Brinna's Pugliese

I've starting working my way through The Bread Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum, and this recipe looked interesting today. I've tried about 5 of her recipes now, and they all have turned out well. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants an in depth look at how the elements of bread come together and why. Rose lays the science out very well in the beginning so you get a good understanding, and the recipes drive the principles home.

I don't get quite as much oven spring as I would like, but I have a convection oven and even when it is set to bake normally, the fan still runs a bit. I think this pulls any steam that might get built up out of the oven, so the crust sets before it has time to rise. Never the less, the bread tastes awesome.

This recipe was great, and probably has the most structure of any of the breads I have made. I'd make it again, once I get through the rest of the book :)