I’ll admit I kind of skim over most of your bread posts; while I’m familiar with all the terms I would not be able to form my own expectations from the variables so I get a little lost. But the cold oven start did catch my eye. Read up on iy just a bit, and it was interesting. Short of a few batches of rolls and flatbreads, I have yet to get into any bread baking. Not sure why I’m so hesitant, I figure anything will come out edible at minimum. One of these years…

“…I have yet to get into any bread baking.”

Same with me but I admire those who do. Looks like a great result, plllog!

Well, this one was prompted by the forgetting of the yeast! And revival of the discard. But it did turn out really well.

Re cold starts, my mother's challah recipe, which is a very special enriched bread and very particular, cannot be baked in a heated oven. The middle will never come to temperature and would end up raw. A lot of modern ovens will only heat using a preheat cycle that uses all elements to heat fast. That's no good! I mean, it's fine if you're making a roast (once heated it reverts to your chosen method). But it'll probably be even worse than preheated for the special challah. My (expensive) oven can be toggled to not do that, and it gives me an old fashioned cold start.

I never thought much about cold ovens for basic breads. In the days before electric ovens, there was no such thing as a cold start. You could start your back further from the heat and move and turn the loaf closer to the heat, I suppose. I was looking around the 'net for other things, awhile back, when I discovered a British baker who had instructions for baking bread in a vessel starting in a cold oven, and baked at high temperature. She was saving electricity, among other motivations. I had started using vessels with trying high hydration breads, which don't have the legs to stand on their own, and really like the outcome for a single loaf. I love the cold starts! I get consistent results and don't have to bother with timing the preheating. I don't worry about the hydration in the improvisational breads. The textured enamel in my Staub pots gives the dough something to climb and cling to, and no matter the water content, the bread seems to bake the same and almost always comes out right.

FOAS, bread is pretty basic and forgiving, but the oven and air are much more important to bread than many other things. Expect to make a few doorstops and bricks when you start, or when you make a really different recipe. If you can make a flatbread, you can make a risen bread, and rolls are risen bread. One big advantage of baking in a vessel is that the insulation of that vessel evens out the baking environment, and improves your prospects no matter what flaws your oven may have (and they all do, even mine). Start with a basic recipe (flour, water, yeast, salt) with the percentage of water to flour by weight (i.e., hydraton) no more than 72% but more than 57%. Use bread flour (14% protein (check for a statement on the bag--the number in the nutrition info suffers hugely from rounding error on the tiny portion and is useless for this).

I learned how to adjust hydration on the fly at my mother's knee. That's key to the improvisational breads I've been making, as well as a lot of experience (read doorstops) developing specific bread recipes and trying classic recipes. Don't expect to get there. First master a few recipes that come out just right, time after time. Once you know, you know.

I love reading the cooking forum in the same way that I enjoy reading cookbooks. I may never use any of the information, but I find it fascinating just the same.

It sounds delicious! Looks pretty too! Good job...on the fly baking!

Nice-looking bread! Although, I am intrigued by the flavor combo, IDK if I'd like that combination, but can't say as though I've ever tried anything remotely similar. :0)