It’ll fit in the baker for sure, but actually might be a tad much dough for our oval basket. Haven’t tried it. It might be necessary to scale down the recipe a little.
I’m already on Day 2, so my only option for scaling back would be dividing in two before proofing. Except I only bought one each of your oval and round baskets. (Should’ve ordered two.)
How about proofing in the round basket and then [gently] re-shaping before baking? Might that work, or would I lose some of the rise?
I’ve tried boules in a 7-qt Le Creuset enameled cast-iron dutch oven, but so far the bottom has always burnt. I tried parchment paper under the loaf, and that didn’t help. Searching the web, I found that burnt bottoms seems to be an issue for some when baking in cast iron. So far, I haven’t found any solutions. Anybody?
Edit: Just found the suggestion of putting a baking sheet on a rack below the dutch oven. Will try that.
Tough call. Seems like either way could work.
Regarding the burnt bottom. That seems to happen a lot more with cast iron than ceramic. Many have found a simple and easy fix in just putting a cookie sheet on a rack close below the rack with the Dutch oven on it. This may reflect enough of the heat from below to prevent burning. Could give that a try.
Thanks, Eric!
I checked the baskets’ capacities by filling the round one with raw oats and then transferring into the oval. They all fit, and it seems like the oval one might even be a tiny bit less full.
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Good idea. Looks like problem solved. Now you HAVE to post the results here.
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Considering how many problems I had along the way, this came out pretty well. I would’ve liked more oven spring, but it tastes great!
When I fed the starter the morning of Day 1, I put it back in the fridge instead of leaving it at room temperature. So it really wasn’t “supercharged” by evening. I tried to make up for it a bit by doing a couple of hours of bulk fermentation at room temperature. I think that helped. Then, on Day 3, the weather was very warm, and room temperature was probably at least 79º (I don’t have air conditioning). So I reduced the proofing to about 3.5 hours. Finally, I didn’t flour the basket enough (it was my first time working without the cloth liner), and the loaf partly stuck when I transferred into the clay baker. The result is that one end of the loaf is shorter than the other, but the angle of the photo hides this. And of course it doesn’t affect the taste.
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Pretty nice open crumb too. Good example of how everything doesn’t have to go just right to get acceptable results.
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Hello Eric,
Apparently there are both white spelt flour and whole grain spelt flour. Which one are you using in your recipe? Thanks, Alina
Whole grain.
Thank you. I am making my first Whole Grain Soughdough right now. I just used my own milled whole wheat flour with bran sifted out. But I’ll buy the spelt whole grain for my next loaf.
Thank you very much for the blog. The videos are very helpful too. Alina
I keep mine in the freezer in a tight lid jar. Works great.
I kneaded my dough, read it a bedtime story and put it in the fridge. Should I be doing any stretch and folds for the first couple of hours of the 24 hour fridge nap? When I kneaded it I used the scooping in the bowl method from Trevor J Wilson as I’ve been dying to try it. The dough was supple and cohesive with a bit of tackiness but not sticky. I’m just not sure if it will be alright with no stretch and folds.
Thanks all for the help.
I think it will be better off left alone. Especially with the bedtime story. Don’t want it getting cranky.
Thank you Eric. You’ve calmed my fermentation anxiety. I’ll post a pic of the finished loaf tomorrow. If it turns out, it will be due to your great recipe and the spectacular yeasti-pet starter I got from Breadtopia. That thing is stupendous!
Hi all!
This is my 1st post!
I am baking a Poilane bread & want to know if I can extend the bulk ferment to 48 instead of 24 hours in the fridge? Or would it be better to place it in the basket & let that proof for another 24 hours in the fridge? The problem is that I really don’t have time at the moment!
Thanks
Anij
Is the dough already mixed and do you sense that the fermentation far along? It’s still possible to eek out another 24 hrs fridge-time even with this. I’d flip and punch down the dough, put it in the freezer for 20 minutes (ONLY) and the back to the fridge. If you have a thermometer, use it.
I’d shape cold and proof not too long. If you shape now, you might raise the dough temp a lot…just a greater chance of overproofing in my opinion.
Or are you planning ahead? …if so then lower the amount of starter you use and use cold water.
I’ve had a dough go great for five days in the refrigerator a few times. No time at room temperature. Dormant-ish cold starter. I’ve also gone 3-4 days with the freezer punch down trick and crossed fingers.
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Does this recipe use a stiff starter or a liquid starter? (That may account for some of the differences in moisture) I’d like to know before I try making this loaf. Thanks!
Libby
Hello! I was wondering where you acquired your amazing bread slicing knife? (The one seen in the Whole Grain Sourdough Bread Baking Part II video.) I looked in your store but didn’t see anything remotely like it. I would love to purchase one. Could you please direct me to the manufacturer or individual that made it? Thank you in advance for your response.
It’s made by Mountain Woods. You might find it by Googling “fiddle bow bread knife”. We stopped carrying it. It cuts fine but doesn’t really help with cutting a uniform slice of bread, which is one its purported attributes. Plus it’s not as easy to clean as a regular bread knife. We had too many dissatisfied customers to warrant continuing to carry it.
