I just baked French Bread using Jeffrey Hamelman's recipe (Bread - a Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes). It is a straight-dough recipe... no pre-ferment. The recipe calls for several stretch and folds during the dough rise to further develop the gluten. The gluten is only partially developed during a short mix.
I think it worked great. The stretch and folds really helped.
It was baked in a cloche in my home oven.
What do you think?
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Looks nice - well done! You should enjoy that!
Did you preheat your cloche?
Nice loaf. Sounds like a not too taxing recipe.
I did not preheat the cloche. The bread rose in the cloche. Went into a 450 degree oven. Dropped to 400 after 15 minutes. Removed top around 35 minutes into the bake. Total bake time around 60 minutes.
I have that book so that's my next recipe. I'd be very happy with a loaf that looks like that. I've been a little uncomfy with the idea or preheating my cloche although people seem to do it very successfully. I do preheat my combo cooker but would like to start using my cloche more. Thanks for giving me the particulars on how you baked your loaf.
Riley, don't take the bread out of the oven too early. You won't get the crispy crust. Let it develop good color. The crust will be great.
Thanks, I'll keep an eye on it.