September 21, 2020 - 7:43am
My First Sourdough Loaf
Hello all, glad to have found this site!
This is my first go at sourdough. Crust was nice and crispy and the crumb had a slight chewy texture. I would like the crumb to be a little more consistent top to bottom but the taste was fantastic.
I look forward to learning a lot from you all.
Jeff
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And welcome to TFL!
That loaf is waaay better than most first attempts at sourdough. At least better than most of mine.
What kind of oven and steaming method are you using?
I'm baking in a Kitchenaid gas convection oven. For steaming I heat up a shallow pan on the rack under the stone and pour about 1 cup of water in it as soon as I put the loaf in. Spritz the walls 2 - 3 times at 30 - 60 second intervals. I'm baking it free standing and thought it may turn out a little flat but did get a nice spring.
Very good!
Very impressive first go especially since you didn't use a dutch oven and because using a gas convection oven can be a big challenge as well.
Would you not use the convection?
idaveindy is one of our resident oven specialists but I believe if you are steaming using the convection may increase the venting of the steam from the oven which isn't what you want. But I'll defer to him.
lets more steam out of the oven than adding it. Steam is invisible at high temps. Opening the door to spray lets in cooler air and drops the oven temp. That may have a bigger roll than the steam.
or some kind of pot to cover the bread for the first 15 or 20 minutes. In a convection oven I would turn the heat to maximum while covered (Assuming there is a baking stone or even a bun pan underneath to trap the steam created from baking the bread)and then when removing the pot turn it back to your normal convection temperature.
Took these out of my Garland gas oven minutes ago, one is cheese bread the other is raisin, pine nut and pistachio.
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