Jan 07, 2010
I found this to be too unstable, it does not use enough flour. My dough wanted to puff too much while rising & it deflated no matter how careful I was while handling, even though I was careful not to over-rise & the temps while rising were not excessive (maybe 70*, light on, oven off, no drafts) Also, the oven temp is too high to cook the inside until hollow. The crust was way beyond brown, not appealing & I had two loaves. I researched technique & tried another recipe, which turned out amazing....Tips that helped the other recipe were that.... too little flour & not enough kneading made unstable, deflatable dough. (10 min. in my kitchenaide with the dough hook was perfect) & then to def. use an eggwash, (I used melted butter first, then eggwash & the crust was chewy & crispy, and PRETTY), not dry, crumbly & burnt. Preheat your oven for 50 min at 400* with a stone on the lowest rack. Let your bread do it's final rise on a greased/cornmealed metal pan & then set the pan right onto the hot stone in the preheated oven. The hot stone helped cook the inside perfectly. Put a ramekin of hot water on the floor of your oven for steam. Spritz the walls with water often for 5-10 min. Bake for 10 min. then turn heat to 370* for 20-30 min. I think technique is what bread is all about, & this recipe lacks technique. I'm sorry for the review, I DID like the flavor. I'll try the ingred. again sometime, but with these changes.
—*Fat~Dog~Lane*
