Fromartz

I could not wait. Here it is. It went through a 14 hour rise, 2-1/2 hour second rise. I did not find it soupy as others did. (I used Whole Foods 365 brand organic all purpose flour). The only downside was I burned a finger when it touched the extremely hot Le Cruset pot. WATCH OUT! The darkened part on the top was a bubble that burst when I flipped it out of the pot. I couldn't wait to see the inside so I cut it open. It's a very soft crumb, tasty, though not as tasty as my sourdough. Crust was perfect. Salt was good, reading other posts I went up to 2 tsp sea salt. I'd say the recipe is a winner, though will try it next time with a starter and maybe 20 percent King Arthur whole wheat white.

Another technique is to put the bowl on top of a heating pad. Depending on the temp of your kitchen, you can set the heating pad low or high. But my wife insists I get my own heating pad because she's tired of flour in bed when she's using it!

Love that you bake that in an egg. I've thought about doing that (being an egg owner myself) but haven't tried it yet...Seems like it would be very much like a brick oven

I measured out the ingredients then weighed them. The 3 cups flour was about 450 grams and 1-5/8 cup water was about 350 grams for a 77 percent hydration. I'm baking in a few hours and will post the result....

Thanks, I use a similar method but instead of a poolish I've been making a biga (10 percent starter, flour and water at 50 percent hydration) and letting it develop anywhere from 15-24 hours. Then making the dough at 70-75 percent hydration. It's tasty with BIG holes but I'm finding it a bit too chewy ... I also bake on a stone and put the broiler pan on the bottom of the oven. I pour in about 1/4 cup of water before I put the loaf in, then add another 1 cup once it's in. It steams for about 15 minutes and gets a thin, crisp crust. I will try Lehay's method but it seems to only apply to boules and I prefer the Italian loaf or baguette shape. I posted these pictures on another forum here. The one on the right is a bit overproofed. ← Sorry I'm so long in responding, and you may have already gotten some answers. I'm not entirely sure the exact hydration of my breads, but they're roughly 65-75%, and the one I can't fold by hand but needs bench scrapers is 80% at least. It's more nearly poolish consistency from start through build-up and baking. I've never simply let a dough sit for 12 hours without refreshing, so I can't comment on that particular method. I go through a fermentation process, with a basic sort of poolish starter, and that sits at room temp for anywhere from 12 to 17 hours. And then I add the remaining flour and water and whatever other ingredients specific to the particular bread, and then it rises from 2 to 4 hours, turning every hour, with a rise of roughly an hour in the final hour. And, of course, I don't use anything but the floor of the oven for baking. No pots, no pans, etc. But even when I was baking my breads in the beginning in my electric oven, I simply put the breads directly on a pre-heated oven stone to bake (the one super wet dough on parchment). ←

Sullivan St has some very nice pictures of its breads on the web. I'm partial to the Filone but they are all great.

Devlin, Gorgeous breads. I'm curious, what hydration do you use, when you say you don't knead? Also I was curious that Lehay lets the bread develop 12 hours at room temperature - most sourdough recipes I've used call for a retard in the refrig because the dough would proof too long at 70 F. Do you find that to be the case? Thanks, Sam (an avid home baker)

Sullivan St. Bakery is one of the top bakeries I've come across and I've always been tantilized by Lehays doughs, which are very light and airy. I talked with him once and he mentioned using the Le cruset pot but I found it difficult to negotiate slipping a boule in the VERY HOT pot. But now, looking at the bread video demonstration at the NYTimes.com site (for members), it's clear he just plops the dough in and lets it deflate. The heat and steam reinflates it. I plan on trying the technique this week and will post my results. I may also try it with sourdough...

I've found in a home kitchen it's difficult to get a consistent preferment temperature (not sure how I would get 90 degree for 24 hours, during the fall out East). I'm also curious since I've read that the ideal temp. for sourdough is 74 degrees? Mother, by the way, is wonderful....

I've been playing with baguettes, made with a sponge and with sourdough. The thin loaves and cut one on left were made with sponge, cut one on right with sourdough (went a bit long in the rise). Just made these sourdough baguettes below. They had a two hour rise, 11 hour retard in refrigerator, shaping and then 90 minute 2nd rise. The darker loaf had an additional 20 minute 2nd rise and slightly higher oven temp (480 f vs. 475 for the lighter loaf). Here's an epi from the same sourdough batch, Just bit into the sourdough. Very nice and light.