So this morning I attempted the hearth bread from the King Arthur flour site. I made just half a recipe.
Here is the final loaf which was given its final proof using the steam function on the CSO. Talk about flatbread!
I remade the recipe using everything exactly the same. I weigh my ingredients so there's no wiggle room there. But instead of a final proof with steam this was proofed for an hour on the kitchen counter. I got dreadfully distracted when it was in the oven which accounts for the fact that it did not get turned and that it stayed in there a tad too long. But the difference in the two loaves is striking. I noticed two things. The recipes in the book that come with the oven use bread flour and active dry yeast. This recipe uses all purpose flour and instant yeast. It would take a far more knowledgable baker than I to determine if the different flour and/or yeast can account for the different reaction to the steam proofing. I seem to recall a similar situation with the oven up north at some point. I know I was extremely disappointed in it as a bread oven. But now it is in my own kitchen I intend to persevere and see if I can improve the outcome.
