Again with the Peppery Pumpkin Bread from HBin5 (almost)

 Finishing off the Peppery Pumpkin Bread Dough

This is the same bread dough as before (recipe from Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day, except for a mistake of too little hydration).  I'm just shaping this loaf differently.  No attempt here to make a pretty crust picture.  I kneaded it a few minutes cold, and then shaped it into a tight oblong.  It then warmed to room temperature in a floured basket, about 3 hours while I was shoveling the driveway.  Then I scored it and tossed it into the oven for 30 minutes.  No further comment necessary.

Except to say that the last pumpkin bread, half way through eating it, was a bit of a gooey disaster: there was a big empty hole inside, and a lot of unbaked dough around it.  Not sure why.  But this has happened before to me, on other loaves.

The Last Ugly Pumpkin Loaf: what went wrong?

Not enough kneading?

Not baked long enough?

Underproofed?

What caused this bread to fail?

I ended up giving a lot of that last loaf to the chickens to eat.  I'm hopeful that this one is at least completely baked.

Bread is made.  Dog is snowbound, watching birds and squirrels at the backyard feeder.

I cut into this bread while it was still a bit warm.  Crap.  The crumb was fine on the edges, but not baked properly all the way through.  This bread required 10 more minutes of baking at least.  I had some with the last of my pumpkin soup.  The end pieces were fine, but the inside slices, even if you toasted them, are gummy.

Jack Pumpkin bread with the last of the jack pumpkin soup

Middle of the loaf fail

Notes to Myself

• Put some herbs in your next bread.  We grew some basil last year, and it might really spice up a loaf.
• Bake this recipe 10 minutes longer next time.