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Artisan III - Miche, Sourdough with Two Levain Builds: 230% in Final Dough

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

Artisan III - Miche, Sourdough with Two Levain Builds: 230% in Final Dough

Didier Rosada is our instructor at Artisan III course at the San Francisco Baking Institute.  The course is intensive in technical knowledge as in baking schedule.  Didier is an incredible instructor with amazing energy; he "trained and led the Bread Bakers Guild Team USA to first place victory in the bread category at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris in 1996."

I chose to blog this bread because, as Didier said, this bread is what bread was like "in his grandfather's days" (he came from south of France), also because back home I don't normally have the luxury of baking big size breads.

    

                   

 

     

Formula 

First Levain Build - Day one at 2:30 pm

  • 64 g high extraction flour*
  • 76 g water
  • 16 g liquid starter @100% hydration

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated with desired temperature of 21C/70F and allow to ferment 16 hours at room temp 18 - 21C/65 - 70F.

* If high extraction flour is not available, substitute with 80% white bread flour and 20% whole wheat flour.

Second Levain Build - Day two @6:30 am

  • 388 g high extraction flour*
  • 466 g water
  • 2 g salt
  • 156 g all of first levain build

(The SFBI staff did this levain build for us.)  Mix all ingredients until well incorporated with desired temperature of 21C/70F and allow to ferment 8 hours at room temperature 18 - 21C/65 - 70F.

Final Dough - Day two @2:30 pm

  • 263 g bread flour
  • 88 g high extraction flour*
  • 88 g medium rye flour
  • 97 g water (@55F)
  • 17 g salt
  • 1,012 g all of the second levain build**

Total dough weight 1,565 g and total dough hydration 72%

**Note: the total levain is 230% of final dough flour.

  1. Mix all ingredients in first speed of your mixer until well incorporated about 3 - 4 minutes.
  2. Switch to second speed (approx. the 4th gear on home Kitchen Aid mixer) for 2 - 3 minutes until medium strength of gluten development.
  3. First fermentation in mixing bowl for 30 minutes.
  4. Turn out onto a lightly floured work bench and pre-shape to light ball.
  5. Rest 20 - 30 minutes.
  6. Shape into a boule and place in a well dusted linen-lined basket.
  7. Proof retarding overnight at 8 - 9C/46 - 58 F (in this case 18 hours).

Bake - Day three @10:15 am

  1. One hour before baking, turn on your oven to pre-heat to 450F.
  2. Score (or stencil) your dough any way you like (a traditional score is diamond score; I did a stencil of three overlapping circles with three scores).
  3. Bake for one hour with steam before and right after the dough is loaded onto your baking stone.
  4. Cool before slice.

 

                     

                                             

Didier used my Miche as demo to explain that this bread was how bread was made in the old days and that its flavor was quite sour.   The sour taste is too strong for my liking but apparently many people in the U.S. like the strong sour taste and, surprisingly for me, almost all the other Aussies in the class like it too.  I was told that these days in France however, people generally don't like it too sour. 

 

         

                                

 

If I were to do this Miche again, the following are the changes I would incorporate: 

  1. Hand mix to achieve a more open crumb;
  2. Increase total dough hydration to 76% at least, also for more open crumb; and
  3. To cut down the sourness by reducing the levain as a % of final dough flour from 230% to 120% or lower (in which case the shaped dough will proof at room temperature for an hour or two before goes into the retarder and for shorter time).
  4. I like the flour profile and will make no change in that.  

 

Shiao-Ping

p.s.  I asked Didier if I could blog this formula with his picture and the answer was a very happy yes to me.  Thank you, Didier.

Comments

erg720's picture
erg720

What is the liquid starter? is it a pre preparation or just water or what?

Ron 

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

The liquid starter is equal weight of flour to water.  Here is a great reading about starter if you are interested from Susan's Wild Yeast blog: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/13/raising-a-starter/

And here is another great reading on Bakers' Percentage also from Susan's Wild Yeast blog: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2008/03/22/bakers-percentage-1/ ; there are 4 parts in this subjects.  (Thank you, Susan.)

It would be great to start your sourdough journey there.  

Thank you for your comment.

 

drhowarddrfine's picture
drhowarddrfine

Again, thank you for another interesting read.

ques2008's picture
ques2008

here's a question:  do all the levain builds come together on day 3 or are they kept separate?  I ask because there's only one bread ?&*

ques2008's picture
ques2008

how stupid of me.  i read the ingredient list too quickly.  yes, it looks like you get to combine part of the levain builds.

how do you make a liquid starter, sorry for another stupid question!

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

To start making a liquid starter, here is a great place for you to begin: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/13/raising-a-starter/ .  Also, the understanding of bakers' percentage has helped me a lot in the beginning when I started doing sourdoughs: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2008/03/22/bakers-percentage-1/ .  I strongly recommend you read all parts of the tutorials before you begin. 

Shiao-Ping

wally's picture
wally

Beautiful looking miche and interesting scoring pattern!

Larry

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

Thanks for your comment.  I didn't have much of that Miche and sent the rest to the recycling bin yesterday before I left SFBI.  This morning, a few of our classmates said the sourness has toned down quite a bit overnight and that there are also other flavors that kick in, so the flavor all round on the next day is so much better than the first day.   (I still think the sourness would be too strong for me; also I like more lactic acidity as opposed to acidic acidity.)  Shiao-Ping

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Shiao-Ping.

I like sour, so I may give this a try.

Do you know what SFBI uses for high extraction flour?

David

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

I will get back to you tomorrow.    Shiao-Ping

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

the high extraction flour that we used at SFBI is from Keith Giusto's Full Circle Milling Company: http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/giustos/process.d2w/report; however, I searched Guisto's website and could not find the item.  I know MC of Farine took Didier's whole Grains Workshop back in April at SFBI and Guisto came by for one day during the course: http://www.farine-mc.com/2009/04/keith-giustos-power-bread.html and I remember her saying you can get Full Circle flours in California quite easily (from Costco) but in a larger quantity than normal small retail quantity.  

I did not actually see the bag of high extraction flour as during the class everything happened so fast and hectic.  I went around the bread lab today hunting for the bag that contains the high extraction flour, but all I could find was Full Circle Milling company, Giusto's Vita-Grain Flour Mills, bags for other organic flours. 

You might want to ask MC if you have problems.

Shiao-Ping

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Shiao-Ping.

I am not surprised SFBI uses Giusto's flour. Giusto's headquarters is walking distance from SFBI, and their flours are excellent. The problem is that they sell a very small portion of their range directly to consumers or, for that matter, for sale in retail groceries.

Their "Old Mill" flour is described as having "reduced bran and germ." To find it, you have to go to the menu for "Manufacturer & Foodservice Information." You will see a great variety of specialty organic flours there.

I tried special ordering some of these through a local grocery, and their Giusto's distributor didn't even list them. I haven't tried contact the distributor directly. I'm wondering if a local bakery would special order some for me. 

David

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

that you pose that question to MC on her blog as she likes Giusto's flours and has had experience ordering them. 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

And this is no exception.  Thank You.

The final dough mixing is in my mind (if you can follow me) like a "pick up" for slightly overproofed dough.  That alone spells "sour" to me.   If I wanted the final loaf less sour (than a 3 step process) I would combine the "Final dough" ingredients into the "Second" and eliminate the long retardation.   Add some folding and shape into a banneton turning out when ready.  Your crumb is absolutely perfect in my opinion!

Mini O

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

You are absolutely right, spot on.   I've come all this way to find out that I actually do not like my sourdough sour.   Thank you for your comment.  Shiao-Ping

ques2008's picture
ques2008

Hi Shiao Ping,

Thanks a lot for pointing me to those links!  Yes, I'll read them thoroughly befor starting :)

gosiam's picture
gosiam

Hi Shiao-Ping, I too, want to thank you for this splendid write-up and your relentless encouragement to attempt even the most sophisticated of breads.  I had completed my first miche following your method and I loved the results - still work left to be done, like scoring and others, but here are the results.

The taste is just wonderful, very complex with just right amount of sourness in it... the bread one could meditate on;-)

Gosia

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

Shiao-Ping is a good instructor. I'm puzzling over the herbs on top of the loaf, I give up, what is it? This was put on after the loaf was done? But then again, they are not burnt, there is a touch on flour on them...

Betty

gosiam's picture
gosiam

Hi Betty, I laughed with delight at your puzzled note above.  Shiao-Ping suggested a stencil for the miche, so I went for the parsley (but truth be told, it's not my idea), I've seen it somewhere, on a picture, but cannot remember where.  I arranged the leaves on top of the bread before I placed it in a banneton for retardation.  I guess the moisture that the bread has nicely saturates the leaves, so they don't burn during baking.  It's nice to know that the result was pleasing.

All the best.

Gosia

 

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

I tried to think back what I wrote to deserve your comment.  I do have a penchant for the difficult and the complicated bake.   There is a bakery in San Francisco called Tartine and their pastry is famous.  The lady pastry chef Elizabeth has a wonderful dessert book.  While we were at the Artisan courses, we all tried to visit. One classmate said to me afterwards that she didn't buy the book because the steps are too complicated.  For me I didn't buy the book because the steps are not cumbersome enough.

Shiao-Ping

p.s. what is TA in training?

 

breadbakingbassplayer's picture
breadbakingbass...

I wanted to thank Shiao-Ping for this post, and post my improvisation of this recipe/formula.  I did not use any rye flour as I ran out, I upped the hydration to about 75%, refrigerated during the bulk fermentation for about 21 hrs, shaped it out of the fridge, and proofed them for 3 hours, baked them for just over 1 hr at 450F with steam...

Here is my result:

This is probably the best sourdough bread that I have ever baked...  (Please excuse my poor photography and cutting skills)  I'm working on a full size 2kg miche as we speak...  I used the same recipe, but increased it for a total dough weight of about 2.5kg to be baked late Sunday night...

Tim

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

while.  I think your crumb shot was perfect.  It looks like you had a very good oven spring, judging from the openings on the crust.  One question:  you said you shaped the dough after 21 hours of bulk fermentation in the fridge.  Did you find that a lot of volume was knocked out when you shaped?  Did you shape very lightly?

Thank you very much for sharing with us your bread and sorry for the late feedback.  I had been away and had only just seen your photos.  Frankly I think your crumb is amazing.

Shiao-Ping

breadbakingbassplayer's picture
breadbakingbass...

Thanks!  This was the 1st out of a series using the same recipe that you detailed with my own modifications...  This thing had very good oven spring.  I never know what's going to happen when I put them in the oven.  I shaped the boules quite tightly, and let it proof for about 2 hours after shaping directly out of the fridge...

I'll have to post some of my other variations and attempts when I get back from vacation next year...

Tim