artisan baker

I happened across a fantastic breadmaking blog called ‘Wild Yeast‘ today (thanks to @Bacheldre_Mill and @markgj who started to follow me today). The site is full of recipes and useful information about artisan breadmaking.

One article that caught my eye is about steam. The blog’s author, Susan Tenney discusses two techniques for introducing steam into the oven prior to baking the bread:

• using large terracotta pots upturned to cover the loaves rather like cloches
• (pre)heating a tray of lava rocks and then covering them with a wet tea-towel, which is removed just prior to putting the dough into the oven

Of the two methods, I reckon the terracotta would be the easier! I currently follow Richard Bertinet’s advice of using a simple spray bottle (the kind you can buy from garden centres) to spray water into the oven just prior to loading the dough onto the baking stones, then spraying again quickly before closing the oven door.

Given the inexpensive cost of terracotta pots, I’m tempted to give it a try. Naturally, I will post about the experience if I do take the plunge.

One recipe has caught my eye: Spelt-Carrot Bread. It looks and sounds absolutely delicious and is one on my list to try.

All-in-all a fantastic resource and one that should be in your favourites. You can also follow Susan on Twitter: @wildyeast.