Acme Olive Bread at right, our copycat at left. We’re just a bit darker due to more whole wheat flour, something easily adjusted.
Lately we have been tinkering with our Acme Style Olive Bread recipe and wanted to see how close we were to the original. We purchased a batard of the Acme product on our recent trip to the bay area and froze it for the plane ride back. Then we baked our own and it’s in the ballpark! Taste, texture and tartness all very similar, and the crust added a finish without being “crusty”.
We baked this loaf in a cast iron dutch oven preheated to 440 degrees and this seems to be the best oven temperature for baking bread that is hard enough to stand up to a slicing knife but can be cut easily for sandwiches or serving. Our last batch had been baked at 470 degrees because we saw that in Steve Sullivan’s recipe on The Fresh Loaf, but that produces a much sturdier crust which does not match Acme’s. Their crust is a bit softer than ours even at 440 and were wondering if they bake as low as 435.
We also increased the hydration to around 65%, which resulted in a slack but manageable dough. Didn’t have any whole wheat starter so we added whole wheat flour to the sponge instead. After kneading the bread was proofed at 70 degrees for about 4 hours, transferred to a plastic bag for overnight refrigeration, then shaped and placed in a banneton and proofed maybe 3 more hours. The dough seemed delicate as we transferred it to the hot iron dutch oven, but it achieved good oven spring. And because the bread was not going to burn at 440 degrees, we were comfortable leaving it in the uncovered dutch oven a few extra minutes, cooking out any residual moisture for a lighter, airier crumb.
What’s the best oven temperature for baking bread? Do try this at home! Temperature within your cast iron dutch oven is completely within your control (assuming you trust your oven’s thermostat of course) and it is a useful exercise to tinker with variations of 5 or 10 degrees and see how you like the results.
