Sandwich Loaf in a Pullman pan

well. It's only been 10 years since I last posted something. Or maybe more. Let's post something nice?

This is a plain ol' sandwich loaf that I made. I used a preferment (a poolish by definition, I believe?) at roughly 40%, just because.

The loaf pan I used is a Pullman pan, and I used it covered. From the product description: "External Size: 8.5 x 4.75x 4.375 inch, Interior size: About 7.25 x 4 x 4.25inch"

I haven't used measuring cups in years - everything's in grams. Sorry. :P

Preferment:

250g King Arthur bread flour

250g water

2-3g yeast

Let the preferment sit on the countertop, covered, overnight. I ended up putting it in a 4-cup Anchor measuring cup, and letting it bubble for probably 16 hours or so. I had to stir it down twice, and when I finally used it, it had a nice tangy smell to it.

Loaf:

400g King Arthur bread flour

225g milk (I use Parmalat because I don't use a lot of milk in general - YMMV if you use regular milk I think?)

8g salt (Again, I use smoked salt - not required, but it makes for a nice extra little flavor.)

Mix all the ingredients together. I used a stand mixer with a dough hook for about 8 minutes, but there's no reason you couldn't hand-knead.

Once it's all kneaded, shape it into a loaf that's about the right size to go into the loaf pan, stick it in, cover it with plastic wrap (or something that'll work similarly,) and let it rise to about a half-inch to an inch below the surface of the pan.

Pre-heat your oven to 375F in the meantime. Once it's nice and toasty, cover the pan with the Pullman lid and stick it in for about 40 minutes. Ovens vary, of course, but if you've got a probe thermometer, you want an internal temperature of 190F.

Take it out, remove it from the pan, and put it on a cooling rack.

Slice and enjoy!

Thoughts after baking:

I think I might've wanted to use a little less flour overall. Total content for the loaf is 650g because the recipe was originally for an 9x5 loaf pan, and I got a really good rise out of it with the preferment. I could probably use 500g (which is what's suggested for the pan) and get a slightly more open crumb (which I like, even for a sandwich loaf)

I might want to also let the preferment go a little longer next time - I developed some tang, but it's not really all that noticeable to me in the finished loaf - though the flavor's nice and complex all the same.