Today’s the day! The first time I’ve baked this much bread in both variety and volume in a single day.
GOAL:
- 8 Sourdough Batard and Boule loaves
- 24 Sourdough Croissants
- 12 Pain Au Chocolat sourdough croissants
- 10 sourdough Baguettes
This is going to be quite the undertaking. Not only am I trying to juggle the various logistics of all the bakes (with all my timers going for the many moving parts). I’m also a bit worried about the physical nature. I’m not on my feet as much as I will be today. I’m not sure about how my ankle will hold up (the one with the plates and screws from my motorcycle accident).
Guess there is only one way to find out! Go for it!
My loaves are baking and coming out nicely. I’ve been pleased so far with how they appear to be coming out.
My 36 sourdough croissants and Pain Au Chocolat are proving by the fire. I’m trying to be patient and leave them be…
I’m know that 82°F for a number of hours is ideal. I’ve never been brave enough to go 6+ hours. I’ll most likely go 4.5-5 hours. I rotate them about hourly to maintain temperature.
The sourdough bread loaves came out great! I think I had a slashing error on my 3rd batch going deeper rather than at a more shallow angle under. Overall I’m very pleased with the results.
My proving the croissants on the carpet in front of my fireplace was OK. given the other things I’ve been distracted with I ended up having them get too hot. Result… butter melting out. Ouch! I’m hoping that they don’t suffer too badly as a result.
I did cut into one to examine the crumb structure. Then, having cut it open, I decided to taste test it as well… Ha!
My progress by 1pm has resulted in my having the bread loaves, croissants and Pain Au Chocolat completed
My last portion of my bake is the baguettes. They’re coming along nicely. I’m glad I practiced first and learned things. For instance, my Poolish and Leaven were awesome this morning! within 3 hours my Leaven had TRIPLED in size (unheard of!) and my Poolish almost 4X. And this was at the same time!
The baguette dough was the best I’ve ever made! It looked really good at my dough dump.
Rice flour is indeed the bomb! Loaves pop right out of the Couche. My shaping & slashing is getting better. I’ll continue to work on the bake and steam production.
Tomorrow is a big day! My first attempt at selling my baked goods in an open market. That too will be an opportunity to learn!
Baked By Bear Sourdough 