Does Retarding Length of Time Affect Crust and Bottom
I made a recipe that is between Forkish's Overnight Country Blonde and Brown.
By baker's percentage, it is 70% APF, 25% Rouge de Bordeaux and 5% rye, at 75% hydration.
For the first bake, after bulk fermentation I shaped, put in the banneton, and placed in refrigerator. After 12 hours, I took directly from refrigerator into preheated Dutch oven for 45 minutes.
For the second bake, only difference was that I left in refrigerator for 36 hours. The crust and bottom are much thicker/harder than for first bake.
Sorry, but in my haste on both bakes I did not record bake time covered vs uncovered.
Question - would the difference in crust and bottom logically be explained by the additional 24 hours in the fridge, or is it more likely due to covered vs uncovered bake times?
Thanks,
Bill
If the second loaf dried out more those last 24 hours, it would certainly make a difference. For that long a chill I probably would have wanted to bag the banneton in plastic. But it's not something I've actually tried, a banneton for that long.
Was there a difference in covered vs uncovered times between these loaves?
TomP
Differences in baking time covered versus uncovered could seem to explain the difference in the crust.
I don't know if that would explain differences in the bottom of the loaf. I really had to work to cut the bottom of the second bake loaf.
This is quite the argument for keeping a log.
Thank you for your response.