more about bread

I received the following comment from my buddy Stephen, who's been "stalking" me on the 'net long before we were coworkers . . .

Holy Smokes! What a beautiful crust on your bread! Wild Starter? SAF? You must tell more... Gas or electric oven etc. Right on Catherine!

So, per Stephen's request, more on my bread . . .

I have been loyal to Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day since I picked up a copy between Christmas and New Year's. I slightly modified their recipe for "Light Whole Wheat" bread, using half whole-wheat flour and half "gold and white" flour. (Well, almost half and half. Here come a lot of halves . . . get ready for it. I made a half-recipe of dough, which makes two loaves. The ingredients in the half-dough included 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat bread flour, 1 1/2 cups "gold and white" flour, (I'll explain in a minute,) 3/4 tablespoon active dry yeast (eyeballed,) 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1 1/2 cups warm water.)

I started the dough this morning, allowing it to sit at room temperature for two hours, per recipe instructions. I then parked the dough in the fridge for the rest of the afternoon, until I had time to bake a loaf. The other half of the dough is still in my fridge.

I used the active dry yeast available in bulk at my co-op.

"Gold and white" flour is flour milled from whole wheat that has had the bran removed, but the germ is still in tact. It looks like AP flour with occasional flecks of brown in it. I buy this all the time, and use it as my general "all-purpose" flour.

I have a crappy, tiny, apartment gas oven that bakes hotter in the back than in the front. I use a rectangular baking stone for my bread. I don't even have a peel . . . I use my largest Epicurean cutting board.

The bread was baked with a pan of steam.

'Nuff info for ya, Stephen??? :)

P.S. I don't know what "SAF" means, dude.