16 June 2020

Pain : une boule blanche

Yesterday I baked a round loaf of bread using a method I had never tried before. I made a sticky,  "shaggy" dough, let it rise for 2 hours in a bowl, took the dough out after letting it rise, and carefully folded it over on itself several times before shaping it, using a pastry cutter, into a round loaf.

After a second rise for 30 to 45 minutes in a bowl, I set that round pâton (ball of dough) on a sheet of  papier de cuisson (parchment paper) so I could lift it up and drop it, paper and all, into a pre-heated glazed terra cotta dish without burning myself. I put the lid on the dish and baked the bread in a 450ºF (230ºC) oven for 30 minutes. Here's the result in a short slideshow.



And it worked! I based this on a YouTube video, one of many that I'd found. Here's the video, which will show you how to make the dough, how to work with it and shape it, and then how to get it into a burning hot pot — or a dish like the one I used, which was a gift from CHM several years ago — for baking.



Tomorrow — we've already eaten most of yesterday's loaf — I think I'll make the same thing using whole wheat flour.

13 comments:

  1. That bread looks good enough to eat! YUMMY!

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    1. I thought the bread was really good — and still do because there is about a third of it left. It actually looks better than the bread you see on the site that inspired me to try this method. Tomorrow: whole wheat, made the same way.

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  2. About how long does the preparation take before the first rise? And then between the first and second rises?

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    1. I'm glad this dish has been of many uses to you and now to bake bread. I don't think the man who sold it to me at the open air market, avenue de Saxe, had this use in mind!

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    2. It takes 5 to 10 minutes to mix up the flour, instant yeast, salt, and water to form a shaggy, loose dough. Then you leave it to rise for 2 hours. It takes about 10 minutes to stretch, fold, and shape the dough into a ball before putting into a bowl for the 45-minute second rise. When I heated the baking dish up to 450°F in the oven, there was some smoke or steam in the oven, but the dish came through it with no damage. Excellent result. Good bread.

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    3. Thank you for the information. If and when I return home, I'l be able to compare with my bread machine.

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  3. What a success! It looks so delicious. And I really like the dish chm gave you...It's beautiful.

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    1. It's one piece of a set of four dishes. The other three are low-sided round gratin dishes. I use them all the time.

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  4. Magnificent bread! Oh, that crunchiness!

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    1. The crust was especially crunchy right out of the oven. We'll see if the whole-wheat loaf is as crunchy. Tomorrow.

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  5. Wow...great find, I'll be doing this,thanks for sharing !

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  6. I hope to try it this morning! The video is excellent.

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