Saturday, May 17, 2008

Loafing Around


So, today, I am finishing up the french loaves. I have been making them in batches of two, each recipe yielding two loaves. The first batch I decided I would test one of the loaves for taste. It tasted delicious. That batch also did not get the famed perforated top cuts (I forgot!!), so it worked out that I used it as a "test batch".


I really like the recipe I am using. This bread requires a minimal amount of kneading and turns out a really light inside with a crispy brown crust. This dough rose really fast, maybe because I added a extra bit of gluten to lighten up the loaf.


All in all, I am completely satisfied with this first attempt. I am not so sure that I like the shape of my loaves. I think I need to perfect a longer and thinner loaf, but it was difficult to do because my pans were not really big.


I have read that using baking stones in the oven, covering the whole oven bottom in unglazed quarry tiles, yields a nice result. I might try that, but didn't happen to have those on hand.




4 comments:

Unknown said...

They look yummy! I love using stoneware for baking. I have several pieces. I don't have the tiles for placing on the bottom of the oven.

Brandy Thixton said...

How lovely! I'm so impressed!

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

I have big plans to start baking my own bread but just haven't done it yet. Yours looks pretty AND yummy!

Love the title of your blog, too! I used to have a poodle that I named after Lucille Ball!

DebbieP said...

Congrats on the French bread! I have a rectangular pizza stone that I keep in the oven at all times. Not only does it make great pizza but it helps maintain an even temperature in the oven when cooking other things.