Here is how I shape my soaked whole grain bread.
On a well floured surface divide the dough into two equal balls.
Roll or pat into a large circle then fold the top of the circle down. Press down gently to be sure no air pockets remain.
Fold the left side over to the middle. Press down gently to be sure no air pockets remain.
Fold the right side over to the middle. Press down gently to be sure no air pockets remain.
Roll or pat that out into a rectangle just slightly wider then your loaf pan. Note my heirloom bread pans – my dear grandmother gave them to me when I was little and I’ve never been able to part with them. They must be 50 years old and still work great.
Starting at the top, tightly roll your dough down towards you so there are no air pockets inside.
Gently pinch along the seam to seal and pinch the two outer edges sealed as well, tucking them slightly under the roll. Place your roll in the pan seam side down.
If you wanted you could spread melted butter and then sprinkle very liberally with brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon before you roll this bread up. Then you could either bake it as a loaf or carefully saw it into cinnamon rolls instead of making a loaf of bread.
Of course now I cannot find the rest of the photos displaying the last two steps but if I do I’ll add them again.
Conversely, you can simply shape your dough into a ball and place it on a pizza peel that has been liberally sprinkled with polenta, semolina or corn meal to rise and then bake it freeform on a baking stone. If you don’t have a baking stone or pizza peel yet I highly recommend you get one. They are great for baking hearth style breads and the only way to get that great pizzeria crust on your pizzas. Father’s day is coming up and they make a great gift…
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1 Bread Shaping « Sustainable Eats // May 21, 2010 at 11:27 pm
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