Pain de campagne

[glennbech]

I tried out the "Pain de campagne" recipe from Peter Reinhard's "The Bread baker's apprentice". It's basicly a rustic french bread with a stiff, salted, pre-ferment (Patè de fermentee??) I'm hoping to be baking a lot from this book in the coming future :-)

I followed the recipe and decided to bake one boule instead of 3 smaller baguettes. I didn't have a fine wholemeal wheat, so I sifted a coarse one. I guess the result is a finer wholemeal than the one intended in the recipe.

But... My Question is about crust colour. When baking was done (200c for 50 minutes), the crust was still pale. I decided to let it go for another 5-10 minutes, and it was still on the "pale side". This was an unfamiliar oven, so I might have had a lower temperature than I though.

Anyhow, I have a few crust issues I hope somebody could help me discuss.

- I was of the believe crust colour came from sugar content, and that sugar content comes from the end result of enzyme activity and fermentation; breakdown of starch to sugars.

My dough had a 48 hour old pre-ferment (my pate de fermentee from my fridge), and had 3 hours total time to ferment (2 hours bulk, 1 hour proof). This should have been enough to get a golden crust, right ?

- How much crust colour come from introducing steam in the initial baking stage? Does this only add to, and enhance the effect of the sugar content in the dough?

My current understanding is that if the dough isn't mature enough, you could steam all you want and get a pale crust. If the dough is "mature", added steam can make a real difference in colour. How does this hold up?

Edited August 7, 2006 by glennbech (log)

[cajungirl]

Hi Glenn,

Hmmmm. It was my understanding that the introduction of steam is for the crispness of the crust, not the color. But of course, I could be wrong...I frequently am, you know My guess would be that the oven wasn't hot enough. Since it was an unfamiliar oven (I assume someone else's oven), did you have a stone available to use? Do you use a thermometer to test for doneness? Maybe it wasn't quite finished baking.

A little off subject, this weekend I made BBA ciabatta (but I used my sourdough starter as cognitivefun suggested). It came out very well, oh so tasty. Then, yesterday I made BBA Chive and Cheddar bread. I had forgotten just how good it is. I made a little "wetter" than Reinhardt calls for and it was just sooooo good. Its a potato bread and has so much wonderful flavor. You'll need to try it and let me know what you think.

Peggy

[tino27]

The steaming at the beginning of the baking process has little to do with the final crust color. The moist environment in the oven prevents the outer crust of the loaf from hardening too soon -- which promotes ovenspring.* But you are normally concerned with a moist environment at the beginning of the process. After the first 10 minutes or so, the loaf will have risen as high as it will get. Towards the end, you want there to be a dry environment. A trick I've used in the past is for the last 4 or 5 minutes of baking, prop the oven door open with the back end of a wooden spoon.

The color of the crust comes from the amount of caramelization that happens ... and that is proportional to the amount of available sugars in the dough. You already mentioned this in your post. If you are looking to get color simply from the oven (no egg or milk glaze), then you'll probably need to crank up the heat a bit towards the end of your cooking process. Even 25 deg F might be enough for a few minutes.

I find that with my French breads, even though the recipe calls for 450 deg F, I have to take my oven to 475 deg F to get the right color.

* However, I've also heard that introduction of steam at the end can also cause a crispier crust, too. You may just have to try both ways and see which you get better results with.

[alanamoana]

My dough had a 48 hour old pre-ferment (my pate de fermentee from my fridge), and had 3 hours total time to ferment (2 hours bulk, 1 hour proof). This should have been enough to get a golden crust, right ?

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depends on how much pre-ferment you're using as a total percentage of your dough. three hours isn't really that long in terms of developing flavor. a lot of bakers are believers in overnight retarding of the dough (shaped or not) to help develop deeper flavor and to get that really beautiful blistering of the crust during baking.

you might want to try making two loaves as an experiment: baking one right away and retarding one overnight and then bringing to room temp and baking the next day. see if there is a noticeable difference in crust/color development.

also, the amount of salt in the recipe can affect the color. i've seen some bread baked where the salt was (accidentally) omitted and it bakes to a pale unappetizing sandy color.

[McDuff]

I think 48 hours is way too long for the pre-ferment, and 2 hours bulk and an hour proof nowhere near enough. A young dough like that needs more heat to brown.

I bake with a poolish every week on my day off and it's something like .2% instant yeast and ferments from 12-16 hours. The dough gets a spike of yeast, and bulk fermentation of three hours, and an hour and a half proof.

[glennbech]

A Sponge should keep in the fridge for 48 hours? The Biga and Patê de Fermentee does, maybe the sponge is different?

I think the core of my problem is working with an unknown electric oven, leading to baking on too low temperature for too long. Me and my wife live with my parents as a temporary solution due to refurbishment. Dull knives, old leaky oven, no digial scale, hard water... Small challenges that make baking sessions interesting.

How about this for a semi-scientific experiment ?

Bake 2 douhgs A & B. Both use Pain de Campagne recipe's from BBA. Both loaves will be at ~ 700g. The oven will be heated to "max" for 60 minutes. When the loaves go in, 100g of water go into a steam pan, and the walls of the oven gets a treat with a mister. The oven is reduced to 200c

Dough A bulk ferments for 2 hours, is shaped, given 1 - 1.5 hour proof. Hot stone baked.

Dough B will get the "treat". 3 hours bulk, knockdown, retardation in the fridge overnight, "wake-up" period of 2-3 hours on the bench, shaping proofing and hot stone baking.

I'll try this, as soon as I get the time. If A&B looks, and tastes the same, I'll find myself a new hobby! :-.)

Edited August 8, 2006 by glennbech (log)

[cajungirl]

I'll try this, as soon as I get the time. If A&B looks, and tastes the same, I'll find myself a new hobby! :-.)

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I don't think you are in danger of having to find another hobby.. I'll bet theres a difference...probably a big one. But, I really want to know the results when you do this.. Please document well and pass along what you learn.