Small breads are great for a quick meal or as a side with some soup. They don't take up a lot of space and they make a wonderful gift.
The picture to the right shows 100 gram, 150 gram & 200 gram loaves, left to right.
The original Sourdough Bread Recipe is the key. Follow it for the ingredients, for creating the leaven and for assembling the dough.
When it's time to split into loaves, divide into more pieces based on the size you'd like.
Use a digital kitchen scale when dividing the dough. This will help keep the weights consistent.
Breads up to 200 grams work nicely in a 5" banneton. Larger breads would use larger bannetons - see the notes below
Baking
Bake on a Baking Steel, a Lodge cast iron pizza pan, a pizza stone or a cookie sheet. We use the Baking Steel.
Place Baking Steel on the middle rack of oven.
Place a half-sheet pan on the bottom rack of the oven.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the dough onto parchment paper or a lightly floured pizza peel.
Score the dough.
Spray the dough lightly with a mister.
Very carefully, pour 70-80 grams of water into the half sheet pan.
Spray the side walls of the oven 8-10 times each with a mister.
Slide the dough onto the Baking Steel then close the oven door.
Bake for three (3) minutes.
Open the door and quickly spray the oven sidewalls 8-10 times each. Close the door.
Bake for seven (7) minutes then reduce heat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until the loaves are golden brown.
Carefully remove the bread from the oven and let cool in a rack for 30-45 minutes.
Notes:
When baking loaves weighing 400 grams and more:
Follow the oven temperatures above.
Follow Steps 1-12 above. For Step 13, bake for an additional 25-30 minutes.
Banneton (brotform) basket: a banneton is a wicker basket used for proofing/rising doughs. Bannetons come in a variety of shapes: round, oval, rectangle, triangle for instance. They are available lined or unlined. The lining is usually linen to prevent the dough from sticking. You can also use a bowl, basket or colander lined with linen cloth.
Common banneton sizes:
100-200 grams - 5" round banneton
250-300 grams - 6" round
400-500 grams - 7" round
600-800 grams - 9" round
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