Well, this was a guarded success!

First, the negatives:

I use spelt flour, which tends to be slack and not raise as well as I'd
like - but I can eat as much of it as I want.

I'd probably use a smaller diameter pot next time, to force a little
more rise.

Damned thing stuck like Gorilla Glue to my very well floured linen
cloth, so the top isn't as pretty as it should be.

Now, the positives:

Wonderful crust! I didn't hear it "sing" as it cooled, but this is a
crackling, relatively thick crust, not tough or hard, but a great crunch.

Nice, open crumb, with what I at least consider good gluten development
and glossy bubbles.

Very good flavor developed. Could handle rich additives like garlic and
olives without losing it's own character.

Baking notes:

I adjusted the published recipe to weights, converting his "42% water"
to 72% hydration. Measured out 1 5/8 cups of room-temp water, which I
then weighed. Added 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast and 1 1/2 tsp salt,
then hand mixed in 1.38 times the water weight of unbleached white spelt
flour.

Turned into an oiled bowl (maybe a little too much oil) and flipped it
over, then left at ~68 to 70 F for almost 20 hours. (Weekend baking
would be better!)

Turned out onto a lightly floured work surface and did a couple of folds
with the bench knife, then left covered to rest for 15 minutes.

Formed up into a ball as well as I could, given it's very slack, sticky
nature, and flipped it onto a heavily dusted smooth linen towel. Covered
and left it to rise again for 2 hours.

After 1 1/2 hours, fired up the oven to 450 F, with a heavy walled
non-stick aluminum pot preheating. At 2 hours, gently rolled the boule
into the pot. Yeah, right! Hung it by the towel, as I cut the mass loose
with the bench knife, dropping it into the hot pot. Shook the pot gently
to spread the dough a bit, but it was elastic enough to hold onto its
rough shape.

Covered tightly and baked for 30 minutes, then removed the cover and
returned it to the ovem for 20 more minutes.

Was able to hold off my self and wife for an hour, as it cooled, made
the first cut, and took some money shots...

Browse to: http://david-bell1.magix.net/
Click on "NYT Bread" on the left side menu, then on "Image overview"
after the slideshow starts. You can then double-click on the thumbnails
for decently large images.

Dave

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:10:35 GMT, Dave Bell
> wrote:

>Damned thing stuck like Gorilla Glue to my very well floured linen
>cloth, so the top isn't as pretty as it should be.

Hi Dave,

What sort of flour did you use...?

You might want to try rice flour. The stuff is like Teflon.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

Kenneth wrote:

> On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:10:35 GMT, Dave Bell
> > wrote:
>
>
>>Damned thing stuck like Gorilla Glue to my very well floured linen
>>cloth, so the top isn't as pretty as it should be.
>
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> What sort of flour did you use...?
>
> You might want to try rice flour. The stuff is like Teflon.
>
> All the best,

I will give that a try, for sure!
I used the same spelt flour I baked with, but rice flour might just do
it. (once I get the towel clean!!)

Thanks!

Dave

On November 10, 2006, Dave Bell wrote:

> Damned thing stuck like Gorilla Glue to my very well floured linen
> cloth, so the top isn't as pretty as it should be.

Hey Dave:

Just going to share one of my newbie mistakes. Samartha recently suggested
some videos at PSB to me which I watched. In one of them was an admonition
never to wash one's floured baking towels, a violation of which I had been
guilty of from time to time.

Following that advice I really forced flour into my towels by hand. Then,
very, very, very gently, I shook them ever so lightly outside. Now when I
use them I lightly re-flour. After use I stretch them out in the warm oven
on the racks to dry and then put away in a plastic bag until needed again.
It has helped tremendously and really have had no significant sticking
problem since then.

You may already be doing this; I don't know. It was helpful for me so I
though I would share.

I do think I will grind some rice and use the resulting flour in the towels,
too. As Kenneth wrote, I have read numerous references calling rice flour
baker's Teflon.

Great job on the bread .

Regards,

Ray

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006, WRK wrote:

> Following that advice I really forced flour into my towels by hand. Then,
> very, very, very gently, I shook them ever so lightly outside. Now when I
> use them I lightly re-flour. After use I stretch them out in the warm oven
> on the racks to dry and then put away in a plastic bag until needed again.
> It has helped tremendously and really have had no significant sticking
> problem since then.
>
I basically do that, but this towel wasn't so well "broken in", and the
glop really stuck! It absolutely has to be washed first. After that, I'll
load it up with rice flour...


> Great job on the bread .

Thanks!

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 11:09:16 -0800, Dave Bell
> wrote:

>After that, I'll
>load it up with rice flour...

Hi Dave,

There is no need to do any loading...

I use linen. With a sprinkle of rice flour, nothing sticks.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

On November 10, 2006, Dave Bell wrote:
> I basically do that, but this towel wasn't so well "broken in", and the
> glop really stuck! It absolutely has to be washed first. After that, I'll
> load it up with rice flour...


Hey Dave:

Sometimes my words do not convey the correct meaning. See:
http://www.pbs.org/juliachild/meet/forestier.html
which is the second half of a presentation featuring Danielle Forestier.
The discussion of flouring towels is in roughly the first 25% of that second
piece.

Also, she does a great stretch and fold toward the end of the first segment.

Again, thanks for sharing the info on the bread.

Regards,

Ray

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006, WRK wrote:

> On November 10, 2006, Dave Bell wrote:
> > I basically do that, but this towel wasn't so well "broken in", and the
> > glop really stuck! It absolutely has to be washed first. After that, I'll
> > load it up with rice flour...
>
>
> Hey Dave:
>
> Sometimes my words do not convey the correct meaning. See:
> http://www.pbs.org/juliachild/meet/forestier.html
> which is the second half of a presentation featuring Danielle Forestier.
> The discussion of flouring towels is in roughly the first 25% of that second
> piece.
>
> Also, she does a great stretch and fold toward the end of the first segment.
>
> Again, thanks for sharing the info on the bread.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ray

Great video! Thanks...

Dave Bell wrote:
> Well, this was a guarded success!

Same for me. I used high gluten King Arthur flour, which was very dry
since I live in southern New Mexico at about 5000 feet. Even with a 2-1
flour to water ratio (by volume), the dough was so wet that it
collapsed when rolled into the pot, and it stuck like glue. Still,
great crumb and crust, even though the loaf was kind of flat and really
beat up.

My solution, which produces almost as good a crust and just as good
texture is to do the final rise on my slip, heat the pot in the oven on
my baking stone, take the pot out, slide the bread onto the stone and
cover with the inverted pot. Mine has a nice level smooth rim, so there
is a good seal.

Baggi

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 wrote:

>
> Dave Bell wrote:
> > Well, this was a guarded success!
>
> Same for me. I used high gluten King Arthur flour, which was very dry
> since I live in southern New Mexico at about 5000 feet. Even with a 2-1
> flour to water ratio (by volume), the dough was so wet that it
> collapsed when rolled into the pot, and it stuck like glue. Still,
> great crumb and crust, even though the loaf was kind of flat and really
> beat up.
>
> My solution, which produces almost as good a crust and just as good
> texture is to do the final rise on my slip, heat the pot in the oven on
> my baking stone, take the pot out, slide the bread onto the stone and
> cover with the inverted pot. Mine has a nice level smooth rim, so there
> is a good seal.
>
> Baggi

Great suggestion! I may try that soon. My stone is a little uneven (slate)
so it might not fit as well, but it's worth a try...

Dave

I tried the recipe last weekend - I did the basic dough in the
breadmaker shutting it off after 5 minutes and letting rise 18 hours in
the bread pan. Very nice rise. I then did the second rise on
parchment paper and baked in a preheated Sassafrass Bread Baker as per
the recipe. It is the best bread I have ever had in the baker. The
crumb was open and the crust excellent. I took pictures - but have not
posted them to a photo site.

Francis