Tomorrow Marcus is arriving to do the two-day, individual microbakery course. As guest baker he is invited to submit a sourdough recipe to be the weekly special – and he has sent his Wheat Beer & Red Onion Bread formula which you can find on his blog here.
We have been busy with it already – Gert from Caernarfon’s Oren Restaurant has ordered five large ones for today. I sneaked in one for us and it smells fantastic even if wheat beer is cripplingly expensive.
People are often asking about slashing dough and here is an interesting illustration of what could be beyond your control. The six loaves below where all slashed in the same way – a single lengthwise slash, just offset from the centre line and at an angle to the centre. The only difference is they were baked on two shelves. Which ones do you think were on the top shelf?
The ones at the back.
The PArtisan Baker 
So that’s how you get them to look like that!
They all taste delicious, whichever part of the oven they’re baked.
I’m looking forward to the wheat beer and red onion bread. Sounds stunning!
Juliet
I need to know the answer! I get loaves like the back ones alot of the time and then every now and then I get one like the front ones. I then get superstitious about it – was it the cut facing the fan? nope. Did I under prove? nope because I then get a ‘breakout’ the other side not at the slash site!
I’ve got a (whisper…) yeasted cob going in the oven in abit so I am going to try placing it lower in the oven…. As my guess is you would expect the higher loaves to open out better but they didn’t, which is why you are asking?? Could the heat from the bottom of the oven push the loaf upwards and then having less direct heat from the top of the oven (the other loaves also affecting the heat available) affect the setting of the crust, meanibg the loaves got to open better???
I’m going to go get a glass of wine… all this thinking…
Hi Helen
This is what I think is happening. The loaves are proved and slashed exactly the same.
The loaves on the top are totally exposed to the oven heat so the crust forms before the cuts can open out. The loaves underneath have a layer of moist air trapped between it and the baking sheet above therefore the cuts have time to open out before the crust forms. So, perhaps you need to try to recreate these circumstances.
Tomorrow I am baking the same dough in two ovens. I shall try to take photos but it’s a busy day. I guarantee the four racks come out differently.