have been baking over 30 loaves with this recipe and absolutely love it!
baked various types too, ranging from rosemary raisin to multi-seed to 100% whole wheat. and this recipe just works great. no wonder richard bertinent says it's his favourite bread recipe.
actual recipe is for a ciabatta but found that could be used for all types of breads. it's a very wet dough so you need a dough knife/scraper as well as the "stretch and fold" technique shown by mr bertinent in this video here.
ferment
350gm flour
180gm water
2gm instant yeast (i use less than 1/4 teaspoon)
baking day
450gm flour
360gm water
50gm olive oil (okay to use less)
10gm instant yeast (i use slightly less than 1 teaspoon)
15gm salt (i use only 11gm)
mix all the ingredients of the ferment and let it sit for 17-24 hours. it's quite a dry ferment as it's only 50% hydration. if it's too dry, add a bit more water. try 2 tablespoon each time.
mix everything on baking day, then "stretch and fold". it's a very very wet dough so you definitely need a dough knife.
do not flour the work surface. the dough will stick somewhat to the surface but as you work on it, it slowly gains shape and less and less of it sticks to the table. [watch the video!]
let it prove for an hour, then divide and prepare to bake!
the oven should be pre-heated to 250c. before placing dough in, squirt at least 15-20 times of water into the oven to create enough steam.
place dough in and squirt another few times. 5 minutes later, reduce heat to 220c and bake for additional 15 minutes or until golden brown.
note, no honey/sugar is used but bread still has a golden hue. this is due to the natural solutions developed during the fermentation process.
mr bertinent recommends 20gm less water for rainy days (humid weather) but his recipe is all white flour. if you use whole wheat, you may use same amount of water. when i bake with 100% whole wheat flour, the consistency feels a bit "dry". it's still a wet dough by any standards but after working with wet dough, this feels a little "dry"!
there you go. enjoy this recipe! enjoy the crust, the most delicious bread crust!
Showing posts with label stretch and fold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stretch and fold. Show all posts
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
new findings
been baking bread for over a year. tried various stuffs, various recipes, various methods...
current favourite method is the "stretch and fold" technique on very wet doughs, learned from richard bertinent's book "crust".
one thing that i could never quite get right is that the holes on the bread tend to be a lot smaller on the bottom side compared to the top side of the bread. this is directly related to my baking bread with a cold, as in room temp, baking sheet.
ideally, would like to place the very wet dough on a very hot baking sheet and let it bake but could never get this right as how do you handle very wet dough? what kind of peel can do the job?
seems like we need to flour it a lot, but flouring too much destroys the delicate (and delicious crust) while flouring too little... might as well don't flour it.
this bothered for quite a while until i read on some italian pizza baker's forum, this suggestion to use rice flour!
huh?
nevertheless, you only know it works if you try it.
see made myself a wooden peel (just a piece of 2mm thin plywood), oiled it with food grade mineral oil, then let it dry. to use it, flour it generously with rice flour.
place the wet dough on it and...
works like magic! the very wet dough has no problem sliding in any direction i want it to!
so finally baked bread - for just the second time - on a very hot baking sheet and the dough responds magnificently!
the sides of the bread "curl up". it doesn't even stick to the baking sheet as the heat bakes and seals the base. inside, the holes are more evenly spaced and the whole bread seems a lot more tender. even better half commented it's much softer to slice.
above is rosemary raisin 80% whole wheat bread. goes very well with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
found this great bread spread too - black sesame spread. simply delicious! goes well with the multi seed, multi grain bread.
there you have it!
ps : i like my wooden peel so much, if you tell me you need one, i may make one for you!
current favourite method is the "stretch and fold" technique on very wet doughs, learned from richard bertinent's book "crust".
one thing that i could never quite get right is that the holes on the bread tend to be a lot smaller on the bottom side compared to the top side of the bread. this is directly related to my baking bread with a cold, as in room temp, baking sheet.
ideally, would like to place the very wet dough on a very hot baking sheet and let it bake but could never get this right as how do you handle very wet dough? what kind of peel can do the job?
seems like we need to flour it a lot, but flouring too much destroys the delicate (and delicious crust) while flouring too little... might as well don't flour it.
this bothered for quite a while until i read on some italian pizza baker's forum, this suggestion to use rice flour!
huh?
nevertheless, you only know it works if you try it.
see made myself a wooden peel (just a piece of 2mm thin plywood), oiled it with food grade mineral oil, then let it dry. to use it, flour it generously with rice flour.
place the wet dough on it and...
works like magic! the very wet dough has no problem sliding in any direction i want it to!
so finally baked bread - for just the second time - on a very hot baking sheet and the dough responds magnificently!
the sides of the bread "curl up". it doesn't even stick to the baking sheet as the heat bakes and seals the base. inside, the holes are more evenly spaced and the whole bread seems a lot more tender. even better half commented it's much softer to slice.
above is rosemary raisin 80% whole wheat bread. goes very well with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
found this great bread spread too - black sesame spread. simply delicious! goes well with the multi seed, multi grain bread.
there you have it!
ps : i like my wooden peel so much, if you tell me you need one, i may make one for you!
Monday, October 26, 2009
video showing bertinent's method
as you know, when it comes to baking bread, good ingredients play an important role, but the rest is all technique, the baker's technique.
have been experimenting with bread baking for a while now but had the most fun lately when i learned about richard bertinent's "stretch and fold" technique of working with very wet dough.
yes, it's true that very wet dough makes good bread, but try working on it with your hands!
now this video illustrates very well on how to work wet doughs ala the bertinent technique.
remember, no flouring of the work space. you just got to have faith. after 10-15 minutes of stretch and fold, the dough really takes shape!
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough
have been experimenting with bread baking for a while now but had the most fun lately when i learned about richard bertinent's "stretch and fold" technique of working with very wet dough.
yes, it's true that very wet dough makes good bread, but try working on it with your hands!
now this video illustrates very well on how to work wet doughs ala the bertinent technique.
remember, no flouring of the work space. you just got to have faith. after 10-15 minutes of stretch and fold, the dough really takes shape!
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough
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