The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [164]
It would be impossible to discuss the merits of all the pans and crocks and stones and whatnot that are available to the enthusiastic and well-financed baker; but sometimes normal kitchen equipment does just as well as some of the expensive stuff. For example, stainless steel bowls: grease them well and dust them with cornmeal or sprinkle with seeds to be sure the dough doesn’t stick. The 1 ½-quart size is just right for one loaf’s worth of dough. If the bowl is fairly shallow or squarish, the loaf will be shallow or squarish too, and look as if it were baked free-form. If the bowl is deep and round, the bread will come out looking like a soccer ball with a slightly flattened top. These loaves can be very pretty, but note that whenever the loaf becomes rounder and deeper, is more spherical, or is larger because there is more dough in it, it will take extra baking time. When it is flatter (but well-risen) or longer and narrower than the norm, it will take less time to cook through. Bread that has not risen well takes the longest time to bake.
The recipes in this book work beautifully baked in two eight- or nine-inch pie tins; or free-standing on a cookie sheet if the dough is not too soft. (If it is too soft, it will sag and make a large, flattish, crusty, airy—but delicious—loaf.) Two normal loaves can also bake side by side in an 8 inch square baking dish. To be sure that they don’t cling to each other after they’re baked, a little fat between them does the trick. They will require extra baking time: to check, turn them out and let them fall apart. Touch one loaf where it was next to the other, as if you were testing a cake for doneness with light finger pressure. It will spring back if it is done. If it doesn’t and your fingermark stays wetly there, put the loaves back for another 10 minutes of baking, more or less.
Try to bake your breads or rolls as close to the center of the oven as possible, or a little above center. If you have to use the bottom rack, it is helpful to use two baking sheets or two loaf pans one inside the other to deflect some of the heat from the bottom of the bread. Check halfway through to see whether you should reverse the pans for an evener bake. Be sure there is at least a couple of inches of air space all around the edges of the baking sheet.
If your baking pan or dish is pottery or glass, take time to warm it up a little before you put in the dough. Very cold pans can chill the dough on the crust, making the bread dense there. The result may just be a tough crust, or the crust may actually separate from the loaf where it was chilled.
BAKING IN CANS
Readers of the original Laurel’s Kitchen may be surprised to see that we have not recommended baking in the 46-ounce juice cans. We loved them in the old days, when we were never sure just how high our bread would rise: if all the slices are round, sandwiches are the same shape whether the bread is high or squat!
Our enthusiasm for cans faded when we discovered that the cans were soldered with lead. We chucked out all of them, and switched to loaf pans. The FDA banned lead-soldering of cans for food storage shortly thereafter. Now, unless you run across very old cans, or some cans containing imported foods, you may never see a lead-soldered can with its telltale grayish-black stripe along the seam on the inside. Still, if you choose to use cans for