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Yesterday I made a from-scratch deep dish pizza using the recipe in The Great Chicago Pizza Cookbook. The crust turned out beautifully, or so I thought until I tried to cut it. It wasn't burnt, but was hard as a rock! We had to saw through it and it was just too much chewy to enjoy the rest of the ingredients. 

Does anyone have any suggestions? The recipe calls for 1/2 c of yellow cornmeal and I wasn't sure if that was the issue or if I should forego par baking or what? There are photos below. Any and all advice welcome!!! 

Pre oven: 

Again, it looked fine, but was hard as concrete. I only parbaked for four minutes....any ideas what went wrong?

Today I baked up some levain boules and a Tartine Country Loaf.  I can't shake this sourdough kick since returning from San Francisco.  I tweaked my roaster/steaming method a bit to enhance the Tartine crust caramelization.  I am very happy with the results.  The adjustments to the steaming method really made the crust thin and crispy, and added a more complex flavour.

The combination of dreary weather foiling my landscape photography and a new camera resulted in a post bake shutterbug frenzy. 

Another batch of Pane Maggiore. This time with no intention I made another change. i built the levains (1/2 rye sour stiff/1/2 white wheat liquid) and got exhausted by mix time so i retarded them to finish the following day. I decreased my total pre fermented flour in the recipe to about 15% as this dough gets very active and this would give the time for folds in accordance with ferment times. 1 hour autolyse followed by a soft finished mix. Then three sets of folds at 50 minute intervals and divided at the 3 hour mark. Unfortunately the dough got a bit too strong this go which made for a tougher shape and finer crumb. My mind makes me think this could be due to the retarding of the levains and bringing more acidity to the dough than regular. So i could have gotten away with just 2 folds @ 1 hour marks.  All this followed by about 10 hours in the fridge before a late nite bake.  PVM seems to be good no matter the variations as long as the central theme stays intact.

Happy Baking All

Josh

I have been skiing five days a week now for a while, so not much time to browse TFL. My baking thoughts have turned from bread to sweets. this is a three layer orange chiffon cake from ITJB, filled with apricot jam and chocolate butter cream and iced with the same chocolate. The chocolate didn't adhere to the orange slices, so I painted around them. YUMM!

Other recent bakes were my send off on Floyd's blueberry cream cheese bread in the most bookmarked section. Here is my bumbleberry cream cheese bread. This was a yeasted bread with about three times the fruit Floyd rec's in his formula.

Well we cannot forget the walnut filled Hungarian rolls from ITJB -- easily one of the best things my oven has ever produced!

Happy baking folks!  Brian

I made the Tartine country loaf on two separate occasions and both didn't turn out right. Maybe the Tartine country loaf was an overly ambitious first try at a bread made with a starter? Before making my first Tartine country loaf, I had never made nor maintained a starter before nor had I ever made a leaven. But I followed all the directions laid out in the Tartine Bread book. When my starter was rising and falling predictably, I made the leaven. I tested the leaven and it floated so I guessed it was ready to use.

Attempt 1. The flavor was a bit bland for lack of a better description. It was nowhere close to the real Tartine country loaf. The exterior slices were edible, but as I got to center of the loaf, it was so dense that I couldn't even eat it.

Attempt 2. A couple weeks later I tried again. I had to make a new starter since I didn't maintain the first. This time the flavor was quite nice. I could detect hints of that "Tartine flavor". It had more holes and was less dense than loaf 1. 

I wanted to try a seeded sourdough with a flax seed soaker, so i found the recipe below.  I made a number of variations along the way, due to preference and timing.  I noted the changes I made at the right of the original recipe.I wanted more of a whole wheat loaf, so I changed the recipe to add much more whole wheat and used a whole wheat starter. My husband and I really enjoyed the result.  It was crusty, but chewy, and the seeds inside really added a lot of tangy taste to the loaf. i tried a new scoring pattern on the top, but I think it's harder to see with a bread with seeds!

The recipe was adapted from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman and the Bread Experience (link below). 

http://breadmakingblog.breadexperience.com/2011/12/sourdough-seed-bread.html

Ingredients:

Liquid Levain Build

• 4.8 oz (1 1/8 cups) bread flour
• 6 oz (3/4 cup) water (I used 1 cup)
• 1 oz (2 T) mature culture (liquid) (I used whole wheat)

Flaxseed Soaker

• 2.2 oz (3/8 cup) Flaxseeds
• 6.7 oz (3/4 cup) water (I used 1 cup)

Final Dough

• 1 lb, 8.6 oz (5 5/8 cups) bread flour (I used 2-1/2 cups all purpose and 2 cups whole wheat)
• 2.6 oz (5/8 cup) whole-rye flour
• 2.5 oz sunflower seeds, toasted
• 2.25 oz sesame seeds, toasted
• 11.3 oz (1 3/8 cups) water, plus additional during mixing
• .7 oz (1T + 1/2 tsp) salt
• 8.9 oz soaker (all of above)
• 10.8 oz liquid levain (all of above, less 2T) (I used it all)

Directions:

1)      Building the Liquid Levain:  Make the final build 12 to 16 hours before the final mix and let stand in a covered container at about 70 degrees F.

This is the liquid levain after about 16 hours.           

2) Flaxseed Soaker: Make a cold soaker with the flaxseeds and water at the same time you build the liquid levain. Cover the container with plastic and let it stand along with the liquid levain.

3) Mixing the Dough: Add all of the ingredients to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer and mix on first speed for 3 minutes, adjusting the hydration as necessary.  I found that the dough was so dry that I held out on adding all of the flour called for in the original recipe.

 The dough looked and smelled great coming together.

Mix on second speed for another 3 minutes or so. The dough should have moderate gluten development.

4) Bulk Fermentation: 5-7 hours.  I deviated from the original recipe here. I folded the dough every 45-50 minutes during this time.. I had to go out, so I put it in the refrigerator for four hours after all of the turn and folds.

5) Shaping: It was such a heavy dough that I was concerned it would not come up overnight in the fridge, so I took it out before I went to bed, divided into two large loaves and placed the large boule into a banneton coated with brown rice flour. I froze the other loaf, spraying a freezer zip back with cooking spray before popping the dough into the bag and then the freezer.

6) Final Proof:  Left the loaf on the counter overnight for about 9-10 hours for the final proof at a temperature of about 70 degrees.

It came up nicely overnight.

7)  Preparing to bake: In the morning, as I was using my LaCloche covered baker to bake the bread, I put the LaCloche in the oven, both top and bottom to preheat.  Set the oven temperature at 500 degrees (after you have placed the LaCloche inside).  If you don't have a LaCloche:   Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F., with a baking stone on the middle rack and a steam pan underneath.  Place the loaves on the hot baking stone.  Fill the steam pan with hot water and close the door of the oven.   Let the loaves bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the loaves are golden brown.

Getting ready for the oven:  Be careful as both the top and bottom of the LaCloche have been in the oven and are very hot. You can see my Bordelaise scorer next to my well-used LaCloche covered baker.  I really love my scoring tool.  I got it in the internet for about $12; well worth it. I also recently purchased the large pizza stone that is underneath the LaCloche.  My plan is to use it for baguettes! We used it already on sourdough pizza, and it was fantastic, with a very even bake...better than our older round pizza stone.

8) Baking the bread:  Using heavy oven gloves, remove the lid from the LaCloche and take the preheated bottom from the oven as well.  Sprinkle the bottom with corn meal, pop the loaf out of the banneton onto the preheated stone bottom, score as desired.  Put the loaf in the LaCloche in the oven and place the dome over it.  Bake for 25-30 minutes with dome on.  Remove dome and bake for 10 more minutes or so until crust is brown and done to your desired taste.

9. Serving: Cool completely on wire rack before slicing. Enjoy!

This is an adaptation of the Corn-Rye Rounds in Daniel Leader's Local Breads.  I’ve had my eye on this one for ages, but never got around to making it.  It sounds more "cakey" than "bready", using rye flour and a large percentage of fine corn flour.  In this version I use coarse rye meal and polenta, aiming for an equally substantial, but more "bready" loaf.  I veered a bit further in that direction than I meant to, but the result was absolutely delicious. 

The rye flavor is particularly noticeable in the crust – there is nothing quite like that flavor.  It combines very nicely with the slightly sweet flavor of the polenta.  The only downside to this bread is that, right out of the oven anyway, the polenta in the crust can be little hard on the teeth.

The hydration is the trickiest part of this formula.  Consider the numbers here a guideline.  I know that’s the caveat in any formula, but I think it is especially true here.  I ground the rye in a coffee grinder to about the same consistency as the polenta. It isn’t really noticeable in the finished bread the way the polenta is.

For next time I would like to try adding a little fine corn flour and more rye flour for an even heartier loaf.

Oh, and it makes a spectacularly delicious French toast!

And, the Family Grain Mill attachment for my mixer just arrived so I have some serious experimenting to do!

Marcus

• 412g KABF 50%
• 247g KAAP 30%
• 91g T85 11%
• 150g levain (9% flour, 9% water)
• 394g water 48%
• 250g unsweetened coconut water 30%
• 50g coconut flakes, dry weight, I soaked em then wrung em out and saved the water 6%.
• 6g coco powder .75%
• 16g salt 2%

I gave this rascal a 1.5 hour autolyse then 3 minutes of slap and folds followed by a fifteen minute rest then another two minutes of slapping and folding followed by another rest and a set of stretch and folds. Then I fermented it at room temp for an additional three and a half hours. Then I shaped it and proofed it in the fridge for about fifteen hours. in the morning I took it from the fridge and allowed it to continue proofing for around an hour and a half then baked em, preheating the oven to 550 then turning it right down to 470 after steaming.

I kept my levain at room temp and used it a little young attempting to keep it on the sweeter side of things. All in all this is a super great smelling really good tasting loaf, mmmm

Pane Valle Maggia, ver. 2

March 7 , 2014

Last month, I made Pane Valle Maggia, inspired by Josh's “Pain Maggiore.” It was a very good bread, but I wanted to make it again using freshly milled whole wheat flour. Also, I thought it would be improved by pre-fermenting the rye component. So, I made both changes for today's bake. The Total Dough ingredients were basically unchanged.

The whole wheat flour was milled with the KitchenAid mixer's Grain Mill attachment. I put Hard Red Winter Wheat Berries purchased in bulk at Whole Foods Market through 4 passes, starting with the coarsest setting and progressing to the finest setting.

The rye sour was elaborated in 3 builds from my refrigerated rye sour.

Both levains were mixed in the late evening and fermented at room temperature for about 14 hours.

Procedures

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle installed, disperse the two levains in 500g of the Final Dough Water.

2. Add the flours and mix at low speed to a shaggy mass.

3. Cover and allow to autolyse for 1-3 hours.

4. Add the salt and mix at low speed to combine.

5. Switch to the dough hook and mix to medium gluten development.

6. Add the remaining 66g of water and continue mixing until the dough comes back together.

7. Transfer to a well-floured board and stretch and fold into a ball.

8. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover.

9. Bulk ferment for about 3-4 hours with Stretch and Folds on the board every 40 minutes for 3 or 4 times. (Note: This is a rather slack, sticky dough. It gains strength as it ferments and you stretch and fold it, but you still have to flour the board and your hands well to prevent too much of the dough from sticking. Use the bench knife to free the dough when it is sticking to the bench.)

10. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and pre-shape round.

11. Cover with a damp towel or plasti-crap and allow to rest for 15-30 minutes.

12. Shape as tight boules or bâtards and place in floured bannetons, seam-side up.

13. Put each banneton in a food-safe plastic bag and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.

14. Pre-heat the oven for 45-60 minutes to 500 dF with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.

15. Take the loaves out of the refrigerator. Place them on a peel. Score them as you wish. (I believe the traditional scoring is 3 parallel cuts across a round loaf.)

16. Transfer the loaves to the baking stone.

17. Bake with steam for 13 minutes, then remove your steaming apparatus/vent the oven.

18. Continue baking for 20-25 minutes. The loaves should be darkly colored with firm crusts. The internal temperature should be at least 205 dF.

19. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing.

The whole wheat flour particle size was much larger than that of the Giusto's fine whole wheat flour I had been using. It had a sandy consistency, not unlike Semolina flour. When mixed, the dough was slack but also soft like an semolina semolina dough. It did pass an early window pane test after mixing. The dough gained strength during bulk fermentation with 3 stretch and folds on the board, but it remained more extensible and less elastic that the dough made with fine whole wheat flour. I was concerned that the crumb would be too dense.

I baked these loaves right out of the refrigerator.

The crust was thinner and less crunchy than the last bake of this bread. The crumb was less open than last time and had fewer large holes than ordinarily expected of a dough at this high-hydration level. I really can't attribute the denser crumb to the coarser whole wheat flour. This bread is 20% whole wheat, while the San Francisco Sourdough I made with the same flour has 30% whole wheat. I really am unable to nail any of the other "usual suspects" at the moment. I'll just have to make this bread again and see. Oh, the sacrifices we make! 

This bread had a wonderful aroma. It was very tender and less chewy than the last bake.The flavor was extraordinary. When first sliced after cooling, the bread was very sour, which I attribute particularly to my use of rye sour. It was not so sour as to mask the delicious, complex flavor. A wonderful sweet, wheaty flavor predominated. I could not discern a distinct rye contribution to the flavor. In fact, the flavors were well-balanced and integrated. I am accustomed to this kind of mixed flour bread needing at least 24 hours for the flavors to meld. It will be interesting to see what this tastes like tomorrow.

I found myself wanting to keep tasting the bread while cleaning up after lunch. It occurred to me that this is a bread I could easily make a meal of, no butter, cheese or other distractions necessary. This is definitely a bread I will want to make frequently.

Since I was going to be milling flour anyway, I figured I might as well mill enough to make a couple loaves of San Francisco-style Sourdough Bread with increased whole wheat. (See: San Francisco-style Sourdough Bread with increased whole wheat flour)

I was pleasantly surprised when I sliced the SF SD. The crumb was really nice and open. Moreover, the crumb was moderately chewy. Obviously, there is more going on than the difference in the whole wheat flour. The flavor had in common with the Pane Valle Maggia a moderate sour tang and a lovely, wheaty flavor. 

And, since I was feeding my rye sour anyway, I figured I might as well build enough for a couple loaves of Jewish Sour Rye.

 This rye, like the last ones, was baked at the higher temperature - 460 dF for 15 minutes, then 440 dF for another 20 minutes. I do like the results better than those I got baking at 375 dF. Very good when first sliced and delicious toasted  for breakfast.

All in all, a very good couple of baking days. 

Happy baking!

David

For a long time I was scared of using yeast. Although I am still a novice at bread making, the fear has subsided. In addition to learning bread making, I've always wanted to tackle laminated and enriched doughs. Viennoserie is like a happy place where cakes and bread meet. For some strange reason I find Viennoserie less scary than bread. With bread, there is no place to hide my mistakes. It's flour and water (and salt and yeast). With Viennoiserie, mistakes are still noticeable, but the butter, sugar, eggs and milk make those mistakes more palatable.

I was fortunate enough to attend a 5-day Viennoiserie class at the SFBI. I wasn't sure if I could reproduce the results at home without a sheeter, proof box, and high-tech oven, but I was inspired by all the croissants seen on TFL especially txfarmer's amazing croissants. I'm using a scaled down version of the croissant with poolish recipe I learned in class (which I think is from Suas' Advanced Bread and Pastry). 

Attempt1: traditional-shaped croissants. Long story short, I used too much butter for the roll-in and I didn't proof them long enough before baking. My shaping skills need work. The croissants have too many shoulders. The layers are not distinct.

Attempt 2: pain au chocolate. I can see some distinct layering and there's some honeycombing. My results were better than those in attempt 1.

Attempt 3. I knew during the lock-in that my beurrage was too hard. But it was too late to turn back and let the butter soften a bit so I proceeded and hoped for the best. I could see that the butter layer was patchy even with each subsequent turn. (Note to self: Always make sure the detrempe and beurrage are the same texture before doing the lock-in.) I was worried about the how the patchiness of the butter would lead to uneven layering and bready croissants. So I used the dough to make blueberry danishes where the breadiness would be less noticeable.