  So much for changing one thing at time!

I cut into this one early, as we are currently breadless.  I think it could have handled a longer final proof, and a lower initial temperature.  The crumb is a little moist, but that is to be expected for such a recently baked loaf.  The flavor is also a little lacking ... something, and it isn't particularly compelling on its own.  This was a 20% PFF YW bake, and I would aim to lower this for a much longer fermentation to bring out more flavor and/or add more whole grains.  This was a bit of an experiment, so I didn't mill fresh flour for this. 

I had another YW dough ready, although the levain was higher hydration, and I must have erred in a measurement somewhere.  I had considered retarding this, but decided to proof it and bake it with the previously mentioned design "improvements".  I made a thicker multi-layer corrugated/crinkled aluminum foil floor, reordered the top trays and bowl (probably insignificant), and added baking trays on the left and right to trap more heat into the roof.  I also lowered the temperature, and 15 minutes into the bake I realized I hadn't turned on the back burner, so I turned it on quickly and rotated the pan.  I'm sure this caused a more drastic heat reduction than I intended, and the loaf seemed to show it.  After 40 minutes, I removed the lid and it was still very pale, without much of an ear, so I spent another 10-15 minutes taking the lid on and off, checking for more color.  I think multi-layer aluminum floor alone may have been enough if repeated with the higher temperature.

I am attempting to make a 1/2 recipe of the the Westphalia Pumpernickel as described [HERE].  I milled fine rye meal according to the pictures on The Rye Baker, and milled the rye chops at a very coarse setting, although there was a bit more flour than I intended.  I used agave syrups in place of golden syrup, and took the cue to use Weck jars (sealed with aluminum foil and twine) for the "bake".  I am relying on the high pressure cooking setting to achieve an internal temperature of 250 F for the first hour, hoping it will be close enough to the 300 F that is called for, and  the low pressure cooker setting for the remaining multi-hour bake.  I may check on it periodically.  The last photo shows the pressure cooker plugging away next to the improvised stovetop oven.