Barmy Bread

Mellow Bakers third bread for August is this barm bread. It has no commercial yeast but a barm starter instead.   

Barm Bread ready for the oven

I was very pleased with the picture above because it was a close match to Dan Lepard's picture in The Handmade Loaf.  I was even more please with this next one too:

Fresh out of the oven

I have to admit that instead of following Dan's method of toying with the dough at hourly intervals throughout the day I I used the following method:

Risen dough in banneton basket

 Plonk the barm starter mixture and other ingredients (just flour water and salt) into the bread machine and let it knead away for 15 minutes. Switch off and go to work.

Risen dough turned out

Return at lunchtime. Divide dough into two and shape. Plonk the dough balls into two floured muslin lined banneton proving baskets.  Cover with floured muslins topped with cling film.  Go back to work.

On return in evening heat up the oven. Tip the risen dough onto a parcment lined baking sheet, slash, and pop in the oven gas mark 7 for max 40 mins.  (Lepard suggests 50 to 70 mins at GM7 - that would deliver a blackened loaf in my oven!

So I'm out about not following the guru's methods - but think he has done a great job of enthusing people to try a wider range of breads.