The Best Crusty Bread from the Woodfired Oven

If you want to make the best crusty bread in your woodfired oven, then join David in this video. He'll show you how to make this awesome crusty bread as well as how to use his favourite no-knead, overnight, fully flavoured dough.
You'll be making bread for your friends and family just like the bakers at the the artisan bakery. We use bread flour from Shipton Mill so do try that out if you haven't got a good source of bread flour www.shipton-mill.com/
It's all about the crunch so listen out for it!!
The recipe is on our website; David's making batons but you can use the dough to make rolls, loaves, whatever you want!
www.mannafromdevon.com/woodfi...
If you'd like to learn more, do join us for one of our breadmaking classes -
www.mannafromdevon.com/cooker...
Or for one of our phone consultations -
www.mannafromdevon.com/store/...
That's it for this week, back soon with more woodfired cooking. Do leave us a thumbs up and a comment - we love to hear from you.
Happy cooking
David and Holly
Manna from Devon Woodfired Cooking School
Manna from Devon On Social Media - join us!
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[@gusgustavo6055]

thanks for making it look achievable........can`t wait to try it

[@mannadavid]

it certainly is - do let us know how you get on!

[@SuperMoeLarryCurly]

love the crunch!!

[@mannadavid]

Fantastic isn't it!

[@TheOctapodi]

Awesome!

[@mannadavid]

thanks so much - hope you like making the bread!

[@ALEXBROTHERHOODGAMER]

Show!!!! Espetacular Friend!

[@mannadavid]

thankyou so much!!

[@MrsDonnaMalone]

I love super crusty bread. This looks amazing.

[@mannadavid]

Many thanks for your comment.

[@simonread338]

Superb video and finally a great demo of shaping! I’m going to try this tomorrow! Keep up the great work.

[@mannadavid]

thanks so much Simon; hope you find it useful with your shaping. Best wishes, David

[@emmgeevideo]

Great recipe and techniques. Could have done without the loud sound-track.

[@mannadavid]

thanks so much - so glad you've found it useful and thanks for the feedback

[@paulschakel6251]

What a great and informative video! I have a question regarding the use of steam when baking sourdough bread. I always bake mine in a dutch oven or clay pot because it will give a great oven spring. I really want to use the retained heat in my wood fired oven though, and bake the bread on the brick oven floor. How can my sourdough bread get a good oven spring without using a dutch oven?

[@mannadavid]

Hi Paul, many thanks for your message and kind words. The old school way to add some humidity is to place a pan of water inside the over (an old bread tin will do) and to add steam with a spray as you add the bread. I haven't found it as reliable for spring as a dutch oven. The high dome doesn't help, a bakery oven would typically have a lower roof. However, the crust is second to none. Best wishes, David

[@CookingbyNatasha]

►►absolutely brilliant recipe!! amazing setup you have over there!! congratulations!!!

[@mannadavid]

thanks so much for your fabulous comment Natasha; really appreciated and so glad you like the recipe. Happy cooking! David and Holly

[@roberthalny403]

Dear Sir, I was wondering what kind (and brand) of the silicon sheet you are using as most only go to little over 200 C ? Where can I buy one of those? Great video! Cheers!

[@mannadavid]

Hi Robert - thanks for your message and great to hear from you. We got them on ebay or amazon but it's been a while so can't be exact. some of them do go to higher temperatures so do keep searching. Happy cooking, best wishes, David and Holly

[@andreaspfander4529]

Excellent video, thanks so much! Baked this today and tasted great. I let the dough rise overnight, but I think it was a bit too warm (18 - 20 deg.C), so it bubbled quite a bit and had a very spongy texture. Didn't rise that much after I had formed the baguettes. They still had some air bubbles However, I was not able to get the nice tick crispy crust that I expect from a baguette. Any thoughts on why? I noticed that sometimes people add steam to the oven initially to get a better crust, is that what I should have done? They were baked after 20 minutes (internal temperature of 95 degC) My oven was right at 250C, measured with an IR thermometer, so maybe next time I will heat it up a bit more, then let it sit for a bit longer to get just 10 - 20 degrees warmer. I really appreciate all the information you are sharing! By far the best woodfired channel around!

[@mannadavid]

Hi Andreas. Thanks for your comments and kind words. It sound like your dough became exhausted due to fermenting for too long at too high a temperature. If this happens the sugars are used up and so the bread doesn't rise because the yeast have too little food and the crust doesn't form well because there is insufficient sugar to caramelise. Adding steam will help the dough rise by slowing down the hardening of the crust in the dry heat of the oven. It can also help to create crispness in the crust. But that may not have helped in this case. If you are doing a longer ferment it is important to take account of the ambient temperature. As the temperature rises you'll need to reduce the yeast in your mixture to avoid over fermentation. Or let the dough ferment at room temperature for a couple of hours then refrigerate it during the warmer months.

[@michaelcrescenzo2660]

DEVON thanks for sharing your great knowledge on wood fired oven baking. I would like to ask you what is your go to wood for pizza and bread? Do you use the same wood for steak?

[@mannadavid]

Thanks Michael. Really happy you are finding our videos so useful. We use kiln dried ash for pizzas etc and use that as well for steak and may add some oak to the embers for flavouring when cooking steak. More on wood on our video all about it here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3PVqJSorK-be7M

[@agustinloera9026]

I found you today and I am been watching your amazing videos, they are fantastic! One question on this one: I had see some videos where they spray water all over the oven before they put the dough inside, do you think this could be useful?

[@mannadavid]

Thanks for your kind comments, Augustin. Adding moisture in the form of spray, ice cubes or a tray of water both before adding the bread and during the first 10 minutes of baking can help the dough rise. Adding water before makes sure the dough into a humid environment right from the start, so yes, a good idea.

[@yvelleartstudio]

This is exactly what I'm looking for ever since I got a wood fired oven, great tutorial. :) As for the dough (at 2:00 mark), is it okay to leave it in the fridge overnight? I don't have any cool places in the house since it's summer, it's quite hot even at midnight.

[@mannadavid]

Putting the dough in the fridge will also work well. Leave the dough at room emperature for 1 - 1.5 hours to let the yeast become active, then put the dough in the fridge. Take it out of the fridge in the morning to allow it to become active again but it does't have to come all the way back up to ambient temperature, especially if it is hot weather. I would take it out of the fridge for about 2 hours before shaping.

[@yvelleartstudio]

@@mannadavid Thank you for answering, I'll try to do it like that then.

[@mannadavid]

@@yvelleartstudio perfect - let us know how you get on!

[@simonread338]

Can you remind me if I use a laser thermometer on the oven floor what temp should I look for for bread? In your course you mentioned you subtract ??10% of floor temp to get an idea of air temp? ( But I can’t remember exactly what you said) when I’ve tried cooking bread in the oven I find it’s tricky to get the right temp when the bread is ready to bake: it seems to take several hours after a full heat up to drop low enough not to burn the bread... so it’s either too hot or too cool.. sweet spot is hard to time with the bread!

[@mannadavid]

Hi Simon, I'd be looking for something around 250c on the floor. More than 300 and you'll burn the base. Less than 200 and you'll have an undercooked bottom. The surface temperature minus trick works with a clear masonry oven i.e. no embers in the oven. In this case take the average surface temperatures of the walls and floor and subtract a percentage. This allows for the difference between the temperature of the masonry/mass and the temperature of the air. At surface temps above 300C subtract 20%. 250-300 subtract 15%. Below 250 subtract 10%. It isn;t necessary to fully heat the oven each time you bake; but figuring out how long to heat for just the right temperature will take a bit of trial and error.

[@mario.zivkovic]

Hi Mate. Got question about Wood fire oven i got big one 2 m inside. I am planing in pizzeria to bake artisan sourd dough bread. After pizzas are done when temp drops down ro 220-230 celsius. With doors close. Rime of baking? And advice for bread? Fermantarions cold ferment over night hidration percentage? Is it better only with starter? Or mix starter and fresh yeast or just fresh yeast? 10-13 protein flour.

[@btwenzel05]

Is there an alternative to using the silicon mat? Mine isn’t rated for those high temps.

[@mannadavid]

These are only baked at 250c, comfortably inside the advised max temperature for silicon sheets. We have also used silicon sheets at temperatures oer 300c with no damage to the sheets. As an alternative you could bake them directly on the floor of the oven, the sheets just make them easier to manoeuvre.

[@btwenzel05]

@@mannadavid Thank you

[@CAPUTO000]

did you mention temp?

[@ianwatson9032]

What size bowls do you use, and where could I get the ones you use. I guess it doesn’t really mater but I like the look of the ones you use.

[@mannadavid]

Hi Ian - thanks for your comment and great question. We use plastic bowls as they are light to use and don't break if we drop them. We use a variety of sizes but mainly 25 and 30cm in diameter. The smaller one fits well over the bigger one to act as a lid for the dough when it's proving. We got them in our local pound shop but I think you can get similar on Amazon etc. Hope that helps - best wishes and happy cooking! David

[@ianwatson9032]

@@mannadavid Thanks yes that helps.

[@mannadavid]

@@ianwatson9032 awesome!

[@sofiacuddeback3078]

What WFO do you recommend for backyard use?

[@mannadavid]

Hi Sofia - thanks for your message and great to hear from you. It all depends on many things - what kind of thing you want to cook, how many you are generally cooking for, your budget, what style of oven you like, what your suppliers have in stock etc etc. Do check out our video on 3 different types of ovens which should start to give you some ideas of what they do and what's out there. Just follow this link - kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3anhXqNq7KsjNE

[@davidrenshaw1403]

Fantastic video. I have the Morso Forno. Is the Morso suitable for this as I might have a go if you think it would work?

[@mannadavid]

Hi David. Thanks so much and we're really glad you enjoyed the video. If we are cooking this in the Morso Forno, we aim to have the embers on both sides of the oven with the batons in the middle ideally protected from sidescorch from the embers with 2 heat deflectors, one on each side. Also make sure the base is well heated and have some small pieces of wood to add to the embers to keep the heat up if necessary. Hope that helps. Best wishes, David and Holly

[@davidrenshaw1403]

Thanks for the reply. Most helpful. I will have a go. I’m hoping to come down to see you on one of your Morse classes once the restrictions are lifted.

[@mannadavid]

@@davidrenshaw1403 We'll look forward to that David - happy cooking in the meantime!

[@jimpriestley6693]

I've just had homemade soup for lunch, this bread would have been perfect with it! I am hungry again now Will give this a go, is there a substitute for the linen?

[@mannadavid]

Hi Jim - it would be fantastic with homemade soup; great for dunking! Instead of linen you could use a few teatowels or an old tablecloth that you don't use any longer. Rub flour into the material and shake out after use. We don't ever wash the linen couche cloth, just shake it out and air it on the washing line before storing for the next use. Hope that helps, best wishes, David

[@jimpriestley6693]

@@mannadavid Hi David, wow thanks so much, that really helps yes, I will use some teatowels. Thanks also for mentioning about the steel pizza ovens and best way to keep the heat right for the bread, is a technique in itself mastering the oven temperature for different things.

[@mannadavid]

@@jimpriestley6693 pleasure - glad it's useful. Yes every oven is different and every type of oven - so lots to think about!!

[@agustinloera9026]

One second question, I live in Cancun and its hot, how you recommend me to let the dough rest and how many hours.

[@mannadavid]

In hot weather I would let the dough ferment at room temperature for a couple of hours after mixing. This lets the yeast become fully active. Then refrigerate the dough and leave foor 12 -24 hours.

[@agustinloera9026]

@@mannadavid Thank you for your quick response. I made you another question in your pizza dough video, would you be so kind to answer me?

[@sfax]

What can go wrong when I use a weak flour please, like cake flour for example.

[@mannadavid]

With weaker flour the bread will be less well risen, denser in texture and will tend to lose shape due to the lack of elasticity. Weaker flours work better for soda bread or scones where chemical leavening is used.

[@ronforgione6637]

What type of flour did you use

[@mannadavid]

Hi Ron - great to hear from you. We used 00 flour as we were using some pizza dough that hadn't been used for pizzas but strong white flour would work well or French Type 55 flour would be fantastic. hope that helps. Best wishes, David and Holly

[@markopolo3435]

What grade flower do you use? Fine course?

[@mannadavid]

We use regular strong white bread flour. This is neither extra fine nor particularly coarse.

[@markopolo3435]

@@mannadavid Thank you so much.

[@mannadavid]

@@markopolo3435 pleasure!