The Rains Have Come, and Dropped a Roaster

After a bout of tremendous rain in the last month, the region now has 200% of normal water levels. Here in Northern California, we rely very much on surface water, since our geology does not support much groundwater reserves. This means that the greater the snow pack level in the mountains, which melt and feed our rivers, streams, and reservoirs, the better for us here in the valleys. Driving east on the US50 freeway, I could see the bright white snow peaks of Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and notice the gushing of the water in our the rivers and streams. These are good signs of a drought free year.

In fact, while walking Ginger the other day, we stopped at one point of the trail beside which a stream ran.

With all the weather changes that wreak havoc on the plants – too dry, too wet, too much sun, etc., I do welcome Spring. The flowers are starting to blossom and I always remind myself to thank God for the seemingly small things.

Quite recently, Viv and I have started hitting the thrift stores for small things, like garden tools, clay pots, kitchen utensils, and stuff. It’s our “shopping spree.” I have been looking for a cover to use for my sourdough baking, since I refuse to buy a new cast iron pot, which many bread authors recommend, and have not found a seasoned pot for song yet. So I read somewhere that one can use a turkey roaster and cover the dough, instead of artificially producing oven steam. I have tried using water spritzers, ice, water pans, towels, but could not produce enough steam to delay the drying of the surface of the dough. Apparently the delay allows the dough to rise to its fullest while baking before forming the crust, which halts the rise.

The “ear” which home and artisanal bakers desire has been an ongoing quest for my sourdough baking project. This is the uneven crack or cut on top of old world or hearth breads – a sort of pop that cracks the surface and forms a flap that, if large enough, can serve as a handle.

For brick ovens that hold moisture in the stone, or commercial ovens, which have steam injectors, baking bread with the ear is commonplace. But with home bakers like me, with an ordinary gas oven, baking breads with this feature are not impossible to produce, but is very challenging. I believe that any steam introduced in the baking process dissipate so quickly due to the oven vents that nothing is left to coat the dough surface.

Here are my first bakes from last year, using spritzers, and throwing ice cubes onto the oven floor. Note the flat bread – still good tasting and crunchy. But guests have called it flatbread – to which I nodded in agreement (and dismay).

Then I remembered that I have an old wok cover that I can use as a cover, and started using it for all my sourdough bakes. It was a hit or miss, since sometimes I get a small ear, and sometimes none:

There was some “ear” but the bread just expanded outwards, instead of upwards. On the right was one of my best bakes. That was several months ago.

The change came when the rains came, the metal enamel roaster came with it. Came used, but clean. It looked like it was barely used.

I use the bottom part of this roaster as a cover while I bake the dough at a 500 degrees F. Note the rimless cookie sheet that I use for a peel to slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Now I just lay the scored dough on the parchment paper on the peel and cover it with the roaster bottom, and place the assembly into the hot oven.

After 20 minutes, I take the cover off, lower the temp to 450 degrees F, and let the bread brown for another 20 minutes or so. Below are the results: