I’ve been working on a French bread recipe from King Arthur Baking Company for a type of sourdough bread called Pain de Compagne, which translates to “country bread”. This type of bread utilizes a long ferment period to develop complex flavors. I’ve been very happy with the flavor but have been working on improving the oven spring for an airy and open crumb. This is the best one yet but still room for improvement!
One major improvement in my bread-making success was due to weighing all or most of the ingredients instead of relying on volume measurements. This mainly affects flour measurement as it is easily compacted using a scoop. If a scale is not available, then spoon the flour into the measuring volume, and level with a bench knife or similar straightedge.
Overall this batch of Pain de Compagne, aka French sourdough, or country bread, was an improvement over the previous one. For the next batch I am going to reduce the oven temp about 50 degrees F as the bottom was nearly burnt, and of course the top of the first boule was on the dark side.
Consider a stay with us at The Sidecar Inn to sample this and other baked goodies!
