Grilling Bread - Printable Version +- Cuisine at home Forums (https://forums.cuisineathome.com) +-- Thread: Grilling Bread (/showthread.php?tid=103990)

Grilling Bread - Gourmet_Mom - 07-13-2010 Okay, it's really hot down here, so I finally broke down and tested grilling my bread. I thought I had the temp right, but I'm thinking it cooled down after putting on the bread and never got back up high enough. It took a REALLY long time to get that hollow sound. I got so discouraged, I didn't even temp it. I just used the thump test. I'll be taste testing shortly with my sandwich. I'll let you know. One thing's for sure...I was reminded of a very important lesson: Don't put all your eggs in on basket. I really should have only put one loaf on the grill and cooked the remainder in the oven. Yes, the oven would have heated up the kitchen...a bunch...but then I would have been assured my bread would have cooked correctly. Re: Grilling Bread - Mare749 - 07-13-2010 Oh, don't be discouraged just yet, Daphne. I'm anxious to hear how this worked out and you just happened to get to it first. It just might be wonderful! Re: Grilling Bread - Gourmet_Mom - 07-13-2010 Due to the lowered temp and longer cooking time, the bottom was a perfect crunchy pizza bottom...LOL! Edible, but not quite what I wanted for my sandwich. Although, I haven't sampled the regular loaves. (I'm sure they'll be fine, just not perfect.) The one we sampled tonight was the little round one with the hole in it that I made for our sammie tonight. I'll try it again, but next time, only one loaf so I don't mess up a whole recipe of 4 loaves. Re: Grilling Bread - foodfiend - 07-13-2010 It's difficult not to get a very crunchy bottom on grilled bread, so I just consider it a part of its "rustic nature". Whether you use a baking stone or bake it directly on the grids, the bottom of the dough will always have contact with the hottest part of the grill for the baking period (unlike putting the dough in a loaf pan, or shaping an oval on a baking sheet, and placing the room-temperature dough and pan into a hot oven) Personally, I like the "smoky" flavor of bread cooked on the grill! Re: Grilling Bread - Gourmet_Mom - 07-13-2010 It's official...this was a disastrous experiment. But part of it's my fault. While this item from KA is advertised as "Non-stick steel-and-aluminum, for best strength and conductivity." I have always sprayed it with cooking spray. Today, I did not...I'm blaming it on the heat! Of the three loaves I "baked", I have a loaf and a half when sandwiched together....LOL! Not a total loss, but the pan will probably have to soak a LONG time! Re: Grilling Bread - Mare749 - 07-13-2010 Oh Daphne, I'm so sorry you were disappointed. I was hoping that the smokey flavor would be so wonderful that you wouldn't want to do it any other way. I made the same mistake with those pans one time and you are right, they need to soak at least overnight. I guess I thought you were going to try making the bread in a dutch oven. That's what I was thinking of trying. Maybe not... Re: Grilling Bread - Gourmet_Mom - 07-13-2010 Maryann, I think the Dutch oven 18 hour bread would actually work great. And I think I can make it work with baguettes with some tweaking. I just won't make the same mistake with doing my WHOLE batch of dough next time. I'll get the heat and timing right with one loaf and THEN make the whole batch out there. I have noted that with the grill set at one point without the bread, it will hold at 425 degrees. You put the bread in there, and the temp drops to 375....and obviously, never goes back up....thus my problem. Oh, and spray the dang "non-stick" baguette pan... Re: Grilling Bread - labradors - 07-13-2010 Did you cover the bread, in any way, Daphne? Bread is baked because the heat of the oven circulates in the air around the bread. If you're only grilling the bread, then there's a LOT of heat from beneath, but not as much on top. If your attempt was on an uncovered grill, maybe you need to put a heat-safe box of some sort over the bread. If is WAS on a covered grill, maybe the heat underneath to too much more than what circulated around the bread. If so, maybe you need to put something UNDER the bread to diffuse the heat on the bottom. These are just guesses on my part (I'm not a professional baker and I don't play one on TV), but they seem to make sense to me. Re: Grilling Bread - cjs - 07-14-2010 Well shoot, guess I'll have to play with this also.....sounds interesting. Re: Grilling Bread - Gourmet_Mom - 07-14-2010 Labs, the bread was on the baguette pan, shown above, and a sheet pan. The grill was covered and is made for indirect heat, so I don't think that is it. Actually, the "round" crusted on bottom, while the baguettes were not very crusted at all. Although, they were stuck to the baguette pan. I'm going to play with this again. I'm convinced the heat was not high enough at the beginning of the cooking time. It's supposed to be 425 for the first 30 minutes, then 375 in the last 5-10 minutes. The grill dropped to about 375 from the start and never got back up. I was afraid of burning it up, so didn't crank up the heat any more. I will next time. But like I said before, I'll only be baking ONE loaf so I don't mess up a whole batch. I'll just let the rest of the dough rise a third time.