Hello Breadtopians (new here)
I am baking Wildyeastblog Susan’s Norwich sourdough recipe, and trying to get a “white finish” effect by coating with rice flour before baking. Nevertheless, most of the white layer disappears in baking so the effect is not perfect.
I am baking on a stone with water tray first 20 minutes. I thought the steam is the cause for making rice flour wet and change of white color, but if I won’t use steam it might negatively impact oven spring, crust etc…
Can somebody share his sourdough wisdom and advice?
Your bread looks really good! Did the taste meet your expectations?
Personally, I do what I can to not have white flour (aka dusting flour) on my bread. That’s just me, lots of folks like it.
Steam affects the outside of a loaf. Oven spring comes from inside of the loaf, the trapped CO2 bubbles expanding. Steam is not necessary to make bread. It is used to create a crispier crust.
I used to use brown rice flour all the time to finish the loaves before baking. Successfully. I stopped for some reason but when I saw your post I decided to try it again since my recipe, method and baking method had evolved. And I had just mixed a dough yesterday, so here’s what I did this morning before baking. Maybe more details than you need but hard to say.
This is a 100% whole grain, home milled, blend of hard red, hard white, spelt, rye and einkorn. Hydration is 75%. It was shaped last night and stayed in the fridge 16 hours before baking. I baked it cold from the fridge. I use a well-seasoned liner in my banneton and when I turned it out onto the parchment and removed the liner, I took a pastry brush and dusted off any lines from the banneton. Then from my shaker bottle, I dusted heavily with rice flour and then smoothed it all with my hand. Then I scored it and put it in the oven. I used to use a clay baker and it worked; now I use a Challenger bread pan. No ice cubes.
I hope you’ve gleaned something from this that will help. Let me know if you have any questions.
Me too @Otis. Flour and steam doesn’t make for a nice finish. If the flour is too thick and the steam too much then it just reacts with the steam to make a gunky gel. If one wants to coat their bread with flour then I personally think this is a case of less is more. A thin even coating with little to moderate steam. Just like @Arlo48’s post above. Brown rice flour is a good option.
