I’ve always wanted to bake bread at home but have never gotten enough nerve up to do it until now. One of my recent cookbook purchases was “Flour, Water, Salt Yeast” by Ken Fourkish, in which I read how cast iron vessels are able to closely emulate the steam environment created in commercial bakery ovens, and that I could use readily available ingredients (including a Lodge P10D3 that I already own) to do this. So, I decided to take the plunge this holiday season and boy was I glad I did.
Since the recipes in the book yield two loaves, I immediately went out and bought a second P10D3 because I wanted to try to cook two at once. The results were excellent:
After lid removal (prior to crust browning): https://www.flickr.com/photos/139658521@N07/shares/pp8621
Finished product:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/139658521@N07/shares/374115
Mr. Fourkish does an excellent job walking through each step of the process. All of the recipes in the book are engineered to use the same techniques and to yield two loaves, so if you learn the techniques when baking one of the basic bread recipes (as I did) you open yourself up to every recipe in his book. He even has a series of youtube videos that walk you through each step. I am far from an experienced baker and yet felt comfortable and in control of the process using his materials and instructions.
Highly recommended.
p.s. there is another book out there called “Tartine” by Chad Robertson. Mr. Robertson’s techniques are similar but he uses a lodge combo cooker. I mention this for those who own lodge 4 in 1 cookers – “Tartine” includes recipes that are sized for this cooking vessel.
Since the recipes in the book yield two loaves, I immediately went out and bought a second P10D3 because I wanted to try to cook two at once. The results were excellent:
After lid removal (prior to crust browning): https://www.flickr.com/photos/139658521@N07/shares/pp8621
Finished product:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/139658521@N07/shares/374115
Mr. Fourkish does an excellent job walking through each step of the process. All of the recipes in the book are engineered to use the same techniques and to yield two loaves, so if you learn the techniques when baking one of the basic bread recipes (as I did) you open yourself up to every recipe in his book. He even has a series of youtube videos that walk you through each step. I am far from an experienced baker and yet felt comfortable and in control of the process using his materials and instructions.
Highly recommended.
p.s. there is another book out there called “Tartine” by Chad Robertson. Mr. Robertson’s techniques are similar but he uses a lodge combo cooker. I mention this for those who own lodge 4 in 1 cookers – “Tartine” includes recipes that are sized for this cooking vessel.