Crusty bread baked in the Egg via a Dutch Oven (with pics)

Stormbringer

After a bit of trial and error, the sage postings of @caliking @SciAggie (and others of course) and Ken Forkish's book, I've managed to get some consistent crusty bread going in the Egg. Cooked in a Dutch oven, or for me a Le Creuset casserole dish, after some minimal kneading and a long fermentation time. It's based on Ken's method, full details here:

https://www.thecooksdigest.co.uk/2017/08/18/crusty-artisan-bread/

If you've not done this and have a DO/casserole that can handle 465F (or even 475F) it's really worth doing. It's replaced my bake on a pizza stone approach.

Also SWMBO bought a new camera lens.









Thanks for looking.

andersa

Very nice looking, you sure nailed it!

Woodchunk

Love crusty bread and this looks great

SciAggie

Great looking bread. I'm still chasing the golden snitch. 

Carolina Q

That looks terrific! Mine don't ever get that color. Will have to adjust timing and lid off time I guess. Thanks for posting. 

westernbbq

Winner

Killit_and_Grillit

That looks amazing. Great pics!

Mattman3969

Thanks for the link.  Bread looks awesome.  Looks as good as what is on the website

henapple

Nice bread and pictures 

SamIAm2

That loaf and a pot of Brunswick stew and I wouldn't need a spoon! Really nice work.

mEGG_My_Day

Amazing - good job !!

GrateEggspectations

Nice bread and photos!

bgebrent

Strong man.

Shiff

Looks great.

Stormbringer

Thanks folks. SWMBO bought a new 50mm lens to take the photos for the food blog/website, and tinkered around with the lighting, she is very happy with the results above, as am I.

@Carolina Q it's been a lot of trial and whilst not error, getting it a bit better and more consistent each time (although I really don't care if the loaves don't all look the same). For example, I use more yeast than in Ken's recipes (maybe a brand difference?) and have the lid off for longer, the latter being a contributing factor to the colour.

@SamIAm2 I had to look up Brunswick stew ... and yes, agreed. We do a similar stew in winter and have crusty bread with it.

@SciAggie me too, this is just where I've got to at the moment . I'd like to have a little more rise and seam split (as your loaves do, from memory), I might need to encourage that with a sharp knife.

CPARKTX

Beautiful. Nice job

LDR

That's looks great. 

I really need to try baking some, but I always cringe when I see the time involved.  I just need to have less of a "last minute" approach on it.  I got a couple of cast iron DO at Christmas last year, and still haven't broken them in on the egg.

Eggdicted_Dawgfan

Always top notch. 

blasting

Very nice loaf.  Plus 1 on the DO method.  

Stormbringer

LDR said:

That's looks great. 

I really need to try baking some, but I always cringe when I see the time involved.  I just need to have less of a "last minute" approach on it.  I got a couple of cast iron DO at Christmas last year, and still haven't broken them in on the egg.

@LDR it takes a decent amount of elapsed time, however very little actual effort. I probably spend about 12-13 mins in total throughout the duration. Given that this approach has a large chunk of time in the middle when you just leave the dough alone, it gives time to go do something else. That's what I like about it. And once you do it a couple of times you get into the rhythm of it and it becomes second nature.

Of course if your "last minute" approach is "I want bread in the next half hour" that is a bit more challenging.

smbishop

Thank you for sharing!  Ordered the Banneton and will give this a try next weekend!

caliking

Very nice loaf!!

I've been dabbling in bread and sourdough this year, and I live how it's such an organic, and dynamic process. Never thought I would have so much fun with it. 

Stormbringer

caliking said:

Very nice loaf!!

I've been dabbling in bread and sourdough this year, and I live how it's such an organic, and dynamic process. Never thought I would have so much fun with it. 

Thanks! And ... ^^ this.

I think it's because with bread, no two loaves are the same and they are always tasty. OK sometimes they don't look great but does that matter? It's like waiting to find out what's behind the curtain sometimes when I open the lid on the casserole dish.

tml1230

wOw! Just WOW.... I am so very impressed ....I keep trying ....but my end product looks like  a massive dog dropping sitting in the Florida humidity! I will continue the good fight till I get one like yours!

Stormbringer

tml1230 said:

wOw! Just WOW.... I am so very impressed ....I keep trying ....but my end product looks like  a massive dog dropping sitting in the Florida humidity! I will continue the good fight till I get one like yours!

@tml1230 I remember talking to someone in Saigon a couple of years ago about bread making there, they have the same problem, high heat and humidity. To get the rise needed for banh mi some of the bakers add in some vitamin C to their dough mix.

Might also be worth checking this out:

http://danangcuisine.com/banh-mi/recipe-86-banh-mi-vietnamese-baguette/