Looking forward to the results of your test with the Challenger bread pan — it's my favorite thing I own and I'd be sad if I didn't get to use it until temperatures drop back down.
Here in the northern Central Valley of California it regularly gets to be 110° or more during the summers. There is no humidity though, and that makes quite a difference. I have AC, but still avoid turning on my oven. I will either avoid making homemade bread at all or focus on skillet flatbreads (tortillas, naan, etc) or our grill or Ooni pizza oven. My husband doesn’t mind the heat as much as I do, so he’s my griller 🥰
Super helpful tips, particularly since I've been struggling to get the kind of results I was getting in the winter with my house heated to 65°. It's now only up to 75° but my dough was spreading and my loaf much flatter.
When you refer to reducing the hydration by 2 to 5%, is that a reduction of the baker's percentage (e.g. from 80% to 78% to 75%)? I assume that's the case but want to be sure. Thanks!
I decided to make a pan loaf in my toaster oven. I instinctively reduced the starter % and hydration, but couldn't do much about the temp. The house got up to 90F. But with the dough in the pan, it doesn't really make much difference. It can't fall. :) So this was a trial with 200g whole wheat/triticale/rye mockmilled, 25g sprouted rye - which I turned to a smoothie with my spent grain and beer, and the rest was bread flour and AP. I added some seeds as well which somewhat held the bread together. It was definitely a German style bread - a Vollkornbrot through and through. I grew up with those, and it tasted like I came home or a visit. :) The toaster oven is a Breville and we love it! It baked the bread and didn't heat the house any more. The crust was still crunchy cause I brushed the pan with ghee and sprinkled it with teff grain. :) Happy baking y'all!
I seem to get much better results (especially oven spring) for pan loaves with cold start, although I have not tested this carefully. Tomorrow I'm going to make some challah. Maybe I'll try cold start for that.
I make a loaf of porridge bread each week for sandwiches, and don't use my pre-heated Dutch oven to bake it since I started making a "Jiffy-Pop" foil hat for the pan. It traps the steam to allow for excellent oven spring, and I remove it after 20 minutes or so to let the top brown. Since I don't have to preheat for an hour before baking, the kitchen stays much cooler.
Looking forward to the results of your test with the Challenger bread pan — it's my favorite thing I own and I'd be sad if I didn't get to use it until temperatures drop back down.
Great post, great suggestions. Thanks!
Here in the northern Central Valley of California it regularly gets to be 110° or more during the summers. There is no humidity though, and that makes quite a difference. I have AC, but still avoid turning on my oven. I will either avoid making homemade bread at all or focus on skillet flatbreads (tortillas, naan, etc) or our grill or Ooni pizza oven. My husband doesn’t mind the heat as much as I do, so he’s my griller 🥰
Super helpful tips, particularly since I've been struggling to get the kind of results I was getting in the winter with my house heated to 65°. It's now only up to 75° but my dough was spreading and my loaf much flatter.
When you refer to reducing the hydration by 2 to 5%, is that a reduction of the baker's percentage (e.g. from 80% to 78% to 75%)? I assume that's the case but want to be sure. Thanks!
I decided to make a pan loaf in my toaster oven. I instinctively reduced the starter % and hydration, but couldn't do much about the temp. The house got up to 90F. But with the dough in the pan, it doesn't really make much difference. It can't fall. :) So this was a trial with 200g whole wheat/triticale/rye mockmilled, 25g sprouted rye - which I turned to a smoothie with my spent grain and beer, and the rest was bread flour and AP. I added some seeds as well which somewhat held the bread together. It was definitely a German style bread - a Vollkornbrot through and through. I grew up with those, and it tasted like I came home or a visit. :) The toaster oven is a Breville and we love it! It baked the bread and didn't heat the house any more. The crust was still crunchy cause I brushed the pan with ghee and sprinkled it with teff grain. :) Happy baking y'all!
Great post, Andrew! I wonder if we can get decent results in outdoor pizza ovens.
I seem to get much better results (especially oven spring) for pan loaves with cold start, although I have not tested this carefully. Tomorrow I'm going to make some challah. Maybe I'll try cold start for that.
I make a loaf of porridge bread each week for sandwiches, and don't use my pre-heated Dutch oven to bake it since I started making a "Jiffy-Pop" foil hat for the pan. It traps the steam to allow for excellent oven spring, and I remove it after 20 minutes or so to let the top brown. Since I don't have to preheat for an hour before baking, the kitchen stays much cooler.