Cuban Bread

I saw this YouTube video on Cuban Sandwiches posted by America's Test Kitchen a few days ago (look for Test Cook Episode 6) and thought I'd give the Cuban Bread a try.

No prep pictures of the bread, I wasn't planning on posting this but it turned out quite well. I made the Sponge (yeast, flour, water) yesterday afternoon, kept it in the fridge overnight. This morning I let it sit out for a while to come to room temp. In the meantime I gathered the ingredients, broke out the KitchenAid stand mixer and prepared the dough.

It was a little stickier than in the video but a touch more flour remedied that. I formed the 2 loaves, let them rest and baked them in a 450 F oven. They're baked covered for 20 minutes using an aluminum disposable pan as the cover, then baked uncovered for another 10-12 minutes. Internal final temp is 210 which these reached.

At this point I snapped a few pics of the finished loaves -





I've made no knead bread out on the Kamados, but never really attempted to make anything other than that. This turned out looking quite good.

Now, I wasn't making Cuban Sandwiches, but I do have leftover Brisket from yesterday's lunch. Warming in the Lodge skillet -



One loaf cut in half and sliced, ready to make a sandwich -



Topped with Swiss and a side of Jus -





Definitely a great lunch -



I could have pressed these as in a Panini, but hunger prevented that. :mrgreen:

This recipe is a keeper and I'll be making these again!

Thanks for checking out this post.

Regards,
-lunchman

CakeM1x said:

Looks great!
I made pulled pork earlier this week and smoked a home cured butt to make cubans for tomorrow. Guess I'll try this bread too now! Was it crispy crusty on the outside and light inside?

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Yep, a very thin, yet crispy crust and very airy and light inside. Just a perfect sandwich bread.

I did have to buy lard, which I haven't had in the pantry for quite some time. A trip down the Goya aisle did the trick. I'll most likely use it on the Blackstone griddle once in a while in place of evoo.

I did find a Chef John recipe which was slightly different but not by much. He spritzed the dough with water before baking but didn't make use of a cover. Either way, Cuban bread is on my recipes to keep list. Next time I'll make a proper Cuban sandwich.