Artisan Loaf Help!

[HolyFocacciaa]

Hey all, bread bakers I need your help! I have a 3.3L cast iron enamel coated casserole dish (one from Habitat). I make bread but only focaccia, sandwich rolls usually.

I’d like to make a round loaf in this dish but need a recipe! Does anyone have any appropriate recipes for a loaf using this dish size please? I would also prefer one with stretch and folds rather than kneading. I’ve had a look online but Google is crowded by American recipes which confuse me and I generally prefer UK ones! Thank you :)

Here. Not perfect cos I think I left it in for 5 mins too long maybe. That's the pan, it's small, 142 mm dia.

I like bread well done

When its ready for slicing can you show the slices?

How do you knead though?

And knocking it back, just punch it down?

Just sort of fold it over, and press down with the heel of your hand, and rotate 90 degrees, and repeat. The dough is soft, it's not difficult. 'Knocking it down', the same, but you only need to do it three or four times. So if I'm rigorous on the timer, it's just about two hours, start to finish.

So 60 mins to rise, then knock back, then rest for 40 mins before baking (the 25 mins plus 15 mins)

Yes, except I find 50 mins is enough now, but I doubt ten minutes either way makes that much difference. But as you say for the rest.

If you have a mixer, which I do - I put my ingredients in the mixer, then mix until it is sticking to the sides. Then stop it, cover for one hour, then turn it back on again and once it is in a ball, stop the mixer, scoop the whole lot onto a sheet of greaseproof paper, put the sheet into my dutch oven, put the lid on it and then one hour later, put it in the oven with the lid on. Then after 15 mins, take the lid off and leave it to finish cooking until the top is brown.

So you dont preheat the casserole dish and what temp do you put the oven on and do you remove the dough hook while its resting in the mixer bowl for the first hour?

Thus. It just looks like bread, but as I said, a bit overdone.

No, around 220 degrees C and no.

I honestly think getting a mixer out of the cupboard for something like this completely crazy, it is the work of a few minutes by hand. 'Strong hands' are not necessary.

The stand mixer lives on the worktop, always ready to go.

I have enough 'strong hands' work to do with my pottery thanks, I'm more than happy to get the stand mixer out as and when I want. I bought it to make dough so there is no point it sitting in the cupboard. It's not an ornament.

Thanks I will give this a try at some point, its quite dense bread though, mine is full of holes, really airy.

Im also in the habit of mixing my dough at around 8 at night then I dont touch it at all, then put it in the oven at 6 in the morning. A 10 hour rise.

Whereas I would need to find 2 hours in the day somewhere which would mean the time to do that and cooking the bread at night, whereas I like it fresh the same day. I dont want to get up at 4 in the morning!!

That's why I find it convenient to do it in the evening. The couple of quick kneads i can do in a TV ad break. It's not 'dense' at all, really, just a perfectly normal crumb, although, as I said, that one is a bit overdone.

Just catching up on the thread - glad you’ve found something that works for you, and you’ve got your trusty pan! I prefer stretch and folds to kneading now personally, and I also find it less faff/clean up which is good when I’ve got a 15MO