Author: Daniel Larsson

In an earlier tip, I wrote about the heat factor of getting consistency in the baking result. This one is in the same topic area, only more focused towards the importance of steam during the bake.

Perhaps a lot of you already bake, or have baked, inside a clay pot or cast iron/enameled casserole (or the genius combo cooker). If you’re struggling in getting wanted results, and have deviated from this way of baking bread, you should return to it. Basically you’re eliminating the important steam factor as a source to the irregularities, should your vessel hold it well. The water being released from the dough gets trapped inside, creating a great environment for the dough to rise and the crust to develop. After about 20-25 minutes the lid is removed, steam vented and you put I back in for another 10-20 minutes, or until you’re happy with the crust.

And also, try different styles of these so called “Dutch Ovens” to find the one that gives you the result you’re looking for – and the stick to it, cause it’s likely to keep delivering.

It’s hard to add just the right amount of steam whilst baking on a stone or steel, and that’s why using this method fits the top 10.

Oh, and another tip while at it – if you’re experiencing the bottom getting too thick or burnt (or both), you can safely remove the half baked loaf from the DO using a peel at the lid removal part. And then just place it on the oven rack, removing the DO from the oven.

The videos in this post shows a 50% whole wheat loaf (rather over proofed) being scored inside a combo cooker and then the release of the steam at around 25 minutes.

By adding a paste made from 1 part wheat flour and 5 parts water (or milk) to your standard enriched burger bun dough, you’ll be getting a very fluffy bun, that holds longer before going dry.

Heat the paste to 65 degrees Celsius and add it to the liquid of the dough basically. You could let it cool quite a bit before adding it too, not to tenper too much with the final dough temp. A dough enriched with butter won’t like getting too hot at the start!

I use roughly 25-30% Tang Zhong in relation to total flour weight, seems good enough.
Also, as stated in earlier tips, time (with a risk of getting repetitive) is of most importance to ensure consistency in the final result. Let it rise for a long time using low amounts of sourdough/yeast (I like seeing it doubled at least after shaped as buns) and you will be rewarded.

The video on this post shows you just how tender and light this buns is.

I’ve basically been having a dough rising every day during the last years. Most often in a bowl or a box, and if not; in my thoughts.
Along with the coming week’s posts I will share 10 of the most valuable insights I’ve had that’s lead to more consistent result in baking high quality, beautiful goods from home (in no particular order).
Would love it if you comment or DM with questions, I always do my best to answer!

Optimize radiation heat transfer by maxing heat settings a good 2 hours+ before baking. This series is about finding consistency in baking great results at home, and the heat transfer to your dough is a key element to this.

There are three types of heat affecting your dough.

1. Convection (the hot air around the doigh).
2. Conduction (transfer from one medium to another)
3. Radiation.

The first two peaks quite quickly. The last one comes from the oven walls, ceiling and bottom, from the mass of the oven (metal and other parts). The longer you’re heating up this mass, the more it will radiate to the other mass inside the oven (to a point of course).
Higher heat mass equals to greater potential in the rise of the baked goods.
If you’re worried about the climate affects, make sure you’re supplying from a green source if possible. Also I’m quite positive that baking your own bread affects the environment less than buying it as the final product in an industrial process.

The loaf featured from today’s bake shows you a very pleasing oven spring after the double cut score. 33% whole meal wheat at 81% hydration. Baked on a steel with steam added.

And a little reminder – I’m not saying you have to do this to bake good bread, not at all! This is a way to eliminate heat radiation as a factor when it comes to finding what brings your results to an even higher consistency, should you not be happy with it today 😀.

Here in Sweden most recipes for Cinnamon/Cardamom buns that you find in books or baking blogs will tell you to use a rather high amount of commercial yeast, that boosts the fermentation timings. This next tip is a very basic one; Lower the amounts of yeast drastically and let time create consistency for you! Just make sure you keep it a bit cooler so the butter wont go bad/leaky!

It might not sound very revolutionary to increase fermentation, but if you haven’t tried any type of enriched dough (added fat and sugar etc) that’s been siting for an extended period of time, you’ll definitely notice a difference in taste, texture and overall stomach sensation when you do. This is definitely my experience and once I started to lower the yeast and sourdough starter to a fraction of what I used to; the baked buns just kept being the best ones I made so far! A lot of people out there still thinks that long fermentation is for loaves of bread only.

In a dough with about 1000g of flour, I now use 3-4g fresh yeast (that’s 1g dry yeast equivalent) and about 40-50g sourdough starter (or just skip the fresh yeast entirely and increase the starter to 100g – and get a different texture in the finished buns). In a normal room temp environment, the dough will be ready for baking in about 10-12 hours.

In my experience, a dough with a lot of butter (and other enrichment) will either need a lot of mechanical force to come together in to a silky smooth one, or a lot of time. The later alternative can make the most hopeless feeling dough in to a pleasure to work with! I mix the dough in the morning, and shape it into buns after lunch, letting them rise as shaped buns until dinner time. As an alternative (when working) I mix the dough in the evening, let it sit as a bulk at a lower temperature overnight and shape early in the morning (to be baked just a couple of hours later).

The pictures in this post was from today’s cinnamon bake. I just love the look of proofed buns and the promise it makes, as you can see. All the angles are there!