Yeeeeeee Ha!!! French bread success.

Nature Boy

I am stunned. Second attempt was superb. I made two loaves, slightly smaller than last time. They rose for the third time very nicely and I cooked the first one at 400 dome (after the fire matured enough to have minimal smoke.....let it slowly build up from 300 to 400, and heated the ceramic thoroughly). On the second loaf, I let the dome temp creep up in the 430 range, and the pizza stone was already hot. [p]The first loaf I sent off with my wife, kids and mother in law. They left 5 minutes after I pulled off the first loaf. Put it in a loose paper bag, and sent them on there way. I betcha the car was full of smells.[p]The second loaf I pulled of after 30 minutes at 425 dome. Rested 45 minutes, and carved off a piece to try. I was a bit nervous that it would be heavy textured, but it was shweeeeet!! I kept carving of more. Then more. Then more.[p]I can see room for improvement, but the crust was so nice that little pieces flew off when i carved it. I'm hooked.[p]Took snail pictures I will post someday.
Oooh. I can still taste it. Going back for more.[p]Thanks y'all.
NB

Lee2

Nature Boy,
Did you try misting these loaves or did you bake them dry?

Dr. Chicken

Nature Boy,
Way to go! I wish I felt better so I could include some "smart-alec" remarks![p]Later, Dr. Chicken

Unknown

Dr. Chicken, allow me.... Nature Boy,, what a great idea. Cook on the egg,,,, fix some up to-go for the wife, kids, and mother inlaw,,,,,,,,,,,,and send them on their way! IIIIIIIooooooaaaaaaaaaaaoooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooaaaaaaaaaa![p]Congrats on the breaded success:^)

Nature Boy

Lee2,
Misted the first one, forgot the second.
My wife likes super crunchy crust. I popped it in the regular oven at 350 for about 5 minutes. [p]Crust was crunchy as doritos, inside moist and fluffy.
It's all gone. More to come. Thanks.
NB

Nature Boy

Dr. Chicken,
Thanks for everything. Get some rest sonny. Right now!!
Nature boy

King-O-Coals

Sorry,,, that "k" is me. I wuz in the woofing down mode eating "grilled" Lady Godiva's. The only slight advantage over frying them is the health issue from grease to grill. Other than that,,,, it's a toss-up.........

Teslamania

Nature Boy,[p]Sounds like a winner. Now, what to put on the french bread next time! Wine, Cheese and french bread. What a combination.

mollyshark

I assume we'll be having some of this bread at the fest? (I've got to get some baggier jeans for this thing or I'm never gonna survive.)[p]mshark

Char-Woody

Teslamania, you nailed it, with a side dish of standing rib roast. Plenty of au jus for dipping.

Char-Woody

Nature Boy, I posted a method awhile back on proofing yeast, and Bob insisted I needed shackles and a white coat..heeee. I melted fresh snow..Afterward my no it all wiffy suggested that I needn't have gone to all the trouble.
Distilled water in quart/gallon jugs was available.[p]Well..this time I skipped the melted snow as I still have some of that pure white water left. The moral of the story is, avoid tap water if possible. Chlorine is a baddie for the little yeasty guys. Clean fresh well water, or distilled is best.[p]Second tip is to have some honey available.. I used a toothpick, and twist a small amount of honey on the bottom inch of toothpick, and stir the yeast with it till the toothpick is clean. Make sure your water feels fairly warm to the finger. Not over 105 degrees if you temp it.[p]Those yeasties will go bannana's..at least mine do and in minutes you have a mushroom of foam on the water..Try it and you will be a believer.
Cheers..C~W[p]

Nature Boy

Char-Woody,
Sounds like great tips. Thanks. I wouldn't be suprised about the tap water puttin a bit of a hurtin on them little critters. [p]The bread was fantastic, and not dense at all, but it could be a bit more airy and light inside, and I bet happy yeast critters would give me the edge I need to get killer braid.[p]Gonna try different yeasts and flours as suggested, and see what I come up with. No turning back now![p]NB

sprinter

Nature Boy,[p]I've made quite a bit of bread over the years and I've found that the combination of flour/yeast that I like best is a yeast that I get out of king Arthurs baking catalong called Fermipan. They sell it bulk pretty cheap. The best flour that I've used, for the money, is White Lilly. That I get at the local Kroger, they also sell King Arthur flour but for the difference in price I'm not able to see a difference. That Fermipan yeast is wonderful stuff though, rises nice and high and quickly as well, though its not a quick rise yeast. Good luck, for all of the bread I bake, I've not put that much in the BGE. What I have put in there is awesome though. Did you use the loaf pan from the web site that got me in trouble the other day? Happy with the results if yes?[p]Troy

Nature Boy

sprinter,
Just laid it on a pizza stone. Have not received my ceramic roasting dish yet.[p]Thanks for the tips on flour/yeast
NB

Fritz

Nature Boy,[p]Glad you had success. The book THE VILLAGE BAKER is wonderful. So is a book called RUSTIC EUROPEAN BREADS FROM YOUR BREAD MACHINE. The recipes in the latter make a nice pairing with the egg for breaqd novices who dont like kneading. The former is like taking a cooking class in bread.[p]Damn, I am gonna have to make some bread now....... :-)[p]Fritz

Nature Boy

Char-Woody,
Just plain the bread was awesome. Your description sounds downright heavenly. They have rib roasts on sale at giant. Hmmmm.[p]NB