power pumpkin bread

we created a sourdough starter from scratch about 2 months ago now. we have mixed a few basic sourdoughs trying to figure out the oven. mainly just trying to get the crust right. still have a little more to figure out but getting so close i feel its time to share. we only use six main ingredients as a base you could say in all our bread. starter. flour. water. sea salt. wheat germ. malt extract. old world traditions.

this is a combination of two breads i created for a restaurant. a power loaf, made up of a 7 whole grain cereal blend, 3 seeds, honey, and molasses. and a pumpkin sourdough, made of pumpkin puree, honey and molasses. we decided to go the fresh route and roast a fresh pumpkin. it was a bit longer process for the roasting and cooling of the pumpkin but came out quite nice.

for that perfectly thick artisan style crust there are two musts. A good quality stone. stones can be found at most kitchen stores. anything from the cheap ones to expensive will work. but don't be afraid to spend a little money for quality if you want a good crust.

and steam. for steam, we place a small cast iron in the oven when it is preheating then add water when we first place the loaves in.