dabrownman's blog

Not long ago Varda did a series of posts on her quest to recreate a non SD Pratzel’s Tzitzel.  She had the good fortune of talking to the original owners about the formula for this bread and gained some good insight.  I though I would do a SD one just to be different and I prefer SD any day, any way to yeasted breads

Varda has been modifying her formula as time goes on too as I found out when I messaged her about her recipe.  I think the key to the bread is what flours are used.  Since we can’t get the exact flour, even if we knew what it was exactly, I just sort of tried to home mill a mix of flours that I though might be fairly close and add in some WWW to balance things out.

The formula has the equivalent of 100% whole grains when including the malts, 40% rye and 40% wheat with the flours being home milled and sifted to 75% extraction and 20% additional being KA white whole wheat.  We used 4 times more aromatic seeds, mainly caraway but some anise, coriander and fennel too.

40 g of the sifted out bran and endosperm were used for the 3rd stage feeding of the levain build which make up the whole grain equivalent of 170 g when adding 10g g of malt to the whole grain - if my math is right.

Varda’s latest recipe has 41% un-sifted home milled rye mixed with KA’s Sir Lancelot at 80 % hydration with .8% caraway seds.  She says that Taitzel has a lower hydration than one would suspect.  I don’t have any high gluten wheat flour so I made my own by using the milled and KAWW wheat and adding 15 g of VWG to get the protein up a bit.  I didn’t bother to calculate what it might have been protein wise.

Varda used 80% hydration for her Tzitzel but I upped it to 85%.   The 80% home milled flours are very thirsty and at 80% hydration the dough was too stiff to do any decent slapping and folding.  Plus the extra 25 g that was added after the autolyse, was used for a 2nd hydration and to get the pink Himalayan sea salt  incorporated – so hold back some liquid to do this.

The stiff (66% hydration) rye and whole wheat starter had been in the fridge for a week.  We used 15 g or it for the levain.   The first 2 feeding were on 3 hour intervals and it doubled after the 2nd feeding   We made the last feeding of bran and 1 hour later it had risen 25% when we refrigerated it for 24 hours to improve the sour.

We want a higher than normal amount of SD levain, 20% this time, since it is the acid that keeps the rye enzymes in check and when doing a long retard with rye  it pays to up the levain and don’t let the dough sit out on the counter too long.

When we retrieved the levain from the fridge to let it warm up and finish the doubling for the 3rd stage, we started the autolyse, which included everything else but the aromatic seeds, the salt and the held back 25 g of water.   We did sprinkle the salt on top of the autolyse dough ball though.

Even leftover Pad Thai looks pretty good.

Normally we would do at least a 4 hour autolyse and prefer 8 if using whole grains but, since the whole portion of the grains was in the levain we did a 2 1/2 hour autolyse which coincided with the doubling of the levain.

After squishing the held back water through the fingers in the bowl to get it incorporated and spread the salt around, we did 10 minutes of slap and folds.  After 7 minutes the dough was no longer sticking to the counter and by 10 minutes the dough was smooth and elastic. After a 15 minute rest, we incorporated the aromatic seeds with the first of (3) sets of S&F’s where one set is 4 stretches 4 folds for the compass points.

We let the dough rest 15 minutes between the S&F’s and after the last one before shaping into a batard and pulling it tight.  We rolled the batard in corn meal that was dusted on the counter as it was plenty sticky enough.  We lined a basket with a rice flour impregnated towel and then dusted the bottom with a little more core meal.

The batard was dropped into the basket, placed into a trash can liner and immediately retarded it in the fridge for 18 hours - a little longer than normal.  We planned on letting the dough rise and proof completely in the fridge and then bake it in the mini oven still cool about 45 minutes out the fridge in the morning.

This cool dough made the scoring easier and kept it from spreading too much like it would want to do at room temperature.  This plan seemed to work OK as the dough proofed well in the fridge and the mini oven only takes 15 minutes to get to 500 F.

We micro waved (2) of Sylvia’s steaming Pyrex cups containing dish rags and half full of water until, they were boiling.   The bread was un-molded diagonally on the mini oven’s vented, broiler pan top that had been covered with parchment paper.

The batard slashed and the steaming cups were placed on the opposite open corners of the broiler pan the whole thing was slid into the mini.  A 1/2 C of water was tossed into the bottom of the oven as the door was closed to give the bread a nice burst of initial steam.

We turned the oven down to 475 F after 2mintes and allowed the batard to steam an additional 13minutes.  At the 15 minute mark, we removed the steaming cups returning the bread to the oven with a new temperature of 425 F, convection this time.

The baby apprentice is all ready for a nap under her blankey 

In 10 more minutes it was done and read 205 F on the inside.  Not the prettiest loaf of bread on the outside so we hope it tastes better than it looks.  Have to wait to slice it since it is a rye and they need time to redistribute the moisture.  Couldn't wait and wanted this bread for a lunch sandwich today.   It tastes like a very good deli rye.  i like the fact that it is over a third whole grain and has 40% rye instead of the usual 30%.  The sour really comes though too and the aromatic seeds are there in the background telling you this is a typical American S Rye.  The crumb is soft, most and open but the taste is it's calling card.

A nice breakfast of apple wood smoked bacon, a sliced peach and plum, a few strawberries, a couple pieces of this fine bread toasted with medium caramelized, minniola marmalade and a fine Denver omelet of mushrooms, red pepper and green onion with habanero jack cheese inside and Colby jack on the outside.

We like this bread very much but have to say we prefer the Prince George's Chacon that  a good stout for the liquid and rye sprouts.  Add in the whole grains and some aromatic seeds and the Royal Baby Chacon would be over the top.  This bread does not remind me of Prazel's Tzitzel though because it is a sourdough - and on a whole different level with the home milled flour.

Formula

King George V of England, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany were cousins. Their family squabbles created WW1 a war that could not be settled until the end of WW2.

Prince George was named after King George VI; the ‘Stuttering King’.  George VI was king during WW2 and was the father of Queen Elizabeth who took the throne in 1952, some 61 years ago.  She is the great, grand mother of the newly arrived Price George.

With all of this history, the design of the Prince George Chacon was not easy.  The rye flour and rye sprouts came from his German connections mainly but also from his Russian ones.  Even the Windsor name was adopted by King George the 5th in 1917 from the real German royalty of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

German sounding royalty in England during WW1 was not a good thing in their royal eyes.  The English Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout used for the liquid in the dough was first presented to the Royal Imperial Court of Russia where it was a favorite.  It was also very tasty and not poisonous.   I wanted to be the official taste taster like The Prince would have.  Just trying to keep the bake in line with the royal theme.

I forgot to put the aromatic seeds I had ready to go so I chalk that up to Queen Elizabeth’s old age so, no seeds is a tribute to her adn my wprthless apprentice who is supposed to reminds her master of these forgottenn things.  It’s not much of a tribute but better than some funnier ones that come to mind and associated with her ancient age on the throne.

The chacon is a favorite shaping technique we use for special occasions and celebrations.  The corn meal and wheat are from America the home of the baker, the new home of my German apprentice and the USA was once an unruly British colony.

The corn meal also represents the common heritage of the Prince’s mother and our wish that the Prince show a little true grit as he grows older.   The white wheat flour represents his royal father.   At one time, white flour was used in bread that was only bound for royals.   By all accounts, Will is the real deal.  The sprouts are, of course, for the Young Royal Sprout himself.

 This recipe was loosely adopted from a Tzitzel recipe that Varda was working on.  For all we know, if the Windsor Royal Family had kept their German names and married  some Jewish Royalty like I did somewhere along the way, this young one might well have been name Prince Tzitzel .  His nickname could have been Tizzy!

Breakfast on bake day.

If he had a sister, she could have been named Elizabeth for her grandmother; the Queen, and Lizzy for short.  Oh…… what could have been!  Sadly, we won’t be seeing Tizzy and Lizzy in the royal family tree any time soon.

A nice salad for dinner.

We started the rye sprouts 2 days before they were needed.  The rye sour levain was a 3 stage process of 3 hours each for the first 2 stages.   When the levain had risen 25% after the 3rd feeding we refrigerated it for 48 hours.  We pulled it out of the fridge to warm up and to finish doubling.

Bake day lunch

The flours were all home milled in the Krup’s coffee mill - the perfect size for the little guy and The Prince deserves the best flour we can manage from a small coffee mill.  We used a 75% extraction again for the rye and the whole wheat but cut down the hydration from 91% last time to 85% this time.  It was a much stiffer dough but Tzitizel supposedly is a less hydrated kind of rye than the normal.

Saturdays breakfast - the fuel to slice the Prince's Chacon

When we pulled the levain out of the fridge we also started the autolyse by mixing the stout into the flours which included everything except the levain, salt and sprouts.  We sprinkled the salt over the autolyse ball so that we wouldn’t forget it but it wouldn’t interfere with the autolyse very much.

After 3 hours later we mixed the autolyse with the levain and did 10 minutes of slap and folds to get the gluten developed.  We then let the dough rest for 15 minutes before doing (3) sets of S&F’s on 20minute intervals where we incorporated the sprouts on the first one.  One set consisted of 4 stretches from the cardinal direction points and 4 folds - that’s it.

After a 30 minute rest on the counter the chacon was shaped in the bottom of the basket after dusting it with corn meal ala Tzitzel.  The design used was one meant to resemble Franko’s flower that he posted earlier this week.  We started with a ball in the middle and then did 4 tapered petals radiating out from it and added 4 smaller balls to fill in between the petals at the base.

The reminder of the dough was air shaped into a huge bialy and laid on top of the design on the bottom of the basket.  Can’t wait to see what this design will look like after baking.  After 30 minutes on the counter in a used plastic bag, into the fridge it went for a 16 hour retard.

If it rises to 85% overnight in the cold we will bake it cold right out of the fridge.  If not, we will let it warm up and finish proofing on the counter before loading it into the mini oven, a perfect oven for the little tot.  We used 2 of Sylvia’s steaming cups as usual for steam and we preheated to 500 F

In this case the bread needed a little more time to proof on the counter before hitting the oven with a splash of water going onto the bottom of the oven for a burst of additional steam.  After 2 minutes we turned the temperature down to 450 F and continued the steam for a total of 15 minutes.

The steam was then removed and the temperature was turned down to 425 F, convection this time.  We rotated the bread 180 degrees every 5 minutes until the bread reached 205 f on the inside when it was removed to a cooling rack.

The chacon cracked and bloomed unevenly but nicely and almost where we expected.  The bread browned well and we baked it boldly. The corn meal made for a different crust effect too.  Have to wait for the crumb shots but with the rise and lower hydration, we would expect the crumb to be a little less open than our normal for a rye bread like this one using fresh ground flours.

How did that Chinese 5 spice pork get in there?

The crumb came out like we expected and not quite as open a we wanted but it was soft and moist.  It is the best deli rye style of bread we have managed to date.  Very tasty indeed.  Next time we will up the hydration back to the 90% level to open the crumb some more,. When we take away the beer, sprouts and cornmeal and add in so caraway we think it will be very close to the Tzitzel we remember, only better. because of the home ground 75% extraction flour that just can't be bought anywhere.  This is the way bread is supposed to taste - killer with smoked meats as we will soon find out.

Time to relax with a prickly pear margarita

Formula

After the two bakes of milling farro, whole wheat and spelt for whole grain breads that had sprouts, scalds and seeds in and on them where the milled flour was so beautiful to look at and great to work with at 90-100% hydration, we thought we would do something we rarely do…… make a white bread that had nothing in or on it!

My apprentice thinks I am nuts so there is nothing new there but she will need to be watched closely today as I try to finish up this bake without it being DaPumperized or something worse.  Since this wasn’t going to be a whole grain bread we were shooting for 80% hydration.

We have been extracting around 75% from the sieve after milling and then feeding the entire sifted out portion to the starter to make the levain.  Since we were not using the sifted out 25% portion for this bake the levain was fed the  75% white flour left over from the sift.

To say this was white flour is a little deceptive as it was a beautiful tan color with brown specks of bran.  It looked every bit like a rich whole wheat flour you might get from the grocery but with a more rich and deep tan color.  We milled it in the Krup’s coffee grinder as usual so the grind wasn’t as fine as other home mills might produce but the bread doesn’t seem to mind.

Our 80 g of 66% hydration stiff storage starter was down to 50 g after the last two Friday bakes so it was 3 weeks old in the cold.  After this bake we will feed it some of the 25% sifted bran and bits from this bake to get it back up to 80 g.

We did a 3 stage build as usual with our multigrain SD starter.  The first two stages were 3 hours and one hour for the 4th stage when it had risen 25% we refrigerated the levain for 24 hours to increase the sour.  When we took it out of the fridge the next day we allowed it to finish doubling - about 3 hours.

A nice breakfast with 2 slices of this bread and one from April 8th I pulled out of the freezer - just as good as when it went in!

The dough flour was autolysed without salt for 1 hour, less 10g of water, which was used to soften the Pink Himalayan sea salt.  After the autolyse and the levain came together we did 1 minute of slap and folds to mix and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

 Salad for dinner

We then squished the salt water through the dough with our fingers squeezing the dough.  We had started the 10 minutes of slap and folds at 75% hydration.  We thought this white bread would be like others we have made, but since the flour was fresh, we had to start adding the water.

 The peach crisp looks like the chorizo mac and cheese.

After a minute of slapping and folding we added 12g of water squishing the dough through the fingers and continued to do so every minute until the dough was a little on slack side.  We ended up at 91% hydration and the dough came together and the gluten developed well but it wasn’t at all stiff.

We then did 3 sets of S&F’s on 20 minute intervals to further develop the dough.  After the 3rd set, we let the dough rest and bulk ferment for 1 hour.  We then pre-shaped the dough as a batard, haven’t done one for awhile, and then did the final shape 15 minutes later.  Into our new 75 cent Goodwill basket, which was lined with a cloth and rice flour, it went.

It being summer, we only let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes before going into the 38 F fridge for 16 hours.  The next morning we fired up Big Old Betsy (BOB), since it was cold at 85 F and raining at 7 AM.  Plus, with the batard shape being 15” long it was 1” longer the max for the mini oven.

BOB was preheated to 500 F with 2 of Sylvia’s steaming pans with towels and a 12” CI skillet full of lava rocks, all half full of water, placed on the bottom rack when BOB hit 450F.  After reaching 500 F we let the oven bake away for 20 more minutes until the 2 stones, top and bottom, caught up.

We un-molded the bread with parchment covered peel, slashed it badly with a dull paring knife and onto the bottom stone it went for 15 minutes of steam.  I wanted to turn the oven down to 475 after 2 minutes but my apprentice forgot.  Thankfully BOB runs 25 F low so it baked with steam for 15 minutes.

The steam came out and we turned the oven down to 425 F, convection this time.  After 5 minutes we rotated the bread 180 degrees and in 5 more minutes it tested 205 F.  The bread was removed to the cooling rack after a total of 25 minutes in the oven.

promised my daughter Pho for lunch.- delish! One of our favorites is this chicken, pork an seafood Pho.

The bread did bloom as it spread some and it browned with some small blisters.  The mini would have done a much better job.  The 25 F too high a heat setting for 15 minutes didn’t help much.  We will have wait for the bread to cool to see how the crumb turned out.  I would expect it to be more open than the whole grain version with seeds and scald - you never know since they proofed the same volume.  As it turned out the crumb was slightly more open with some larger holes but nothing like we thought we night get.  It was glossy, soft and moist .  Had it plain, toasted and toasted with butter all were good like a fine whole wheat bread.  It is a good bread but not as good as the whole grain version with seeds, sprouts or scald.

Formula

In our quest for the ever better pizza dough, this time we went with cherry yeast water and a pinch of ADYfor the levain using durum semolina and AP for the flour.  It was built over two 4 hour stages and then mixed with the dough flour, that had been autolysed for 1 hour water, salt and water. 

We did 10 minutes of slap and folds before 3 sets of S&F's on 15 minute intervals before being retarded for 12 hours in the fridge.  We took it out of the fridge 4 hours before we wanted to bake with the 1st hour being outside in 105 F heat to make sure it warmed up fast as it only grew 30% in the fridge.

It did press out very nicely and we let it rest half way through.  Since it wasn't rolled paper tin like our normal crusts it ended up being a little thicker but since were baking this on the gas grill outside we thought a little thicker wouldn't hurt at all and we were right about that.

As is our usual, we docked the dough with a fork and brushed Mojo de Ajo over the entire crust to give it that garlic flavor. We didn't put fresh rosemary and sun dried tomato in the dough like we usually do either. 

We preheated the stone on the grill for 30 minutes before starting to form the first pizza crust and the grill was was at 500 F when we put the first crust on the stone to par bake for  3 minutes before it was removed to pile on the sauce and toppings.

After returning the pizza to the grill we baked them another 6 minutes rotating them on the stone after 3 minutes.  The first pizza, the one my wife built, was on the grill 2 minutes longer (8 after toppings were put on) since I figured that the stone wasn't as hot as it should be but she said the crust was too crispy for her even though the crust wasn't burned anywhere top or bottom.

The toppings included store bought mild Italian sausage and pepperoni for the meats, mozzarella and Parmesan for the cheeses, Fresh hatch green chilies and red peppers for heat and color, caramelized red onion and mushrooms, kalamata olives and green onion with fresh basil for garnish.  Not as home made or extensive as our usual but still a plentiful load when piled on.

This crust baked up very crispy with dark splotches on the bottom side.  There was not a millimeter worth of sag in the pieces once cut and not much when complete cooled.  The crunch when talking a bite was just testament to how well the crust baked up,  The semolina added a hint of sweetness with no sugar in the dough.  All in all, I give this crust an 8 out of 10,  Not the best tasting or as open and puffed up as some but it is the the best of the crispy by far.

If you like soft, thick crust,  folded over, floppy NY style pizza.... this crust is not for you.  It was stormy at he sun's setting last night and it rained hard for many hours after it set  We need the rain so badly, I will gladly give up a beautiful sun set for it.

 Formula

This bread is similar to the one we made two weeks ago that was whole wheat, spelt and farro.  We milled the grains and fed the 25% sifted portion to the starter to make the levain - last time we had a 78% extraction.  My starter doesn’t seem to mind these slim pickings.

We upped the hydration from 90% to 100% this time since the dough was working so well the last time.  We love the 75% extraction flour so much we will have to make plain bread out of this beautifully tanned flour mix to see what it tastes like as tan bread.  No unbleached store bought flour can compare to this beautiful flour.

Instead of making a boil out of the berries for this bread, my apprentice found, in the freezer, a gruel made up of various grains, beans and lintels that we had liked in the Ezekiel bread so, we used that instead for the chew in the crumb.

Since the boil was smaller than we wanted, we upped the toasted flax and sesame seed add in mix trying to compensate.   We lowered the salt, Toadies, red and white malts and the VWG a little bit too.   We panned this one up and put some sesame and poppy seeds on the outside to make it stand out.

We did our usual 3 stage levain build from out WW and Rye 66% hydration starter that had been refrigerated at least a week.  We continued our recent practice of a 24 hour levain retard after the 3rd feeding. 

We did a 3 hour autolyse of the dry ingredients and sprinkled the salt on top so we didn’t forget it.  12 minutes of slap and folds were the rule after the autolyse and the levain came together.   3 sets of stretch and folds were used  on 15 minute intervals where the gruel and the seeds were incorporated on the first one.

After starting out as a pretty wet glob, it did come together nicely but was still pretty wet.  Since it is summer, we didn’t let the dough ferment on the counter but put it directly into the fridge after placing it in an oiled bowl where it withstood the cold for 16 hours well and nearly doubled..

After letting it warm up on the counter for 45 minutes the next morning we shaped it while still cold into a loaf and pressing the white and brown poppy and sesame seeds into the top of the loaf before  panning it.   Anywhere around 1,000 g seems to be the right size for my large loaf pan that was sprayed with canola oil before the dough was loaded in.

After 2 3/4 hours of final proof on the counter in a used trash can liner, it had doubled and was ready for the mini oven that was preheated to 500 F.  We prepared 2 of Sylvia’s steaming cups, with dish rag inside and half full of water, in the microwave.

We like this set up with a streaming cup in back and one in front because it centers the tin right in the middle of the mini oven where the bread is not over the bottom coils nor under the top coils so  burning from being too close to the coils is reduced.

After 2 minutes under the heat we reduced the temperature to 450F and continued to steam for another 10 minutes.  We removed the steam and turned the oven down to 425 F - convection this time.  5 minutes into the dry bake the tin was rotated 180 degrees on the rack.

At the 10 minute dry baking mark we removed the bread form the tin, rotated it 180 degrees again and continued to bake right on the oven rack rotating every 5 minutes until the loaf hit 205 F on the inside when it was removed to the cooling rack -  a total of 23 minutes dry baking and 12 minutes of steam for 35 minutes total.

 It didn’t burn on the top but browned up nicely instead - something you have to watch closely in the mini oven.  The baked seeds on the surface made the kitchen smell terrific. The crumb turned out very open of a 100% whole grain bead.  It was very moist and soft .  The crust hasn't gone totally soft as it cooled either.  This might be the best tasting bread we have ever managed to bake.  This fine bread has a very deep wheat flavor and aroma.  The seeds really made the crumb and crust tasty.  This bread has a great tang that should get better tomorrow.  We cant stop eating this bread and have tasted this bread bread toasted with butter, plain and on a sandwich.  All were just terrific.   

Formula

when trying to post to my blog the site blows up and says a problem with internet explorer caused the page to close.  This has happened twice this morning.  The time I had selected all and copied it to my clip board but when I went to repaste it - it too was gone!    Very frustrating Floyd.   Now it blew up again immidiately after I posted this.

2013 The Fresh Loaf Dabrownman’s Blog

1/4/2013 - Panettone - The Last Bake of 2012

1/4/2013 - New Year's Day Pizza and Banana Bread Cupcakes

1/5/2012 - Hanseata’s Sausage Filled Puff Pastry with Cheese

1/7/2013 - Multi-grain Cream Cheese Sourdough with Multi-grain Scalded Soaker

1/11/2013 - Multi-grain Sourdough Chacon with Olives, Sun Dried Tomato, Garlic, Rosemary and 2 Cheeses

1/16/2013 - Multi-grain Sourdough with Sprouts, Scald, Seeds, Nuts and Prunes

1/17/2013 - Multigrain Yeast Water Bread with Sprouts, Scald, Seeds, Nuts and Prunes

1/23/2013 - White Whole Wheat with Combo YW, Poolish, SD Starter, Water Roux and Wheat Berry Scald

1/25/2013 - SD, YW, Biga, Rye, Spelt, Tang Zhong Bread with Scald, Seeds and Nuts

1/30/2013 - Practice YW Slash Bag

1/31/2013 - Origami Sourdough and Yeast Water Panettone

1/31/2013 - Another Batch of kjknits English Muffins – 12.5 % Whole Wheat

2/1/2013 - Fun With Short Crust and Puff Paste

2/1/2013 - Phil’s Savory Pumpkin and Feta Pie

2/2/2013 - A Born Loser Tells a Tale of Too Many Two’s and the Evil Twin

2/3/2013 - Superbowl Pizza – Great Pizza For a Lights Out, No longer a Blow Out Game

2/3/2013 - It's Been Exactly a Year Since Our First TFL Post - The Index

2/5/2013 - Multigrain SD/YW Brown Bread with Aromatic Seeds and Multi-Grain Scald

2/7/2013 - Big Combo Levain Whole Wheat Bread with Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds

2/11/2013 - Not So Pink Valentine Vienna Chocolate Rose

2/13/2013 - Sourdough Pink Valentine Hamburger Buns

2/15/2013 - Yeast Water Cinnamon Rolls

2/18/2013 - Multigrain SD Altamura - Not The Priest's Hat

2/21/2013 - Banana Bread

2/26/2013 - Old Dough VS Levain Multigrain SD With Bulgar and Flax Seed Scald

2/28/2013 - 100 % Whole Grain Rye and Spelt YW SD with Scald and Seeds - The Altus Test

3/5/2013 - SD YW Durum, Ricotta Bread with Pistachio Nuts, Pumpkin & Millet Seeds

3/13/2013 - SD YW multi-grain Bagels

3/17/2013 - Enchanted Irish Lemon Curd Fairy Cakes

3/18/2013 - St. Paddy’s Day Feast, Sort of Ballymaloe 100% WW Brown Bread and Irish Ruben’s

3/20/2013 - If Ballymaloe Baked Sourdough Brown Bread with WW Scald & Guinness in a DO

3/23/2013 - WW SD YW Multi-Grain Pumpernickel

3/25/2013 - 50% Whole Wheat Matzoh

3/30/2013 - Hot Cross Buns - 25 % Whole Grain

3/31/2013 - Poolish & Y W Chocolate Walnut Easter Babka with Streusel & Snockered Fruits

4/2/2013 - 100 Percent Whole Multi-Grain Aroma Bread with 2 Soakers & 11 Seeds

4/4/2013 - Whole Grain DaPumpernickel Aroma Bread

4/8/2013 - Two Way 75% White Bread - DaPumperized with Scald and Seeds

4/12/2013 - Italian Tang Zhong, Fig, Hazelnut & Ricotta Cheese Sourdough Chacons

4/14/2013 - Dinner for 2 from the Pots

4/19/2013 - Fig Water, Multigrain, Apricot, Walnut, Whole Wheat Sprouter

4/24/2013 - Tang Zhong, Ricotta, Scalded Multigrain with and without, Cranberries & Pecans

4/30/2013 - They Call Me Mellow Yellow

5/3/.2013 - I Got the No White Bread Blues

5/5/2013 - Happy Cinco de Mayo - Breakfast Lunch and Dinner

5/7/2013 - Lucy's Jewish Deli Rye - Take 1

5/15/2013 - Dark Russian Jewish Deli Rye with Porter, Onion, Sprouts and Aromatic Seeds.

5/16/2013 - Whole Wheat and Spelt Sourdough with Sprouts and Seeds

 5/17/2013 - Friday Pizza Night

5/21/2013 - SD and YW Emperor Franz Joseph Buns with Same Dough Challah

5/24/2013 - Multigrain SD with Japanese Black Rice, Seeds, Prunes & Dried Edamame

5/24/2013 - YW & Poolish Hot Dog Buns

5/30/2013 - Ezekiel's Chacon

6/6/2013 - Multigrain Sourdough with Scald, Seeds and 3 Nuts

6/10/2013 - White Hamburger Buns Turned Dark

6/14/2013 - Multigrain Combo Levain with Seeds & Sprouts

6/18/2013 - It all started out simple enough

6/21/2013 - Everyday Multigrain Sourdough with Scald

6/25/2013 - Yeast Water, Tang Zhong Hot Dog Buns

6/28/2013 - Buttermilk and Greek Yogurt Multigrain SD with Seeds and Sprouts

7/5/2013 - Snails with Tails

7/8/2013 - Yeast Water and ADY Hot Dog Buns

7/12/2013 - Multigrain Caramelized Pickled Veggies, Parmesan, Flax & Sesame Seeds, Barley Boil & Toadish Sourdough

2012 The Fresh Loaf Dabrownman’s Blog

2/3/2012 - My first bread after joining TFL - DSnyder's San Joaquin

2/3/2012 - Brachflachen Mehrere Vollkombrot

2/3/2012 - Loaded Pizza

2/3/2012 - Pierre Nury meets DSnyders SFSD

2/3/2012 - Putting the Rye in Pierre Nury's rustic Light Rye

2/3/2012 - Too Many Red Pears and Blueberries

2/3/2012 - Make your own Greek yogurt

2/4/2012 - Minneola / Apple Yeast Water Semolina Bread

2/4/2012 - Raspberry SD Pancakes

2/4/2012- 1930's Magnalite Wagner Ware Roaster Used As Cloche for Multi-grain SD Challah

2/5/2014 - Sourdough English Muffins

2/5/2012 - Southwest Hummus Anyone?

2/5/2012 - I have some miscellaneous baking and foodie

2/7/2012 - Brachflachen Mehrere Vollkombrot - Version 4

2/7/2012 - Baked off PiPs (Phil's) new post on 40% Sourdough Rye w/ Caraway today

2/9/2012 - The Chellos - that don't play music.

2/9/2012 - PiP's 40% Rye w/ Caraway Meets Hanseata's Seeds and a Restless dabrownman

2/9/2012 - Whole Wheat Crusted Apple Caramel Galette w/ fresh ginger and assorted bourbon dried fruits.

2/9/2012 - Blueberry SD pancakes this time,

2/10/2012 - How to Make Yogurt - 'So Your Muffins Taste Betta'

2/10/2012 - isand66's SD Avocado Bread Meets Its Sunflower Seeded Guacamole Heart

2/11/2012- I Confess My Deepest Darkest Baking Secret

2/13/2012 - isand66's Bacon, SD, Potato, Onion with Cheddar Bread Meets Pork Jowls, Aged White Cheddar, Potato Flakes and Caramelized Onion

2/13/2012 - Shiao-Ping's Orange Turmeric Pain au Levain with Yeast Water

2/14/2012 - Happy Valentine Cupcakes w/ Strawberry Hearts

2/16/2012 - PiPs Walnut and Sage 100% Whole Wheat.

2/17/2012 - Let's Make Some Fresh Cheese

2/17/2012 - Birthday Chocolate Crusted Orange Cheese Cake with Ganache, Truffles and Chocolate Shavings

2/18/2012 - David Snyders' SD Pugliesi Capriccioso With Some WW and Rye

2/22/2012 - teketeke's Japanese Yeast Water White Sandwich Bread - 'This Bread Is Not Your Slimy Old White Slice'

2/23/2012 - Pips Vollkornbrot - Nearly 100% Rye with A Tiny Bit of Spelt

2/24/2012 - teketeke Bread

2/27/2012 - Rustique Pain Comté de San Francisco

3/1/2012 - Chad Robertson's Country SD - Modified

3/1/2012 - I've been working on a new home made Gas Regeneration BBQ /Smoker

3/3/2012 - Miscellaneous stuff at the end of the week

3/5/2012 - Pain Rustique au Levain du Sud-ouest

3/6/2012 - Pain Rustique au Levain du Sud-ouest - Retarded

3/7/2012 - Yeast Water, Rye, WW, Garlic Chive, Onion, Cheese and Chorizo Bialy’s

3/12/2012 - Tartine Everyday Rustic Country Sourdough

3/14/2012 - St Paddy's Day Dutch Oven Sourdough - Tartine Method

3/14/2012 - Corned Beef and Cabbage - 2 ways - possibly more

3/15/2012 - Just look at the pictures my new old camera takes!!

3/17/2012 - Yeast Water, Glazed, Spiced, Walnut, Bourbon Fruit, Chocolate Chip, Almond Granola Streusel Polish Babka

3/23/2012 - Making Red Rye Malt

3/24/2012 - Gingered, Tres Apple, Almond, Vanilla Granola Crisp with Bourbon Dried Fruit

3/29/2012 - A Blend of Seigle d’Auvergne and Borodinski

3/29/2012 - Jam and Bread Crust and Crumb Color

3/31/2012 - Revising isand66's Bacon, Potato, Onion with Cheddar Sourdough Bread

4/1/2012 - Getting Ready for Tomorrow's Sweetbird Buckwheat Apple SD Bake with Buckwheat SD Pancakes Today

4/2/2012 - Dabrownman Butchers Sweetbird’s Lovely Buckwheat, Apple and Apple Cider, Buckwheat Groat Bread with Insane Thoughts and Deeds

4/9/2012 - Super-grain Challah w/ Whey Water, Sprouts, Potato, Lentil, Sunflower Seeds and 2 Starters - SD and YW

4/10/2012 - Retarded Super-Grain Challah

4/14/2012 - Lemon Curd and Cream Cheese Puff Paste

4/14/2012 - Italian Corner - Cellos with Squash Lasagna and David Snyder's Pulgliese Capriosso

4/15/2012 - 20% Rye and WWW Potato SD Baggies Meet the Same Made with YW

4/15/2012 - Weekday Springtime Yeast Water Breakfast at Dabrownman's

4/17/2012 - Apple and Pear, Bourbon Dried Fruit, Ginger with Apple Jam Cream Cheese Puff Sleds

4/19/2012 - Sweetbird's Apple, Buckwheat with Groats, Insanely Modified, Makes for a Fine Toast or Lunch

4/20/2012 - SD Hemp Bags - txfarmer method with Hanseata's Seeds

4/20/2012 - Tired Monday's - YW 20% Whole Grain Bag Lunch

4/30/2012 - 50% Multigrain SD W/ Rye Scald, Rye Sprouts, Borodinski Altus and Pepitas, Caraway and Flax Seeds

5/2/2012 - Yeast Water Fake Pretzel Rolls

5/4/2012 - With Cinco de Mayo Yesterday - Hope You Had a Happy One! Cinco Sunset, Moon Rise and Dinner

5/8/2012 - Multi-grain SD w/ Multi Sprouts 2 Nuts and Seeds Somewhere

5/9/2012 - Yeast Water Hamburger Buns with Cinnamon Roll Same Dough Kicker

5/11/2012 - 1 - Day Multi-Grain Bread, Soft White Wheat, Spelt, Scald and Seeded with SD and YW Combo Starter

5/12/2012 - Banana Bread Cake

5/14/2012 - Mothers Day YW Apple, Pecan Buckwheat Pancakes with a Nice Chicken and Brie Sandwich for Lunch

5/15/2012 - Altamura Shaped Semolina Multi-Grain SD with Seeds and Sprouts

5/16/2012 - Having the daughter

5/18/2012 - Semolina, Rye, WWW Ciabatta w/ Chia Seeds, Herbs and Sun Dried Tomato

5/20/2012 - Apple Strawberry Ginger Crisp, Teriyaki and Lunch for Two

5/22/2012 - txfarmer's Croissant and Dainish Converted over to SD and YW - 3 Ways with Chia Seeds

5/24/2012 - Pretzel Roll P&J and Grilled Chicken Lunch with Pickles

5/25/2012 - Hanseata’s Wild Rice SD w/ Yeast Water, Multi Seeds, Prunes, Beer and Sprouts

5/26/2012 - Brown Plate Special with a Little Green, Brown Ale and Brown Bread

5/28/2012 - T-Rex Meets Floyd’s Sweet Potato Bread & Brownman’s SD & YW Combo Starter

5/29/2012 - Bread Baskets - A Serious Illness Revealed

5/31/2012 - Recent Breads for Lunch, Last Jacaranda Bloom and Desert

6/1/2012 - 40% Whole Multi-grain SD and YW Altamura Style Chacon

6/1/2012 - 24 Hours of Not Baking Bread

6/8/2012 - The SD / YW Chacon Revisited – 90% Whole Grain, Multigrain Sprouts, Walnut and Sage Paste, Pumpkin Seeds and Whey Water

6/9/2012 - Friday night P & P - Pizza and Pide

6/12/2012 - Let's Have Some Lunch and Other Stuff

6/15/2012 - Jasmine Tea, 50% Whole Multi-Grain SD & YW Durum Atta Bread with Wheat Germ, Flax and Chia Seeds

6/19/2012 - Buckwheat 60% Multi-grain YW / SD Bread with Walnuts, Sage, Flax, Wheat Germ, Apples, Prunes and Groats

6/21/2012 - Sourdough Durum Atta Bread – Pharaoh’s Mastaba Style

6/24/2-12 - Twisted Sisters Chacon : 67% Whole Rye & Wheat with Sprouts & Seeds.

6/28/2012 - Franko finally got to the top of the list

6/29/2012 - English Muffins - kjknits Converted to YW and SD Combo levain

6/29/2012 - Without Cheesecake For Desert - There May Be No Need for Bread

6/30/2012 - SD and YW Semolina Cheese Bread and Pizza with Sun Dried Tomato, Rosemary, Mojo de Ajo and Garlic

7/4/2012 - SD and YW Multigrain Bagels - The Stan Ginsberg Method

7/4/2012 - Catching up on some lunches and other stuff

7/4/2012 - Lunches and Other Stuff Continued - Happy Birthday America!

7/5/2012 - YW Naan with Paneer, Green Onion, Cilantro, Garam Masala and Garlic - Plus a Loaf - Added Lunch Shot

7/6/2012 - Joe Ortiz Pain de Champagne with Rye and WW Sprouts

7/10/2012 - Dinner in Houston

7/15/2012 - AZ Monsoon and Breakfast

7/17/2012 - Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches.

7/20/2012 - What To Eat With That Rustic French Country Sourdough Bread -Smoked Etouffee!

7/22/2012 - SD YW English Muffins - Some Fried As Donuts Per gmabaking With Apricot, Nectarine Ginger Glaze

7/24/2012 - Herbed Bialy's – Multigrain, Caramelized Onion, Chorizo and 4 Cheeses

7/27/2012 - 50% Rye SD Knotted Rolls With Wheat Germ, Barley Scald, Caraway and Sunflower Seeds

7/27/2012 - hanseata's Wild Rice Bread Revisited - 'The Wild One' - w/ Beer, Sprouts, Seeds and Prunes

7/30/2012 - Parade of Sandwiches and Other Stuff

8/5/2012 - YW vs Desem SD - Caramelized Onion, Basil, Bacon, Parmesan Rolls

8/7/2012 - 15% Whole Wheat Bagels with YW and SD Desem Combo Starter

8/11/2012 -YW / SD Olive Bread with Rosemary and Bulgar Scald

8/17/2012 - 100% Whole Grain Rye with Rye Sprouts – YW & SD Combo Starter

7/19/2012 - 25% Whole Wheat English Muffins Revisited - Over and Over Again - kjknits

8/22/2012 - Chacon Catastrophes Moka - Ian’s Mocha Disaster Chacon

8/24/2012 - Multi-Grain SD & YW Combo with Chicken Stock, Soaker & Seeds

8/27/2012 - 35% Whole Grain YW & SD Semolina, Durum Atta White Bread with Soaker

8/29/2012 - Rewind - YW & SD Semolina, Durum Atta, W. Germ, Malts & Honey - Deja Vue

9/2/2012 - Spelt, Rye and Whole Wheat Soudough Boule with Flax Seed, Honey and Malts - A Simple but Tasty Bread

9/5/2012 - 100% Hydration, 100% Whole Grain Kamut Flat Boule with YW and SD Combo Starter

9/7/2012 - Andy’s Roasted Brazil Nut and Prune Bread - Sourdough Variation with WW Scald

9/9/2012 - 8 Hour SD YW Saturday Night Pizza and Friday Shrimp Kabobs

9/14/2012 - 100% Whole Spelt Sourdough at 100% Hydration

9/15/2012 - Happy Rosh Hashanah!

9/20/2012 - 17% Whole Multi-Grain SD / YW Bagels – The Stan Ginsberg Method

9/21/2012 - 57% Whole Grain Multi-grain SD with 20% Seeds and Whey

9/25/2012 -15% Multi-grain Bread With YW and SD Combo Levain

9/28/2012 - 15% WWW Fat Bag with Desem SD Starter ala Ian and Phil

9/28/2012 - English Muffins- YW and SD Levains - 16% Whole Wheat

9/28/2012 - Banana Nut Bread with Seeds, Chocolate and Bourbon Dried Fruits

10/2/2012 - Judy's 45 % Whole Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread

10/6/2012 - 16 % Whole Multi-grain SD Baguettes – txfarmer’s Method only 40 Hours

10/9/2012 - Name Change - Gussied Up Franz Joseph's Emperor Rolls With Seeds

10/13/2012 - Parade of Sandwiches and Other Stuff - Partola Uno

10/14/2012 - Parade de sandwichs et d'autres choses - partie 2

10/14/2012 - Parade of Sandwiches Continues - Part 3

10/15/2012 - Desfile de Sandwiches - Parte 4

10/15/2012 - Parade der Sandwiches - Teil 5

10/17/2012 - World Bread Day - SD Multigrain with Figs, Anise, Pistachios and Sprouts

10/18/2012 - Pierre Nury's Rustic Light Rye with Whole Grain Multi-grain YW / SD Levains and Coffee

10/24/2012 -Tuesday Pizza Night - Crust 3 Ways with 25% Whole Grains

10/25/2012 - San Franciso Sourdough - 15% Whole Grain

10/27/2012 - Extended - SD Starter Experiment - 24 hour Countertop SFSD and a Seeded, Fig and Pistacio

10/30/2012 - Two DO Chacons Couldn’t Be Any Different

11/2/2012 - Two Weeks of Food for Thought - Week one

11/2/2012 - Two Weeks of Food for Thought - Week Two

11/2/2012 - 26% Whole Grain YW / SD Bagels with Sprouts

11/5/2012 - 24 hour 10% Whole Grain SFSD & SD Seeded Fig Bread with Pistachios - 1 g of Starter - No Levain

11/9/2012 - 60% Whole Grain SD / YW Bread With Caraway, Rye Chops, Coffee and Cocoa

11/9/2012 - Prune & Brazil Nut Sourdough with Bulgar Scald, Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds

11/14/2012 - Not So Stollen

11/16/2012 - Thanksgiving Multi-Grain Marble Chacon

11/20/2012 - SD Stuffing Bread

11/21/2012 - Poolish Stuffing Bread

11/23/2012 - Not So Stollen - Thanksgiving Take

11/23/2012 - Daughter Does French Slap and Folds for Her Poolish Thanksgiving Rolls

11/27/2012 - A Chacon for Eric

12/7/2012 - 75% Whole Grain YW / SD Caramelized Onion, Wild Rice, Sprouts & Baltika Porter Bread

12/14/2012 - Multigrain SD / YW Porter Bread with Roasted Onions, Sprouts, Malts and Seeds

12/17/2012 - Puff Paste Experiments

12/18/2012 - Puffy So Not Rugelach

12/21/2012 - Christmas Sourdough Chacon - Figs, Pistachios and Seeds

12/25/2012 - Christmas Bi-Color Rose - 30% Whole Grain, Pesto and Sun Dried Tomato

12/25/2012 - Not So Stollen - 6 Weeks later

12/29/2012 - 25% Whole Grain Multi-grain Bagels

We decide to use some left overs for this bake from the last bake of hot dog buns.  The left overs were the pickled onion, red pepper, tomato and poblano toppings that we added some kalamata olives too and then caramelized the whole mix to get rid of the moisture, add a roasted flavor and send this bred further down an Italian path.

Oddly, the sifted bran, that was fed to the starter to make the levain, started out much darker than the remainder of the sifted flour used to make the autolyse.  But when they finally came together, the levain on the left was much lighter in color than the autolyse.  Very strange!

To this 100% whole multi grain bake we added some barley to the usual whole grain mix of spelt, rye, wheat and farro.  Since we ground all the grains for this bread in the tiny Krup’s Coffee mill, we were able to sift out 22% from the rest of this fine flour and used it to feed the levain for this bake.

That way the bran and other bits were in the wet the longest at 36 hours to get them soft and less likely to cut any gluten strands.  Plus, they instantly make the bread 100% whole grain again and we made sure to get the hydration to over 100% this time too after our last 90% hydration bake.

We added a large boiled whole barley component, Toadies, ground flax and sesame seeds, red and white malts were added along with just enough VWG to make sure we got some rise out this gluten deficient grain combination.  To top it off we added some shredded parmesan making sure that the Italian base was confirmed.

We didn’t know if our fridge maintained, mixed grain, SD starter would like being fed the 22% sifted out portion of the grain so we increased the seed by 5 g to 15g for this bake.   The levain ended up being 15% of the total weight of the dough and it performed as usual.   We refrigerated it for 24 hours after the levain had risen about 25% after the 3rd feeding to increase the sour.

You can see the poke test and the cracking on the bottom of the loaf.  Time for the oven.

When we removed the levain from the fridge to finish it’s doubling after the cold, we started the 3 hour autolyse with everything except the levain, salt, seeds, caramelized pickle mix and boiled barley.

Once the levain hit the autolyse we mixed it briefly using a spoon for 30 seconds and immediately knew this dough was going to be a problem and way, way over hydrated.  The last dough was great at 90 % and 100% hydration would have been fine but this dough was different

It had less wheat flours with the addition of rye and barley.   These changes made the dough very sloppy.  We let the mix sit for 20 minutes after sprinkling the salt on top.  We then did our usual 10 minutes of slap and folds where the dough barely came together.

Our rule is, if 10 minutes of slap and folds don’t do the trick then we add more flour.  To keep it in the Italian range our flour of choice was some whole Desert Durum.    We used some to get the sticky dough off our fingers after 10 minutes.  We let the dough rest for 10 minutes and then did 5 more minutes of slap and folds using Desert Durum to get the dough off our fingers once again and allowed the dough to rest for 10 minutes again.   

We then did 3 stretch and folds 20 minutes apart to incorporate the boiled berries and seeds on the first one, the caramelized veggies and Parmesan on the 2nd one. It’s like bruschetta on the inside!  By the end of the 3rd one then add ins were thoroughly incorporated.  We then let it ferment for 20 minutes before retarding it for 16 hours in the fridge.

Breakfast and lunch on bake day

It rose well in the fridge if you consider 30% volume increase well and we let it rest for 30 minutes on the counter before shaping it into something you might find in Altamura if they do Fendu there.  The bread only had 4 g or durum in it but was still plenty Italian enough.

It was so slack it probably should have gone into a pan but we shaped it as a Snails with Tails chacon for the final proof with the fendu fold split in the middle in bottom of the basket between the snails.  The last bake was very weak when it came to snail splitting and we wanted to give it another go.

We let proof on the 84 F counter for 2 ½ hours and then we fired up the mini oven to 500F and got (2) of Sylvia’s steaming cup’s half full of water with dish rags inside going in the microwave.

We upended the basket using the vented top of the mini’s broiler pan for a peel that was covered in parchment.  The cups went on and that assembly went into the 500 F mini oven for 15 minutes of steam.  We turned the oven down to 475 F after 3 minutes.  We removed Sylvia’s steam at the 15 minute mark and continued to bake at 425 F, convection this time, for another 15 minutes until then middle read 205 F.  We rotated the bread every 5 minutes under convection to make sure it browned evenly.

It browned nicely and the crest was very crispy – almost crunchy.  Nothing seems to put a thick, crust on bread without burning like the mini oven with mega steam in place.  Didn’t notice any blisters though.  This one cracked at the Fendu Fold more than at the Snails but crack it did.  It smells powerful..   The crumb came out farly open for such a packed whoe grain bread.  It was moist and nvery soft.  It does taste like bruschetta on the inside instead of on the outside outside but the surprising thing is the spicy chipotle barley grains. What an unexpected pleasure.  Thus bread is healthy, spicy and great to munch on without toasting, butter or anything else required.  Just delicious.

The bread went well with a fine fritatta of homemade sweet Italian sausage, red bells, poblanos peppers, onion, grey Mexicaan squash adn mushrooms with Greek yogurt mixed in with the eggs and brie, Parmesan and smoky gouda for the cheeses.

Formula

Breakfast on bun day

These were very good buns.  We didn’t make a poolish or a YW levain since we didn’t have time on our side.  It was already 11 AM and no time to grind flour or an autolyse it either.  We used 40 g of YW and a pinch of ADY for the leavens.  This was an all AP bake so not very healthy.  But brats, Italian sausage and Boudin aren’t all that healthy either.

We just mixed everything together, did 10 minutes of slap and folds and 3 sets of S& Fs on 45 minute intervals and then let the dough rest for 1 hour.  We shaped the buns pulling them taut and let them proof for 3 hours on parchment paper, on the top portion of the mini’s vented broiler pan, on the counter.

We fired the mini oven up to 400 F convection and egg washed the buns.  We baked them without steam for 4 minutes and turned the oven down to 375 F convection  and baked the rolls another 4 minutes before spinning the pan 180 degrees and turning the oven down to 350 F convection.

The Last of Sylvia's inspired Key Lime Pie

After 8 more minutes the buns were done and we moved them to the cooling rack and brushed then with milk while still oven hot to keep the skins soft. They came out brown and blistered.  So, blisters aren’t from a cold retard or mega steam or a combination of both - since there rolls didn’t have either.  They were soft, moist and open on the inside.

We are getting close to a fine enriched bun recipe with this batch.

A magnificent sunset tonight

Formula

After seeing Phil’s great post this past week using fresh milled flour, sesame seeds, 100% whole grain, 100% hydration sourdough breads of various kinds, we had to give something like it a shot for our weekly Friday bake.  It had to be a sane recipe rather than what Phil would do hydration wise and something Lucy could handle after the beauty parlor.

Inspired by Phil, we came up with a near knock off SD using home milled, 100% whole grain, 90% hydration wheat, spelt and farro bread that had a large ground flax and sesame seed add in.    We hate sifting flour but decided to do it getting a 78% extraction.

The nasty 22% bit we soaked for 24 hours with the toadies and 30 g of un-sifted flour left over from the levain build at 100% hydration hoping that it would soften the gluten cutting parts to something that was less like a chain saw.

The SD levain was built with un-sifted flour over (2) 4 hour builds and (1) 1 hour build with our rye and whole wheat mixed seed before being refrigerated for 24 hours to enhance the sour.  When we took it out of the fridge we allowed the levain to finish doubling on the counter about 3 hours.  The levain ended up being 19% of total and near the 20% Phil used for his bake.

We did a 2 hour autolyse for the wonderful handling flour at 100% hydration, no salt or levain but including the home made red and white malts and VWG.  It really sucked up the water.  Once the autolyse and the levain were mixed with 30 seconds of slap and folds, e sprinkled the salt on top and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

Then we did 10 minutes of slap and folds to develop the gluten. We were stunned that the dough never stuck to the marble counter.   It developed beautifully like it was a 72% hydration dough.  We let the dough rest for 15 minutes before gently stretching it out in a rectangle and incorporating the 22% bran mix on the first S&F.

On the 2nd set of S&F’s we incorporated the ground flax and sesame seeds.  This mix is quickly becoming our normal add in for bread like Toadies.  They aren’t as flavor enhancing as Toadies but they make a big difference.

Breakfast with our take of Aroma bread inspired by Karin and Maria.

After the 3rd set of S&F’s the add ins were well incorporated and evenly distributed.  We then did another 30 seconds of slap and folds to get the gluten back in shape and then allowed the dough to rest for 20 minutes.  We could have easily done a 100% hydration dough as this freshly milled  multi-grain flour loved the wet.

Surf amd turf - ceviche with smoked ribs, a nice sunset and Sylvia's inspired Key Lime Pie ,ade the 4th special.

We did a quick pre-shape into an oval and let the dough rest for 10 minutes before cutting off 90 g of dough from each end of the oval to make two snails with tails for the chacon design in the bottom of the basket.

It wasnlt all food for the 4th.  Lime Majito Jello Shots made as halves and then cut in quarters were a big hit too.

We bought a new basket for this bake which was just the right size and an oval shape.  We rice floured it but, since it is new, the dough will probably stick anyway.   We final shaped the remaining dough into an oval that we shaped and pulled tight before putting it on top for the snails with tails.

The basket was placed into a used trash can liner and put in the fridge for a 16 hour cold retard.  The next morning, after 4th of July festivities, we took the dough out the fridge for a 1 hour warm and 1 ½ hour final proof up before putting it into the 500 F mini oven with (2) of Sylvia’s steaming cups.

After 2 minutes off steam we turned the mini oven down to 450 F and continued to steam for another 13 minutes.  We removed the steaming cups and turned the mini down to 425 F, convection this time.  In another 15 minutes, rotating the bread every 5 minutes, it registered 205 F in the middle of the oval and was removed to a cooling rack.

It domed a little bit but browned well in the heat.  The snails with tails hardly cracked, not what we had expected.  So, it did look …..a little slow to Lucy who thinks slimy things should be kept far away from bread and cooked separately with a little hot sauce on the side.  Maybe 100% hydration is the right amount.  The crumb came out fairly open for this kind of bread even though it didn't spring much.  It was moist and glossy.....and just plain delicious.   This is a another one of those breads that instantly becomes a classic.   Thanks for the inspiration Phil.  Next time we will do it t 100% too.

Whole wheat top, spelt right and farro left - also small, medium and large grains as well as dark, medium and light color.