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Baking from Tartine Bread

January 5, 2012 by Nicole 51 Comments

Tartine Country Loaf

One of the best gifts I received this year was the gift of bread.  No, I wasn’t given a loaf of bread, but I was given a tool that allowed me to bake the best bread of my life.  This book:

Tartine Bread Book

I had the pleasure of visiting Tartine Bakery in San Francisco last year and yes, the bread was fantastic.  The sandwiches were wonderful.  The lemon tart was so good that my mouth still waters just thinking about it.  It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

At that point, I already owned and loved the first baking book produced by the husband and wife team behind Tartine Bakery.  But I noticed they were selling a new bread book at the bakery counter called Tartine Bread.  As much as I wanted to buy it then and there, I knew it was out of my budget. Besides, my cookbook shelves were already overflowing with books – many of them baking books dedicated to bread.

This past year has been an interesting one for me when it comes to baking.  I’ve swung wildly between not baking at all for a few months while trying to recover from reactive hypoglycemia and then a later resurgence in my sourdough baking that culminated in Doughvember.  It was my return to sourdough baking that prompted my boyfriend to give me Tartine Bread for Christmas and it turned out to be a wonderful gift to both of us.  I’ve learned a new method for baking with wild yeast and he’s been eating the best bread of his life.

Tartine Country Loaf, Sliced

If you’ve been baking with a sourdough starter and are ready to take your bread to the next level, I highly recommend this book.  Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down.  Chad Robertson’s story is fascinating and he is a wonderful teacher.  The first loaf of bread to come out of my oven following his instructions was seriously the best bread I’ve ever made.  It is mixed completely by hand and requires no stand mixer or special mixing equipment.  It is baked inside of a dutch oven, so there is no need to steam the oven or preheat a baking stone.  Although any cast iron dutch oven will do the trick, I am really glad that I bought the one piece of special equipment that was recommended in the book, a cast iron combo cooker like this one:

Lodge Cast Iron Combo Cooker

The thing that makes this easier to bake bread in than a traditional cast iron dutch oven is that the whole thing can be flipped upside down.  You put the proofed loaf in the shallow skillet then cover it with the dutch oven rather than dropping the loaf into the deeper pan like you would with a traditional dutch oven.  There are a couple of reasons why I prefer this over baking in a regular dutch oven.  First of all, regardless of which you use, the pots need to be preheated before loading the bread.  When baking in a traditional heated dutch oven, it’s hard to drop the bread in without either deflating it or burning yourself in the process.  Also, the bread doesn’t get scored (the top slashed) until it’s loaded in the pot.  In a traditional dutch oven, this is another chance to burn yourself.  In the skillet, it’s simple.

There are definitely ways to make a regular dutch oven work for bread baking, but for me the combo cooker solution is wonderful.  In fact, I went out and bought one (as a Christmas present to myself) as soon as I finished reading the book.  Luckily I was able to find one locally so I was able to start baking immediately.  And as it turns out, I had been wanting to replace the 10-inch cast iron skillet that I lost in the divorce, so this set is getting used for many tasks in the kitchen other than baking.

So far I have only tried the very first bread in the book, which is the Tartine Country Bread.  It’s made with nothing more than a wild yeast starter, unbleached bread flour, whole wheat flour, and sea salt.  Unlike the sourdough breads I’ve been baking for the past 5 years, this bread is not sour.  The flavor is wonderful and complex, but it’s not the typical in-your-face San Francisco sourdough and I love it for that.  I know how to make a sour sourdough; it’s nice to now be able to make a delicious loaf of bread that is made with wild yeast and utilizes a long fermentation time, that isn’t sour, but is packed with flavor.  All of the rest of the breads in the book are variations on this basic country loaf, so once you master the techniques for that one, the rest feel very achievable.

Although I have taken a quick hiatus from baking while I try to get my body back in balance after too many holiday sweets, I won’t be able to stay away from this book for long.  I’ll keep you updated on the next breads I bake and hopefully I’ll convince a few of you to take the plunge and give this book a try.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Recommendations

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Valerie says

    January 7, 2012 at 11:15 am

    Goodness, that is one gorgeous bread! I've made the country loaf a few times, but success is on-and-off. I'm not used to working with natural leaven... But when it does work, it's a thing of beauty indeed!
    Reply
  2. Rhonda says

    January 7, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    I am so so jealous of your baking skills!!
    Reply
  3. bread angel says

    January 7, 2012 at 8:13 pm

    Your bread looks great. I made my first loaf of Tartine bread today, but used an old dutch oven instead of the combo cooker. I couldn't get the bread out of the pot, so it didn't cool very well. I finally got it out and while it doesn't look great, it tastes wonderful. Guess I will get a combo cooker and re-read the recipe.
    Reply
  4. Mary says

    January 8, 2012 at 3:30 am

    I've been too lazy to make anything from the Tartine Bread book since I can hop over to Tartine Bakery whenever I crave their amazing bread. I must say that your bread looks absolutely perfect and has inspired me to try making it myself.
    Reply
  5. David says

    January 8, 2012 at 11:58 am

    I haven't baked bread in ages. I may have to start doing it again. May you have Happy 2012, Nicole.
    Reply
  6. Mich says

    January 8, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    I received that book this year too, and a "starter" is on my "to do" list. This might just inspire me to make it happen!
    Reply
  7. The Teacher Cooks says

    January 10, 2012 at 9:25 am

    I'm so glad that you are baking again! Now I guess that I will have to purchase a new cookbook as well as the cast iron cooker. Your bread is gorgeous!
    Reply
  8. Arlene @ Flour On My Face says

    January 10, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    I've had my eye on that book for awhile now. Your bread is gorgeous!
    Reply
  9. jackie @ marin mama cooks says

    January 13, 2012 at 10:10 am

    This bread looks like it came from a rustic bakery! I am so going to pick up this cast iron combo cooker.
    Reply
  10. dsad says

    January 15, 2012 at 1:43 pm

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    Reply
  11. cheffresco says

    January 15, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    I just started trying to make my own bread. I've only done two rounds so far. I will have to check out your book - that bread looks amazing!
    Reply
  12. Alison says

    January 18, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    Hello Nicole, Great post! I've never heard of a cast iron combo cooker and can't wait to order one and give it a try. I'm a health and nutrition blogger (heathnutnation.com) and am very interested in making sourdough using wild yeast. It sounds like you gave up bread for awhile because of your reactive hypoglycemia. Did you manage to get it under control? I'm wondering if you've found a difference in how you've felt since going back to bread? If you're still struggling with hypoglycemia feel free to shoot me an email. I've helped a lot of my clients with this condition and I'd be glad to talk with you about it. thanks again. I'll be back for more reading! -Alison
    Reply
  13. Kathy says

    January 24, 2012 at 9:53 pm

    That bread looks out of this world. I am getting very hungry! Yum! Turned out awesome. Have you ever used a tangine? I haven't, but I work with Pacific Mechants and they recently starting carrying them. I'm kinda of interestsed in trying one out and seeing what kind of flavorful dishes can be made. If you want to check it out, right now you can get 15 percent off your purchase when you enter the code PM20YEARS at checkout. http://www.pacificmerchants.com/mason-cash-bowls-and-basins/bakeware-1.html
    Reply
  14. Neil | Butterfield says

    January 26, 2012 at 1:57 am

    Yumbo! I love bread, this blog has got my hunger hormones really working overtime.
    Reply
  15. Theresa says

    January 26, 2012 at 3:00 pm

    I just found my husbands Valentine's day gift. He has wanted a good 'bread' book for a while now, but I didn't know where to start looking, I am more of a cupcake girl, but I think I will reap the rewards of getting him this
    Reply
  16. Wendy says

    January 28, 2012 at 6:54 am

    Thanks for this post! I'm glad the cookbook rocks. Your loaf looks great.
    Reply
  17. Noah Berkowitz says

    February 2, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    So big! That's very amazing bread. I wonder how you cook it?!
    Reply
  18. Michelle says

    February 5, 2012 at 6:38 am

    Jealous! Mine didn't work. I need to try it again, but for the moment, we are in a fight. It might have something to do with not actually having the correct ingredients to start with...
    Reply
  19. umer says

    February 22, 2012 at 2:29 am

    please give me the bread recipe . it looks so delicious :) waiting for your reply
    Reply
  20. Michelle J says

    February 27, 2012 at 7:01 pm

    I love your blog! I have ordered the book and I'm wondering about the size of the dutch oven, is the 3 qt the best or would the 5 qt work also? Thanks!
    Reply
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