What would be a good size for tins for bread baking, please? I have been baking sourdough bread for a while now but often find that the bread seems to spread out in my Cast iron pot instead of rising up. The bread is never really flat but that famous oven spring seems to allude me and I thought baking in tins might help me contain the dough. Also, would it be best to stay away from anything coated since the bread gets baked at a very high temperature? Your thoughts and suggestions would be much appreciated.

I have a commercial bread tin (used to work for QB when they baked here) and my hubby made a lid for it. My bread is always lovely. If you have access to a kitchen equipment store - as opposed to a kitchenware shop - then they would possibly have the decent size tin you need. Food Equipment here in Rotorua is good, Alternatively, if there is a commercial bakery nearby then you might try there - they regularly upgrade their tins.

I use a Nadia Lim recipe that prepares the dough, into the tin, into a cold oven which is turned on to a low temp where the bread rises, then the temp is cranked up to bake the bread. If I remember correctly the recipe makes 2 loaves but I get one in my large commercial tin.

Maybe not the information you were asking for, but my thoughts that may be of interest and hopefully useful to you.

Have a read about Romertopf clay bakers. They're great for bread. You soak it in water before use, then the water evaporates in the oven, providing the steam that is needed for oven spring and good crust.

I've used both a covered baker and the Pane loaf pan. For sourdough, I'd probably use the covered dish (cook covered, but remove for the final 10-15 minutes), and I use the loaf dish for more standard recipes.

How thick is your sourdough? It's not meant to be tall like loaf bread, but it shouldn't spread sideways too much. Are you adding steam in some way? Are you cooking it covered?

[www.kitchenwaresuperstore.co.nz]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2018 10:55AM by Jenna.

Thank you Ali and Jenna. Ali, there is a business in Dunedin that would be similar to the shop you mentioned and I will check them out next time I am there. I actually have a 'commercial' tin. It came from a set of five tins which were linked and someone got them cut and I was lucky enough to get one. It's a very heavy tin and very large. I've used it a few times but find I have to double a recipe because of the tin's size. I am looking for something smaller which would suit my needs better.
Jenna, I baked today and used my Roemertopf for one loaf (the dough mix makes two loaves). That loaf was quite ok because the sides of the Roemertopf contained the dough. The other loaf I left to rise in a banneton and transferred it into a fairly large Le Creuset pot for baking (lid on for 35 minutes, then lid off for the rest of the time). That loaf spread. The dough was nice and puffy after resting and I just didn't expect it to spread so much. Hydration would have been 56%. I've made this particular recipe about 6 times and the result is always the same. The bread is very tasty and I want to persevere with the recipe. I am just puzzled how you can get a beautifully risen loaf with hydration over 70%. Mine would turn out like a frisky, I am sure. Ah well, I'll keep trying and will get myself a couple of nice tins to overcome this particular problem. Jenna, is your covered tin a Pulman one?

Ali, is that Nadia Lim recipe a sourdough recipe from one of her books? I could request my Library to get a copy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2018 01:06PM by Chris.

Chris - it's on the web....just google Nadia Lim's no knead seed bread. Our son lives in Spain and they make it there as well as spreading it to various friends around Europe. I emailed Nadia and told her - she was thrilled.

T hank you Ali, will do.

Also should have edited my post to say ‘elude’ and not ‘allude’.

I've used a couple of Baker's Secret Deep Loaf Pans for years now to make my bread (a no-knead recipe). I find it gives me exactly the loaf size I'm looking for, in height, width and depth. It's non-stick but it's pretty useless and I don't like non-stick anyway so I always line it with baking paper (one long piece to cover bottom and two sides, plus one square bit for each end).

This is the exact tin here:
[www.trademe.co.nz]
although $45 seems very expensive. I got mine about 10 years ago from Moore Wilson's for about $20 something each.

If you do like it, make sure you get the one with those dimensions (Outer 23.5 x 14.9 x 8.9cm, Inner 22.5 x 14 x 8.9cm) as there are smaller versions of it, plus other versions with rims, etc, that don't give you the right dimensions.

Thank you J1 for the suggest ion to use baking paper. Not keen on using coated pots etc at high temperatures. Yes, the price for a tin is high but I just about bake all our bread so the cost is justified.

I bake my "daily bread" 100% wholemeal sourdoughs in straight-sided loaf tins. They come with slide-off lids (which I don't use). Apparently in America they're called Pullman loaf pans (I just got mine at Briscoes). I find them great as a straight-sided loaf is a very handy shape. I always use baking paper as they stick like crazy otherwise even with spray. I remember telling you, Chris, that I never had any oven spring either - I found when I replaced my oven that that problem disappeared, which made me feel better about my baking skills.The only time when my bread goes sideways instead of up is when I've made the dough too wet - could that possibly be a factor?

CarolynC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I bake my "daily bread" 100% wholemeal sourdoughs
> in straight-sided loaf tins. They come with
> slide-off lids (which I don't use). Apparently in
> America they're called Pullman loaf pans (I just
> got mine at Briscoes). I find them great as a
> straight-sided loaf is a very handy shape. I
> always use baking paper as they stick like crazy
> otherwise even with spray. I remember telling you,
> Chris, that I never had any oven spring either - I
> found when I replaced my oven that that problem
> disappeared, which made me feel better about my
> baking skills.The only time when my bread goes
> sideways instead of up is when I've made the dough
> too wet - could that possibly be a factor?

Thanks, CarolynC. I often struggle with high hydration and shaping it to get good tension. I get a bit hung up on quantities in recipes and should develop a better sense of what feels right. I shall check out straight sided tins.

(Sorry to be so slow to respond.) I do hydration by eye/feel so I'm afraid I have no idea what percent mine are, but I tend to find that the wetter the better in terms of rising in a tin. I tend to find overseas recipes are wildly inaccurate for our flour - my 100% wholemeal recipe specifies 3/4 c each water and starter and I find 1 cup of each is right (and my starter is pancake-batter thin by the time I use it although I store it much thicker for preservation purposes). And the hydration can vary between batches of flour and even the humidity of the day as well. One of the things that put me off trying sourdough for so long was the vagueness of it all - I was used to baking with precise quantities and found the idea of doing it by eye/feel terrifying. I found I quickly got the hang of it, however, so I encourage you to give it a go! I mix my dough in a breadmaker and hover over it as it comes together to add extra water or flour if necessary - that would be even easier if you mix it with a mixer.

I agree Carolyn that our flour is very different from what is available elsewhere. I quite enjoy checking out the NZ Sourdough Baker’s website on Facebook and also the Australian and NZ Sourdough Bakers. Lots of good advice there at times. As I said, I must develop more of a feel for what the dough should be like and that can only be done by doing. I think I’ll benefit from using tins for a while.
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Edited to sa y my starter is a fairly thick one and from what I u derstand t hat also has a bearing on the hydration of the dough. I mix by hand (stretch and fold) and found the YouTube videos by Elly Stanley from Australia q unite helpful. However, different flour aga in.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2018 07:25AM by Chris.