Dutch Oven Bread is Starting to Work

OK, now, I think I'm finally getting the hang of breadmaking.  It's only been, what, three years?  I may be slow, but I get there.

I used Jodi's sweet sandwich loaf recipe for dutch oven bread again, and I did a couple of things differently.  One thing I did was to sift the flour.  I'd seen Emeril talking about making pasta and he said to sift the flour to "aerate" it.  That sounded intriguing, so I did it.  The crumb did turn out very light this time, and that might be why.

Otherwise, I did it just like I did before, except at the end, when I cooled it off on my new cooling racks.  That also made a difference.  The bottom crust was very soft and moist as I pulled it out of the dutch oven, and as it cooled in the open air, it firmed up a bit.  When I finally broke it apart to slice up for sandwiches at lunchtime, it was light, but solid.  Nothing doughy at all, like last time.  The top crust turned out a little dark, but it was still pretty soft. 

All of that had to do with heat management.  It's kind of hard to quantify that, but it's coming with practice and experience.  I get to the point where I can feel the heat and know if it's good or too hot or cool.  Use the heat guide as a start, and add or subtract from there.

Tomorrow, I'm making a big roast beef for my Father-in-Law.  That'll be fun.






Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.