My (mis)adventures in bread making

GrateEggspectations · October 2016

So, I've made bread on the Egg once prior to my most recent attempt, but it was so long ago that I cannot remember how it turned out.

I've really been wanting to Bread another go, so I grabbed the basic no-knead recipe from the My Bread book, prepped the dough, fired up the Egg and followed the cooking instructions.

I decided to do it on the Mini Max, as it looked like rain and I had previously mutilated a 4QT Dutch oven such that it could be used in the MM on such occasions. This also required that I use the wine-cork-in-the-some-thermometer trick such that the thermo shaft would not strike the DO upon some closing. Setup from bottom to top was plate setter, trivet (for air gap) and DO. Photos below.

The recipe called for 30mins at 475 with the DO lid on and then another 15-30mins with the DO lid off.

During but the cook, the thermo (which I calibrated last month) never appeared to rise beyond 375. It simply wouldn't go higher, even with the daisy wheel removed. Despite this, after only 30 mins, the bread was nicely browned and was reading 210 (beyond the target of 200), so I pulled it.

When I removed the bread, I could see that it was burned to the bottom of the (very well-seasoned) DO. The top of the bread was entirely salvageable and was indeed delicious.

Another thing I noticed was that the lump, which had been filled to the 3/4 mark with a half-half mix of previously-burned and new charcoal, was almost entirely gone. This after maybe a two hour total run time from start to complete shut down.

My best guess is that my wine cork rigging of the thermometer resulted in readings that were far below actual temps.

Anyone else have any guesses?!

.....While extremely humbling, I learn far more from posting my failures than I do from my successes!

A few pics below. (Despite pics showing the lidless-DO on the Egg with the bread in it, the lid was in fact on for the whole cook and was only removed as I was taking the bread off.)

NPHuskerFL · October 2016

Looks good. Coming right along. It takes lots of practice. Regarding the wine cork. Pay attention to the thermometer's stem. You'll notice a indented line which is the sensing area. This MUST be inside the dome to allow this temperature reading instrument to do its job. I cut my cork at a slight angle which hugs the eggs slight curvature. Place stem through the cork and dome and then visually confirm the sensing section inside the dome.

GrateEggspectations · October 2016

Thanks a lot Blake. I bet you just correctly identified the problem, as I had assumed the tip of the thermo in the dome would result in an accurate reading. The thermo was not very deep into the dome.

SkySaw · October 2016

Your bread looks good! I have been experimenting with DO bread baking on my KJ Jr. and my Large BGE. I find it very easy to burn the bottom of the loaf in my Jr., and I think the problem is the proximity to the fire rather than the temperature of the cooker that is leading to the burned bottom. I have tried baking the bread on the Jr. on a single layer of diffuser at 375º and it still burns the bottom. The solution to DO bread on a small kamado is to use two layers of diffusion with some airspace between them, just like cooking a pizza. I have also found it much easier to bake bread successfully in the DO in a larger kamado.

JMCXL · October 2016

Thanks for sharing. I have been wanting to do Bread and this will help with my first bread cook

CPARKTX · October 2016

I've had better luck using the DO inside in the oven, and just a pizza stone if in the Egg. Still looks pretty good, keep at it.

jlsm · October 2016

I'm with @CPARKTX. The egg itself is a giant DO in retaining moisture. Spritz the dough with water before closing the dome.

NPHuskerFL · October 2016

@SkySaw Make sure to create an air gap between the DO & the radiant heat deflector. Your correct that 375℉ isn't the problem. Also the % sugar content in the dough can cause that scorched bottom too.
I run 450℉-500℉ with or w/out the DO in the egg for most of my bread.

GrateEggspectations · October 2016

JMCXL said:

Thanks for sharing. I have been wanting to do Bread and this will help with my first bread cook

Glad it was helpful. If you don't have a good bread book, I strongly recommend "My Bread". Some simple and delicious recipes.

GrateEggspectations · October 2016

So, I thought I'd provide an update as to my second crack at this same setup (bread in 4QT DO on MM). I ensured the dome thermo was placed such that it was giving me an accurate reading and gave the inside of the DO a good greasing to ensure it didn't stick. The results were great, though I think I would remove the DO lid sooner the next time around in order to ensure better browning of the top of the loaf.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the results and am beginning to get a hang of this setup.

Angela · October 2016

I wouldn't use the cast iron trivet under the pan, I'd use either egg feet or something else that isn't going to be a heat source to the bottom of your pan. Whatever you use to raise drip pans off of the plate setter will work.

GrateEggspectations · October 2016

Angela said:

I wouldn't use the cast iron trivet under the pan, I'd use either egg feet or something else that isn't going to be a heat source to the bottom of your pan. Whatever you use to raise drip pans off of the plate setter will work.

At first I thought the same thing, but the bread vessel itself is cast iron, so I fail to see how the trivet could do any harm.

Angela · October 2016

The cast iron trivet will hold the heat and pass it onto the pan, much more than just air will. The same way that we use diffusers on the stove to make heat even across the whole surface of a pan.

bigbadben · October 2016

I bake a lot of bread. I have found the oven way easier than my grill. I place two stacked rimmed (bare steel not nonstick) on the lower rack to act as a heat deflector. Heat the DO in the oven to 550. Add my loaf and bake. Take the lid off and lower the temp.

HeavyG · October 2016

Did you pre-heat your dutch oven?

bigbadben · October 2016

HeavyG said:

Did you pre-heat your dutch oven?

I have compared cold to preheated DO. I found no difference in side by side loaves. The cold DO loaf needed longer for the crust to set.

HeavyG · October 2016

bigbadben said:

HeavyG said:

Did you pre-heat your dutch oven?

I have compared cold to preheated DO. I found no difference in side by side loaves. The cold DO loaf needed longer for the crust to set.

Jim Lahey's recipe for No-Knead says to pre-heat the dutch oven.

I've never made it without the pre-heat but if there really is no diffference I wonder why he suggests doing that?

GrateEggspectations · October 2016

Angela said:

The cast iron trivet will hold the heat and pass it onto the pan, much more than just air will. The same way that we use diffusers on the stove to make heat even across the whole surface of a pan.

The DO is also cast iron and is preheated, so I would expect that this may not be an important consideration under the circumstances (as I would think the DO and trivet - both cast iron - would hover at approximately the same temp in the Egg).

My (mis)adventures in bread making

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