[Sca-cooks] Manchet

Adele de Maisieres ladyadele at paradise.net.nz
Tue Sep 11 13:43:29 PDT 2007


Michael Gunter wrote:

>> I think browning the loaf, per se, would not be a problem, as long as
>> you don't have a really thick, crisp, hard crust,
>
>
> The crust was thick and took a bit of sawing, especially on the bottom,
> but it was not hard or unpleasant, it was plesantly chewy.
>
>> but you probably do
>> want a reasonably hot oven so they're light inside with plenty of
>> oven spring.
>
>
> The oven wasn't particularly hot. I baked it at 350 F for an hour. This
> came from a modern bread recipe since there were no guidelines
> to go on in the original recipe. The bread baked up just fine although
> the inside was dense and chewy and not light.


OK, this is one area where I can provide advice.  Assuming that you've 
got the kneading and rising down pat, the one thing you can do to make 
your bread a bit fluffier and give it a bit thinner crust is bake it at 
a higher temperature.  350 is not hot enough for most breads. I do small 
manchets at 400.  I suspect from your description of the bread 
developing a crack and the crumb being dense that you may also have 
kneaded in a bit more flour than is ideal.



-- 
Adele de Maisieres

-----------------------------
Habeo metrum - musicamque,
hominem meam. Expectat alium quid?
-Georgeus Gershwinus
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