dmsnyder's blog

I haven't made a miche in a very long time. Last week, I got a bag of high extraction ("Type 80") flour from Central Milling and remembered that I had previously (like 11 years ago!) used this kind of flour for a miche based on the San Francisco Baking Institute formula that I liked a lot. We had made this bread for the Artisan II (Sourdough) workshop. Although we used white flour, our instructor told us that, ideally, it would be made with a high-extraction flour. My experience indicates this formula makes delicious bead either way. The main difference, besides flavor, is that using a high extraction flour results in significantly faster fermentation.

Miche from SFBI Artisan II 

David Snyder

 1. Dissolve the starter in the water and mix in the flour. Desired Dough Temperature: 78ºF.

 2.  Ferment for 8-12 hours.

Procedure

1. Dissolve the levain in the water. Add the other ingredients and mix thoroughly by hand. DDT: 75-78ºF.
2. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl.
3. Ferment for 3-4 hours with 4 folds at 50 minute intervals. (I did this by the “stretch and fold in the bowl” technique.)
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board. Pre-shape as a tight boule.
5. Cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes to relax the gluten.
6. Shape as a tight boule and place, seam side up, in a floured banneton.
7. Cover and retard overnight in refrigerator.
8. Remove the boule from the refrigerator and allow to warm and complete proofing for 1-3 hours. (Watch the dough, not the clock!)
9. 45-60 minutes before baking, pre-heat the over to 500ºF with baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.
10. When the loaf is proofed, transfer the boule to a peel. Slash the boule as desired, and transfer it to the baking stone. Steam the oven and reduce the temperature to 450ºF.
11. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove your steaming apparatus.
12. Turn the oven down to 425ºF.
13. Continue baking for another 40-50 minutes. 
14. Remove the boule to a cooling rack, and cool thoroughly before slicing.

This bake (in my relatively new oven) was less bold than expected. I will finish the bake at a higher temperature next time. 

The crust was mostly chewy. The crumb was moist and tender. The flavor was mildly sweet and wheaty. My recollection is that the flavor of these large loaves improves significantly over the first 2 days.

I enjoyed a couple still-warm slices with a little sweet butter with dinner.

Enjoy!

David

Maggie Glezer's book, "A Blessing of Bread," is a wonderful collection of Jewish baking from around the world along with a sort of ethnography of baking in the Jewish communities of the Diaspora. This book has, by my count, about 40 recipes for challah, the bread particularly associated with the Jewish sabbath. But the author also identifies the challah recipe she makes for her own family. As with most of her recipes, she provides both a commercially yeasted and a sourdough version (without saying which her family prefers).

I have made the sourdough version several times over the years. I like it quite a bit but my wife. doesn't. Today I finally got around to baking the non-sourdough version. You know what? It is the best challah I have ever tasted, and my wife loved it too. I should not be (and am not) surprised, if the author of the book with 40 challah recipes has chosen this one as her favorite, one might expect it to be something special.

This is clearly an enriched bread with quite a lot of vegetable oil, egg and honey, but it is not rich like brioche nor even as sweet as a traditional Vienna dough. It is perfectly "balanced." I had some for dinner without any accompaniment other than a bowl of chicken soup. I could have eaten both loaves right then (but didn't). Tomorrow, it's going to be French Toast for breakfast!

Addendum: DanAyo found that Maggie Glezer had shared this recipe on Epicurious in 2004. Here is the link: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-challah-235867

Note: Glezer hand kneads this bread. I mixed in a stand mixer, once the flour was added to the wet ingredients. I mixed about 3 minutes on Speed 1 and 4 minutes on Speed 2.

Addendum: It did make delicious French Toast.

David

My San Joaquin Sourdough originated in Anis Bouabsa's baguettes which had won the prize for the best baguette in Paris in 2008. Bouabsa's baguettes departed from convention in utilizing a 21 hour retardation after bulk fermentation and before dividing and shaping. Jennifer Stewart (Janedo on TFL) and I initially modified Bouabsa's formula by adding a bit of rye flour and some sourdough starter for flavor. I then omitted the commercial yeast altogether and began using the modified formula to shape as bâtards. Over time, I have tweaked the formula and method in various ways, but have settled on the current one as providing the best product. 

I have used this dough and method for many breads - baguettes, demi-baguettes, ficelles, pain rustique, boules and even for pizza crust. It is quite versatile and always has a delicious flavor. Of course, the baking times and temperatures require appropriate adjustment for each size and shape of loaf.

I have been gratified by the popularity of my San Joaquin Sourdough bread. It has been baked and enjoyed on every continent except Antarctica, at least as far as I know. Based on TFL posts, it seems that the SJSD has been most enjoyed as baguettes. Over the years, I have baked it in many forms, but the original shape was a bâtard of about 490gms. 

I baked a couple San Joaquin Sourdough bâtards today. One went to an appreciative (and appreciated) neighbor.

9.2% of the flour is pre-fermented

Method

1. Mix the levain by dissolving the liquid starter in the water, then add the flours and mix well. Ferment at room temperature, covered tightly, until the surface is bubbly and wrinkled. (8-12 hours)
2. Dissolve the levain in the water, add the flours and mix to a shaggy mass. Cover and autolyse for 30 minutes.
3. Add the salt and mix to incorporate.
4. Transfer to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly.
5. Bulk ferment for 3-4 hours with stretch and folds in the bowl every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours, then a stretch and fold on the board after 2.5 hours. The dough should have expanded by about 50% and be full of small bubbles.
6. Refrigerate the dough for 18-24 hours.
7. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and transfer it to a lightly floured board.
8. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces for demi-baguettes or into two equal pieces fro bâtards, and pre-shape as logs or round.
9. Cover the pieces and allow them to rest for 60 minutes.
10. Shape as baguettes or bâtards and proof for 45 minutes, covered.
11. Pre-heat the oven to 500ºF with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.
12. Transfer the loaves to your peel. 
13. For baguesttes, turn down the oven to 480ºF. For bâtards, turn down the oven toe 460ºF. Score the loaves and load them onto your baking stone.
14. Bake with steam for 10 minutes, then remove your steaming apparatus and continue to bake for another 10-12 minutes for baguettes or 20 minutes for bâtards.
15. Remove the loaves to a cooling rack, and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

David

Buttermilk-Spelt Bread with Rye Sour

David Snyder

December, 2020

I had a quart of buttermilk in the fridge. I only needed a cup for pancakes. I hated to waste any. And I had some really nice rye sour left over from the rye breads I baked last week. And there was a newly-arrived bag of spelt berries in the pantry. So, I made Cecilia Agni Hadiyanto’s Buttermilk-Spelt Sourdough Bread using a rye sour for leavening.

1. Dissolve the rye sour in the water. 

2. Add the flours and mix thoroughly.

3. Place in a clean container with a tight lid and ferment at room temperature until ripe.

4. If not ready to mix the final dough, you can refrigerate the rye sour for up to 3 days.

Procedure

1. Mix all of the ingredients except the salt to a shaggy mass in a medium bowl and cover.

2. Autolyse for 30-120 minutes.

3. Sprinkle the salt over the dough and incorporate completely. (I use the pinch and fold method described by Forkish in “Flour Water Salt Yeast.”)

4. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl with a cover.

5. Bulk ferment at 76-80ºF until double in volume (about 4-8 hours, depending on temperature) with Stretch & Fold in the bowl at 30 and 60 minutes and a stretch and fold on the board at 120 minutes).

6. Pre-shape round and cover. Let rest for 20 minutes or so.

7. Shape as boule or bâtard and place in a floured banneton. Cover with a towel or place in a food grade plastic bag.

8. Proof for 1-2 hours at room temperature, then cold retard for 12-18 hours.

9. Bake in a Dutch oven at 460ºF covered for 20 minutes. Uncover. Continue baking at 420ºF for 30 minutes. (The falling temperature approach is because this bread tends to darken very quickly due to the buttermilk. So keep an eye on it and adjust your oven temperature accordingly.) Alternatively, bake at 460ºF on a pre-heated baking stone for 15 minutes with steam then for 30 minutes at 44ºF for 25-30 minutes.

10. Cool on a rack thoroughly before slicing. 

I baked this loaf on a baking stone, and failed to heed my own advice, finishing the bake at 450ºF rather than 440ºF. It was  dark even for my taste. However, the flavor did not suffer. In fact, the crust was delightfully crunchy and very tasty. The crumb was moderately chewy and moderately sour. The taste was quite complex with some sweetness and nuttiness. There was nothing that suggested rye's contribution to the taste, but I have found from other breads that the effect of 10% rye is subtle but definitely a positive contribution to flavor.

This is a delicious bread I expect to make again.

David

I was able to get a nice photo of the "window pane" of the dough I mixed for yesterday's bake. Questions about this sign of complete gluten development come up from time to time, so I thought others might enjoy seeing this.

This is a yeasted, enriched dough. It was machine mixed in a KitchenAid Professional at speed 1 for 2 minutes. Then the salt was added, and it was mixed at speed 1 for 2 more minutes. The paddle was changed to the dough hook. Then it was mixed at Speed 2 for 9 minutes.

It is the "Medium Vienna Dough" from "Inside the Jewish Bakery." I use this dough for sandwich rolls.

Happy baking!

David

Multi-grain Sourdough Bread with Home-Milled Flours

David M. Snyder

November, 2020

Those who read my blog on The Fresh Loaf know that I have been experimenting with different proportions of home-milled flours over the past couple years. About a year ago, I found a mix of flours that makes breads with the most wonderful flavor. I have occasionally re-visited old favorites, but, really, this is the best of class. Of course, it is “best” to my taste. Yours may be different.

Recently, I looked through my blog postings and became aware that I have never posted this exact formula. So, here it is:

Note: The whole grain wheat, rye and spelt flours are milled in a Mockmill 100 mill set at its finest setting. The flour is milled immediately before mixing.

1. Dissolve the starter in the water. Add the flours and mix thoroughly.

2. Transfer to a clean container, cover and ferment until ripe (6 hours for me.) If you don't use it immediately, it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Procedures

1. Mix the flours with the water to a shaggy mass.

2. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 45-120 minutes. (Autolyse)

3. Sprinkle the salt over the dough surface and add the levain in 4 to 6 portions.

4. Mix thoroughly. (I start by folding in the salt and levain with a silicon spatula. Then, I use the method Forkish specifies – squeezing the dough between my fingers alternating with stretch and folds in the bowl. I wear a food service grade glove and dip my working hand frequently in water.)

5. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled, clean bowl large enough to accommodate doubling in volume. Cover well.

6. Ferment at 80ºF for 3 – 3.5 hours with stretch and folds in the bowl at 30 and 60 minutes, then a lamination fold on the board at 1:45-2:00 hours. The dough should have nearly doubled in volume and be quite puffy.

7. Transfer the dough to a well-floured board. 

8. Divide the dough as desired and pre-shape in rounds. Cover with a cloth and let rest for 20-30 minutes.

9. Shape as boules or bâtards and place in floured bannetons. Place these in food-grade plastic bags sealed with ties and let proof for 30-60 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate 8 hours or up to 36 hours at 40ºF.

10. The next day, pre-heat oven. Let the loaves sit at room temperature while the oven pre-heats. You can bake on a baking stone with steam for the first part of the bake, or in Dutch ovens, as you prefer. The oven temperature and length of the bake will depend on which of these methods you choose and on the weight and shape of your loaves, as well as on how dark you prefer your crust. When done, the loaves should sound hollow when thumped on their bottoms. The internal temperature should be at least 205ºF.

11. Let the loaves cool completely on a rack for 1-2 hours before slicing.

This loaf was baked in a Cast Iron Dutch oven at 475ºF for 30 minutes covered, then 20 minutes un-covered at 450ºF.

This bread is so delicious, i could make a meal of it alone, but it is also wonderful with other food. I baked this loaf this morning, and we had some for lunch with a salad, cheese and smoked salmon.

Happy baking!

David

Unlike many bread that are called "Whole Wheat," the one in Peter Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice" is actually 100% whole wheat. This is a delicious bread that I have made many times but not for several years.

Today, I altered my usual ingredients in several respects.I have usually made it with a soaker of bulgur and fine milled whole wheat flour. This is the first time I have made this bread with home milled flour. The recipe calls for a soaker of coarsely milled wheat but gives the option of using other grains. For this bake, I used rye chops. I had been wanting to make this bread with white wheat flour for some time, and for today's bake I used freshly milled White Spring Wheat.

With the exception of those changes in ingredients, I followed Reinhart's formula and procedures as written. Fermentation and proofing were done in a Brød and Taylor Proofing Box at 76ºF. Bulk fermentation was for 1 hr, 45 min. Proofing was for 90 min.

The crust was slightly chewy. The crumb was very tender - almost cake-like. The flavor was delicious. It was wheaty and sweet, with none of the grassiness found sometimes with whole wheat breads made with red wheats when freshly baked. There was no identifiable rye flavor except maybe a bit of earthiness. 

I can't say my modifications improved on past bakes of this bread, but this was was certainly delicious, and I would not hesitate to make it this way in the future.

Happy Baking!

David

I have been baking often but have settled on a handful of breads that I most enjoy eating. I have posted on all of them here over the years, in some cases multiple times documenting minor variations. But this week I saw a bread on another online forum that grabbed my attention and instantly went to the top of my ridiculously long "To Bake" list. It turns out that my intuition was spot on. This turned out to be an extraordinarily delicious bread.

Buttermilk-Spelt Sourdough Bread

from Cecilia Agni Hadiyanto on Facebook

Total Dough

Levain

1. Dissolve the active starter in the water. 
2. Add the flours and mix thoroughly.
3. Place in a clean container with a tight lid and ferment at room temperature until doubled in volume.
4. If not ready to mix the final dough, you can refrigerate the levain for up to 3 days.

Final Dough

Procedure

1. Mix all of the ingredients except the salt to a shaggy mass in a medium bowl and cover.
2. Autolyse for 30-120 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the salt over the dough and incorporate completely. (I use the pinch and fold method described by Forkish in “Flour Water Salt Yeast.”)
4. Bulk ferment at 76-80ºF until double in volume (about 4-8 hours, depending on temperature) with Stretch & Fold in the bowl at 30 and 60 minutes and a lamination fold on the board at 120 minutes).
5. Pre-shape round and cover. Let rest for 20 minutes or so.
6. Shape as boule or bâtard and place in a floured banneton. Cover with a towel or place in a food grade plastic bag.
7. Proof for 1-2 hours at room temperature, then cold retard for 12-18 hours. 
8. Bake in a Dutch oven at 460ºF covered for 20 minutes. Uncover.  Continue baking at 420ºF for 30 minutes. (The falling temperature approach is because this bread tends to darken very quickly due to the buttermilk. So keep an eye on it and adjust your oven temperature accordingly.)
9. Cool on a rack thoroughly before slicing. 

This bread has an extraordinary flavor. It is a bit nutty and earthy and very sour. (Remember its hydration is basically all buttermilk.) My wife says it smells like rye, and, in fact,  it tastes like rye. It must be the spelt. I like it a lot.

Happy baking!

David 

Medium Vienna Dough for Soft Rolls

This formula is from

 “Inside the Jewish Bakery,” by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg

 As Interpreted by David M. Snyder

May, 2020

 For those who don’t know, Vienna Dough is an enriched dough that can be used for breads but is most often used for rolls - onion rolls, double knot rolls, pletzel, kaiser rolls and more. Besides differences in shaping, toppings and fillings, the various rolls differ in two respects: First, the dough can be more or less enriched with eggs, oil and sweeteners. Second, the shaped rolls can be more or less fully proofed. So, for example, rolls like onion pockets and knotted rolls are made with younger doughs (less proofed) and a sweeter dough. Kaiser rolls, where you want a less sweet dough, a crisper, thinner crust and less oven spring so the decorative shaping is maintained are proofed more fully.

 It should be noted that all of these products were made without dairy and are therefore kosher with either dairy or meat meals.

 This recipe is for a “medium vienna dough” that is ideal for knotted rolls and onion rolls. I use it for sandwich rolls. It makes a dozen 3 oz rolls. 

 Note: I generally use all purpose flout with 11.7% protein. If you use a high gluten flour or if you substitute whole wheat flour for some of the bread flour, you will have to increase the water slightly to achieve the expected dough consistency which should be slightly tacky but not sticky. 

 If you use dry malt, treat it as a dry ingredient. If you use malt syrup, dissolve it in the water and then add the other wet ingredients.

 Procedures

1. Place the dry ingredients except the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk them or use the paddle attachment to mix them together.

2. Mix the wet ingredients in a medium bowl.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix with the paddle attachment at slow speed until all the flour is moistened. Add the salt and continue mixing for another minute.

4. Switch to the dough hook and mix at Speed 2 (on a KitchenAid Stand Mixer) until a medium gluten window is achieved (about 10 minutes).

5. Transfer the dough to the board and form a ball. Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl that can allow doubling of the dough volume. Cover the bowl.

6. Bulk ferment the dough in a warm place until it has doubled in volume. (45-60 minutes). 

7. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board. Divide it into 12 equal pieces of about 3 oz. each.

8. Form the pieces into balls, cover them with a towel and let them rest for 15-20 minutes.

9. Shape the pieces as desired - flat disks for hamburger buns, long rolls for sausages, ropes to make knotted rolls, etc.

10. Places the formed rolls onto baking sheets and cover them. (I use quarter sheet pans which hold 6 rolls each and put these in plastic bakery bags for proofing.)

11. Pre-heat your oven to 350ºF.

12. Mix an egg with a tsp of water to glaze the rolls. Get out any seeds you want to put on them.

13. Let the rolls proof 3/4 of the way. (If you poke a finger in one, the hole should fill in very slowly.)

14. Brush the rolls with the egg wash. Sprinkle each roll with seeds (optional).

15. Bake until lightly browned and fully baked. (12-15 minutes or a bit longer, depending on your oven).

16. Cool on a rack completely before serving. 

 These rolls freeze well. I wrap each in cling wrap and place them in a plastic bakery bag with a tie. Thaw in a 375ºF oven for about 7 minutes.

 Enjoy

 David

It has been a while since I have posted on The Fresh Loaf. I have been baking just as much as usual, but I have settled on favorite breads that I have shared at least once already. I decided I would post again only when I baked something new, at least new to me, that I thought was really good and worth recommending to other bakers for them to also try.

A few weeks ago, I baked a new bread from Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast, his “White Flour Warm-Spot Levain.” It uses a slightly firmer and all white flour levain and ferments the dough at a higher temperature than his other breads. I followed the recipe exactly as written, including going through three levain builds, although I didn't waste any “spent fuel.” It made a very nice, mildly sour white pain au levain.

As usual, I watch the behavior of the levain and dough, not the clock. More often than not, the timings Forkish specifies for various fermentation stages are just not accurate for my kitchen.

It seemed to me I would enjoy the bread more with some whole grain flours added, and I didn't see the need for the multiple builds. So, this is what I made this week.

1. The day before mixing the final dough, dissolve the starter in the water. Mix in the flours until the levain ingredients are evenly distributed.

2. Ferment at 80ºF until expanded 2 to 2.5 times (6 to 8 hours for me this time).

3. Refrigerate overnight.

Notes: The starter I used was saved from my last bake about 5 days ago. It was 50% hydration and a 1:3 mix of white and whole wheat flours. I fermented the levain in a Brød and Taylor Proofing Box. If you have a more recently fed starter, you fermentation time for the levain may be shorter.

Procedure

1. Remove the levain from the refrigerator and let it warm at room temperature.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flours and the water to a shaggy mass. Cover the bowl, and let the dough rest for 30-60 minutes (Autolyse).

3. Sprinkle the salt over the dough and distribute the levain in 4-6 portions over the dough.

4. Mix the salt and levain into the dough using the combination of pinching and stretching and folding described by Forkish in FWSY (Similar to the method of Chad Robertson described in his books).

5. Transfer the dough to a clean, slightly oiled container that is large enough to hold the dough when it has fully expanded.

6. Bulk ferment the dough at 80ºF until it has expanded to about double its initial volume. (3-4 hours). I did stretch and folds in the bowl at 45 minutes and 75 minutes. I then did a stretch and fold on the board (“lamination”) an hour later. The dough was then left alone until it was ready to divide and shape (another 85 minutes, in this case).

7. Transfer the dough to a floured board. Divide it into two equal pieces and pre-shape as rounds.

8. Cover the pieces and let them rest for 10-30 minutes.

9. Shape into boules or bâtards and place in floured bannetons, smooth side down, if you plan to score the loaves or seam side down, if you are going to let the loaves open chaotically. (Note: Forkish says the bakery from which he took this formula used it for baguettes. I imagine that would be really good. I'll try it sometime.)

10. Proof at room temperature for about an hour, then refrigerate for 8-36 hours. (A longer cold retardation will result in a more sour bread.)

11. When ready to bake, transfer the loaves to a peel or to the base of your Dutch ovens. Scored as desired.

12. Bake in cast iron Dutch ovens covered at 475ºF for 30 minutes, then uncovered for another 20 minutes at 460. Alternatively, pre-heat your oven to 500ºF for an hour with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place. Turn down the oven to 460ºF. Bake with steam for 15 minutes. Remove the steaming apparatus. Continue to bake for another 30-35 minutes. (Note: My preferred method, after I remove my steaming apparatus, is to bake at 440ºF with the convection fan turned on.)

13. The bread is done when nicely colored, and you hear a hollow sound when you thump the bottom of the loaf. The internal temperature should be at least 205ºF.

14. Cool completely before slicing.

These loaves were cold retarded for about 40 hours. I tasted it when completely cooled. The crust was crunchy-chewy. The crumb was moderately chewy and moderately sour with a nice, wheaty flavor with a little sweetness.

Note that the flour mix used in this bake is very similar to my San Joaquin Sourdough. Of course, the method is very different.

Enjoy!

David