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ananda's blog

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ananda

 DSCF1592

Finishing the year with what seems to have become our "regular" House Bread of late.   There is one loaf at just over 1500g scaled dough weight, and one at 1000g.   Crust, crumb and all round flavour are just as I like and aim to achieve.  

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Rye Sourdough

 

 

Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye

25

375

Water

41.67

625

TOTAL

66.67

1000

2. Final Dough

 

 

Rye Sourdough [from above]

66.67

1000

Organic White Bread Flour

75

1125

Salt

1.8

27

Water

26.33

395

TOTAL

169.8

2547

Overall Hydration

68

 

% Pre-fermented Flour

25

 

Method:

  • Build the rye sourdough over 2 elaborations across a 24 hour period.
  • For mixing I used the "bassinage" technique, by holding back 75g of the water. This was to counter the lack of apparent willingness on the part of the flour to take up as much water as I was hoping for. Starting at 63% and I ended up with a respectable 68%, which seemed perfect in the final dough.
  • I let the dough stand for half an hour during the mix cycle, and thereafter it came together as a really good strong dough; given 25% Dark Rye.
  • 2 hours bulk proof, with 1 S&F after 1 hour
  • Scale, divide and mould. Final proof in bannetons. I held one back in the fridge for half an hour. Proof time for the first loaf was around 2 hours.
  • Tip the dough out of the bannetons, and cut accordingly before setting in the oven at 250°C. Bake with steam on a hot brick base. I turned the heat down to 220°C after 15 minutes, then down to 200°C after a further 30 minutes, baking out for 1 hour in total.

I measured the weight loss for the big loaf, and did the following calculations:

Finished Baked weight of 1325g, meaning weight lost 222g.   As a percentage of the moisture, this means 35.83% of the original moisture was lost, thus, 64.17 was retained.

Photographs of the finished breads are shown below.DSCF1601DSCF1598DSCF1600DSCF1601DSCF1602DSCF1605DSCF1608DSCF1609DSCF1607

There's a bit of illness in our home tonight, so NY will be low key.   However, I just want to wish everyone at TFL a very Happy New Year!   All the best for 2011

Andy

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ananda

 

I have made this bread before, and posted on it here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17539/slight-variations-two-more-formulae-hamelman039s-quotbreadquot

The original formula can be found in:

Hamelman, J. [2004] "Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes" New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons   pp. 213 - 214

Changes I introduced this time round:

  • The rye sour is made in the proportions of flour and water most familiar to me. An 18 hour ferment of the second elaboration of the sour followed a 6 hour fermentation time of the first elaboration.
  • The formula includes both Caraway Seeds and Organic Blackstrap Molasses.
  • As with my earlier version, no fresh yeast is used in this formula.
  • The overall hydration is 85%, increased to satisfy the very thirsty coarsely ground Bacheldre Stone ground Organic Dark Rye Flour. In future, I would keep this level of hydration, but would add water at 25 to the soaker, rather than 20; this means no water would be needed in the final dough.
  • The loaf is topped with Blue Poppy Seeds, but still baked with the lid on the pan.

Makes One Large Loaf in a Pullman Pan

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Rye Sour Dough

 

 

Dark Rye Flour

36

360

Water

60

600

TOTAL

96

960

2. Soaker

 

 

Dark Rye Flour

20

200

Boiling Water

20

200

TOTAL

40

400

3. Final Dough

 

 

Rye Sour Dough [from above]

96

960

Soaker [from above]

40

400

Dark Rye Flour

24

240

Strong White Flour

20

200

Salt

1.8

18

Caraway Seeds

1.8

18

Organic Blackstrap Molasses

4

40

Water

5

50

TOTAL

192.6

1926

% Pre-fermented Flour

36

 

Overall Hydration

85

 

Method:

  • Build the sourdough using the elaborations described above, and make the soaker at the same time as the final elaboration. Cover both and leave overnight.
  • Add the water, salt, caraway seeds and molasses to the sourdough. Break up the soaker into pieces and add this using a mixer with beater attachment to break up the soaker properly. Add the flours and mix either with a machine using a beater attachment, or use wet hands to mix the paste until it is "clear".
  • Ferment in bulk for half an hour. Meanwhile prepare the Pullman Pan, lining it with silicone paper.
  • Shape using wet hands, and drop the mixture into the pan, and smooth the paste neatly. Brush the top with a little water and cover with Blue Poppy Seeds. Prove for 3 to 4 hours at 28°C, with the tin covered with plastic sheet, or, cling film. The paste should be just short of the top of the pan.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 170°C, with a pan of water in the base for steam. Cut the top of the loaf with 4 diamonds*, then put the lid on and bake the loaf for 2½ hours, turning the tin halfway through and topping up the water pot if necessary.
  • De-pan the loaf, and check for an internal temperature of at least 96°C.
  • Cool on wires

* You can see Hamelman uses this method for one of his rye loaves in the lovely photo between pages 224 and 225.   I needed to cut deeper, but am not sure this was possible.   My loaf being baked with the lid on meant the crown of the loaf had not passed the top of the tin.   Clearly, the seed-topped loaf in the photo in the book is made in a pan without a lid.

Photographs are shown here.DSCF1554DSCF1555DSCF1558DSCF1557DSCF1560

 Alison and I just sneaked a wee taste, although the bread is still somewhat "young".   There is a definite sour taste, and the bittersweetness from the molasses is also evident.   That unique flavour from Caraway brings greater complexity still.   It is so very moist, perhaps just a little too moist, but that will settle very quickly.   The flavour lingers long in the mouth...yum!

 

All good wishes

Andy

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ananda

 Yields 2 large tinned loaves @ 1064g eachDSCF1528DSCF1529

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Leaven

 

 

"Hovis" Super Strong White Flour

25

325

Water

15

195

TOTAL

40

520

2. Final Dough

 

 

Leaven [from above]

40

520

"Hovis" Super Strong White Flour

75

975

Salt

1.75

21

Water

51

612

TOTAL

167.75

2128

Overall hydration

66

-

% pre-fermented flour

25

-

Method:

  • The leaven was built with 3 elaborations. Thirty grams of stock white levain, was built as a liquid starter for 2 refreshments [equal flour and water], then a final refreshment to turn it to a stiff starter with a 60% hydration. The build time was just over 24 hours.
  • From there, autolyse the flour and water for the final dough for 45 minutes. Note that the "Englishman's castle" was, yet again, snowbound, with the kitchen probe displaying a cruel 9°C. However, the multi burner was just being fired up, so the leaven was warm and active. Still, the dough water temperature used was around 40°C, and the final dough temperature was a mere 23°C
  • The flour took up plenty of water, and then mixed very quickly with the salt and leaven added to form a well developed dough. Bulk proof time was just short of 2 hours, during which time, we had a somewhat worrying power cut. I was expecting to retard the dough overnight in the frozen and snowy Square where we live!
  • Power restored, I set to scaling and dividing, cutting off 8 pieces at 266g. Mould these round and rest covered for 15 minutes. Then roll up and shape as for mini loaves, and place 4 pieces in each tin, as shown in the photos.
  • Prove, fireside for 3½ hours
  • Bake profile as follows: Preheat the oven for one hour minimum, to 250°C. Place the 2 loaves side-by-side on the hot bricks, acting as an oven stone. Pour boiling water onto the stones the roasting pot on the base of the oven for steam. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the loaves round and drop the oven temperature to 220°C for a further 20 minutes. Drop the heat to 200°C, turn the loaves around again, if necessary, and bake out a further 5 - 10 minutes.
  • Cool on wires

Notes:

  • I made this bread as an experiment, so I could offer useful feedback for my brother, David. He, and his wife, Lorraine, own a lovely Bed and Breakfast spot in the Yorkshire Dales. Dave has been making his own bread every day and offers this to his guests for both breakfasts and evening meals. He uses a breadmaking machine, on the long fermentation cycle. I believe he mixes a portion of wholemeal and "Granary" flour into the grist, along with this particular white flour I have used, and has been very pleased with the results from day one, until October time. Of course, this date is significant, as I estimate the problems he has subsequently encountered and complained about, to coincide exactly with the arrival of the newly harvested crops from 2010! My brother buys his flour online from Tesco, and, uses quite a bit, as a large-scale homebaker, I guess. He has been in touch with the technicians at Rank Hovis, who I actually know and have worked with. They are investigating his complaint, but I gather from his comments that his problem is inconsistency, rather than poor bread, every time! He's a bit lost on this, as am I. So, Alison and I are going to visit Dave and Lorraine on Tuesday, on our way to visit my Mum and Dad, pre-Christmas in East Yorkshire.
  • The method used to "tin up" the dough pieces is known in the plant-baking industry in the UK as "four-piecing". I have discussed this with txfarmer in one of her posts, which you can see here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20669/sourdough-pan-de-mie-how-make-quotshreddablyquot-soft-bread#comment-143675 Basically, with the moulding turned round from the conventional one-piece, the gas cells become elongated in the opposite direction to those in the four-piece, where each piece has been turned through 90° on the single piece. The way the light reflects on the finished crumb gives an added whiteness and superior appearance to the finished crumb. See this explanation from Stan Cauvain: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EKGUPlEwP5MC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=four+piecing+bread&source=bl&ots=7Ux1YI9K9K&sig=hedWkGHVvbXoK_hMqrkvwvBcynE&hl=en&ei=AJsOTYyOGY6AhQfLv5S3Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=four%20piecing%20bread&f=false It's not that important a feature in the world of Artisan Bread, but it is of fundamental importance to the all-powerful plant bakers in the UK. That and a crumb with no holes, so your bread/toast doesn't drip butter, or, marmalade, onto your lap! These really are the priorities in the long ubiquitous loaf found the length and breadth of Britain. So, I'm trying to mimic this bread, but make it as "real bread" at the same time.
  • So, what really matters to us then? Taste and flavour most likely!

 

Analysis:

  • All four of us were really pleased with the bread in terms of its flavour. Granted, the dough had been entirely raised from the power of the natural leaven. However, my deliberate intention had been to make a bread which would have characteristics as close as possible to those of the conventional loaf, BUT, also be pleasing for all of us to eat. Since none of us particularly like "white bread" in this form, there was little point mimicking UK plant bread. So, the natural leaven was strong, but the multi elaborations were designed to create high yeast activity, but less bacterial fermentation, and thus a heavy reduction in any sour notes. Mission well-accomplished here.
  • The final bread is not WHITE! Indeed, the ferment is quite clearly not white either. See attached photographs for detail. This is very interesting, as if Hovis were to do any benchmarking of my loaf, made entirely with their white flour, I suspect an immediate action plan may be needed. The end resulting whiteness of crumb in the British "sliced white" is of incredible significance, being one of the key signs of quality a large-scale baker would use to judge their bread. Culturally, this is a huge deal, going back to the invention of roller milling and the industrialisation of agriculture, and the use of world traded wheat. For Britain, this means going back to the latter part of the 19th Century; so white bread for the masses is very long established here, as in France, of course!
  • Consideration should be given to the implications of a lack of whiteness. My baking mentor had been a Chief Executive at several of the large plant baking factories before he came into lecturing. His comments about the strong white flour we used during my time at College in Leeds were, of course, very telling. He was always keen to point out the little black flecks in the white flour, when carrying out visual inspections. "They are robbing us", is what he would say. You can imagine given his background, noted above, that he had deep suspicions of the miller! So, when he bought white flour in huge quantities, he really did expect it to be white.
  • However, he really wanted his cake, and he wanted to eat it too! Flour which is not so white will have greater water absorbency. This is on account of the extra bran and germ content, which has not been removed so thoroughly as in very white flour. So, the up side of the greyer flour is greater water absorption, thus allowing a plant baker greater yield, the down side is a perception of lesser quality. A plant baker wants a very white flour with exceptionally high quality protein....somewhat like the All-Canadian "Special CC" I have the pleasure of using in College. This is milled by the same miller who mills for Warburtons, a huge and very successful plant baker in the UK. Indeed, currently the most successful of the plant baking triumvirate, and the one recognised by the buying public as producing higher quality bread. Interesting observations, indeed!
  • DSCF1530DSCF1531DSCF1533DSCF1536DSCF1538DSCF1539DSCF1543DSCF1546DSCF1548DSCF1549

 

 

Well, we seemed to be guaranteed a White Christmas here in the frozen North of England.   Whatever the weather, and wherever you are, I'd like to wish all you good people at TFL a very Happy Christmas and a really great year in 2011

 

Andy

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ananda

 This loaf contrasts well with the high rye posted on very recently.   A large boule, leavened with a rye sourdough, comprising just short of 25% of the total flour in the formula.

[A 1.7kg Boule made with Rye Sourdough; that's 3¾lb!]DSCF1521

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Rye Sourdough [2 builds]

 

 

Bacheldre Dark Rye

24

240

Water

40

400

TOTAL

64

640

2. Final Dough

 

 

Rye Sourdough [from above]

64

640

White Bread Flour [Allinsons]

76

760

Salt

1.8

18

Water

28

280

TOTAL

169.8

1698

% pre-fermented flour

24

 

Overall hydration

68

 

Method:

  • Utilise the autolyse technique with the flour, water and rye sourdough, for 50 minutes.
  • Add the salt and mix using Andrew Whitley's "air-kneading" technique for 15 minutes. Rest for 15 minutes on an oiled-counter, under cover.
  • Mix a further 10 minutes.
  • Bulk proof covered in an oiled container for 1½ hours. Knock back, then rest for 15 minutes.
  • Mould and place upside down in a Banneton, prepared with dark rye and semolina.
  • Prove 1½ hours; meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 250°C.
  • My Bake profile as follows: Pour boiling water onto a pan of large stones in the base of the oven, 3 minutes prior to baking. Tip the loaf onto a tray, and slash the top. Cover this with a large roasting dish, and place all of this onto the hot bricks in the middle shelf of the oven. Add further boiling water to the pan of rocks. Leave for 20 minutes. Then, remove the cover and turn the heat down to 210°C. Bake a further 20 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 200°C and bake out a further 5 - 10 minutes.
  • Cool on wires.

 DSCF1519DSCF1525

 

Notes:

  • It's freezing in the UK just now! Kitchen temperature 10°C, Flour temperature 11°C and Rye Sour just 12°C [but wonderfully active, all the same!] 4 times DDT [26°C] = 104. Take the 3 above numbers away, and the required water temperature is an astonishing 71°C! So, I used the kettle and drew water at exactly that temperature, and, lo and behold the DDT was just what I wanted: 26°C!
  • This is one big loaf! The roasting pan method was almost successful, but I really needed a bigger vessel. The Lodge Logic Combo Cooker is on my Christmas list. I'm not big on volume. If anyone can advise on the diameter of pan which I need, I would be truly grateful. I'm guessing somewhere between 20 and 24cm?
  • Photographs attached. Some may call this "well-fired". But, I'm really pleased with the crust, and the close-up shots give some good detail of prized qualities. The crumb? Beautifully moist; so looking forward to my sandwiches for lunch at work tomorrow: French Brie with salad.DSCF1520DSCF1522DSCF1527DSCF1523DSCF1524

 

Best wishes to you all

Andy

 

ananda's picture
ananda

 

My Foundation Degree students were making their own breads using pre-ferments a couple of weeks ago.   Both a "Biga" and a "Poolish" were available for their use.   They made some very fine pizzas, and an assortment of flavoured breads.

Once they had weighed all their pre-ferments, I noticed there were some "leftovers".

So, I made the following as demonstrations.   The baguettes, shown below, were actually to help a late arriving student on his way, to enable product completion in the practical time.   The tinned loaves were an experiment to demonstrate how, even at a very high proportion in the final dough, a biga can contribute fantastic improving qualities, resulting in super high crown bread.

It was also a joy to be able to use local organic flour in the final doughs as well.

•1.    Baguettes with a Poolish

Material

Formula [% of flour]

1. Poolish

 

Special CC Flour

35

Water

35

Fresh Yeast

0.4

TOTAL

70.4

2. Final Dough

 

Poolish [from above]

70.4

Gilchesters Pizza/Ciabatta Flour

65

Salt

1.8

Fresh Yeast

1.8

Water

33

TOTAL

172

Method:

  • Mix on first speed in an upright machine for 10 minutes with the hook attachment. DDT 26°C
  • Ferment in bulk for 1 hour, covered at 26°C
  • Scale and divide for baguettes at 340g; pre-shape and rest 20 minutes, covered
  • Shape and prove, en coûche, 50 minutes. Use coarse semolina as needed.
  • Use a loader and baguette peel to set the baguettes, and use a grignette to slash the surface beforehand.
  • Bake in a deck oven, with steam at 240°C, top heat 7, bottom heat 5 for 15 minutes. Open the damper and bake out a further 5 minutes.
  • Cool on wires
  • baguettebaguette_crumbPicture1

•2.    High Crown Tinned Breads with a large proportion of Biga in the final dough

Material

Formula [% of flour]

1. Biga

 

Special CC Flour

67

Water

40

Fresh Yeast

0.4

TOTAL

107.4

2. Final Dough

 

Biga [from above]

107.4

Gilchesters Organic Farmhouse Flour

33

Salt

1.8

Shortening

1.8

Fresh Yeast

1.8

Water

25.2

TOTAL

171

Method:

  • Mix the dough on slow speed only in a spiral mixer for 15 minutes. DDT 27°C
  • Ferment covered, in bulk for 50 minutes at 27°C
  • Scale and divide at 960g for large tins. Pre-shape by moulding round. Rest covered for 10 minutes.
  • Shape and place in prepared tins.
  • Prove at 35°C, 85% rH for 1 hour.
  • Bake in a deck oven with steam at 235°C, top heat6, bottom heat8, for 15 minutes. Drop the temperature to 220°C for 10 minutes. Open the damper and bake out a further 5 -8 minutes.
  • Cool on wires
  • Sponge_TinCut-face2Cut_face1

 

 

•3.    A Rye Reversal

I was meant to be accompanying Faye to the Warburton's Young Baker of the Year; the National Final in Bolton, tomorrow.   Faye was scheduled to make her Nettle Bread in College this afternoon.   Let's say the weather has played havoc with our plans.   The bread uses a portion of white leaven in the final dough.   Building this leaven was problem number one.   Faye used up what flour she had at home, and I did the same here in Ananda.   But Alison and I have been snowbound for a few days now.   It took me 3 hours to dig the car out this morning.   A helpful neighbour made sure I could move by employing a digger to clear the route out of the Square.   I had 350g Leaven, and hoped Faye had the rest of what she needed.

But it was all to no avail.   I took a phone call just 10 miles down the road.   The Competition had been postponed.   The road conditions were poor and most of the morning had already passed.   I turned back and went home.   Once safely nestled back in our warm abode, I wondered what to do with the leaven I had.   "Good to go", but only Dark Rye flour in stock!   This is what I came up with.   I've used this title as I love the Pain Siègle formula with a Rye Sour used to raise a primarily wheat bread.   This is a wheat leaven used to raise a mainly rye loaf.   Here is the formula and recipe:

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Wheat Leaven

 

 

Special CC Flour

25

220

Water

15

130

TOTAL

40

350

2. Final Paste

 

 

Leaven [from above]

40

350

Bacheldre Dark Rye Flour

75

670

Salt

1.5

13

Blackstrap Molasses

5

45

Water

70

626

TOTAL

191.5

1704

Method:

  • Break up the leaven in water with temperature 35°C.
  • Add and dissolve both the molasses and salt. Then fold in the flour to form a smooth paste; DDT 28°C.
  • Drop the paste into a Pullman Pan lined with silicone paper.
  • Prove for 4 hours at 32°C, lid fitted loosely.
  • Bake from cold in an oven with a water bowl for steam. Heat to 175°C and bake for 1½ hours. Take the lid off the pan, drop the heat to 160°C and bake a further half hour. Probe the core to record a temperature of at least 96°C.
  • Cool on wires
  • DSCF1513DSCF1510DSCF1511DSCF1512DSCF1514DSCF1515DSCF1516DSCF1517DSCF1518

  

Happy Baking!

 

Andy

ananda's picture
ananda

 

Late in September, and with one week's notice of the event from the Publicity People, I approached my Level 2 students and invited them to enter the Young Baker of the Year Competition.  

This was hosted by Warburton's, who are one of the "Big 3" baking companies who dominate bread sales in the UK.   Six students entered and prepared their own recipes, which they spent a couple of weeks perfecting.   Of these, two were chosen to compete in the Regional Final held at Warburton's Bakery on the outskirts of Newcastle upon Tyne on Friday 15th September.

There were 5 students in the Final: 2 from Middlesbrough College, 1 from South Tyneside, plus Katie and Faye from Newcastle College.

The recipes are posted below.   There are also some photos from the event.   The loaves were made the day before and taken along for selected staff and managers at the Warburton's Bakery to judge.

Katie made bread using a local stout to make a traditional barm.   She also included a linseed soaker.   Fantastic recipe; malty with hydration at 75%: very attractive and flavoursome!   Faye used nettles, gathered from her own garden.   The bread was made with a white levain, and lightly spiced with roasted cumin and coriander.   Thanks Karin [hanseata] for your post which was the original source of some inspiration!

Hey, Faye was the winner!   She won £250, and now has a place in the National Final.   The prize for that is £1000, plus a work placement at a Warburton's Bakery!   The Final is a live "bake-off" at the HQ in Bolton, near Manchester, on 10th November.   How exciting; I can hardly wait to get on that train myself!

 

 

Baker Competition

Stout and Flaxseed Bread.

 

Stout and Linseed Bread Recipe

 

 

 

Barm

Formula (g)

Recipe (g)

Strong White Flour

25

750

Beer

25

750

Yeast

0.2

6

Total

50.2

1506

 

 

 

Soaker

Formula (g)

Recipe (g)

Golden Linseed

10

300

Water

30

900

Total

40

1200

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Dough

Formula (g)

Recipe (g)

Barm

50

1506

Soaker

40

1200

White Flour

50

1500

Brown Flour

25

750

Beer

20

600

Salt

1.8

54

Fresh Yeast

2

60

Total

189.0

5670

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

Bread Method

 

Firstly the... Over Night soaker-

 

Weigh out 300g of golden linseed into a bowl and add the 500g of cold tap water.

Leave over night in a cool place for approx. 7 hours.

Then the...Over Night Barm-Beer ferment-

Weigh into a large bowl 750g of strong white bread flour- preferably Canadian and rub in the 6 g of fresh yeast gently with your fingers. Then pour in 750 of dark Allendale stout. Just combine the mixture to a paste then cover bowl to make airtight. Leave this in a reasonably cool place over night. 6-7 hours.

 On the Day the...Final Dough-

 

Weigh out dry ingredient first, the white and brown flour into a large mixing bowl. Rub in the fresh yeast gently with fingers and pour the salt to one side of the bowl. Weigh out the overnight soaker and add this to the bowl then weigh out the barm and add this also. Weigh out and add the stout. Attach to a mixing machine then attach the dough hook. Place on number 1 or lowest speed for 10 to 15 minutes. Periodically scrape excess dough from the sides and bottom of the bowl. After 10 minutes of mixing take a piece of dough and check the elasticity-the window pane method. If the dough doesn't stretch out enough place back onto a slow mix.

When mixed, take the dough out of the mixing bowl. Lightly grease another large bowl with shortening/butter. Very gently knead the dough in the bowl, cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place for ten minutes. Take bread dough out of bowl and weigh into 1kg pieces, then shape each piece into ovals/ balls. Sprinkle a dusting of semolina and brown flour into large bread proving baskets and transfer each loaf smooth side up into each basket. Then place baskets into a prover for about an hour until the bread has doubled and is not over proved.

Transfer each loaf onto a peel finely dusted with semolina and slash each top with a lame as desired.

Pre-heat the baker's oven to 210°C. Place in the oven for up to 25 minutes and pump the oven with steam straight after the bread is on the oven sole. Open the dampers, and bake a further 5 minutes.   Cool on wires. [Photos Below]

..

PIC_2617PIC_2618

Nettle Bread [Photos Above]

 

Makes a large loaf of 1000grams and a smaller loaf of 450grams.

Pre ferment -  Wheat Levain

Flour 284g

Water 170g

Total 454g

 

Final Dough

Flour - 568g

Salt - 16g

Yeast - 24g

Preferment - 454g

Water - 367g @ 20 degrees centigrade

Roasted cumin seeds - 3g

Coriander seeds - 4g

Dried nettle - 4g

 

Oven dry the nettles

Roast off the cumin

Crush the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar

Boil 200g of water with a bunch of nettles and allow to cool

Place the flour, salt, preferment and yeast in a mixing bowl and the 200g of nettled water and 167g of cool water combined with a temperature of 20 degrees.

Place the mixing bowl on the machine and mix on speed 1 for 3 minutes

Then mix on speed 3 for 6 minutes until fully mixed

Mould the dough and rest for 5 minutes

Divide the dough into one small 450g loaf and a 950g loaf and shape

Place into baskets and place in the prover

Prove for 45 minutes to an hour at 35 degrees

Bake @ 220 degrees in a deck oven with the top to be set at 6 and bottom at 5 for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven place on wires and allow to cool.

To be fully enjoyed serve with cheese or soup.

PIC_2619PIC_2629

PIC_2637

 

 

I made the following breads at home over the half term holiday:

Pain Siègle

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Rye Sour

 

 

Dark Rye Flour

10

169

Water

16.6

281

TOTAL

26.6

450

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Rye Sour [from above]

26.6

450

Strong White Flour

90

1521

Water

51.4

868

Salt

1.8

30

TOTAL

169.8

2869

Pre-fermented Flour: 10%.   Overall Hydration: 68%

Method:

  • Build/elaborate the leaven and ferment overnight for 18 hours prior to use
  • Combine all the final dough ingredients, except the salt, and "autolyse" for one hour.
  • Add the salt and mix the dough for 15 minutes to fully develop.
  • Bulk ferment for 3 hours with 2 S&F...hourly intervals
  • Scale and divide into 2 equal sized pieces.
  • Mould round and place upside down in prepared bannetons.
  • Final proof is 1½ to 2 hours. Cut the top of the loaf just prior to baking.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 250°C. Bake with steam for 20 minutes. Drop the heat to 210 °C and bake a further 35 minutes.
  • Cool on wires
  • DSCF1419DSCF1426

 

White Levain with a Seed Soaker 

This was a cold soaker, using sesame and blue poppy seeds with no salt addition.   These were soaked for six hours prior to dough mixing.   I utilised an overnight retard for this bread.

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Levain

 

 

Strong White Flour

33.3

480

Water

20

288

TOTAL

53.3

768

 

 

 

2. Soaker

 

 

Sesame Seeds

5.2

75

Blue Poppy Seeds

5.2

75

Water

31.2

450

TOTAL

41.6

600

 

 

 

3. Final Dough

 

 

Levain [from above]

53.3

768

Soaker [from above]

41.6

600

Strong White Flour

66.7

960

Water

20.8

300

Salt

1.9

28

TOTAL

184.3

2656

Overall Hydration

72%

 

Pre-fermented Flour

33.3%

 

Method:

  • Elaborate the levain and make the soaker 6 hours in advance
  • Mix all the ingredients to form the final dough, and fully develop this for 15 minutes.
  • Bulk prove ambient for 2 hours.
  • Retard overnight at 3°C in the fridge, covered.
  • Scale and divide in 2. Mould round, top with a mix of the seeds and prove in bannetons.
  • Bake profile is as Pain Siègle. Cool on wires.
  • DSCF1436DSCF1441

 

Best wishes to you all

Andy

ananda's picture
ananda

 

These are 2 batches of bread made in College on Thursday of this week.   I have 6 students entered for a bread competition for Young Baker of the Year, with Warburtons.   Their entries are as follows:

  • Nettle Bread - has some elements in common with the formula posted by Karin a few months back. See: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18284/vinschgauer-bread-unique-alpine-flavor Includes cumin and coriander spices, plus a wheat levain as a pre-ferment
  • Raisin, Shallot and Hazelnut Bread - based on an idea from Richard Bertinet, this bread has a Biga Naturale, appropriate since the baker concerned is originally from Sicily. The shallots are reduced in oil, with a touch of balsamic vinegar and moscavado sugar and the hazelnuts are toasted and nibbed. Flour blend is 25% wholewheat and 75% strong white in total.
  • Pumpernickel - a determined effort to perfect a large Pumpernickel loaf [Black Bread] steamed for 16 hours in a Pullman Pan.
  • Seaweed and Lemon Bread - thanks Daisy_A, Jan Hedh and Richard Bertinet. The seaweed is wakame, which is soaked overnight. The dough has a pre-ferment with 75% hydration and white flour. The final dough has semolina and wholewheat flour added at 12.5% each, rest of flour total 75%, including the pre-ferment. Lemon zest to bring out the seaweed flavour. The wakame is cut into the mixed dough using a Scotch Cutter; quite a delicate operation. The loaf is shaped as a half lemon, and dusted with semolina to bring out an authentic colour
  • "Breakfast Bread" - using a wheat levain, the final dough contains fruit and nut museli, chopped dates and honey
  • Flaxseed Bread raised with a Barm - the barm is made from a dry stout from a local traditional brewer. The base for the recipe is Hamelman's flaxseed bread, and Dan Lepard's Barm bread praised by Shiao-Ping and Daisy_A.

 

I fervently hope all six students will go far.   The regional heat is on 15th October; prize being £250.   A National Bake-off is held in November, with a winning prize of £1000 plus an "apprenticeship" with Warburtons.

A rarity for me; 3 students in the bakery to practice; no other teaching commitments!   So I did some baking experiments of my own at the same time.   Here they are:

 

 

1.    Pain de Campagne [Wheat Levain]

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Wheat Leaven

 

 

Carrs Special CC White Flour

31.3

940

Water

18.7

561

TOTAL

50

1501

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Leaven [from above]

50

1501

Carrs Special CC White Flour

60

1800

Shipton Dark Rye Flour

8.7

261

Salt

1.8

54

Water

46.7

1400

TOTAL

167.2

5016

 

 

Overall Hydration: 65.4%.   Pre-fermented Flour 31.3%

Method:

  • The leaven has been built over 2 days from stock, as it was needed for student production as well.
  • The dough was mixed in a 10 quart Spiral Mixer for 15 minutes. The machine has single speed and bowl direction, and the mix is wonderfully gentle. I find it important to add the water first, then flour and salt, and finally the leaven. I was very happy with the mixed dough quality; dough temperature 26°C.
  • Bulk proof, covered, ambient for 1 hour
  • Scale 5 loaves at 1kg each, and mould round. Place upside down in prepared bannetons. At this point I will confess that my bannetons often seem to stick, and I have to learn to use a combination of coarse semolina and dark rye flour to prevent this from happening. In the past I've used different flours for dust to differentiate loaves produced. I've now seen too many loaves spoilt to continue this practice!
  • I proved these loaves for around 3 to 3½ hours in a prover with gentle humidity, at around 30°C.

After tipping onto the peel and cutting, they were baked in my lovely deck oven on the sole, using steam.   Top heat was set at 6.5 and the bottom at 5, with the temperature pre-heated to a solid 240°C.   After 15 minutes I turned the heat down to 220°C.   I opened the damper after a further 10 minutes and baked out a further 5 minutes before unloading and cooling on wires.

2.   Pain de Siègle [Rye Sourdough]

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Rye Sourdough

 

 

Shipton Dark Rye Flour

20

600

Water

20

600

TOTAL

40

1200

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Rye Sourdough [from above]

40

1200

Carrs Special CC White Flour

80

2400

Salt

1.8

54

Water

46.7

1400

TOTAL

168.5

5054

Overall Hydration: 66.7%.   Pre-fermented Flour: 20%

Method:

  • Stock sourdough had been built over 2 days as for the first dough
  • The dough was mixed in a 10 quart upright mixer. Mixing times were 2 minutes on first speed and 6 minutes on third speed. Final dough temperature was 26°C.
  • Bulk proof as above, 1 hour.
  • Scale 3 loaves at 1kg and 4 at just over 500g. Mould round and place upside down in bannetons prepared with dark rye flour.
  • Proof as above for just under 3 hours.
  • Bake to the same profile given above.

 

Notes:

  • The rye sourdough ferments quicker, even though the amount of pre-fermented flour is lower. The stiff levain is so much mellower than the rye. All down to ash content and water levels, methinks!
  • These are unashamedly commercial recipes. I am so pleased with the end resulting breads. Great feedback from all the staff too; not always forthcoming from those with such expertise over various areas of food and hospitality!

Photos below: 

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DSCF1417

All good wishes

Andy

ananda's picture
ananda

 

The lecturing schedule kicks off in earnest tomorrow, following Induction sessions this past 2 weeks to enable our students to find their way and settle in at the College.

I noted the freezer stock of bread at home, piled high before we went to Crete, was virtually empty, so set up to do some baking over this weekend.

I borrowed "Advanced Bread and Pastry" by Michel Suas from the College Library as essential reading for the Summer, in order to plan to run a Level 3 ["A" Level] course this year.   It seems to be a ready-made textbook, especially given that Cengage [publishers] offer excellent online support for both instructor and student.

The breads I made just before our holiday utilised the Mountain Bread recipe, moreorless straight from the book.   I really enjoy making a couronne shape; these were lovely, with a formula very similar to the Pain de Siègle recipe I use in class with students, but omitting the fresh yeast in the final dough.

DSCF1350

DSCF1348

I also made some of the "Wonderful White", which I posted on at the back end of last year, when I first happened upon TFL.   You can read about that here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15974/sour-dough-leaven-refreshment-and-ash-content#comment-102650

Yesterday [Saturday] I mixed 2kg of paste to make Horst Bandel's Black Pumpernickel in a Pullman Pan.   These are the links to the formulae: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17254/horst-bandel039s-balck-pumpernickel and http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17931/horst-bandel039s-black-pumpernickel

Except that I used strong white flour in the final paste this time, so the formula is as Hamelman recommends, with the additional controls on water I added as constant.   This was then baked very slowly overnight in my regular electric [fan] oven, at 100°C, with a small tray of water for a steady steam supply.   I did share this earlier with Nico to ascertain a bake profile.   I still like to steam these loaves, and intend to revert to this method in the ovens at College [Pumpernickel now on the student syllabus!].   The end result was very acceptable, with Alison asking for more at lunchtime, when I really should have been insisting on waiting a couple more days before slicing.   We just love rye in this house!   Photos:

DSCF1362

 

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DSCF1352

And I made 3 x 1200+g loaves of Pain de Campagne.   The leaven had one feed from stock beforehand as refreshment and to re-invigorate activity.

New journey for me this time round: overnight retarding!   I've done this before commercially and whilst running bread courses, but not at home.   It worked well, I did 3 variations, and think the last loaf gave the best results.   Loaf 1 had only 1½ hours final proof [too tight in the baking]; loaf 2, radically, I did not re-mould [good, but a bit flat and rustic] and loaf 3 instructions given below, with photographs attached.

Great finished bread taste and texture too!

This is the formula:

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

  • 1. Leaven

 

 

Levain

Flour: 12.4. Water: 7.5. TOTAL 19.9

Flour: 280. Water: 168. TOTAL 448

Strong White Flour

18.65

420

Water

11.2

252

TOTAL

49.7

1120

 

 

 

  • 2. Rye Sour [from stock]

 

 

Dark Rye Flour

2.15

50

Water

2.15

50

TOTAL

4.3

100

 

 

 

  • 3. Final Dough

 

 

Leaven [from above]

49.7

1120

Rye Sour [from above]

4.3

100

Strong White Flour

63.8

1435

Dark Rye Flour

3

65

Salt

1.78

40

Water

47.1

1060

TOTAL

169.68

3820

Total Pre-fermented flour

33%

 

Total Hydration

68%

 

Bake Profile: Steam, pre-heated oven [250°C], baking on hot bricks, drop heat to 200°C after 20 minutes.   Total Bake Time of 40 - 45 minutes

Method:

  • Autolyse flours, water and rye sour for 1 hour.
  • Add leaven to form a dough and mix by hand for 5 minutes.
  • Add salt and mix a further 5 minutes. Rest briefly
  • Complete mixing cycle, using "slapping" techniques.
  • Bulk ferment for 2½ hours; S&F every 45 minutes.
  • Scale and divide into 3 equal pieces, and mould each round.
  • Line plastic bowls with a little olive oil and use these to store dough pieces overnight, covered, in the fridge [mine was running <4°C].
  • Take each dough piece out as required and re-mould.
  • Drop upside down into a prepared banneton and set to prove for 2 hours, covered with heavy plastic
  • Turn out the dough piece onto a pre-heated metal sheet, cut as desired and bake to the profile shown above.

 

DSCF1356

DSCF1357

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Best wishes to you all

Andy

ananda's picture
ananda

 

ANOTOLIKA [The Beach House]

9 nights of our Summer Holiday in August 2010

 

We drove a short distance along the South Coast of Crete from Chora Sfakion to Plakias, in our hire car; a VW Polo which we nicknamed "the Hot Box", on account of the air conditioning system being wholly inadequate to cope with temperatures hitting 40°C.   A further few km on, around a hilly area, and we thought we were nearly there....think again!   We hit one of those dreadful tracks which used to pass for a road, now considered so rough that the road signs have all been blanked out.   Unfortunately, we had no choice but to take it anyway.   Nearly an hour later, having travelled all of 6km, we had finished bouncing along the dusty road, avoiding potholes and rocks; we found our little idyll, and home for the next 9 nights.

The garden was shaded with palm, fig and orange trees.   There was a pergola in the middle of the garden with table and chairs, and a hammock beneath.   4 sun beds were laid out for us to manoeuvre around to maximum effect.   On the side of the house was a "cooking station", consisting of charcoal barbeque, and...wood-fired oven!   On the front of the house was a sheltered terrace with space to enjoy an evening meal, and a couple of laid-back ginger tabby cats, happy to sleep throughout the day, sandwiched around the 2 meals we were able to offer, as the owner had left goodly cat food supplies!

 

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Inside the house was fine, although the mattress on the bed was rock solid compared to the usual comfort we enjoy.   We had temporary supplies to keep us in food for a couple of days, including a bag of flour, and a levain in need of a feeding frenzy.   It was Sunday afternoon, and I planned to bake Monday late morning.   We had a brief evening stroll to get our bearings, and gathered a load of wood ready to fire the oven.

I awoke early, so got up and made dough using the leaven I had brought with me from the UK, and fed 3 times the day before.   Kicking, but cool from a few hours in a lovely cold refrigerator!   What to make??

Well, the flour was carefully chosen, as Alison can read Greek ok.   The text on the bag revealed the flour to be of Cretan origin, although I figured it was a mainstream flour, rather than specialist.   A protein content of 11.2% [see label], made me confident I could make reasonably good bread with it, although the example recipe given on the bag suggested water should be added at 57%, which I thought was a trifle low for what I wanted to make.   But, I had no scale!   Given the detailed formula I usually prepare for baking, the guesswork I was about to indulge in seemed a little daunting.   My estimate for total hydration used in the formula would be just over 70% [total guess]. 

DSCF1199DSCF1200DSCF1195DSCF1201

The dough was pretty wet, but I knew it would work up well.   Sure enough, after 15 minutes "air-kneading" [© Andrew Whitley], the dough was soft, but silky and wonderfully extensible.   I placed it on a kitchen surface brushed with olive oil, and covered it over.   So, better get that oven fired whilst giving the dough a sequence of "stretch and fold", and preparing garlic for a Roasted Garlic Foccacia.

DSCF1206DSCF1207

DSCF1213DSCF1214

DSCF1215DSCF1225 

I also decided to make a Ciabatta loaf, and a loaf with a swirl of Black Olive Paste through the middle.   The dough proved relatively rapidly compared to what I am used to in the UK.   Still, the wood I had gathered was tinder dry, so burnt straightaway...and HOT!   The main problem proved to be getting the oven to drop and settle ready to bake on.   The "Olive Swirl" bread was now in need of baking.   A quick scuffle of the oven, and I set the loaf in the oven, resting on the aluminium foil strip used for proving.   I covered the loaf with a large roasting pan lid, put the door in place on the oven, and left for 10 minutes to prepare to bake the other 2 loaves.   I then finished the first loaf without the lid, and it took colour beautifully.   Baking the other 2 loaves was very simple, and testament to good dough quality, guaranteed through careful product choice to match up to assumed flour characteristics.   This worked well, and we had a few days' supply of lovely breads for our lunches under the pergola.

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On Tuesday we went off in the "Hot Box" to the nearest town, Spilli, some 25km over the mountains.   We came back with lovely fresh fruit and vegetables and other supplies, including Ouzo, and another bag of the very same flour!   Over the entire time we spent at Anotlika, we didn't eat out once.   Yet we really did feast on fine food...which I cooked without wasting anything.   We lived quite simply, in many ways, and yet it seemed to cost so much money.   The £ to € conversion seemed always to work against us, and clearly the struggling Greek economy has hit food prices badly.   Still, we were on holiday, and loving every minute of it.

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Back at the Beach House, we went swimming in a sea which became increasingly rough.   The weather stayed very hot throughout, so an afternoon swim became an essential feature of my day.   The beach was literally the other side of the road running past our house, so the trip into the sea was all of 25 metres.

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The next bake was scheduled for Thursday 5th August.  I made a large boule, and also made a sweet dough which I flavoured with honey and cinnamon, and used both egg and olive oil to improve and condition the dough.   Last year during our stay at Finnix, we had been given bread at the local hotels and restaurants, which had been made to celebrate the Orthodox Festival "Metamorphosis".   The bread was made in the style of large boules, but it was sweet.   This year, the Priests had been much in evidence at the Old Phoenix Hotel where we stayed, but the actual festival fell on the 5th August.   So, my take on this bread did coincide with the festival itself; just for fun, neither of us have connections to the Orthodox religion.

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Alison pronounced the breads to be as good as any of my breads she had eaten.   Of course, the context is of great importance too; being able to eat fresh bread just cooled, but straight from a wood-fired oven.   The cracks in the crust of the boule betray exactly how lovely the crust was on this bread.   Alison usually enjoys the heavy crumb texture of high rye doughs; feasting on this type of crusty bread at its peak was a novel experience, and she fully appreciated how special it was too!

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After that I set 2 pans of vegetables to roast.   The pictures say it all.   I sun dried aubergines, peppers and courgettes before roasting them slowly in the falling oven for 3 hours.   Wow, these vegetables sustained several meals during the rest of the holiday!

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We were shaken awake early on Sunday morning [8th August], by an earthquake out to sea, but very nearby at Gavdos.   The tremor was way below sea level but measuring 4.8, so we felt an obvious tremor beneath the house, which led to us rising from our bed somewhat earlier than originally planned.   See: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2010/08/09/crete-and-rhodes-islands-shaken-by-earthquakes/

The holiday passed as we wanted it to.   Nothing had been planned in a way which interrupted our simple daily routines.   That had been the original purpose for going to this place.   Both of us had worked ourselves close to the limit by late July, and a break of this sort was essential for us to effect battery re-charge.

I did set about reading Stephen Kaplan's book on the renaissance of good bread in France.   It's a weighty tome, and I found I needed to take down a lot of notes as I read.   However, it's enjoyable to read, and the man's clearly passionate in a way I feel echoes my own approach to teaching.   There are some great references in the book too; I wish my French was better than it is!

Well, we really did not want to come home...of course.   The reality check kicked in on the last day, when we had to drive back to Heraklion and submit to the horrors of passing through a wholly inadequate airport as a holidaymaker amongst many, many others.   Three flights back to the UK, all within half an hour of each other, all checking in the same desk....hell on earth.   The flight arrived back in Newcastle at 10pm, and less than 12 hours later, I was back at work, excitedly putting in place the fabric which will become a Level 3 ["A" Level equivalent] Bakery course to sit alongside the other programmes I already run.   Quite a coup, but I'd have liked a longer holiday, of course!

With regard to Greek bread, I had only limited opportunity to explore the local offerings.   We stayed in a lovely boutique hotel in Heraklion on the first night.   The breakfast offer the next morning seemed outrageously extravagant to Alison and me!   We enjoyed muesli and lovely stewed prunes with yoghurt and honey, then had scrambled eggs with some rye bread we could slice off.   Everybody else seemed to be tucking into the fluffy white enriched breads and rolls to support vast amounts of bacon and sausage.   This frequently ran to seconds, before a final return to gather up indulgent Greek pastries.   The rye breads were ok, but I'm sure they were made from a "pre-mix", straight out of a bag with a Bakels, or IREKS name attached; just add water and yeast.   The bread at the Old Phoenix Hotel is always good; it comes from nearby Chora Sfakion, and is made as large white boules of clearly beautifully fermented bread.   We had a visit to Rethimnon on the way back but had no time to investigate the one bakery recommended in the Rough Guides for its rye breads.   The restaurant where we enjoyed a gorgeous lunch did put out very simple, but tasty homemade white and wholemeal slices of bread with a tapenade, and a beetroot and yoghurt dip...everything clearly homemade: yummy!

Best wishes to all

Andy

ananda's picture
ananda

 

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

On Tuesday lunchtime we'll be boarding an aeroplane at Newcastle Airport to take us to Crete for a long-awaited, and hugely necessary fortnight together on holiday in the heat.   For much of this time we'll be relaxing in a small seaside villa on the South Coast, away from pretty much everything.   I'm told there's a dusty road with a taverna at the end of it....about 3 miles away.   Otherwise; nothing, except 2 other villas above ours, and a lot of beach and sea.   Oh! I almost forgot to say; there is a barbeque and wood-fired oven on the veranda just to the side of the house, and a pergola nearby, to sit under and drink wine and eat tasty food, staring out to sea.

So, I've been working out how to successfully transport a small portion of my levain to use for baking purposes...afterall, it's going to be mighty tricky getting fresh yeast, and I've yet to source good dry yeast over here which actually works for me.   I know that's silly, but there is little point investing in it without faith.

First call, therefore, was to strengthen my leaven up with prodigious feeding sessions.   Thought I might as well do this for both rye and wheat, even though the wheat specimen is the only one bound for a holiday.   The result is that I end up with over 2kg of wheat leaven and 600+g of rye sour.   "Better do some baking, I think!"   At least we'll come back to a freezer stocked with plenty of bread, and any family coming to stay at our place, in the meantime, for a brief spell in the country can enjoy lovely bread too!

So I devised a formula for mixed leaven bread which I thought would be easy to make, and tolerant to an overnight retard, on account of making the dough in the early evening.   This is the formula:

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

  • 1. Wheat Levain

 

 

Strong White Flour

20

900

Water

12

540

TOTAL

32

1440

  • 2. Rye Sour

 

 

Dark Rye Flour

5

225

Water

8.3

375

TOTAL

13.3

600

  • 3. Final Dough

 

 

Wheat Levain [from above]

32

1440

Rye Sour [from above]

13.3

600

T65 Farine de Tradition

20

900

Strong White Flour

50

2250

Strong Wholemeal Flour

3

135

Dark Rye

2

90

Salt

1.8

80

Water

45.6

2050

TOTAL

167.7

7545

Pre-fermented flour: 25%; Overall Hydration: 65.9%

To use up all the rye sour, except for the small amount needed for regeneration, I calculated I should multiply the formula by a factor of 45.   This is what I did, and you may have noticed the rather scary amount of dough I was therefore challenging myself to make....at home, with no mixer, and no bowls anywhere near capable of holding the amounts of flour and water called for here.

So, it's back to the traditional way of mixing dough sufficient to provide bread for the whole household, by piling the flour onto the bench, making a well in the middle, and carefully incorporating the liquid to form the dough.   What I actually did, was to mix the liquid rye sour with the rest of the dough water.   I then piled all the flour needed for the final dough onto the bench and incorporated liquids as described for a short autolyse of half an hour.   From there I added the salt and the wheat levain, working up a reasonably soft, but strong dough.   The leaven was in perfect condition, and it was a treat just to smell the fresh and subtle aroma of this dough.   Good job too, as I reckon it took the best part of an hour's hard graft to actually assemble the fully crafted dough from flour, salt, water and the 2 levains.   I scaled off 2 pieces immediately, and moulded them, depositing them straight into bread pans.   The remaining 5½kg was divided into 2 equal sized pieces and stored in plastic bowls, covered with oiled cling film, overnight in the chiller.   On top of all this, I STILL had an excess of wheat leaven.   So, I made some ciabatta dough too, somewhat disastrously, as it turned out; another story.

It's now nearly 4pm, and I finished baking just after 3pm.   I started about 9 this morning, although I was up at 7 to turn the oven on and get everything else ready.   I've ended up with 7 large loaves; 3 made in bread pans, and 4 fermented in bannetons and baked directly on the bricks in my home oven [ordinary electric fan oven].....and 2 slabs of foccacia.   We had a good few courgettes in, so I sweated them down in olive oil flavoured with garlic, then added a few sun-dried tomatoes.   The neighbours had one slab, plus a loaf, as a "thank you" for painting our shed door at the same time they painted theirs too.   We ate the other one [or most of it, anyway] for lunch.   Foccacia worked just fine, but had a big learning curve today.   Making ciabatta with wheat levain only, and then retarding it overnight produced very tasty dough, but the quality was abysmal.   I had a small amount of dough leftover, and tried to bake it off as ciabatta, by pouring it onto a hot tray to bake off directly on the hot bricks.   Only one place that's going: the bin [trash]!

Still, I now have a stack of lovely tasty bread [6 large loaves], and wheat levain which I can turn into something which will stand the stresses and strains of a few days of intense heat before I can revive it ready for another baking session; this time in our own little paradise, far away from the norms of the everyday, and computers too!

Bye for now

Andy

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