I have been trying to familiarize myself with my new oven. There are a few challenges, one of which is getting steam to stay in the chamber and not be exhausted. The other challenge is running on gas. Gas seems much more affordable than electricity here, but the problem of course is running out of gas in the middle of a bake. That’s what happened yesterday. I was able to switch the tanks under 20 minutes, but it clearly had impact on the quality of the bread as the bake time was a total mystery.
I made three different options yesterday. I made two loaves of chiltepin and Mennonite cheese. I made two loaves of chiltepin and garlic. And I made two loaves of Chile de Arbol. I did not pre-shape and did a 40-minute autolyze.
There are so many variables that complicate the process and I am inevitably making multiple mistakes in the process. The photo above will help me remember some of the details for this round.