The Fresh Loaf

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Benito's picture
Benito

I know I’ve made these many times trying to improve them, but I think for the flour that I use which is an organic AP equivalent to T55 I have settled on what I think is the ideal hydration and degree of fermentation.  I have baked another set today along with the pie for a dinner party we are throwing tonight.  Hopefully our guests will enjoy the meal.  The main course is a miso vinegar chicken dish with peperoncinis and peppers.  Both the miso and the red wine vinegar I make myself, the miso is fermented for 1 year.

Overnight Levain build ferment 75°F 10-12 hours

78°F 9 hours to peak

 

In the morning, to your mixing bowl add  water and diastatic malt  to dissolve, then add levain.  Use your spatula to cut the levain into small pieces.  Next add AP flour and mix to combine.  Allow to fermentolyse for 10 mins.  Slap and fold x 100 then add salt and hold back water gradually working in until fully absorbed by massaging and then Rubaud kneading the dough, then slap and fold x 200.  Can also use your stand mixer.

 

Bulk Fermentation 82*F until aliquot jar shows 20% rise.

Do folds every 20 mins doing 3 folds

Could do cold retard at this point for  up to overnight. (Aliquot jar 20% rise)

 

Divide and pre-shape rest for 15 mins

Shape en couche with final proof until aliquot jar shows 55% rise then (optional) cold retard shaped baguettes en couche for at least 15 minutes for easier scoring.  I often do this for convenience as the oven is pre-heating as well as to make the dough much easier to score.

 

Pre-heat oven 500*F after 30 mins add Silvia towel in pan with boiling water.

Transfer baguettes from couche to peel on parchment

Score each baguette and transfer to oven, bake on steel.

Bake with steam pouring 1 cup of boiling water to cast iron skillet dropping temperature to 480*F. 

The baguettes are baked with steam for 13 mins.  The steam equipment is removed venting the oven of steam.  Transfer the baguettes from the baking steel to next rack completing baking directly on a rack to minimize the browning and thickening of the bottom crust.  The oven is dropped to 450ºF but convection is turned on and the baguettes bake for 10 mins rotating them halfway.  The baguettes are rotated again if needed and baked for another 3 mins to achieve a rich colour crust.

I try to leave a bit more space so the ears are a bit wider.  I have found that this reduces the broken straps that I often get.  It worked for the most part with only one broken strap.  I think I can still be scoring more deeply, but really I cannot complain, they baked up pretty well I think.

My index of bakes.

Benito's picture
Benito

Recently we’ve acquired a preference for streusel topped pies over double crusted pies.  One of the nice things about a streusel topping is that you can add spices or nuts to it that might compliment the flavours of the filling.  In this case the filling has both cinnamon and allspice so they were also added to the streusel.  Another thing about streusel toppings is that you can have your pastry rolled out and crimped and then frozen, fill your pie and then throw on the streusel and immediately bake.  It is so fast and simple.  For a double crust the bottom crust cannot be frozen, filled and then top pasty applied.  You would need to allow it to defrost so you can press the two layers together and then crimp.

I won’t post the recipe for the pastry as I’ve posted that in the past so it can be found in other posts.

Peach Rhubarb Filling

  • 500 g or 2 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb (about 1/4 in. thick)
  • 500 g 2 1/2 cups peaches (peeled and sliced)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp allspice 
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla

 

Put frozen fruits in the dutch oven to defrost with brown and  granulated sugar to help macerate.

 

Once defrosted and the fruit releasing a lot of their juices add the corn starch, vanilla, all the spices and salt to the liquid from the fruit.  Stir gently but thoroughly to ensure that the cornstarch is well dissolve.  Next cook the fruit on medium heat until it reaches about 165°F, the corn starch will start to gelatinize at this point, but not fully.  Remove from heat, allow to cool and then place in fridge until ready to use. 

 

I prepare the pate brisée a couple of days ahead of time.  The day before baking, roll the dough out and transfer it to the chilled pie pan.  I now like to use a metal pan.  Place this in the fridge to rest 10-20 mins.  Next remove from the fridge and crimp the edges.  Wrap in plastic wrap or place in a plastic bag in the freezer until ready to use.

 

Prepare the Streusel Topping for Pies but add ½ tsp of cinnamon and ⅛ tsp allspice.  Place in fridge until ready to use.

 

Morning of baking.  Preheat the oven to 425°F and place your baking steel on the lowest rack.  Separate the yolk from egg whites into two separate bowls.  To the egg white add about 1 tsp-1 tbsp of water, mix thoroughly.  Brush this egg white onto the bottom of the pie pastry and along the walls but not the crimped edges.  This can help prevent a soggy bottom.  Place the pastry back into the freezer.  Add the egg yolk to the egg white and mix.  Save this to egg wash your saved extra bits of pastry that you might have left or your next loaf of bread.

 

Once the oven has reached 425°F, fill the pastry with your fruit filling.  Next top with the streusel.  Place this onto a cookie sheet and bake on the baking steel for 20 mins at 425°F.  Next add your crust shield to prevent the crimped edges from getting too browned.  Bake for another 10 mins at 425°F then reduce the temperature to 350°F, rotate the pie and bake for another 40-60 mins until the streusel is golden brown and the filling is bubbling near the center.  You can also measure the temperature of the filling at the center and if it has reached 175 -180 °F it should be gelatinized enough.

 

Allow to fulling cool before slicing.

 

Streusel

1⅔ cups streusel, to top Makes 1⅔ cups streusel, enough for one 9- or 10-inch pie topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

4 teaspoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, at room temperature

Stir together the flour, brown and granulated sugars, and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle in the butter pieces and toss to coat. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the butter is incorporated and the mixture is chunky but not homogenous.

Chill for at least 15 minutes before using.

The streusel will keep refrigerated for 5 days or frozen for 1 month.

Remember, don’t throw out your extra pastry that is cut off from the bottom crust.  Chill it, then you can use cut outs and paint them or just egg wash and sprinkle with sugar to decorate your pie.

 My index of bakes

Benito's picture
Benito

I was thinking the other day about eliminating the butter from my milk breads and remembered the bottle of toasted walnut oil in my cupboard that needed to be used, so I came up with this loaf.  I was in a rush out the door at the time I needed to shape this so I did the lazy thing and shaped it as a batard and not into my usual four lobes.  I actually quite like how this turned out visually especially when topped with black sesame seeds.

For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

 

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

 

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole red fife flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

 

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

 

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next drizzle in the walnut oil a bit at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more oI’ll.  Again, knead until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 4 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

 

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

 

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or oil or line with parchment paper.  

 

Lightly floaf the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and shape as a batard.  Transfer to your prepared pan.

 

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

 

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again and then top with black sesame seeds.  Score the dough, this is optional.

 

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF.

My index of bakes.

CalBeachBaker's picture
CalBeachBaker

Today's bake: Weinheim Carrot Rye   Weinheimer Mohrenbrot (Germany)

Source: The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg

Notes: None

Substitutions:  None

Discussion: This is another bread from The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg. When I was mixing I delayed adding the scald to the mixer and added a little more water to the dough to make it easier to mix which was a mistake. In spite of my error I am quite happy with the taste and texture after a day of letting it dry a bit.

I used baby carrots so I think the bread was a little bit sweeter than it would normally be but I found it to be quite pleasant. The crust and crumb are nice and soft with oat and nutty flavors from the sunflower, pepita, and flax seeds.

Make again? - Yes, definitely.

Changes/Recommendations:  A little less hydration, score earlier.

Ratings:

 

 

 

fredsbread's picture
fredsbread

During my experimentation on grinding durum into semola rimacinata, I found out that the 50 mesh sieve I bought got me about 85% extraction on hard red wheat (not sure if it's spring or winter) after a single pass through my stone mill, so I decided to try a bake with it.

The dough was wonderful to work with. Very sticky when I first mixed it (75% hydration), but it got much better after resting 30 minutes. It probably could've used a little more water.

The crumb isn't quite as open as I usually get with white flour, but much taller and more open than when I do whole wheat, even I sift out the largest bran pieces (about 95% extraction). The flavor is robust and wheaty, and the crumb is very soft. Overall I'm very pleased with this loaf, though I think I need to go back and see why my scores aren't as consistent as they used to be.

fredsbread's picture
fredsbread

Inspired by Will's Altamura and Matera bakes made with 100% semola rimacinata, I wanted to try a durum loaf again. A couple of years ago I acquired a 50lb bag of durum berries from Central Milling while I was up in Logan visiting family, so I wanted to see if I could replicate his results with freshly ground flour.

I have Komo Mio stone mill and a 40 mesh sieve from Breadtopia (I bought the combo with a 50 mesh sieve but that one got ruined trying to drain some overwatered rice last year), so I started sifting out most of the bran and the largest endosperm particles after one pass at the finest setting. I tried to do the gentle mixing Will mentioned, but my mixer is a KitchenAid, and by the time the 65% water was incorporated and I let it fermentolyse, the dough already felt pretty developed. I increased hydration to 70%, but even though the dough felt soft and extensible, by the time it finished bulk ferment the top was all split.

I don't have a picture of the first loaf I made, but it was very small and the crumb was very close, nothing like what I've seen from semola remacinata.

For my second bake I bought another 50 mesh sieve off Amazon to try to get a lower extraction of finer flour. I experimented with  starting coarse and regrinding the retentate, but the flour had less bran when I did one pass at the finest setting (one click before the stones touch) and didn't regrind anything. This time I hand mixed, starting at 75% hydration and ending up at 85% when I felt like the dough had the right consistency. Once again the dough felt very good, soft and extensible, but cracked during bulk ferment and proof. The resulting loaf was better than the first, but still nowhere near where I'd like it to be.

The extraction rate was much higher with the 50 mesh than I expected, about 87%. The old Breadtopia sieve I had would get closer to 50%, so maybe I need to get another sieve at 60 mesh to really get that fine flour.

My current baking schedule uses 3-5% prefermented flour (stiff starter) and a 12-14 hour room temperature bulk ferment, then a 8-10 hour retarded proof. My next step in the project is to see if the durum just doesn't handle long fermentation as well as hard red or white wheat, so I'll do a higher preferment and shorter bulk ferment to see if I get less breakdown. I'm also going to try tempering the durum to see if that helps grind it finer. If neither of those work I'm investing in a 60 mesh sieve and using whatever doesn't go through as semolina for peel dusting and/or fresh pasta.

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

Phase one

Newfoundland savory spice ordered & incoming. For this first attempt I will be substituting basil for the main flavor component.

Test bake #1 using sweet basil.

Phase #1

The mix

All the players are assembled.

The dry ingredients flour, salt, yeast, and sugar 

The wet ingredients. Milk, egg, and tang zung

Combine in the Bosch bowl

Add the basil and pepper, then a short mix to hydrate. The shaggy dough is left to rest covered for 20 minutes.

 

After a 5 minute ride a cohesive elastic, albeit sticky dough is achieved. 

A few grandma style kneads, then the dough is shaped into a tight little ball.

The dough is placed in a lightly oiled fermentation container. Kitchen timer set for one hour. At that time the fermentation progress will be accessed. 

After two hours, the dough achieved the required doubling. Sadly I forgot to incorporate the butter before the begining of bulk fermentation. I will have to add this step during the final shaping. That's why I do a test bake.

Divide

Pre-shape.

What a freaking mess I made. I was supposed to pre-shape 12 balls and end with 24. 

 I pushed on anyway. Till the last few I was beat and combined the balls.

The butter and flour rub.

 The shaping.

The end game.

The misques not withstanding, they turned out pretty okay. These sweet basil & pepper taste amazing! Don't you know the Newfoundland savory was in today's mail. I can't wait to taste the Thanksgiving batch!

Kind regards,

Will F.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yozzause's picture
yozzause

Previously i have posted about this ghost town in outback Australia which is being rebuiilt by volunteers, One of the first restoratiuons was the underground bakery which contributes  many needed dollars for further restoration .

The works programme  lasts  a short time when volunteers gather to perform their work. Bakers are essential services and volunteers  are always needed so if you want a real adventure  a holiday in Australia and fancy a unique baking experience this could be for you in 2024. attached is the news letter recently arrived 

https://farinarestoration.com/?na=v&nk=1592-370f7fa9c3&id=141 

https://farinastation.com.au/photo-gallery/

Benito's picture
Benito

I was going to add cinnamon to the purple sweet potato but realized that I wanted this bread for sandwiches so the cinnamon wouldn’t be a good idea.  However, if this bread was for toast, adding some cinnamon to the purple sweet potato would have been delicious.  To make this bread, you’ll need to prepare some mashed purple sweet potato.  I did this a while back, then portioned and froze the portions in ziplock bags.  Once defrosted I blend the mash with a combination of sugar and flour.  I have found that when there is a sweet filling in my breads that the sugar draws out water from the dough.  This ends up causing problems with separation between the filling and bread and also collapsing or a pinched waist in the baked bread.  To counter this, I have found that adding some flour to the filling helps absorb the water coming out of the dough, so far this has worked every time.

For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

 

Purple Sweet Potato Filling

100 g mashed sweet potato

12 g granulated sugar

12 g flour

Mix together and set aside.

 

Egg/milk wash: 1 yolk and 1 tbsp milk, beaten

 

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

 

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

 

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane.

 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 4 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage, I typically shape once there is 20-40% rise.

 

Butter a large baking pan.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 2 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Stretch and then roll each piece of dough into a large rectangle, approximately equal sizes.  Spread the prepared purple sweet potato filling evenly over one of of the rectangles of dough leaving about 1cm at the edge of dough without mashed potato.  Place the other rectangle of dough onto the other sandwiching the sweet potato between them.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out a bit more aiming for more than 12” in length and just under 9” in width.  

 

Using a ruler and pizza cutter, cut the dough into evenly wide strips about 1.5-2 cm wide along the length of the dough but leaving about 2-4 cm of dough uncut at the end furthest away from you.  When all the strips are cut, twist the strips in alternating directions, clockwise and then counter clockwise.  Once all the strips are twisted, roll the whole thing into a log starting furthest away from you getting a nice tight roll at the start.  Transfer the dough into your prepared pullman pan with the seam side down.

 

Place in the buttered baking pan seem side down.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof until the top of the dough reaches within 1 cm of the rim of the pan.

 

When there is about 30 mins left of proofing time, prepare your egg and milk wash and then brush the top of the loaf.

 

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.

 

Bake the bread for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your loaf gets brown early in the baking process.

 

Remove the bread from the pan and return to the oven baking directly on the rack if the sides of the loaf aren’t yet crisp baking for another 5-10 mins.  Cool on a rack, enjoy.

My index of bakes.

albacore's picture
albacore

A slightly experimental bake, with a stiff French levain (for raising power), a liquid levain (for pH reduction) and an overnight yeasted sponge (for flavour).

All went well, but bulk (to 60% vol increase) was rather fast at 2hrs 10m. Retarded, shaped and baked the following day.

As soon as I turned out the loaves from the bannetons onto the peel they started to spread and I realised the loaves were "classically" overproofed.

Sure enough, the ears and loft were poor and the crumb was closer, more regular and more "frogspawn" than I like.

The hazards of experimental bakes, I guess. next time I would reduce the yeast in the sponge and eliminate the bench rest and ambient (pre-retard) proof.

 

 

 

Lance

 

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