Mebake's blog

This bake was triggered by Karin's tease bake here. The recipe is from Peter Reinhart's Wholegrain breads. The bread is an enriched bread that contains lots of seeds, such as sesame, flax, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds (i used crushed walnut instead).

The Bread is also 100% Wholegrain, and contains Rye flour too. I mixed all the ingredients on day two ,but the seeds, as they tend to hinder the development of the dough. When the dough was coherent and moderately developed, i added the seeds and kneaded for a while longer.

Added by edit: I accidentally re-read the recipe again today, and found that it actually is 50% wholewheat as the biga is bread flour. So, my bake isn't really the transitional one in the book. Anyway, who cares? The bread was spectacular!

Obviously, i scaled a 1kg dough for a 1.2kg pan.

This Bread was SO popular with family, it was deemed to be the Best tasting bread i've baked!

To me, it was a really nice nutty bread, that is sweet, wholesome, and healthy. This is one of those breads that is best consumed alone, with no topping whatsoever, save for some butter.

This bread is extremely recommended! Thanks for the reminder, Karin!

Having lusted over High percentage, multistage Rye breads for some time now, and being inspired by recent posts such as Phil’s and Cordruta’s, I finally took the plunge.

This is one time consuming, precariously scheduled recipe, that leaves you wondering at the end, whether or not crafting this bread is worth it.

Medium Rye is not available where I live, and so I improvised by sifting whole grain rye flour. The resultant flour consistency is close to a medium rye (I think).

I followed Hamelman’s instructions, including 1 tsp of yeast at the end. As usual, this is a paste rather than a dough, and therefore to boost the 20% bread flour strength , I added 1 Tbl Vital wheat gluten to the final mixture.

The Paste, rounded by wet hands. Bowl oiled slightly with water.

 The paste, divided and rounded by wet hands.

Smooth top Heavily Dusted with whole Rye flour.

Inverted into a 50% bread flour, 50% rice flour dusted kitchen towel.

 After 50 minutes of proofing.

Inverted on to parchment, with corn meal at the bottom.

32 hours later.

Lovely slightly moist crumb, and chewy rye-infused flavored crust. Very typical of German Rye.

The verdict: worth it, only if i could afford a whole day at home.

What spreads would best complement this bread? anyone?

This was my last bread of 2011, happy New year everyone!

As i browsed through Laurel's Cookbook for Wholegrain Breads, i came across a recipe that utilizes Dates! and i live in a region where Dates in most forms are abundant all year round. The recipe calls for Pitted dates, that must be simmered first, and the resultant cooled goo is to be added to the dough. I had some date paste (used for confectionary, and pastry), and used it instead, so its not technically Golden Date Bread. I also added poolish to the recipe, and adjusted the formula accordingly. This bread, is a 100% Whole Wheat enriched bread, that is leavened by commercial yeast.

The Dough was quite thirsty, due to all the fiber, and was mixed longer for proper development.

The dough received two deflations, prior to preshaping. Final proofing was tricky, as i had

Pointers to the final fermentation time. Seems i underproofed slightly.

Today morning, i've had a few slices for breakfast. WOW! the first morsel struck me with its date-sweetness. The sweetness is very pleasent, and dates really lend a well bodied flavor. The bread is packed with fiber, from both wheat and dates. No bitterness of wholewheat was evident. The crumb is smooth and soft, not dense, and the crust is tender.

Very Recommended.

At long last, i've baked a challah, a 100% whole wheat version from Peter Reinhart's Whole grain breads. I have to admit, i'am new to braiding, and daring to braid four strands was a little too much for me, especially with a high hydration dough.

I have made several mistakes:

 1 - I did not mix in more whole wheat flour to reach to the desired consistency for a challah. This lead to a very sticky dough (feels like 80%).

2 - I screwed up the braiding pattern.

3 - I over-browned the crust.

However, i managed to transfer the gloppy braid to a parchment lined sheet, and baked it at the right time (I had to load it to the oven sooner, as higher hydration means faster fermentation).

The Crust was somewhat crunchy, and the crumb was soft, light, and Rich. It smelled of Poopy seed and Wholewheat. The flavor was slightly sweet, and very pleasently whole -wheaty. It Toasts very well too!

Lovely Bread! Healthy too!

I've always admired Andy's (ananda)recipes, and earlier printed and baked one of his. The blog can be found HERE. He describes the bread as being one of the tastiest imaginable.

I, however, regretfully, did not remain true to the recipe, and deviated, mostly out of necessity and scheduling. Firstly, i didn't have any pumpkin seeds, so i used only sunflower seeds. Secondly i reserved no seeds for the garnish (blame it on my forgetful mind!). Thirdly, i prepared and used 20% more rye levain than called for in Andy's recipe, as i wanted a faster ferment and consequently baking the same day i mix. Fourthly, and most importantly, i ended up retarding in bulk the dough, as even the additional Levain took a while, and i couldn't afford to stay up late for baking. The last factor, did increase the tanginess/ sourness of this bread, although within tolerable limits ( in a nice way).

Baked in a deep Pullman look alike.

Soft, and Very, Very aromatic!

Speckeled with sunflower seeds.

I'am not in a position, therefore, to be able to verify the claim Andy made to the flavor of this bread, but judging from the flavor of my version, Andy's un-retarded version should be more subtle in sourness, and would allow the seeds to show presence better. The sunflower liquor has some solid presence as it permeates throughout the loaf. Pumpkin seeds were all that was missing from the combination.

Thank you andy for the wonderful recipe!

This is Flax seed bread from Hamelman's "BREAD", i baked two days back. It is a 60% Rye bread with soaked flaxseeds. I used Wholegrain Rye in the Rye sour instead of the medium Rye called for. I also adhered to Hamelman's recipe and procedures, including the addition of 1.5 tsp of instant yeast in the final dough.

This Rye dough with flaxseeds is very sticky! I had to add 2 Tbl of Vital wheat gluten to the white (12% protein) flour to emulate the strength of High gluten flour. The dough ended up very .. very thirsty, that i ended up adding almost 75g more water to the final dough to get the consistency of the (paste) right. Once i immersed my hands (i mix entirely by hand) into the dough, i knew i had to toil in the pasty mess for at least 20 minutes trying to get whatever white flour in there to develop.

The dough kept on tearing even during shaping, but i finally managed to get them into floured lined banettons.

The only way to get this boule to bloom properly was load it seam side upwards.

Lower Profile due to all the added hydration

But with a very evenly opened textured, and moist crumb.

The dough, although quite a hassle to mix, does make a wonderful Rye bread, with a flax seed crunch and a pleasent soury note. My elder family members loved this bread. It is wonderful with cream cheese, or pastrami.

This is a my first take on a recipe from Laurel’s Kitchen bread book. It is (Basic Whole Wheat bread). The recipe is basically an enriched (Butter/oil , and Honey) 100% whole wheat bread.

The whole procedure from mixing to baking takes roughly 5-6 hours, quite fast! Recipe calls for 1.6 tsp for a 900 grams of whole wheat flour. The hydration is about 70%, but I increased it to 75%.

I used the slap and fold kneading method to arrive at the gluten development strongly advocated for in the recipe. I added the butter later half way through the mixing. I made sure that a window pane was formed.

The interesting thing about the recipe is that it includes deflating the dough twice, there is a first rising, “gently deflating, not punching down!!” and then 2nd rise, deflating again, then rounding/resting  for 10 minutes, and finally shaping. Even the shaping technique for a sandwich loaf is unique in this book (I may illustrate the shaping technique one day).

I used freshly milled white Australian whole wheat.  

    Tall domed loaf using a Pullman look alike french deep pan

   Very soft, tender and light bread.

    Slices toast very quickly, as would white sandwich loaves.

    The crumb was cotton soft. 2Tb of butter did the trick!

I loved this bread, Period. The book has also some wealth of information about wholegrains and baking in general. I really recommend this book to any Home baker who wishes to bake healthy, yet light and flavorful wholegrain bread at home.

Khalid

This is my second take at Hans Joakim version of Pain au Levain with Whole wheat. Recipe can be found in Hans's Blog here.

The Recipe Differs from Hamelman's in The amount of Rye and Wholewehat added, in addition to the levain. In this recipe, All rye is in the levain, and  is mixed with the remaining ingredients for the 30 min. autolyze. Salt is added thereafter.

(Edit: I've increased % of prefermented flour to 17%)

I loved the idea of Rye Sour being the leavining agent, as it enhances sour flavor, which it did, and allows for faster bulk and final fermentation.

I stretched and folded the dough letter wise, as opposed to the S&F in the bowl in my previous attempt. The Dough was very smooth and lively, and developed extremely fast!

The Flavor was, as expected, slightly sour. This bread fairs really well if cold retarded for 8-12 hours. I like Rye sour levain, as it refreshes faster with 1-2 refreshments, as opposed to white levain's 3 refreshments.

This is an illustration of Shaping a dough into a ball (Boule). I learned this technique from San Fransisco Baking circle.

David (dmsnyder), was the first to demonstrate this shaping method here.(thanks David!). I thought of illustrating the method, and share it with all of you.

This is my first take on Peter Reinhart's Levain based bigas in (Wholegrain breads). Instant yeast was added to the final dough, though. The flavor is clean, with no sourness at all! pleasent flavor, with soft crumb, and crackly thin crust.  I have baked an identical bread from this recipe previously with yeasted biga Here.

Ingredients: (Makes 1 medium loaf)

Soaker:       223g    Bran + coarse whole Wheat flour

                   4g (1/2 tsp)    Salt

                   173g              water

-----------------------------------------

Total:          400 grams

Biga:      227g               Bread flour                                    50 % wholewheat

                10g (1 Tb)  stiff white starter                           50% Prefermented Flour

                167g                     water                                      Total Hydration: 75%

------------------------------------------                                  Bulk Fermentation: 45 min.

Total:        404 grams                                                  Final Fermentation: 45 min  

Final Dough:

                 400g                     All Soaker

                404g                     All Biga

                 9g  (2 ¼ tsp)          Instant Dry Yeast    

                8g  (1 tsp)              Salt

------------------------------------------

Total:       821 grams

For this loaf , i doubled the recipe, as i had no bread left in my freezer

In my opinion, the differences in flavor imparted by the stiff wild yeast biga, and the yeasted biga's are very subtle.

Very nice bread. i have lots of coarse whole wheat flour left over from my experiments with siftings, and this is the perfect recipe (with wild yeast or the instant yeast) for consuming the coarse whole wheat flour.