My Second WFO bake: application of lessons learned.
I just returned home from my second bake in a wood fired oven. My first bake, about 3 weeks ago, is described in My first WFO bake: Lessons in time, temperature and humility. That experience demonstrated the wisdom of the advice I had received, especially the advice I disregarded.
Last week, I got a phone call from my friend, L. , inviting me to a potluck dinner at J.'s where members of the Italian social group that meets weekly at J.'s store would be eager to sample my bread, baked in J.'s WFO. Yikes! A "command performance!" So, I called J. and told her I needed another "practice session" before baking for 20 hungry Italians.
I re-read all the TFL responses to my request for WFO words of wisdom and, from them, distilled a protocol that I shared with J. She translated it into a concrete schedule, and we agreed on a date and time for the practice session, which was today.
I added one item to the list of suggestions: Because of the incredible oven spring with burst loaves I had from the first WFO bake, it seemed to me that I should more fully proof the loaves to reduce the oven spring to a more "normal," controlled level.
J. Fired her oven at 4 am. I arrived at her house at 2 pm. In retrospect, she had built too big a fire. The oven floor was over 750 dF, and the coals were still burning. We shoveled out the coals, and in about an hour the oven was cool enough (around 500 dF) to try baking bread. We decided to do one of the 3 loaves first, just in case ... I choose a 1 Kg boule of my San Francisco-style Sourdough Bread with increased whole wheat flour. We had a large cast iron skill filled with water in the back of the oven. We mopped the floor with a damp cloth. I loaded the boule, shut the door for 20 minutes. Then I peaked and rotated the loaf. It baked for 25 minutes.
After baking the other loaves - two 900g bâtards of Hamelman's Pain au Levain with Whole Wheat -, we sliced the SFSD and tasted it with some fantastic local olive oil which I am going to have to buy next time I'm at J.'s store.
The bâtards had a slightly cooler oven. They baked in about 26 minutes and were less darkly colored.
As you can see, these loaves have a somewhat dull crust. This is because the oven could not be adequately humidified. It's big and really needed to be baking 15, 20 or more loaves at once to function optimally. However, the tasting is the critical test.
The SFSD with increase whole wheat was simply the best tasting bread I have ever baked. The crust was very crunchy. The crumb was well-aerated, very tender and light. The crust had a dark, nutty, mildly bitter flavor which was offset by the very sweet, milky flavor of the crumb. There was a subtle, late-appearing but lingering acetic acid tang, but the lactic acid flavor was much more prominent. After tasting a slice, with and without olive oil and declaring it delicious, J. said, "You know, growing up, I never liked sourdough bread, but this is wonderful."
Before I left for home, we set a schedule for preparing the oven and baking the breads for the potluck. I'm ready to party!
I couldn't have learned what I have learned in just two bakes without the wonderful, generous wisdom shared by TFL members mrvegemite, yozzause, Sjadad, Arlo, etheil, BobSponge, embth, and Josh. Thanks, guys! You make me (even more) proud to be a member of this community.
David
Comments
beautiful crumb
David
Well done, David. Happy to see you got a handle on things so quickly...
Look forward to hearing about your *new* project of a WFO in the backyard this summer! ;)
-Arlo
No WFO plans for my backyard, but I do have an "anytime" invitation to bake in J's. She said, let her know and she will fire it for me.
David
Those look great David! I especially like the look of the dark crust on the boule. I am sure that will be a winner with everyone at the potluck. It must be awesome dipped in good quality olive oil. Wow! I really have to try out WFO baking sometime. Those results are very persuading. The boule looks like if I pricked it wlth a pin, it would burst! Love it.
Good luck with the potluck. Don't go and change too much.
Best,
Syd
The boule is pretty crusty. I don't think a pin would burst it.
We had a few slices for dinner with some baked salmon. Pretty darn good stuff! I will probably bake this formula for the potluck, but I would also like to try some other breads, like a Pan de Horiadaki or a durum flour bread.
If you try your hand at WFO baking, check the topic where I asked for advice. I got a lot of very helpful, practical information.
David
Well done on your second bake in a WFO! I think the crumb looks perfect on those loaves an even crust colour. If I can offer any more advice would be to wait a little more for the oven to come down in temperature and I think you will find the crust will not set as quickly if you are after 'ears'. I believe that may have been an issue with your first bake hence the spring out the side of the loaves. I do a normal prove and I use a pre heated pan filled with boiled water from the kettle to get the steam going placed in the back of the oven, as well as a fully loaded oven to generate more moisture from the loaves themselves to get the controlled oven spring through the slashes. Other than that you are nailing the WFO bread bake. I posted a blog a week back titled 'Dough hydration and crumb' and would very much like your opinion on this as someone with a lot of sourdough baking experience, especially regarding the texture of the crumb of high hydration loaves ie chewy etc. I had some very good help from TFL members and there are also some photos of a recent WFO bake as well with loaves loaded in WFO around 240C(air temperature not brick/hearth temp)
Well done David
I will visit your blog and offer what I can.
David
You are a fast learner
Have you made your new Peel for the baguettes, a long thinish one that you push forward and sideways all in one motion will work well ,just wide and long enough for the baguette. A suggestion is to set up a table with a restriction the size of the door way and practice placing items similar to loaves of bread through the opening onto the space available. this gives you some great practice time to perfect your peeling techniques without stuffing up any loaves. This will increase your oven craft of peeling
kind regards Derek
The oven door opening is about 16 inches. It admits all my peels except the SuperPeel with the extension. I really have no difficulty with peel unloading, if I can get the peel into the oven.
Now, baguettes ... Here's my big question: How to you manage a WFO bake when you have a mix of loaf sizes.?My usual baguette bake in the oven is 20-22 minutes. On the other end of the spectrum, my favorite miche, which is a 2 kg boule, takes 60 minutes.
Do you do sequential bakes? Do you do a single bake and control loaf placement or take some out sooner? I think in the WFO, baguettes would bake in maybe 10-12 minutes.
David
For a mixed bake just load the bigger stuff to the back and the smaller stuff to the front so that they can be removed first. I can remember loading 40 tray peel ovens with Italian loaves where speed and time was of great importance as the first in is the last out, So even if you are quick and can do it in five minutes in and five out means a difference of 10 minutes.
In your situation its better to have a full oven once you are pulling the smaller breads any loss of vapor / steam will be fine and may even assist with the crust on the larger loaves. close the door again once the smaller loaves have been pulled. I wouldn't suggest fruit doughs at the same time as the others and would be far better in a subsequent bake with a falling temp.
Enjoying sharing your adventure
kind regards Derek
There is enough joy for every one! Sharing pleasure augments pleasure.
David
There is an alternative that worked pretty well for me, it is movable but still big enough to feed a couple of people at the same time!! BTW the learning curve is the same....
Tempting!
Thanks, Thomas.
David
That's the name, I have the Marinara one!!
Thomas
www.campingchicago.com
That is saying something for sure..You need to work on some kind of Mega Steam for the WFO :-) Now we know why artisan breads baked the traditional way in a WFO are the real deal with everything else not quite the same thing. Having a anytime offer and they make the fire is the deal of a lifetime too! Now if they would bake the bread and deliver it with some of that olive oil:-)
Well Done and Happy Baking David
I wonder how much is just the higher bake temperature. Oven spring is dramatic. The crust gets really crunchy/hard fast. I think this seals in the moisture. The crumb is super-moist.
I just might have to find a way to get one in my own back yard. A Big Green Egg?
David
Following right along David. From burnt to dark. Next is beautiful. Do you have permission to spray a garden sprayer in while your loading for steam? It's very common for steaming these WFO ovens.
I'm lucky the oven builder built in a pipe to take a hose we connect from a pressure cooker. It gives us professional style steam without stealing any hearth space.
Lots of fun in store for you. Wait til you get to load it up full. It's invigorating
Cheers
Josh
J. has a garden sprayer. I may ask to try it next bake.
If I were to really load that oven, I would need a set up to mix more dough than I can do now and would need to pre-arrange an "outlet" for the product. These are scary steps! I'm not sure I want to make that kind of commitment.
David
Make sure the garden sprayer has not got any poisons through it .
A small hole drilled in the door is good for connecting up a steam supply if you choose to go that track a small steam cleaner can work well too.
Make sure you keep it fun David
Regards Derek
Good point! It must be. That was the first question I asked. Given who J. is, it was probably unnecessary but still prudent to make certain.
David
Good to see that you've taken a big step up the learning curve and have some very pretty breads to show for it.
I don't see a WFO in my future anytiime soon, so it's nice to "bake" vicariously through your and others experiences.
Paul
My wife doesn't see a WFO anytime soon in my future either. :-(
David
I have baked many loaves that look like yours, dark, thick crust and score lines that simply open up and don't curl. In addition, many with little oven spring. I agree, its an issue of steam and the right temp.
Couple things on steam... I have a pretty big oven (44"x52") a garden tank sprayer had little impact. I now use a hose attached to some galvanized pipe with a garden mister (its modeled after the one they use as SFBI) for my oven. It produces a very fine mist that generates a lot of steam at the rate of 1/2 gal/min. I'm now trying to figure out how much "steam" given load and temp.
Be careful with water and the oven floor, spills on hot firebrick can cause little fragments to break off (spalling).
I don't recall SFBI using a garden mister. Their deck ovens are steam injected. Can you describe your device further. It sounds worth trying.
David
Correct, for the baking class injection ovens. I'm talking about the device they used for the WFO class, picture below....
Today's bake was 8 loaves, I held the valve open for around 8 seconds, with the mister head in the center of the oven. The floor temp was about 525...
I see. I might just have to take the SFBI WFO class. I've been looking for an excuse to take another one. ;-)
I never saw a WFO on the premises. Is it out doors in the back of the labs?
David
Its over in the back corner, near where they served us lunch.
Hmmm ... The configuration in your photo doesn't look familiar. It looks like some space has been repurposed since I was last there.
I checked the Workshop schedule for this year. They are not offering one on WFO baking, unless it was earlier in the year, and it is no longer listed.
David