Ultimamente le miche di grande pezzatura hanno trovato il mio favore. Un pane tondo, con farina semi-integrale ed impasto tenero, profilo "basso", ben cotto e lievitato naturalmente. In letteratura questo tipo di pane è spesso descritto come "il pane di una volta" tipicamente prodotto nei piccoli paesi o nelle cascine e cotto in forno a legna. In Francia potrebbe assomigliare a quello fatto nei primi del '900 a cui si è ispirato Poilane, in Italia al pane di Genzano/Lariano ed in Canada a quello riportato da James MacGuire come il tipico pane mangiato negli insediamenti europei.

Lately very large miches found my favor. A large round bread, with sifted whole wheat flour, "low" profile, well cooked and naturally raised. In literature this type of bread is often described as "the old style bread" typically produced in small villages or farms and cooked in wood fired oven. In France it might look like the one baked in the first years of '900 that inspired the famous Pain Poilane, in Italy to the bread of Genzano /Lariano and in Canada to that one reported by James MacGuire as the type of bread typically eaten by the early European settlers.

Le persone un pò più anziane lo descrivono così e ne ricordano nostalgicamente i sapori ed i profumi. Purtroppo non ho mai avuto il piacere di parlare con qualcuno che ricordi veramente com'era quel pane e che riesca in modo razionale a confrontarlo con quello attuale. Le persone hanno ricordi che definirei romantici o di vita quotidiana come, ad esempio, "era molto buono e profumato", "durava più di una settimana", ... provo spesso a fare domande semplici ma più precise - "dove prendevano la farina?", "usavano il lievito madre?", "come conservavano il lievito?", "come impastavano?", "che consistenza aveva la mollica?" - ma il più delle volte ottengo risposte molto vaghe.

The elderly describe it like this and they remember the flavors and aromas with nostalgia. Unfortunately I never had the pleasure of speaking with someone who really remember how it was, I mean in a rational way to be able to compare that bread to the current one. People have memories that I define romantic or daily life as, for example, "it was very good and fragrant", "it lasted more than a week", ... often I try with more precise but simple questions - "where did you buy the flour?", "did you bake with sourdough?", "how did you store the  yeast?", "what about the kneading?", "what was the consistency of the crumb?" - but most times I get very vague answers.

I nomi utilizzati per questo tipo di pane sono tanti: micone, pane di campagna, pane paesano ..., ma il pane è sempre quello.

The names used for this type of bread are many: large miche, country bread, rustuc bread ... but the bread is always the same.

Mia madre mi racconta di quando era piccola e viveva in Sicilia. Avevano una piccola attività commerciale e suo padre faceva il pane in un grande forno a legna per poi venderlo in paese. Era il "pane di una volta", molto probabilmente con le stesse caratteristiche che ho descritto, ma prodotto con farina di grano duro siciliano. Nella "casa del forno", così la chiamavano, si svolgeva la panificazione. C'era una stanza adibita alla preparazione ed un'altra per il forno. In questi locali venivano ospitati anche dei piccoli pulcini che avevano bisogno di stare al caldo (... le norme sanitarie non esistevano). Usavano il "criscenti" (crescente in italiano) ovvero del lievito madre asciutto, nient'altro che un pezzo di impasto (una pagnotta) riportata da un impasto al successivo; nessuna indicazione sulla sua conservazione.

My mother tells me when she was young and she lived in Sicily. They had a small business, his father baked in a large wood fired oven and he sold the bread in town. It was the "old style bread", most likely with the same characteristics I have described, but produced with durum wheat grown in Sicily. In the "house of the oven", it took place the baking process. There was a room used for preparation and another for the oven. In these room were also hosted small chicks who needed to warm temperature of these rooms (... no health rules, I think). They used the "criscenti" ("crescente" in Italian, it means something that rise, very close to the French word "levain") a stiff sourdough, just a piece of dough preserved day by day, I have no indication of its conservation.

Ma com'era veramente "il pane di una volta"? Probabilmente non era esattamente quello che ricordano queste persone. La memoria del gusto è a mio parere qualcosa di molto complicato e facilmente influenzabile: avete presente come sembra buona una pietanza quando si ha molta fame mentre lo è molto meno se siamo sazi? E poi il gusto cambia e può accadere che venga influenzato, anche negativamente, dai nuovi cibi. Non è difficile trovare persone ormai assuefatte da quel pane bianco, borbido e senza crosta o dal classico francesino di gomma che fanno i nostri panettieri milanesi?

But was it really "the old style bread" we are thinking about? Probably it was not exactly what these people remember. In my opinion the memory of taste is something very complicated and easily influenced by many factors: you know how everything looks good when you are very hungry but it is much less if you are full? Moreover the taste changes over the time and it can happen to be influenced by the new bad foods. It is not difficult to find people now addicted to that soft white bread without crust.

Fatto stà che la mia ricerca continua e per ora mi accontento di questo:

The fact is that my research continues and for now I'll settle with this:

Utilizzo farina di tipo 1 (buratto) e due lieviti liquidi su differenti farine. Questa volta ho fatto due pagnotte una con lievito su buratto + lievito su segale e l'altra con lievito su buratto + lievito su enkir. La pezzatura è di 1.4Kg di impasto e la pagnotta prodotta ha un diametro di 25-30 cm, la massima portata della mia pietra refrattaria e del mio forno elettrico!

I use italian type 1 flour and two liquid levain on different flours. This time I baked two loaves one with a wheat levain + rye levain and the other with wheat levain + enkir levain. The dough weighs 1.4Kg and the baked miche has a diameter of 25-30 cm, the maximum capacity of my stone and my oven!

Lavorare in ciotola con questo impasto è molto bello soprattutto grazie alla consistenza morbida della pasta (idratazione del 75%). Non tutti riescono a gestire correttamente questo tipo di pasta. Bisogna essere gentili e non stressare il glutine, il modo migliore è utilizzare un impastamento breve e delle piegature. Anche la formatura può risultare un pò difficoltosa vista la consistenza e il peso dei pezzi, mano decisa ma leggera. Poi non parliamo dell'infornamento, sono costretto ad estrarre dal forno la pietra refrattaria su cui ribaldo la pagnotta, in questa fase il margine d'errore è minimo e basta poco che combinare un disastro.

Working in a bowl with this dough is very nice especially with the soft texture of the dough (about 75% hydration). You should be gentle and do not stress the gluten network, the best way is to use a short kneading and folding. Even the shaping can be a little difficult given the texture and the weight of the pieces, firm but gentle handling. Then the baking, I have to take out of the oven the hot baking stone and flip over the loaf, at this stage the range of error is minimal and it is really easy to make a mess.

Se l'impasto è condotto bene la mollica dovrebbe essere perfettamente fermentata:

If the dough was well treated the crumb should be perfectly fermented:

Visto che ho parlato di pane paesano, cascine e forni a legna, forse è il caso di concludere rivelandovi cos'è quella struttura in mattoni che si intravede dietro la mia foto personale: il forno di Cascina Croce, un piccolo paese a due passi da casa mia, restaurato nel 2001 da ItaliaNostra sezione Milano NordOvest. Sicuramente, un giorno vi racconterò qualcosa di più su questo forno ...

Since I spoke of country miche, farms and wood fired ovens, perhaps it is appropriate to conclude revailing what is the brick structure that can be glimpsed behind my personal picture: the wood fired oven of Cascina Croce, a small town not far from my house, it was restored in 2001 by ItaliaNostra Milano NordOvest section. Surely, one day I will tell you more about this oven ...

Giovanni

Finalmente sono andato a far visita al Mulino Marino nel piccolo paese di Cossano Belbo in provincia di Cuneo. Che dire: un mulino speciale dove puoi incontrare delle persone speciali.

Finally I went to visit Mulino Marino in the small town of Cossano Belbo, near Cuneo. What can I say? A special miller where you can meet special people.

   (in primo piano, da sinistra verso destra, Ferdinando, Flavio e Felice - in secondo piano, da sinistra verso destra, Fulvio, Federico e Fausto)

   (front, from left to right, Ferdinando, Flavio and Felice - back, from left to right, Fulvio, Federico and Fausto)

Il giorno prima di andare a trovarli ho contattato Fausto e al mio arrivo sono stato accolto da lui e suo fratello Fulvio (nella foto sono i due ragazzi seduti sulle macine). In un paio di ore ho visto tutto il mulino e abbiamo discusso in lungo e in largo non solo di tutto ciò che riguarda il loro lavoro ma anche delle attività connesse quali coltivazione dei grani, panificazione, ecc.

The day before going to meet them I contacted Fausto and at my arrival I was welcomed by him and his brother Fulvio. In a couple of hours I have seen all the mill rooms and we have discussed extensively not only about their work but also about related activities such as cultivation of grain, bread baking, etc..

Fausto ha studiato biologia e si occupa del controllo qualità, Fulvio ha studiato scienze della comunicazione e fa l' "apprendista mugnaio". Mi ha fatto molto piacere incontrare due miei coetanei con la mia stessa passione, inoltre Fulvio ha la mia stessa ossessione per la lievitazione naturale!

Fausto studied biology and works at the quality control, Fulvio studied communication sciences and he is "apprentice miller". I was delighted to meet two of my peers with my passion, moreover Fulvio has my own obsession with sourdough!

La loro storia inizia 50 anni fa, a meta anni '50, e continua oggi con la produzione di farine da agricoltura biologica macinate a pietra. Le macine a pietra naturale francese sono periodicamente martellate per ottenere le migliori farine macinate in purezza senza l'aggiunta di miglioratori o condizionatori (come conservanti, malto, enzimi, glutine, ecc.).

Their story begins 50 years ago, around the mid of 1950s, and continues today with the production of stone grounded organic flour. The natural French stone grinders are periodically hammered to get the best stone grounded flour milled in pureness without the addition of improvers or conditioners (such as preservatives, malt, enzymes, gluten, etc.).

La macinazione a pietra naturale usa un solo passaggio. L'intero chicco, compreso il germe e la crusca, viene macinato dando vita alla farina integrale (la Macina), molto nutriente e profumata. In successivi passaggi di setaccio viene separata la crusca/cruschello producendo le farine Setaccio e Buratto. La farine così ottenute sono farine non ricostruite, farine grasse impregnate dell'olio del germe di grano.

The natural stone grounding process use only a single step. The whole grain including the germ and bran is grounded into whole wheat flour (la Macina), a very nourishing and fragrant flour. In subsequent steps of sieving, the bran is separated producing Setaccio and Buratto flour. The flour obtained is not a "rebuilt flour" (a flour obtained with a mix of white flour, bran and germ), it is a "fatty" flour impregnated with wheat germ oil.

Il mulino dispone anche di macine a cilindri metallici per la produzione della più raffinate farine 0 e 00 sempre nel rispetto di una buona macinazione che non surriscaldi la farina. Poi c'è il piccolo laboratorio dove si trova tutta la strumentazione per le prove reologiche e farinografiche dei cereali. Tra tutte le attrezzature quella tecnologicamente più interessante è sicuramente il selezionatore ottico/infrarosso per la selezione dei chicci danneggiati, un'operazione che una volta veniva fatta manualmente.

They also have a metal roll miller to produce the finest flour type 0 and 00 always in compliance with a good grinding process that does not overheat the flour. Then there is the small lab where you will find all the equipment for rheological and farinograph test of cereals. One of the most technological and interesting facilities is the optical / infrared breeder for the selection of damaged grains, an operation that was once done manually.

Per le loro farine usano solo i migliori grani accuratamente selezionati prima dell'acquisto. Le farine di grano tenero, Tipo 00 - Tipo 0 - Tipo 1 Buratto - Tipo 2 Setaccio - Tipo Integrale Macina, sono prodotte dalla stessa miscelazione di grani di grani biologici italiani (nelle brutte annate acquistano anche del grano biologico canadese) tra cui il Taylor, il Bologna ed altri grani panificabili. La miscelazione dei grani è fatta in modo da ottenere un prodotto dalle caratteristiche costanti: W=280 P/L=0.55 FallingNumber=300s con un marigine di errore massimo del 20%. Poi ci sono i "grani antichi" quali il farro, il kamut, la segale, l'enkir, il senatore cappelli (grano duro) ed il mais "otto file".

For their flours they use only the best grain, carefully selected prior to be purchased. The wheat flours, Type 00 - Type 0 - Type 1 Buratto - Type 2 Setaccio - Type Whole, are produced by the same mixture of grains of organic Italian grains (in bad years they buy also some organic Canadian grains) including Taylor, Bologna and other grains with good quality for baking. The blend of grains is made to obtain a product with constant characteristics: W=280 P/L=0.55 FallingNumber=300s with a range error of no more than 20%. Then there are the "ancient grains" as emmer (farro), kamut, rye, enkir, Senatore Cappelli (durum wheat) and  "eight rows" maize.

Fulvio mi ha raccontato cosa significa passare dall'agricoltura convenzionale a quella biologica. Nei primi tre/cinque anni il terreno ormai "povero" e deturpato dai prodotti chimici fa fatica ed i raccolti sono di bassa qualità. Solo dopo alcuni anni la terra riprende il suo naturale equilibrio, fertile e piena di lombrichi è pronta a dare buoni raccolti. Coltivare biologico conviene non solo per la salute ma anche al portafoglio del contadino!

Fulvio told me what it means to switch from conventional to organic farming. In the first three to five years the field, now poor and disfigured by chemicals, has not enough power and vitality so the harvest is poor. Only after several years the land will resume its natural balance, fertile and full of earthworms is ready to give good harvests. Organic farming agrees not only to health but also to the farmer's portfolio!

Ho avuto il piacere di vedere dal vivo alcune spighe di orzo, grano tenero, senatore cappelli, segale ed enkir, tutti campioni coltivati da lui stesso in un piccolo appezzamento di terra. Il mulino si trova immerso nella natura, circondato da vigneti: siamo nelle Langhe, terra di vini pregiati come il barolo, il dolcetto d'alba ed il barbera d'Asti.

I had the pleasure to see some ears of barley, wheat, Senatore Cappelli, rye and enkir, all samples grown by himself in a small plot of land. The mill is surrounded by vineyards: we are in the Langhe, land of wines such as Barolo, Dolcetto d'Alba and Barbera d'Asti.

Anche Fulvio è appassionato di lievitazione naturale e mi ha mostrato i suoi lieviti, uno di frumento e l'altro di enkir e farro, pronti per la preparazione di pane e focaccia. Finalmente un mugnaio che fa il pane!

Fulvio has also my sourdough addiction and showed me his yeast, one fed on wheat and the other on farro and enkir, both ready for the preparation of bread and focaccia. Finally, a miller that bake bread!

Prima di andare via ho comprato un sacco da 5 kg di "Buratto" e Fulvio mi ha omaggiato di un pò di Enkir Integrale (da lui stesso prelevato durante la molitura). L'Enkir è un grano molto antico, tra i primi cereali addomesticati, un farro piccolo selvatico. Le sue qualità sono la resistenza e l'alto contenuto di carotenoidi.

Before leaving I bought a 5 kg bag of "Buratto" and Fulvio gifted me some Whole Enkir flour (taken by him just out of the mill). Enkir is a very ancient grain, one of the first grains domesticated, a small wild einkorn. His qualities are strength and high content of carotenoids.

Il giorno seguente, con queste farine ho preparato un pane fantastico, quello che cercavo da tanto tempo.

The next day, I baked a wondelful bread with these flours, the one I was looking for so long.

Qui i punti salienti:

• Una pagnotta da 1.4kg (1.1-1.2kg cotta).
• Farina Buratto per l'impasto.
• Due lieviti naturali liquidi al 125% di idratazione, uno di Buratto e l'altro di Enkir Integrale.
• Un impasto morbido e succoso con idratazione finale del 75%.
• Impastamento breve con una lunga puntata di 4h cadenzata da 3 piegature.
• Un appretto lungo a 4°C / 8°C.
• Cottura su pietra con vapore.

Here the main points:

• 1.4kg boule (1.1-1.2kg baked). 
• Buratto flour in the dough.
• Two liquid levain at 125% hydration, one on Buratto and the other on Whole Enkir.
• A soft and mellow dough with 75% final hydration.
• Short mix with 4h of long bulk fermentation with 3 set of folds.
• A long cold proof at 4°C / 8°C.
• Baked on stone with steam.

Per ricapitolare:
- 680g Farina Buratto
- 450g Acqua
- 18g Sale Grigio
- 135g Lievito naturale liquido di enkir integrale (60g farina + 75g acqua)
- 135g Lievito naturale liquido di buratto (60g farina + 75g acqua)

To recap:
- 680g Buratto flour
- 450g Water
- 18g Guérande salt
- 135g Liquid levain on whole enkir (60g flour + 75g water)
- 135g Liquid levain on buratto (60g flour + 75g water)

Nella mollica ho finalmente ritrovato intense note fruttate di mostarda, mosto d'uva, vin cotto. Il gusto leggermente acido e dolce allo stesso tempo. La crosta fantastica e la mollica perfettamente fermentata, leggermente umida, translucente e gelatinizzata. Sicuramente tutto ciò è dovuto alle qualità ed alla freschezza degli ingredienti utilizzati.

The crumb has intense fruity notes of mustard, grape must, vin cotto. The taste is a bit sour and sweet at the same time. A wonderfull crust and a perfectly fermented crumb, moisty, translucent and gelatinized. Surely all this is due to the quality and freshness of the ingredients I used.

                             

Finally THE sister approved my "100% Rye Sourdough". She does not spend a lot of word about my bread but this time she said: "uhhhmm it's more ..." stop.

Overall Formula
[100%] Whole Rye Flour - 500g
[96%] Water - 480g
[2%] Gray Salt - 10g

----

Soaker (20% of the overall flour)
[100%] Whole Rye Flour - 100g
[100%] Water (room temperature) - 100g
[2%] Gray Salt - 2g

Rye Sourdough (30% of the overall flour)
[100%] Whole Rye Flour - 150g
[120%] Water (room temperature) - 180g
[10%] Active Rye Starter - 15g

Dough (Desired dough temperature 26..28°C)
Whole Rye Flour - 250g
Water - 200g
Gray Salt - 8g
Soaker - 202g
Rye Sourdough - 345g

Process

• Prepare the rye sourdough (you want it ripe when you'll mix the dough, based on your room temperature this could be 6 to 16 hours before). The soaker can be mixed at the same time.
• Mix the dough until all the ingredients are well combined, about 5-10 minutes by hand with a spoon and a spatula. The desired dough temperature is 26-28°C.
• After about 1/2 hour prepare a baking pan. It should be lightly oiled and coated with whole rye flour. 
• Move the dough into the pan and proof @28°C till rised about 50% (something like 1+1/2 hour to 2+1/2 hours). The pan can be filled for 2/3 its volume, when profed the dough will almost fill the pan.
• Bake on stone with steam @250°C for the first 10 minutes then 45 minutes @220°C. You can remove the bread from the pan the last 10 minutes of this time to dry the sides and the bottom of the bread.

As usual "Pure Rye Sourdough" is great. The crumb is moisty and very open and the secret is a good dough hydration level. Look at this:

I think this bread can compete with two of the best rye I tasted in Italy: Delicatessen (P.zza Santa Maria Beltrade 2, Milano) and Andrea Perino (Via Cavour 10, Torino).

For Italian bakers: I used stone grounded organic whole rye flour from Mulino Marino.

Two months ago I bought a new oven so I had to learn how it works, I mean what is the best setup for sourdough heart baking. This led me to change my setup: no more covered baking!

Have you ever seen the incredible oven spring, great crust color, beautiful ears you have with a professional steam injected deck oven? Just take a look at these photos from Wally's excellent post "My Excellent Adventures at King Arthur Flour".

                                                      [James scoring Pain au Levain]

                                  [Jeffrey at the oven]

Don't you think this is incredible? How can this "flat dough" spring up so well? It must me the oven+steam system!

Here is one small (470g) test loaf, nothing special, just a white liquid sourdough and stone grounded Italian Tipo1 flour - very close to T80 French flour - a medium/soft+ dough at 66% hydration. I didn't take too much care of the dough because I was focused on my setup, but ...

So, the new setup is simple: free steam in the oven generated with a pre-heated bread loaf pan filled with stones and a wet towel. Preheat the oven at 250°C for about 45 minutes with the stone and the pan inserted (the pan is on the same level with the stone) and put the wet towel in the pan just before inserting the bread in the oven. My oven is very well insulated and it traps all the steam, moreover the top heating element work well and doesn't get fire-hot. When I baked this dough with the lid it was very flat with no ears ...

I think I have finally removed THE variable that gave me somewhat inconsistent baking result.

In my previous post "Golosaria 2009 & Petra Lab" I wrote about Petra flour from Molino Quaglia. I said I'd like to try conTuttoIlGrano, the (very) whole version of Petra.

And now, my very first test with conTuttoIlGrano! You can read about these flours in my previous post but I want to give you more details about conTuttoIlGrano. "con-tutto-il-grano" means "with-the-whole-grain" and I think this is a perfect name. The flour is stone milled, GMO free (not organic), it has 80% whole wheat flour and the other 20% is wheat flakes, toasted germ and bran ... a whole whole wheat flour!

I baked a simple sourdough bread, here the main points:

• 25% Petra1 + 75% Petra conTuttoIlGrano
• 25% pre-fermented flour (100% hydration liquid levain), I used Petra1 flour.
• 62% overall hydration
• Short mix with S&F
• Retarded in proof

          [The loaf]

         [The crumb]

And here the information from the bag (you can see the high resolution version on my zoomr page, just click on the photo then on the "lens" and select the original size). One side of the bag describe a formula with a yeasted biga. If you do the easy calculations the suggested hydration is 70% (maybe 68% if the dough is retarded). For sure this flour can go up to this high hydration (even more if you use a stiff 45% hydration biga that adds a lot of strength to the final dough) but I think this is not a must.

Yesterday I was reasoning about my oven + covered steam method and I think (maybe I'm wrong) the cover traps a lot of steam, sometimes too much steam. This could be a problem with high hydration dough (heart baked) because they need less steam but when covered they free even more stream than a stiffer one: result flat loaves. Ok, you can say don't use the cover with this dough but I wasn't so bravo to get a proper steaming with my crazy oven.

Conclusion: a great whole wheat flour. The loaf is perfect even if I think my starter doesn't like the "all in one" switch on Petra1.

Next loaf ... Pane Petra di Campagna?

Mulino Marino is (small) miller near Cuneo (Piemonte) that work hard to produce a high quality stone grounded organic flour. HERE the link to the web site where you can read more about the history, the products etc.

One of the most interesting thing is they use organic grains grown in Piemonte and Lombardia, just where I live. And the varieties of grains they mix are the best one for bread baking. For example Taylor and Bologna are hard/medium-hard wheat varieties that can be used in place of imported Canadian wheat. These and other national grain are mixed with care to produce a very good range of flours. All the flour is milled in pureness and contains no additional additives (milk and its derivatives, vitamins, preservatives, malt and its derivatives, etc).

The miller works also with ancient grains like Farro Monoccocum, Kamut, 8-row Maize, Buckwheat and Enkir.

The first time I heard about Mulino Marino was from a friend and just one week ago from a baker. So, wednesday I was in Milano center and I stopped at EatItaly store where I bought some flour.

There were a lot of flours but my choice was clear, I thought at the bread I want to bake and I picked up Buratto and Manitoba flours.

• Buratto is a medium strength wheat flour, stone milled, 80% extraction rate (Italian Type 1).
• Manitoba is a strong bread flour, cylinder milled, 72% extraction rate (Italian Type 0).

Here the sourdough bread mix I used for "Pane Buratto":

• 75% buratto + 25% manitoba (+ 0.5% malted barley flour)
• 25% pre-fermented flour (20% buratto and 80% manitoba)
• overall hydration 61%-62%, medium-soft dough

           [The loaf]
           

           [The crumb] Sorry, for the bad shaping and the tunnel, remove it with your imagination and look the crumb
                                 texture around or fly into the tunnel and observe the translucent wall.
           

The crumb is perfect: light but substantial, yieldind, moisty, soft and elastic. I made two loaves, one with stiff levain (50% hydration) and one with liquid levain (100% hydration). The stiff levain adds a touch (a very little note) of acetic acidity, I prefer the loaf with liquid levain.
The crust very good (for my oven and steaming apparatus). A good balance between chewy and fragrant.
The loaf shown a good oven spring and volume.

I can say Buratto flour is a perfect organic "all purpose" flour (tastier and rich of soluble fiber), not comparable with supermarket Italian flour. It's a pleasure to work with: after the autolyse I added the salt and in less than 2 minute of gentle hand mixing to incorporate the salt the dough shown a good gluten development.

The lesson for me is: use flour with extraction rate >= 80%, that is >= Italian Type 1. For sure I will test more flours from Mulino Marino ... Setaccio (a step over Buratto with a higher extraction rate, >= 85%) and SaporiAntichi (ancient grains mix) are my preferred.

Bake, bake and bake, the time passes and you demand more, you want more, you are more exigent.

In my previous post I shared with you a good looking bread but I admitted it was not to my taste. I have to say you that even in my last trip in Paris (March 2010) I didn't find a really amazing bread. I tasted a lot of bread from famous and not so famous bakeries and a lot of bread at Europain Exhibition. Some bread was really good, most of them good, someone bad. Till now I take with me, in my memory, just two or three bread I can say - that's a perfect sourdough!

So I planned a new formula to try the flavor potential of this sourdough bread. It was based on the previous one (85% white bread flour, 10% whole wheat, 5% whole rye. 66% hydration. 25% pre-fermented flour (100% hydration). Short mix with S&F ...

My changes:

• The preferment was feed (and it is feed) with 97% bread flour 3% whole rye, 100% hydration. This adds a fruity smell.
• Tested a new white bread flour. This is a strong "type 00" flour (50% extraction rate, low ash content), I think W 340. It could be used for long fermentation. Proteins contents 14% with European measurements (11.8% USA measurements).
• Longer cold proof. This was not planned but I didn't want to bake early morning before work. So I adjusted the process to accommodate a 20h cold proof at 5°C.

I wanted to take a few shots of the process but I was tired so I took just a photo of my super cheap mixer while waiting my water cools down 2°C.
                                                    

And here the levain almost ready to go:

     

The Bread:



Do you think it is to my taste? ...

I'm thinking these very light (empty) bread cannot be to my taste. It seems that the aroma escape from the loaf together with the water.

Next loaf? Maybe a T80 organic miche.

After a long break, I'm now able to return to blogging, I hope ...

I don't want to bore you all with my baking problems (although I did with some of you, my "baking friends" ... you know Shiao-Ping!?), but I have to share with you what I think I've learned.

First I'll show you my last (I should say my first) sourdough loaf after a full month of bread thrashing.

[The loaf]

[The crumb - a half]

[The crumb - the other half]

[The crust]

Here my notes:

• Use a good oven. My oven is really "cooked" (I showed it in THIS post), now even more than ever. Can I say I HATE it? It's crazy, about 50°C hotter in the back. Then, the temperature goes up and down and when it goes up the top heating element is incandescent.
• Steam. The first half of the baking is crucial. An efficient steaming method must be used. I switched from my pre-heated clay pot to a not pre-heated stainless boule (in my case just a big steel pot). This covered steaming method is the only one I can use and I found really important to use a not pre-heated cover - before it gets hot, it gives the bread the time to free the steam.
• Use a reasonably good flour.
• Take care of the levain. Try to use it at the peak or a bit before.
• Do not be a stupid house wife. First watch the dough than watch the clock.
• The wetter is NOT always the better. You have to master the process.
• Check your refrigerator. Find a spot that register the right temperature for cold proofing. It's easy to put the dough in a refrigerator that you think should be around 5°C and then you find that in the night it goes down to 2°C.

... that's the home baker life. Don't you think it's too easy to bake bread in a bakery where you have perfect flour, steamed deck oven, proofing cabinet, mixer ... ?

To do list:

• Work more on the previous notes.
• The subtle art of fermentation. One thing I have to better understand is what there's behind leaving, fermentation and dough ripening; and how to control these things. Maybe you think the bread I showed is ok ... absolutely not, I think it's mediocre: a plain, not so complex, full flavored bread.

The bread I baked was based on Shiao-Ping suggestions with the obvious adjustment you have to do every time you bake, with different ingredients and conditions: 85% bread flour, 10% whole wheat, 5% rye. 65% overall hydration. 25% prefermented flour (100% hydration white levain). Short mixing with S&F, 12h retarded at 5°C. I also used the "double flour addition" technique of SteveB (described HERE).

When I was shaping the loaf my sister was around in the kitchen and I asked her to touch the very puffy, smooth just shaped loaf. I loved the word she used - she said: oohh it's sooo (in Italian) bonzo.

And here, just for your fun (but do not joke about me too much!), I want to show you a loaf I thrashed ... I cannot show only good looking bread!

                                    

Last three weeks I baked really bad bread and I know why: the flour.
Nelle ultime tre settimane ho sfornato del pane veramente brutto e so perché: la farina.

Most of the (bread) flour you can buy at the market is not so good, at least where I live (Italy). It's too strong or too weak or enhanced with ascorbic acid or made with all Canadian and US grain. So, I've seen liquified dough, super strong plastic dough, very strange dough behavior ...
La maggior parte delle farine (per pane) che si possono comprare nei negozi non sono così buone, almeno dove vivo io. O sono troppo forti o troppo deboli o migliorate con acido ascorbico o fatte totalmente con grani Canadesi e Americani. Così, ho visto impasti liquefatti, impasti molto tenaci quasi di plastica, impasti dal comportamento davvero strano ...

Last week I said - I want a decent flour. So, I asked an Italian forum (my first message) if someone could suggest me a miller or reseller of good bread flour near where I live. The first reply was from a Madam (Angela) who lives just 2 km from my home. I don't tell you all the details, but she gave me a 3 kg of Caputo Rossa flour. A flour I always wanted to try! Great!
La settimana scorsa ho detto - voglio una farina decente. Così, ho chiesto su un forum italiano (il mio primo messaggio) se qualcuno poteva suggerirmi un molino od un rivenditore di buona farina nelle mie vicinanze. La prima risposta è stata di una Signora (Angela) che vive a 2 km da casa mia. Non sto a raccontare tutti i dettagli, ma alla fine mi ha regalato 3 kg di farina Caputo Rossa. Una farina che ho sempre voluto provare! Fantastico!

Molino Caputo is a miller located in Naples, famous all over the world for pizza flour. But they mill also flour for bread, croissant, babà, sfogliate. The flour I received is the one in the red bag (00 rinforzato), a medium strength flour (W 280:300, P/L 0.5:0.6) made with a selection of high quality Italian and North American grain.
Il Molino Caputo è sito a Napoli, famoso in tutto il mondo per la sua farina per pizza. Ma macinano anche farina per pane, croissant, babà, sfogliate. La farina che ho ricevto in dono è quella nel sacco rosso (00 rinforzato), una farina di media forza (W 280:300,P/L 0.5:0.5) fatta con una selezione di grani nazionali e Nord Americani.

What should I give Angela to thank her? A million dollar question ... Bread.
Cosa avrei dovuto regalare ad Angela per ringraziarla? Domanda da un milione di dollari ... Pane.

A simple sourdough bread, with a touch of whole grain (5% rye, 5% wheat), a soft dough (65% hydration).
Un pane semplice a lievitazione naturale, con un pizzico di grano integrali (5% segale, 5% frumento) dall'impasto morbido (65% idratazione).

Yes, I cut it half, before give it to Angela, to check the quality of the crumb.
Sì, l'ho tagliato a metà, prima di darlo ad Angela, per controllare la qualità della mollica.

Bread does friend!
Il pane fa amici.

Yesterday, I was reading about Ezio Marinato. He is a famous italian baker and teacher, one of the most representative member of the italian team at the "Couple du Monde the Boulangerie - Paris" (along with Piergiorgio Giorilli) and gold medal at the "Mondial du Pain, Goût et Nutrition - Lyon 2007".

He is also a baking consultant and I already knew him because of his work with Molino Quaglia and Farina Petra.

So, I was reading about his bread/courses/work ... and I stopped on this bread: "Pane a Lievito Naturale con Segale Integrale", that is "Sourdough Bread with Whole Rye". As I am in a "focus on process" period, or "... learn the subtle art of fermentation ..." (Shiao-Ping reminds me Hamelman's statement in the post "body and mind"), I thought this bread could be really close to the basic Pain Au Levain I'm working on.

After a receipt translation to bakers % I saw again that schema! It's a while I see that schema, maybe with some little differences in the process, and when you see the same bread made with almost the same schema by a lot of professional/inspired bakers you focus on the subtle art of fermentation.

My first thought was: this is J.Hamelman Vermont Sourdough with Increased Whole Grain but:

• not increased prefermented flour: 15% vs 20%
• not liquid levain: stiff 50% hydration vs liquid 125% hydration
• more "intensive mix" vs "improved mix"

Now that I have a better knowledge of mixing techniques and requirements (thanks to Dan DiMuzio book) I understand the main timing difference in the process: 01:00 bulk + 03:00 proof @26°C vs 02:30 bulk + 02:30 proof @25°C.

Here the original receipt, I let you play with all the math!

Ingredients: 4000g bread flour (W280), 1000g whole rye flour, 1500g stiff levain, 25g malt, 50g toasted malt, 100g salt, 3500g water.

Dough temperature: 26/28 °C

Mixing: 5 minutes speed 1 + 10 minutes speed 2

Directions: autolyze the flour with 2750g water, mix 5/6 minutes in speed 1; wait 30 minutes, then add all the ingredients and the remaining water, mix 10 minutes speed 2. Bulk fermentation about 70/80 minutes at 27°C. Division (suggested piece 500g to 1000g) and preshaping with 15 minutes bench rest, then proof at 28°C for about 3 hours. Bake.

Here my attempt at the bread. I adjusted timing and ingredients according to my environment (for example I raised the final hydration from 66% to about 68%). Next try a would go for a short mix that is higher hydration (70%) longer bulk fermentation (3 hours) with 4/5 set of stretch and fold.

      
     [The stiff starter before and after 8/10 hours @20/22°C, inoculation 25%]

                  
                 [Malted Barley Flour + toasted and dough before autolyse]

                  
                  [The bread]

                  
                  [The crumb]

This bread was prepared in my mom's kitchen and baked 3 Km far in my "new working on house" where my oven is now placed. When I will finish to build my kitchen this oven will be dismissed so this is the last opportunities to show it to you.

Here the "technical specifications": very cheap electric static oven, 20 years old, crazy temperature controller, hot in the back cool in the front, no light bulb (exploded), no door handle (broken, I use a screwdriver to open the door).