Pete's Log: Grilling Bread
Entry #2318, (Cooking, Fermentation)(posted when I was 44 years old.)
I had a strong desire to bake bread this week, but it's been a hot here and I didn't want to heat up the house more than I had to. So when Jamie asked if I could grill it, I excitedly looked into it. As it turns out, one common approach to baking bread on the grill is to use a dutch oven, and we just so happen to have one!
I had prepared three loaves, two that weighed 21 oz and one that weighed 28 oz. I used the fancy coal baskets on our grill for the first time and let the grill get nice and hot. I also preheated the dutch oven, which I actually used as the cover for the bread.
I would then place a loaf on parchment paper on the cast iron skillet, add a little water for steam, cover it with the dutch oven, and let it go for 25 minutes for the smaller loaves and 30 minutes for the big loaf. Then I'd remove the dutch oven from the skillet and give it another 20ish minutes.
I tried keeping the temperature in the 425 F-450 F range, although for the last loaf I didn't feel like adding any more additional coals, so it dropped just below 400 F by the end.
They turned out decent-looking and tasty, although I'd have liked the crumb to be more open. I did at least get a few bigger bubbles. Maybe Milkshake just needs a few more feedings after its hibernation.
