French Bread in jar

After the first rise of the French Bread recipe (see previous post for recipe), I put some dough in the jar.  I filled the jar less than 1/2 full.  I let it raise in the jar until it was almost to the rim.  During cooking it went over the top. This wasn't a big deal; I tore off the top & ate it (yummy!), but next time I'll put less dough or stop raising when it's lower.  My solar oven was at about 300, & it took about 45-60 min for it to lightly brown on top.  I put one of my reusable canning lids on (see July post), & took it right in the house.  It sealed & I kept it in the jar for a month.

on the plate

french bread in jar

b

after taking it out of jar

So how did it taste?  Pretty dang good!  It was definitely dryer.  I've heard that when possible, use applesauce for canning breads, as it helps it stay moist.  So it was a bit more dry & crumbly.  But it smelled & tasted right.  Adding some butter made it tastier.  My son warmed his up & then added butter.  He liked that so much he ate most of the bread in a sitting that way.  If I can keep bread for over a month that's good enough for my son to eat it all up, I call that a success!  I'm way glad to know I could do this on a sunny day to save for a cloudy one!