Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Sesame Sourdough Bread


Is it too warm for baking bread? The wild yeast don't think so. They were very happy yesterday and when I was proofing the sponge I was pretty excited about the rise I was going to get from the dough already.

To make this bread, I pretty much followed S. John Ross's basic sourdough recipe but improvised a bit and before I put the bread in the oven, I brushed the top of the loaf with cold water and sprinkled sesame seeds on it. I also put a casserole dish filled with boiling water at the bottom of the oven and removed it after 15 minutes.

Reminder: Do not preheat the oven. Turn the oven on to 176C/350F, after you put the bread in.

Baking time was longer than usual. It took 55 minutes for this loaf.

This was an interesting lesson for me because I found out why baguettes have those slits on top. It's to control where the breaks happen instead of letting it happen randomly like I did.

8 comments:

♥peachkins♥ said...

That break was a nice touch to the bread,though!

Karine said...

I love your bread. It makes me want to try to make some one day :).

ann low said...

Hi,
Love your blog and nice pictures. Will visit often.

taste traveller said...

Your loaf looks great. Mmm!

Dewi said...

Wow, congratulation. Your sourdough bread look fantastic.

NKP said...

Looks great! I love sesame in breads.

Lori said...

I bet that wild yeast is happy. Bacteria party! Oh man, this is the time I should start me starter before it is cold again!

Marta said...

Delicious bread! Sometimes it's worth it turning on the oven :)
Thanks for the tip about no pre-heating, I had never heard of that! Is it specific to this kind of bread?