At 14:36 you add water for steam but there’s a Challenger Bread Pan in the oven. Then you place the dough on an upside down cookie sheet rather than on the bottom of the Challenger. But then you mention a “cast iron cover” at 15:26. Are you just using the top of the Challenger and not the bottom? How does steam reach the bread if it’s covered? It’s a beautiful loaf of bread so what you did “works” but I don’t understand why you add the steam? Why don’t you use the bottom of the Challenger?
Hi there, I see what you mean. To answer your question, here is what i did. I preheat the oven and the Challenger. Because the cast iron needs to warm up for the bread. It would be much better if we don't put the bread to a cold cast iron. I use an upside down cookie sheet help me to transport the bread to the Challenger so i don't have to take out the Challenger (keep it hot). I score the bread, and open the oven, remove the cover of the Challenger, put the cookie sheet on top of the Challenger bottom, drag the cooking paper (bread on the paper) onto the Challenger bottom. And then put the cover back, start cooking. By doing so, i don't touch the Challenger so i keep it hot and i don't get burnt. Actually if you preheat the oven with the cast iron, the steam will go inside the cast iron if the preheat is long enough. So then you create a tiny oven( the cast iron) to welcome the bread. The steam is very important, because it will help to keep the crust soft, so give more time to let the bread rise up first. If there is no steam, the crust very soon get settled, and we can say 'goodbye' to the rising up. :) Let me know if you have any other questions.
Your process and mine accomplish the same end but allow me to throw out a couple of ideas. Taking the Challenger out of the oven for a couple of minutes to load the bread won’t cool the cast iron at all. That said, your way works perfectly fine too. I don’t think creating steam inside the oven accomplishes anything. Where you want the steam is inside Challenger. The bread itself will provide the water for the steam but you can also toss an ice cube in the pan before putting the cover on (under the parchment paper), or spritzing some water inside a cracked lid with a spray gun, a technique I picked up from The Bread Code. I’ve gotten away from the ice cube because it destroys the seasoning on the cast iron, but I’ve also got in the habit of rubbing oil on any dry spots every time before I put it in the oven to pre-heat. The preheat is long enough to season the pan before I bake the bread. You bake covered for longer than I do, but I might try baking covered for longer. Why do you bake so long covered?
I had the same thought! :) I don't want to damage the seasoning on the pan that's why i don't use ice cubes. Take out the cast iron for a few mins won't cool it, that's true. But i try to minimize the time of handling it with no cover to keep the steam. By using the cookie sheet, i finish everything in seconds. Yes, it's true that bread will release steam. But creating steam inside can buy me even more time. I tried to cook a bread with 90%hydration, and that one i want to have more time more steam. If you try to cook 2 bread, one with steam, one without, the difference will increase more when the bread is more hydrated.
That is a good looking loaf! One thing, though: that tray you added to create steam is not doing anything because the steam you need has to be inside the cast iron pan and will happen naturally after you put your bread in! That's why people have beed using cast iron pans in the first place :) Just experiment without it and you'll see no difference.
Hi, there, thank you for the comment! I actually tried. tray + cast iron, tray + cast iron without cover, cast iron without the tray, ceramic baking tray with a cover + the tray.. I believe that you are perfectly right about this. If I use cast iron, there is no so much difference, at least I couldn't see the difference. But I tried anyway out of curiosity. Only when I use ceramic baking tray, there was a difference. My guess was: ceramic is not as good as cast iron when it comes to bread baking. Cast iron is really working like a mini oven itself. :) Thank you again :) It's always good to have a discussion about the technique.
@@bearhugkitchen cool. I have never used ceramic. I have been using a technique without a dutch oven. In this case I preheat my oven at max temp with a tray and a pizza steel inside. After one hour I load the bread onto the steel and add boiling water to the tray to create steam and turn the oven off for the first 20 mins. It works well and I don't need to worry about the cast iron + you can bake two loaves at once. You can also do this with the uncovered Challenger. Checkout the technique on the Simpel Sourdough channel.
that's very interesting, I tried something similar as well, max temp, pizza steel + a cast iron pan inside ready for boiling water. But I never tried to turn the oven off. And after 20mins, you turn it on? Very interesting!
@@bearhugkitchen Exactly. After 20 mins you remove the tray with water and turn the oven back on. I usually set it to 230ºC fan forced. Home ovens are generally designed to expel moisture so it's very hard to keep the steam in. The idea of turning the oven off is to turn the exhaust fan off, keeping the steamy environment for the loaf inside. Here's a video demonstrating it: ua-cam.com/video/5i-4KiOZN-A/v-deo.html&ab_channel=SimpelSourdough Maybe give it a try one day! Cheers
Yes, that's very right. It's quite difficult to keep the steam in a home oven. Basically I think if we can manage somehow to keep the steam, it's already halfway success. Never thought about turning it off. Very good idea, thank you for sharing :)
A good-looking loaf. And what's missing is the coup de grace toward the end - slicing it open and let's see the texture inside. I am a bit worried that when you shaped the dough you used quite a bit of flour, which may create snippets of powdery dryness inside.
this is a good question, the inside has a good moisture content. I’m not a chemical and physical expert but I think the skin provides a good protection for the moisture. Once the skin is settled, the flour on the outside has no more impact on what is happening inside.
You did everything right with exception of a small,but very important detail:: You didn't skiced the bread. Hahahaaaa....That said,thanks for the video.
I’m going to try adding salt after the starter has been introduced and after some strength building prior to S&F. May I please ask your protein content of your dough and rough kitchen temp at the time of making this vid. 👍
Hi there, yes, it's worth trying :) It'll allow the dough to develop more strength indeed. And to answer your question: It's a very good and important question, thank you for asking :) I used a Canadian flour, protein 13%, kitchen temp: 25C°
@@bearhugkitchen thanks so much for your super quick response! For a sourdough baker that’s immediate gratification! I’ll try your method this evening - just waiting on my starter 😊
you're very much welcome. In case you want to check, the flour I used, name is: Marriage's Strong White Bread Flour. I discovered that for some reason that I don't know why, it seems like Canadian flour has high protein content in general. I also tried sometime Italian pizza flour, it works also very well. :)
😂😂 pretty much like that.. I would say A fresh made bread, the slightly caramelised crisp skin and the smell when it’s just out of the oven beat all. Very difficult to resist.. this is how I feel each time I pass by a bakery or something. Thank you!
@@bearhugkitchen Ha , ha , let me tell you : For me , piece of Warm bread with butter and scallion is way above the cake . And I ate plenty of that during lockdown . Over time , my belly rounded up visibly. My sister looked at me One day and said : WILL HE MARRY YOU ??!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Watching this is like a meditation. Thank you.
Thank you. :) I'm happy that you like it.
Truly a master
Thank you 😊
At 14:36 you add water for steam but there’s a Challenger Bread Pan in the oven. Then you place the dough on an upside down cookie sheet rather than on the bottom of the Challenger. But then you mention a “cast iron cover” at 15:26. Are you just using the top of the Challenger and not the bottom? How does steam reach the bread if it’s covered? It’s a beautiful loaf of bread so what you did “works” but I don’t understand why you add the steam? Why don’t you use the bottom of the Challenger?
Hi there, I see what you mean. To answer your question, here is what i did. I preheat the oven and the Challenger. Because the cast iron needs to warm up for the bread. It would be much better if we don't put the bread to a cold cast iron. I use an upside down cookie sheet help me to transport the bread to the Challenger so i don't have to take out the Challenger (keep it hot). I score the bread, and open the oven, remove the cover of the Challenger, put the cookie sheet on top of the Challenger bottom, drag the cooking paper (bread on the paper) onto the Challenger bottom. And then put the cover back, start cooking. By doing so, i don't touch the Challenger so i keep it hot and i don't get burnt.
Actually if you preheat the oven with the cast iron, the steam will go inside the cast iron if the preheat is long enough. So then you create a tiny oven( the cast iron) to welcome the bread. The steam is very important, because it will help to keep the crust soft, so give more time to let the bread rise up first. If there is no steam, the crust very soon get settled, and we can say 'goodbye' to the rising up. :) Let me know if you have any other questions.
Your process and mine accomplish the same end but allow me to throw out a couple of ideas. Taking the Challenger out of the oven for a couple of minutes to load the bread won’t cool the cast iron at all. That said, your way works perfectly fine too. I don’t think creating steam inside the oven accomplishes anything. Where you want the steam is inside Challenger. The bread itself will provide the water for the steam but you can also toss an ice cube in the pan before putting the cover on (under the parchment paper), or spritzing some water inside a cracked lid with a spray gun, a technique I picked up from The Bread Code. I’ve gotten away from the ice cube because it destroys the seasoning on the cast iron, but I’ve also got in the habit of rubbing oil on any dry spots every time before I put it in the oven to pre-heat. The preheat is long enough to season the pan before I bake the bread.
You bake covered for longer than I do, but I might try baking covered for longer. Why do you bake so long covered?
I had the same thought! :) I don't want to damage the seasoning on the pan that's why i don't use ice cubes.
Take out the cast iron for a few mins won't cool it, that's true. But i try to minimize the time of handling it with no cover to keep the steam. By using the cookie sheet, i finish everything in seconds. Yes, it's true that bread will release steam. But creating steam inside can buy me even more time. I tried to cook a bread with 90%hydration, and that one i want to have more time more steam. If you try to cook 2 bread, one with steam, one without, the difference will increase more when the bread is more hydrated.
I tested cooking time and noticed that cooking a little longer with cover can allow the bread rise up more
Almost perfect 🤩
Thank you 😊
Exquisit
Thank you 🙏
Wish we could have seen the inside of the loaf,
That is a good looking loaf! One thing, though: that tray you added to create steam is not doing anything because the steam you need has to be inside the cast iron pan and will happen naturally after you put your bread in! That's why people have beed using cast iron pans in the first place :)
Just experiment without it and you'll see no difference.
Hi, there, thank you for the comment! I actually tried. tray + cast iron, tray + cast iron without cover, cast iron without the tray, ceramic baking tray with a cover + the tray.. I believe that you are perfectly right about this. If I use cast iron, there is no so much difference, at least I couldn't see the difference. But I tried anyway out of curiosity. Only when I use ceramic baking tray, there was a difference. My guess was: ceramic is not as good as cast iron when it comes to bread baking. Cast iron is really working like a mini oven itself. :) Thank you again :) It's always good to have a discussion about the technique.
@@bearhugkitchen cool. I have never used ceramic.
I have been using a technique without a dutch oven. In this case I preheat my oven at max temp with a tray and a pizza steel inside. After one hour I load the bread onto the steel and add boiling water to the tray to create steam and turn the oven off for the first 20 mins. It works well and I don't need to worry about the cast iron + you can bake two loaves at once. You can also do this with the uncovered Challenger.
Checkout the technique on the Simpel Sourdough channel.
that's very interesting, I tried something similar as well, max temp, pizza steel + a cast iron pan inside ready for boiling water. But I never tried to turn the oven off. And after 20mins, you turn it on? Very interesting!
@@bearhugkitchen Exactly. After 20 mins you remove the tray with water and turn the oven back on. I usually set it to 230ºC fan forced.
Home ovens are generally designed to expel moisture so it's very hard to keep the steam in. The idea of turning the oven off is to turn the exhaust fan off, keeping the steamy environment for the loaf inside.
Here's a video demonstrating it: ua-cam.com/video/5i-4KiOZN-A/v-deo.html&ab_channel=SimpelSourdough
Maybe give it a try one day!
Cheers
Yes, that's very right. It's quite difficult to keep the steam in a home oven. Basically I think if we can manage somehow to keep the steam, it's already halfway success. Never thought about turning it off. Very good idea, thank you for sharing :)
A good-looking loaf. And what's missing is the coup de grace toward the end - slicing it open and let's see the texture inside. I am a bit worried that when you shaped the dough you used quite a bit of flour, which may create snippets of powdery dryness inside.
Hi there, thank you for the comment. Indeed I forgot to record it when I sliced it …😂 thank you again for watching.
After all of that do you really think there would be snippets of powdery dryness???
this is a good question, the inside has a good moisture content. I’m not a chemical and physical expert but I think the skin provides a good protection for the moisture. Once the skin is settled, the flour on the outside has no more impact on what is happening inside.
Nice loaf. What was the temperature of your kitchen when you made this loaf?
Hi there, thank you. The temperature was 25C° in the kitchen
You did everything right with exception of a small,but very important detail:: You didn't skiced the bread. Hahahaaaa....That said,thanks for the video.
I’m going to try adding salt after the starter has been introduced and after some strength building prior to S&F. May I please ask your protein content of your dough and rough kitchen temp at the time of making this vid. 👍
Hi there, yes, it's worth trying :) It'll allow the dough to develop more strength indeed. And to answer your question: It's a very good and important question, thank you for asking :) I used a Canadian flour, protein 13%, kitchen temp: 25C°
@@bearhugkitchen thanks so much for your super quick response! For a sourdough baker that’s immediate gratification! I’ll try your method this evening - just waiting on my starter 😊
you're very much welcome. In case you want to check, the flour I used, name is: Marriage's Strong White Bread Flour. I discovered that for some reason that I don't know why, it seems like Canadian flour has high protein content in general. I also tried sometime Italian pizza flour, it works also very well. :)
If I had to be so fiddley with making sour dough bread, I’d probably never make it. You handle it as if it going to break!
This bread is a masterpiece ! But , hours of work and then ....
Someone jumps in and eats it in a jiffy !! 😩
😂😂 pretty much like that.. I would say A fresh made bread, the slightly caramelised crisp skin and the smell when it’s just out of the oven beat all. Very difficult to resist.. this is how I feel each time I pass by a bakery or something. Thank you!
@@bearhugkitchen Ha , ha , let me tell you : For me , piece of
Warm bread with butter and scallion is way above the cake .
And I ate plenty of that during lockdown .
Over time , my belly rounded up visibly. My sister looked at me
One day and said : WILL HE MARRY YOU ??!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
🥳🥳 super! Scallion I never tried, should be very gooood! Me like the butter and some garlic on it, hmmmm yummy!
too much work!
I agree. Who has time for all this fiddling around with dough?
You obviously like high humidity home, because that's only effect of steam in oven while baking in Dutch oven. LOL👎👎👎