Baking Bread the Hard Way
Because why do it the easy way?
So - It's been a couple of years. After a wonderful time baking bread in Austin, with my wonderful cast iron dutch oven, we moved back to Mexico in 2017 and rented a large home with very little direct sun and the cool weather absolutely killed my sourdough starter. Plus it was over 5000 feet. I gave up. (see my last blog post for gory details)
A year ago we moved to an even *higher* elevation (over 8000 feet) but it is nice and warm in the afternoons with lots of direct sun. But this apartment doesn't have an oven. We do, however, have a toaster oven. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover that some of the forum participants here have produced nice bread in one!
So I've decided it's time to fire up some more bread recipes and experimentation. I mean, what *else* am I gonna do sitting inside all day long, right?
As usual I decided that *today* was a good day to bake. I decided this late in the afternoon, without having procured some baker's yeast ahead of time. So. Soda bread it is!
My main concern at this point is the enameled metal pot we picked up at a local grocery store. It's more of a campfire quality sort of pot, thin and lightweight. Handles are all metal, so I'm fairly certain nothing will melt. It was small enough to fit in the oven which was the main criteria. I did manage to find some parchment paper, so we'll see. Not sure how long to go before removing the lid, or how long to bake after that point. Kinda like starting over again!
Results shortly