October 18, 2008 - 6:11pm
slashing or crust problem?
these are two sourdough challot i made; decided to use boule shape and not braid. i slashed both challahs, one i tried in a spiral pattern, the other in a tic tac toe pattern. the crusts of both raised up quite a bit; i got good oven spring but i wish they looked a bit better. any suggestions? i used maggie glezer's 'my sourdough challah' recipe as my family loves the taste of this bread. it is moist and very tasty.
sourdough challot
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Did they need a little more proofing time? Cannot really see the tops? How is the crumb? They look really beautiful. I am going to try and make her's on Monday, is this the recipe you used?
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4200/sourdough-challah-photos-recipe
Eli
the crumb was fairly fine with scattered holes. i let them proof about 4 1/2 hours. (she said to proof 5 hours...but it was getting late......) they seemed to keep an indention from a gently pushed finger.....
yes, i used the glezer recipe you listed above. this is the second time i've baked this. the flavor is wonderful! the first time i think i had the dough too slack and moist. this time i think it was a tad too dry....maybe the third time will be the charm!!
there's certainly not much left of the first loaf so the family's not noticing my perception of dryness.....i did deviate a bit from her recipe: i used 50% stone ground whole wheat flour, and 50% white bread flour. she uses only white flour in her recipe. i also used coconut oil as my fat and i suspect she uses a more conventional veg oil. coconut oil doesn't taste strongly of coconut, just gives a rich sweetness to the bread. i used the honey, rather than the sugar, but she suggests either one.
this is absolutely worth the fuss of the sour dough......it is one of the best breads i've tasted......other than greenstein's sour corn rye which i will be baking tomorrow. i am a really convert to sourdough......
crumb pix sourdough challah
deborah