Fresh baked bread!

[elfs]

Is it the weather, or what? I've been baking bread at home twice a week now for months, and I've always had problems with the top rising too much before collapsing. I've tried reducing the amount of yeast, but now it doesn't rise at all, and I have one of those ovens that actually has a temperature setting for rising bread! I nice, constant 30C should be just about right, and that's what I'm using, according to every book and web site on the subject.

So, now, last night, I get this... lump. I let it rise for two hours with one punch down, and it seemed to be going okay, and then it just died. Is my yeast old? It might be, although I bought it back in November and I've kept it in the fridge since then. It's been a pretty reliable batch of Baker's Best-- at least, until last night.

Oh! And one thing you never knew you needed until you bought one: a baking stone. They're made out of some composite stone and binder and even if all you ever do is bake store-bought pizza, you want one of these things. Put it into a cold oven and pre-heat it, then put whatever it is you're baking on top of it. The thick and heavy stone slab distributes temperature much more evenly, especially if you have a 'tricky' oven. I'm tempted to try doing meatloaf on it, too, but I'm afraid of the grease dripping off the edge of the stone, since it is perfectly flat. It would be nice if it had a ring for catching liquids on the edge. Maybe if I tilt the stone just a little and let the grease run off into a pan underneath... Hmm...

Must buy some fresh yeast, though.

Comments

Grease + stone = bad idea

[elfs.livejournal.com]

omahas pointed out to me that meatloaf on the stone would be a really bad idea. The stone readily and quickly picks up smells from whatever you're making on it. They burn off, but the grease from ground beef would be in there forever.