Hello fresh loaf!
I made a video to share some tips on the Tartine basic country loaf I've stumbled upon in my last year of making it. It's aimed at people trying to make their first successful loaf with all-natural yeast. I hope it's useful!
I made this mostly because I love bread, but also to practice my video production skills. Constructive feedback on either would be most welcome!
Lewis, Thanks for an informative and lively video. You make it look easy and I'm going to try it. Hope I do as well as you. Beautiful bake!
Thanks for your kind words! I hope it's useful. That video contains an alarming fraction of my total knowledge about bread, but if you have any further questions I'm more than happy to offer my perspective.
You might want to invest in a rounded mixing bowl and a bowl scraper. It will make it easier to turn out the dough. It would also be easier to knead on the bench than in the bowl. There are many, many videos on kneading.
Good advice.
Except when it comes to fully proofed bread needing to go into the oven --- now! :-)
I'm actually, as I type, going through the Tartine process myself - mostly to see just what happens with UK milled wheats at 75% hydration... More soon!
-Gordon
What a great video! Thanks for sharing it. May I ask what type of camera you are using?
You're very welcome! I shot this on a Nikon 800D SLR with a 18-55m lens.
Hey Lewis- great video. It's a huge help seeing he process. I'm in the process of following your method, but without the super long bulk rise (Friday to Sunday like you did in the video). I mixed the dough last night and let it bulk ferment just overnight (about 12 hours) in the fridge. I pulled it out this morning where it sat for a hour before I cut it, pre shaped, bench rest then shaped and put it back in the fridge for the final proof (4 or 5 hours as you recommend). In a previous bake I've proofed on the counter for several hours after overnight fridge bulk ferment, so I'm a little worried that it won't really rise before baking when in the fridge. Any further thoughts on why this (should) works? Thanks!
Hello Mack,
I've never used a combination of room temp and fridge fermentation like you describe, but I also seldom see much movement in my bread once it's shaped and in the proofing baskets. Most of the rise comes during the bulk ferment, though even that can be a bit underwhelming (as pictured in the video). Really what makes the bread work is the oven spring. Unless your bread shows no sign of fermentation at all, I'd bake it and see what happens. I'm curious to know how this turned out.
Did your bread move much in the 12 hours it spent in the fridge?
I too had underwhelming movement during the bulk ferment, maybe 15-20%, but it was hard to tell because it was in a dark blue glass bowl. Definitely a benefit to using the more vertical clear storage container as you do in the video to observe the dough during this stage.
On another topic, how big is the
Oops! I hit save unintentionally...
How big is the DO/combo cooker you're using? That's my next purchase. I have one enamel coated kitchenaid DO, but I'd like another so I can bake both loaves at the same time. Lodge seems like the the most popular, although at a bit of a premium here in Canada.
I bought mine (Lodge 10.25") through the Costco website a few months back, but it seems to have disappeared from the website. I think it was $70 or so at the time. FWIW, I totally love that thing and would have paid more for it.
So it's a 3qt model?
Just to update, I baked on Thursday, one round loaf in my Kitchenaid DO (during heating, the glazing "popped" off the lid, I literally heard a sound in the oven and saw a bunch of it had shattered, a testament to quality certainly), and one as a pan loaf. I had a sheet pan under the rack for steam. The DO loaf turned out decent (haven't cut into it yet), but appears to have risen about 50%, the pan loaf not so much. It tasted delicious, but was quite dense. Next batch I'm going to try no refrigeration as per the authentic tartine and see what happens. Everything I've done to date with SD has had some amount of refrigeration.
Many thanks for your input.
I love your video and am ready to follow it again. After an overnight of retarding the dough do you let it get warm up a couple of hours before baking or do you go straight from the fridge to the stove?