Bread from the Heart

ravnhaus

<p />As it was Valentine Day we decided to go out for a little Italian fare and come home and bake some bread. A fine evening indeed!
For a small glimpse of the occasion check out the link provided.
Cheers to all!
[ul][li]Bread from the Heart[/ul]

Jim R.

ravnhaus,
Moving!!!

Bordello

ravnhaus,
I had a great dinner but your pictures still made me hungry. Now, as a single person, I envy you. Treat her well.
Regards,
New Bob

Spring Chicken

ravnhaus,
And all I did was take my Sweetie to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Maybe next year we will make some Bread from the Heart. Thanks for the idea.

Jethro

ravnhaus,[p]I've really enjoyed your photo epics - keep em coming![p]Hey, NB looks like you've got some artistic competition.[p]Regards,
Jethro

Peggy

ravnhaus,
That is beautiful! Your wife is very fortunate. Keep up the good work!

Ellen aka Gormay

ravnhaus,
I have been considering getting a BGE primarily to bake rustic breads, although I am sure we would grill and smoke on it occasionally. I was jazzed to see your wonderfully illustrated Valentine's bread baking adventure (coincidentally we rented Moulin Rouge for V-day, also. Great minds think alike!). Before I take the plunge and buy an egg, can you tell me if you believe that the BGE produces a superior hearth style bread to a conventional oven? I thought that the free form loaf looked pretty good.TIA for any info you can give me.[p]Ellen

Puj

Ellen aka Gormay,[p]The BGE can be used to produce "brick oven, hearth-baked" breads. I use my large Egg for such bakes, utilizing a combination of kiln shelfs, pizza stones and plate setters as the hearth ... and enjoy the hell out of it.[p]As far as a superior loaf to a conventional oven? Let me answer with a qualified "yes". I personally believe that a great rustic bread is just as dependent on the preparation of the dough, from the starter through fermentation, through proofing and shaping as it is on how the loaf is baked. What I do find is that the Egg will bake a great bread (great crust formation, desired shape produced by the oven spring, and a hint of a "wood-fired" flavor) but only after you have mastered temperature control, bake times, and on the fly adjustments. It takes numerous bakes to get a true handle.[p]As for capacity, well, most conventional ovens have a larger capacity than the large Egg. For example, I made 3 soudough baguettes (14 oz. per) and one sourdough boule (14 oz.) on Super Bowl Sunday. 2 baguettes were baked in the conventional oven, while 1 bagueete baked on the Egg. The boule was timed to bake in the Egg after the baguette was done. However, I cannot bake 2 2lb. boules in the Egg at the same time while I can do that with my conventional oven. Its just something to consider.[p]Feel free to email me for more info. I'm here to help, along with a handful of other bread bakers who are active on this forum.[p]Puj

ravnhaus

<p />Ellen aka Gormay,
I am by no means an expert of BGEs or bread baking. I have baked on the BGE twice. The first time we made four loafs, put two in the oven and two in the egg. The bread was in bread pans and when all were done you could tell no difference in appearance from the oven bread and the BGE bread. I prefered the BGE bread but then I may have been biased.
The valentine bread was my second effort and the first using the pizza stone. It doesn't show in the pictures but the free form bread was burned on the bottom. I cooked at 400° + and I think next time I will go for 350°. I am not sure about the stone, next time I may use a tray.
All in all the BGE was a fun way of baking bread and with practice I bet the result would be excellent. There are many on this forum with much more experiance than myself who will be most happy to give you advice.
I say go for it!