Suquamish, WA - 16 Apr 2023
So, what do you do when you get up really early and have a loaf of bread to bake for the day? I got up this morning and wrote my morning pages. In the back of my mind I had the swirling wheel of other thoughts that tend to churn while I freewrite. One of those thoughts was on me baking up the loaf of sourdough I fashioned last night and put in the refrigerator to ferment.
Pages done and I went to the kitchen and set the oven to preheat. Back to the desk to do some of my morning admin. Meanwhile I was salivating (figuratively - don't panic) at the thought of a house perfumed with baking bread. Back to the oven and ... It was cold. What?
Apparently my oven had decided to die sometime in the past two weeks. I don't use it for much more than bread baking. Now what? I had a loaf just waiting to get slid into it's warm den. The toaster oven!
We have a rather nice little oven. It really isn't a toaster variety at all, but a miniature of a regular one. What the heck. I slid in a small baking stone and preheated the small device. I checked and there was plenty of clearance to bake up the loaf. The next challenge was that I needed something to cover the loaf with. I like to use a dutch oven or a stoneware bowl, neither of which would fit in the smaller space. Then I spied the stainless bowl I used to mix up the dough. That could work.
After twenty minutes I was back to uncover the loaf and let it finish. The bread did so well that oven spring caused the bread to actually lift the bowl up. What lie underneath was a perfectly shaped loaf of bread. Kind of cool. Another thirty minutes and I was blessed with a nicely browned boule.
Will I do this again or shell out some unbelievable amount of cash to replace the big oven? Don't know yet, but with some modifications, I think I have the perfect alternative for my bread habit.
Keep on truckin'
-Mike
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