We started baking bread like crazy again after a little break. The reason; we wanted to see if we also could bake great artisan breads. We also got fed up with fluffy tasteless supermarket breads. However, in our small oven we can only bake one bread at the time and never get the crusty crust we admire. That is why after some study on the internet we decided to order a bread baking oven. It is a semi professional oven ( Rofco B20 ) with three tiers of chamotte brick which can bake 6 breads at the time. The heat stored in those brick floors should give a better crust because of the more intense heat radiation. The oven is also better sealed so the much desired damp air (by means of steam) is kept in the oven during the first stage of baking and has two steam vents to release this damp air during the final baking phase. This gives a better ‘bread spring’ during this phase and of course also the cracks and tears a nice artisan bread is supposed to have. We have to wait for two more weeks before delivery and Ed is reading all the technical bread baking books he can get his paws on. He tells me about water percentages and calculations however this is not something I really like. I like to feel and look at the dough and use my senses and add a little water at the time to get it right.

Here are some pictures of our current bread baking projects in anticipation of our new Rofco. I am still trying to come up with a good name for him or her (the oven) .

Bread made by Ed with a lot of poolish

Flat 3 strand braid bread by Rieke

Bread made by Ed with a 22 hour delayed ferment

Looks rather good inside! Tastes great.

I made a Dutch Frisian sugar loaf… hmm!

Pain a L’Ancienne made by Ed, a recipe by Peter Reinhart

Bread proofing in our new German ‘mandjes’