The dough rose reasonably well in the tins in the fridge overnight. I took them out about 5pm and left them to rise further which they did. However there were some very obvious large gas pockets at the top. The loaves went in the oven at about 7.30pm. In an attempt to get some oven spring I preheated a grill pan and when I put the loaves in I poured boiling water into the pan to generate steam. I started the oven at 230C and after about 15 minutes turned it down to 210C and removed the grill pan. After 25 minutes I took the loaves out of their pans but they were not fully cooked on the bottom so they were back in the oven, out of their pans, for another 15 minutes (making 40 minutes total).
The resulting loaves taste good and are moist but have huge holes under the crust. I think this flying crust is probably due to the very long proving period and I suspect the dough was still too dry.
The undercooked bottom of the loaves would have been due to the grill pan under the loaf tins. Next time I will try using the fan oven (instead of top and bottom heat) so that the grill pan doesn't block the bottom heating element.
So my view of the Gilchester flour? I'm disappointed but not surprised. For the moment I shall stick with the more usual bread flours available. Once I have my technique perfected with these I shall try the Gilchester again.
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