lesson two

So the dough should have warmed up, it doesn't feel warm, it just isn't as cold as the fridge anymore. You can see that I have odd things to rise them in. One is a clay bread pan with a cloth lining it, a random basket, and a glass bread pan. I sprinkled corn meal on the two, and greased the glass one with lots of butter.

Here I shaped the dough, one round boule, and two batard shapes. Google for videos of this if it seems harder than it looks. Do initial shaping, fold in sides, mush it, roll it, etc, and let them rest for 3 minutes. Then shape them again. Dump them upside down in baskets, and right side up in bread pans.

Now let them rise for 3 hours at room temperature and then it's time to preheat the oven. If you are not using stones, then just half an hour is long enough at 450 degrees, in this case wait until 3.5 hours to preheat.

When the loaves are fully proofed they will be poked and slowly bounce back rather than quickly.

As you see in the photos below I use an old pizza pan covered in corn meal as a peel. And I did use a razor to slash the tops, nothing fancy. I baked these for 10 minutes, then turned down the oven to 425 degrees for 5, and then turned the loaf for even browning for another 5.

I baked the bread pan loaf last. I turned the oven down to 350 degrees and baked it for 25 minutes, then turned it, and baked it for another 15. It registered 195 degrees on the meat thermometer, so I knew it was safely done, even though the crust was light. It was a pretty thin crust, which made it crumble a lot. Maybe it would have held together better with a coat of butter brushed on? I don't know. I was able to cut it regardless. The other loaves were much more thickly crusted and turned out like usual.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Happy baking!