My sourdough Sputnik
I started making sourdough bread about 2 years ago. I enjoy it so much, that I make a small loaf for breakfast every day. The whole house is filled with the aroma of baking bread.
Heating up the oven to make a small loaf is crazy. I looked at alternative ovens, and bought a halogen oven.
Heating up the oven to make a small loaf is crazy. I looked at alternative ovens, and bought a halogen oven.
This is my halogen oven before I modified it. The halogen bulb is rated at 1500 watts. When it switches on, it is like the light from 10 motor car headlamps! My assistant Azimov stands by with a thimble of wine. The glass next to Azimov is for me.
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Glass is transparent to near infrared (700 - 2500 nm), so a lot of energy is wasted. I dismantled the oven, and lined it with aluminium foil.
I can now bake bread in 5 minutes! It is like a high intensity toaster.
The mystery of the hollow bread.
I noticed that most of the bread baked in my modified oven had a big hole in the middle. It didn't matter whether I used white wheat flour, or rye flour.
The bread bakes so fast, that a case-hardened crust forms while the inside is still cold and soft. The crust lifts like a big bubble, and pulls apart the soft dough.
I had to slow down the baking process, to allow more uniform heating of the dough. The oven's thermostat is not much use for baking bread, because it cycled too slowly. By the time it started cycling, the crust had already formed.
So I needed another solution. I had an old simmer control (power regulator) for an electric hot plate.
I had to slow down the baking process, to allow more uniform heating of the dough. The oven's thermostat is not much use for baking bread, because it cycled too slowly. By the time it started cycling, the crust had already formed.
So I needed another solution. I had an old simmer control (power regulator) for an electric hot plate.
The simmer control cycles on and off every 20 seconds. If I set the knob at 6 (60% power) the heat turns on for 12 seconds, off for 8 seconds. I now need 9 minutes to bake my bread. But the flying roof has disappeared. Instead I have a uniform distribution of small and medium holes! The bread is perfect. It has a crisp and crunchy crust, and a chewy inside. And, of course, a wonderful sourdough flavour.
Sputnik 1 was a 58 cm diameter polished metal sphere. It was the first man made satellite to orbit the earth. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low earth orbit on 4 October, 1957.
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Update December 2017. I bought a solid state power regulator for 3 dollars. I mounted it to the lid of my halogen oven.
I can vary the power continuously between 0 and 100%. I have found the best setting for baking bread is 80%. The element glows a bright orange, and the bread bakes in 8 minutes, without a flying roof! The power regulator also reduces the clutter I had when using the simmer control.