Update on Bread Baking

DH and I took some bread baking classes at Johnson & Wales recently,and we have been really enjoying practicing what we learned. So here are a couple of photos of some breads we have made since the classes. Over the Thanksgiving weekend we made four or five different types, but I don't have any photos. I have no idea how that happened!

The loaves in the photos are all using recipes from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice. The first photo features Pain de Campagne. The photo directly above is Pain a l'Ancienne.

Here is our current collection of wild yeasts that we are cultivating for our breads. They are stored in our refrigerator, but have to be fed from time to time to keep them going. Some are 100% rye, some 100% whole wheat and others are traditional sourdough. Some are thick with the consistency of dough while others are more thin and liquid. Different breads need different yeasts.

The breads we have made that we think have turned out the best were the ones that fermented slowly in our refrigerator. The next day, we take the dough out and put it on the counter and turn on the oven. In about an hour, the oven is super hot and the bread has woken up but it is still not quite room temperature. Just before putting it in the oven, we score it with a serrated knife. Once in the oven, the dough produces steam from going into the hot oven and gets a great crust.