It all started when Emma mentioned that she’d been baking huge sourdough loaves.
I sent her a little bit of Priscilla in December, and since then her baby starter, Miss Smilla, has been going gangbusters. Emma was making our overnight sourdough recipe, but baking the whole batch as a single large loaf. I’d never tried anything like that, so I was keen to give it a go.
First I texted our baker friend Craig for advice – baking times would obviously have to be adjusted to accommodate the much larger loaf. Craig’s advice was to bake for a total of between 75 – 90 minutes, with the first 50 minutes in a covered pot.
Thankfully I had the 36cm enamel goose roaster…
The end result was the photo at the top – I baked the entire 1918g dough as a single loaf. It worked brilliantly – I dubbed it Breadalapooza and tweeted photos of it to my mates.
And then…we were off! Jason picked up the ball and ran with it, knocking up an almost FIVE kilo dough (he’d meant to make a three kilo one but his maths was out) which baked into the most amazing ginormous spaceship. You can read all about it in his post here…
J’s loaf turned out so well that I was inspired to try sizing mine up, so I mixed together a three kilo batch of dough and let it rise overnight. I shaped it the following morning and put it into the cold roaster to rise while the oven preheated (Jason and I had both found manoeuvring a humungous dough into a blazing hot pan a little intimidating)…
In the pot to rise – it had half an hour or so to puff up before slashing and baking.
Just for the record, the dough baked covered at 245C with fan for 15 minutes, and then the temperature was lowered to 220C with fan for a further 35 minutes. At the 50 minute mark, the lid was removed and the temperature dropped to 175C with fan. I gave the loaf another 20 minutes in the pot, then finished it off for 20 minutes on the oven rack.
PRISZILLA was born! She was bigger than my head…
…and, as Pete kindly pointed out, my bust…
She filled the 36cm roaster completely…
Once cooled, I cut her straight down the middle and was absolutely delighted to find that she’d baked all the way through…
The ridged base on the roaster produced a lovely spiral bottom…
Just so much fun! The bread itself was very tasty, with an elastic crumb and a chewy, toothsome crust. I’m not quite sure what to do with three kilos of it, but I’ve learnt a great deal about sourdough baking through these experiments. And that’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it? ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Well I am not sure what it is about besides having fun ,,,yes, and having enough family members to eat it!. That is one incredible loaf . you are the scientist of Breadaloupe. The chief of breadtopia…, i am only unsure if you should be allowing Pete to bandy about bust jokes…
Yes, true, he shouldn’t be busting out boob jokes…hahaha
My first recipe at age nine was to cook a meatloaf in a scraped out bread crust. Finished off with lots of cheese. I used to make Mediterranean style with olives, fresh herbs and tomatoes. Love the blog
Thanks for stopping by! :)
Look at you go in your welding gloves Celia…love it :) x
Jane, as you know, they’re the best thing for finagling bread in and out of the oven! Now that I look at the photo though, I do wish that I’d worn the cleaner pair.. ;-)
Great fun and it all started with you Celia!!
Ardys, thank you! It really was great fun! :)
Just loved this post, Celia! In the UK, I enjoy reading about your summer garden in my winter, but your bread posts are just the best!! Thank you!
Carol, I’m so glad you enjoy even the nutty ones! Thank you! :)
Wowee Celia. I don’t think I’ve got a big enough bowl!
Claire, I bet you do. You might not have a *pot* big enough though – I know I’ve only got the one! :)
Is it inappropriate to wolf whistle at a loaf of bread? ;)
Why, thank you darling, I’ll take that as a compliment.. ;-)
What a splendid loaf of sourdough Celia! Wish mine turned out like that. With any excess, I’d slice pieces & make grilled cheese or chicken & Mayo sandwiches in the Brevile perhaps? Garlic bread? Freeze the rest? Or just post out to my place? Hahahaha! God bless!
Lina, I’m sure your loaves are magnificent! The big loaf is gone now – half went to the neighbour, a quarter was eaten that night, and the rest was sliced up and dried out in the oven! :)
Holy Cow, Celia! I looked at all that bread and thought, how would I ever eat all that. Then I realized I didn’t have young men at home.
Maureen, if I dry the slices out in the oven and stash them in an airtight container, Small Man will eat them hand over fist like crisps. :)
Wow Celia! My daughter in law gave me a starter for Christmas and I have been having great fun and success following all your info on bread making. Thank you! That loaf is inspirational!! Cheers Helen
Helen, that’s wonderful, thanks for letting me know! Enjoy the sourdough journey! :)
I am heading to the post office again tomorrow to see if just maybe a little parcel is waiting for me from you.
Not sure I would brave the big loaves just yet though. ;-)
Have a beautiful week ahead Celia.
:-) Mandy xo
They’ll probably both arrive at the same time, Mandy! But I hope ONE of them arrives soon! :)
Hi Celia. Fantastic. I love the way you have fun with cooking. That is what it is all about. And your loaf, as always, is magnificent. I don’t think you could make a bad loaf of bread. I would be surprised if your three men don’t knock that off.
Glenda, thank you! And it’s all gone! :)
I think I’ve been gaining weight just from looking at everyone’s bread posts.
Hahaha…I won’t tell you what actually EATING it has been doing.. ;-)
That is one impressive loaf of bread! And looks delicious too, we’ll done.
Thank you! Biggest loaf I’ve ever baked (or am ever likely to bake!).
Completely fantastic!! >
Misky, it was just so much fun to make! I squealed quite loudly when I took the lid off the roaster… :)
Waw, that lovely crusty bread looks huge, fantastic & amazing! :)
MMMMMMMM,…Waw even! x
Hahaha! Thanks Sophie! :)
What a fantastic looking loaf of bread! I have a feeling my boys could eat it up pretty quickly. They are enjoying homemade bread and can’t seem to get enough. I may be tempted to try a large loaf sometime, though first I need a pan big enough.
Gretchen, the long cooking time resulted in a really thick crust which my neighbour Mark loved, but I’m not so sure small boys would enjoy? :)
That’s a huge loaf and would make a great curry bowl!
That is a great idea! Next time (next time?) I’ll cut the crumb out and leave the crust as a serving dish!
I think Priszilla is amazing, imagine taking that along to a picnic and feeding everyone with one loaf! Ironically I actually followed the recipe yesterday and baked in two loaf pans but it wasn’t the same. My kids are all under three so still view crust as the devil (although they are coming around) so a giant loaf may be best for us. Thanks so much for the new baking times and for this post. I feel kind of famous!
Emma, here are my notes on the 2kg loaf – that’s the one made with a full batch of the overnight dough: Covered pot: 15mins at 245C+fan, 25mins at 220C + fan. Lid off: 25mins at 175C+fan (65min total). I preheated the pot for the 2kg one, but not for the 3kg one (oven preheated both times). Thanks for the inspiration! :)
Thanks so much. I have a batch to cook thus arvo cant wait to try the proper cooking times.
Emma, depending on your oven, I think it’s possible for the 2kg loaf to have an extra 10 mins or so at the end. My oven tends to run hot! :)
That’s fabulous Celia! I can’t wait to get into our new kitchen and excited about bread once again!
Clare, I can’t wait until you have a 90cm oven! How exciting will that be! :)
I just headed over to Jason’s page and WOW…but then read the rest of your post and WOOOOOOOOOOOAH! What an amazing loaf Celia! You could feed the homeless in your entire neighbourhood and still have some left over for toast! I am yet to reanimate my little bit of Priscilla but now that I have seen how versatile she is, I might get over my fear and give her a go.
Ah Jason, lovely Jason. As Fi pointed out below, he is mental, but we do so adore him. Go on, give Priscilla a go, what can you lose? I can always send you some more, as we’ve figured out, it only takes a day to get to you! :)
We need mental people in our lives and that loaf of bread…WHAT a triumph! I have been telling everyone about your massive loaves of sourdough bread and am very VERY excited to have a go now. I am mental in the garden (almost as mental as Jason but not quite ;) ) at the moment building all kinds of additions to Sanctuary (my fully enclosed large vegetable garden) but as soon as everything is installed and I have planted out all of my new plants (thornless blackberries, passionfruit etc.) I am going to reanimate Priscilla and give her baby a serious baking name…might have to add a literary moniker in there as well as I love to read :)
They’re big’uns alright… the loaves!
Hahaha…thank you.. ;-)
I’m so excited!
Oh I so hope it gets to you soon! x
That’s a lot of bread! Have you tried freezing it – & if so, how did that go? I was told by a baker that bread should be frozen while fairly warm as this prevents it from drying out, but my loaves don’t last long enough to need freezing. Although, now that my son is away for 7 weeks, it might be the right time to try this theory out.
I freeze loaves fresh but not warm – I’ve found in the past that that causes the crust to go soggy. Half of this loaf went to the neighbour, we ate a quarter, and I turned the rest into bread rusks. It’s all gone now! :)
I know you’ll come up with a great way to use up that leftover bread. Love the photo of you holding up the bread – we really get to see just how big that loaf is xx
It was all gone that same day, Charlie! I gave half away, we ate a quarter, and I dried the rest out in the oven to form rusks/croutons (Small Man’s preferred method of eating all old bread). The loaf was ridiculously big! :)
Can’t wait to use my starter – a project for the upcoming long weekend. I have already decided what to call it: La Figlia (as in La figlia di Priscilla). Thanks a heap!
Great stuff! Have fun with La Figlia!
Now that’s a loaf of bread! I just made some more overnight bread and knotted rolls today. I have another batch of overnight bread (whole wheat) rising. Tomorrow I will try baking it as one large loaf. Hope it turns out! My husband loves the crusts.
Manuela, your knotted rolls were the bomb! Hope the big loaf bake turned out well! :)
Its beautiful!! I love how we show off our bread like baby photos :D
Jan x
Don’t say that to Celia. Next time she’ll dress it up in a bonnet.
I think you need to send my next loaf a ceremonial feathered hat.. :)
Jason’s mad. But we love him.
Desperately. :)
That’s HUGE! Indeed, “breadapalooza” is the most apt word to use. Great bakin’, Celia!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Julie, it was huge! You should have seen me trying to cut it.. ;-)
Brilliant – looks like the bread our pal the chef in Spain cooks for the village fiestas!
Tanya, it was so much fun to bake – I love it when I have no idea what’s going on, and then I lift the lid and it looks magnificent! :)
Sounds like my approach to life a lot of the time ;)
Bread gets plenty of bad press… gluten and all that… but you have made me realize the beauty of the whole process! I think I could smell it rising… yum!!
Ha! It doesn’t get bad press here..just the occasional sandwich pressing.. ;-)
That’s such fun. I love the welding gloves kitchen kit! I baked bread on Saturday when it was 35c, I had trouble stopping my dough from rising so fast and eventually she was shoved in the fridge to cool down a bit while we went to the movies. Once we were home the dough was back up to room temperature within an hour and still produced a good loaf. I’m always surprised by how accomodating sourdough is.
Jan, isn’t it great? I love that Princess Patsy behaves so well for you! :)
I bet the whole neighbourhood could smell that glorious baking bread Celia! So gorgeous and golden indeed sweetie xox
Becca, it was so much fun to make! Much more fun than teeny tiny loaves! :)
Now that’s the loaf of bread that ate New York – they should make a movie out of your bread taking over the world. As for Pete’s thoughts…I’m thinking … it could work – as long as I didn’t go out in the rain or jump around too much.
Hahaha…we’d have to find a way to secure it in place.. ;-)
Celia – duct tape – good for everything!
I had a slight ah-ha moment when I read this. I don’t cook bread during summer as I can’t bear to turn the oven on so buy a really large loaf at the farmers market on Saturdays. About the size of yours. I had vaguely wondered how they made them that big. Now I know. We eat it over the weekend then any remaining goes in the freezer. Glad to see I am not the only one with welding gloves,although mine are blue ;)
Tania, I love my welding gloves! I’m on my third pair now! :)