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Way back, when I first started making SD bread, I followed the same old routine; Gluten development with 10 minutes of kneading, then 2 hours of fermenting, then shaping and about 4 hours of final proof.  It made good bread but not the best.

Then I went to slap and folds for gluten development, then stretch and folds then 2 hour of ferment followed by a bulk retard of 8 hours, warm up, shape,  final proof and bake.  This worked a little better.

Then I went to slap and folds and stretch and folds followed by no ferment at all, shaping then 12 hours in the fridge, warm up and bake.  Better bread again.  But it was easy to over-proof in the fridge so I cut the retard to 10 hours.

The other way to add time to the process that would allow for a bulk counter ferment and a longer retard is to cut the levain amount from the 15-20% of the total flour and water weight to something less than 10% in the hopes that the longer time would lead to better flavor without over proofing.

The small levain was built over (2) 3 hour stages with progressively greater amounts of flour and water and then refrigerating the levain for 24 hours after it had risen 25% in volume after the 3rd feeding.  It finished doubling on the counter the next day after 2 hours of warm up.

So Lucy cut the levain amount to less than 10%, added a 2 hour bulk ferment to the 3 sets of slap and folds of 6, 1.and 1 minute upping the interval to 20 minutes and 3 sets of stretch and folds, from the compass points only,  also on 20 minute intervals.  During the 2 hour bulk ferment, 1 set of stretch and folds were done at the 1 hour mark. 

The dough was then bulk retarded in the fridge for 12 hours.  The next morning, after the dough had warmed up for 2 hours on the counter, the dough was shaped and placed into a bran floured basket – something new and allowed to proof on the counter for 2 hours before going into a 525 F preheated oven with  Mega Steam.

It steamed for 15 minutes and, once the steam came out, it baked another 10 minutes before hitting 205 F on the inside.  We left in on the stone with the oven off and door ajar until it hit 207 F on the inside when it was removed to the cooling rack.

What a great lunch - this was a pate maison sandwich with melted pepper jack cheese and this bread - killer!

It spread out some, sprang and bloomed a little, less than out normal which means over proofing or too wet or both even though the hydration was 2% lower than normal – so I’m guessing over proofing at about 95% instead of 85%. It did brown, but hard to tell with the bran coating if it blistered.  The crust went very soft as it cooled.  Still, the crumb should be fairly open for a 50% whole grain bread but we will not know that until after lunch.

Last Friday's Ancient Grain Plotziade bake for breakfast - this bread is seriously good.

 The crumb came out less open than we wanted sue to it being over proofed.  Thank goodness we were dong this experiment to keep it from over proofing in the fridge and we managed to over proof it on the counter :-)  The crumb was soft and moist -  the crust softened even more.   The taste was complex and deep due to the grains used but it was not as sour as our normal loaf - don't like that but maybe it will be better tomorrow.  It makes a great sandwich bread and the lunch was fantastic. 

More new stuff  this week…..  Lucy was selected by the WonderMill folks to receive a brand new mill, a wonderful one by the way, so that she can complete the Grain Mill Wagon Challenge.   Way to go Lucy!

Another breakfast with last Friday's Pumpernickel Ancient bake

Formula

Chicken and pork with spicy quinoa.

 Our favorite barely grilled Tuna

Hi  just an update  on a point raised by Varda and Janet to the sprouting of the malted rye grains that i obtained from a local (AUS) brew shop.

The Rye berries pictured have sprouted after 24 hours and exposed to the air for a further 12 hours. These were sold as Malted Rye but obiously  these are still viable, most likely just rolled through malt powder rather than the berries themselves having been processed for any malt content. Most malt is commercially from Barley grain where the berries are sprouted  and processed for the malt.

In my circumstance the malt was washed off in the soaking process, in brewing it would have become part of the wort. the water could have been saved and used or there maybe unmalted rye available at the brew shops. A point to remember is not to soak for to long as the grain can drown  agood soak and the exposure to air does the trick and perhaps a few quick dunks to stop drying out to fast.

As an Aviculturalist ( bird keeper ) we  had a problem at one time with seed coming in from Queensland  that  when soaked failed to sprout so wasnt viable, checks were made with the Agricultural department and we found that the seed had failed a sample test for weed seeds and was then irradiated which kills the  viability of all the seeds in the bag the alternative was for the company to return the seed to its origin. obviosly the cheaper alternative  was denaturing the grain, which is probably fine as long as you dont want to sprout it. 

Kind regards Derek  

Recipe is from the book Brilliant Bread by James Morton. Really nice country bread with crusty crust and beautiful soft crumb. I have used rye starter and a pinch of fresh yeast, overnight bulk fermentation and baked in the cassrole. Satisfying result with funny pattern on the top.

Have a nice day!

Hi, fellow and dear TFL'ers

The thoughts and plans of starting a bakery in Dubai have been broiling in my mind for over a year now. As many of you already know, I began taking pastry classes some few months back as I believe that knowing how to make bread alone just won’t cut it. So, I took the classes and collected my certificate and now I think that the natural choice here is to seek an internship / apprenticeship in some bakery.

There are of course many hurdles in the way of doing so. Laws in the United Arab Emirates, specifically those pertaining to labor and food safety, are quite strict and will not allow for internships at food producing factories / outlets, unless you seek a job placement. Due to financial commitments, I can’t quit my current job to work for a bakery / patisserie / hotel / café.. and expect to be paid even remotely similar to what I earn now. Additionally, there isn’t cottage food law here, so if you plan to bake and sell commercially, you’ll have to obtain a commercial trade license like other food businesses. I’m seeking a partner to share part of the expenses, and the passion; I’ve found one so far.

I talked to a bakery owner who declined to offer an internship, but pointed me in the direction of another bakery owned by his niece in another city where the regulations are not as stringent. I paid a visit to the bakery, and noticed that although they produce some pastries (oriental and French), in addition to pita breads, their business model isn't what I’d aspire to.

The question is, am I right in thinking that an internship /apprenticeship at a bakery is a prerequisite to starting a bakery business?  I’m passionate enough about baking, especially Artisan bread, and I’m willing to do what it takes to make it happen.

I’d be happy to know what you guys think, based on your experiences. Any ideas are welcome.

Many thanks,

Khalid

My husband and his friends were having a peach sour beer tasting party and he asked me to bake something that could pair well with those beers. I considered baking something peachy, but peach season is not quite in full swing yet, so the ones available at the farmers' markets are still a bit too pricey and not quite at their best.

I decided to bake him a chocolate sourdough bread. I used the formula found on the SFBI website, but I think there's a similar formula in "Advanced Bread and Pastry". It's a hybrid bread using both a levain and instant dry yeast which worked out well for me since my starter is acting lazy and won't raise bread sufficiently right now. (See this thread about it: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/38563/not-enough-yeast-starter).

The recipe called for chocolate chips, but I used chopped chocolate instead. Chopped chocolate had the added benefit of staying soft even after the bread cooled off. It's easier to slice when a hard chocolate chip isn't tearing through the crumb. I added 27% dried sour cherries which along with the chocolate gave me an add-in percentage of 20%. The dough is low hydration (64%) so it's easy to handle.

Others (elsewhere on the 'net, not on TFL) that have made this bread mentioned that it was not sweet at all. So I was taken by surprise that it was sweeter than I expected. Maybe other people expected something like a chocolate cake? Well, in that case I can understand the bread was not sweet when compared to cake. I expected less sweet and felt it was more sweet. It's all about expections.

Perceived levels of sweetness aside, I would not call the bread overly sweet. The honey played very nicely with the Dutch-processed cocoa. I didn't detect any tang from the levain. Overall, the flavor of the bread was very well-rounded. The smokey bitterness of the cocoa and the bright tartness of the cherries paired perfectly with all those sour beers.

Formula: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_LRDZo4BL--OHNENlpyQnRxeTA

36 Hour Method

I used a young Levain, which was fermented at 25C for 8 hours, which is a little less than double when i ready to mix. 

I pan-fried the bacon, seperated the drippings and bacon, both are added with starter and salt. 

It fermented at around 27C for 3 hours and went right back into the fridge for 12 hours. It has doubled in size in the fridge, it then warmed up for 2 hours, which pushed it passed the double mark and closer to 2.25.

Since the bulk fermentation was a little too long, after pre-shape it rested for 15 minutes. then final shape n proof for 30 mins. 

I will double the bacon next time, as its taste isnt too strong. 

The Second Crumb shot is from the first loaf, it seems to me that the second loaf has overproofed  in the fridge

Sometimes you just want a loaf of pan bread.

I have been working for a while to nail down a loaf of relatively lean sandwich pan bread, moving through formulas in many a baking book, converting them to sourdough and scaling them for my 4"x8" loaf pan.  I ended up settling on a highly-tweaked formula based on Peter Reinhart's Vienna Bread from BBA. Recipe is scaled for a 4 inch by 8 inch metal loaf pan.  A young levian is used for this bread, a mere 4-6 hours after the preferment has been mixed.

Natural Leaven Vienna Bread:

• 300g Strong Flour
• 150g Water (Warm)
• 130g Young Liquid Levian (100% hydration)
• 33g Egg (Save the rest for egg wash)
• 10g Unsalted Butter
• 10g Sugar
• 10g Dry Milk
• 6g Salt

Method:

1. Mix Young Levian, Water, Egg, Sugar and Dry Milk together until homogenous
2. Mix in Flour, Butter, Salt Until shaggy dough is formed
3. Rest for 20 mins, kneed until gluten is well developed
4. Bulk ferment for 2 hours, folding ever half hour.
5. Shape, place in greased tin (scaled for 4x8)
6. Proof until 3-4 inches above sides of tin, apply egg wash as needed to keep top from drying
7. Bake in pre-heated 400F oven for about 20-25 mins, or until top reaches a dark chestnut color
8. Remove from tin as soon as possible, cool on rack completely before slicing.

This Bread makes excellent sandwiches, toast, and if shaped differently makes great rolls, hotdog/burger buns. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

My Tartine loaves made with 70% home-milled flour came out excellent.  I have one in the freezer to bring to the in-laws next weekend, and brought one to my parents for dinner last night.  My dad re-heated it in the toaster oven and it was a little difficult to cut -- the bread tore a bit and I don't know if that was the knife's fault (a very sharp "bow" knife) or if the crumb was just too soft.  I don't think it would have worked for a sandwich bread, but maybe once it cools off it will be easier to slice.

The taste was excellent. The crust was of the shattering variety and just so pleasing to bite into.  With or without butter, this bread was a hit.

The levain was "old" because I had made it on Wednesday, used half on Thursday, and then used the remaining half on Saturday.  I believe the levain was made with 100% ground wheat, but I don't recall for certain.

I added 700 grams of wheat berries to the mill, put a large wooden salad bowl underneath, and ground away.  While it was grinding, I added warm water to my levain and dispersed.  Once the flour was done being milled, I poured the water/levain mixture into the bowl and mixed it up. Autolyzed for an hour, added the salt and rather than adding the 50 grams of water as I usually do, I just dipped my fingers in the the 50 grams and kneaded the salt into the dough, and kept dipping my fingers to avoid sticking.

In the end, the dough was less "pasty" then it has been in the past, due to the fact that I used to just dump the 50 grams of water in, and that was too much.

I also used a shallow rectangular piece of Tupperware rather than the taller, smaller piece of snapware I had been using for the bulk rise.  This made it easier to get a good stretch for each of the stretch and folds, and I wonder if that helped the dough develop better than previous attempts.  Being able to slip two hands under the dough and lift it, definitely works more of the dough than putting one hand under and lifting.  Plus with more room to work I can make a longer fold.

I did not take a picture of the crumb. But, as I indicated, it was soft. It was also moist.  It had a wonderful chew. But, I did not get much in the way of holes, at least not that I remember.  I will ask my folks to snap a photo and send. That shouldn't make me sound too crazy.

Well its been a while since i had the time to bake,but when i visited the brew shop and was impressed with the different grains that were there for brewing i bought some malted rye grains from Germany something gave me a giddyup.

So the sour dough culture came out of the freezer where it has been hiding since the term break here at the Institute  and after a couple of feeds it was away. So i soaked the grain which succeeded in taking the malt off the outside  and after 24 hours i drained and allowed the grain to sprout after another 24 hours it was ready to go into a dough.

Wednesday morning i went into work a little earlier and made up the dough knowing there was a big class of apprentices  that i could get to do the stretch and folds for me on the hour and allow me to shape during my lunch break, which is what we did.

4 dough pieces were scaled at 650 grams and shaped and  into new bannettons  that i recently purchased and others at 600 grams onto couches on boards and into the cool room. The next day i came in early 5.30am to bake off the sour dough and as i was advised the class for that day was small  i made up a dough for the restaurant dinner rolls to help out  where 40 patrons were booked in for lunch. i might just as well as i was only waiting around anyway.

The dough i decided to make was a semolina dough  this was an instant dough  and i used 3% dry yeast that moved it along at a good speed so that iwas able to finish all the baking actiity to start work at my desk  for 7.45am  

Below is pictures of the Sourdough, unfortunately i did not get any pics of the semolina rolls but i have to say i was impressed with the lightness and tastiness  of these rolls, i was also fortunate to get an invite to lunch at the restaurant and saw the patrons enjoying the rolls.  

.  

 The sourdough was  3:2:1 with the addition of butter @2% salt @2% eggs 2%  and sprouted rye berries  dry weight 250g @ 8.3%.  

I will post the semolina dough formula if anyone is interested

kind regards Yozza

I've finally jumped into the 36 hour sourdough bandwagon. I had some ripe Rye sour on hand, as I created a preferment out of a starter for no certain recipe  (Happens to me often), and decided to give the 36 hour sourdough a trial. With all the rave on TFL, I knew that the method will yield excellent bread.

The Recipe:

Generally, I’ve followed the procedures for the 36 hour sourdough, as written by Txfarmer but refrigerated rye sour after it has ripened for scheduling purposes, and added some flour to the final dough.  First, the bread flour and water were mixed and left to autolyse in the refrigerator overnight. Next day, I mixed the cold rye sour and the autolyse, added more rye flour , bread flour and some water and mixed the dough slowly by hand (I should have used a mixer, as the dough was very cold!). For the next 3 hours, I stretched and folded the dough 6 times every 30 minutes. The dough was then retarded in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Next day, I removed the dough from the fridge and let it stand covered at room temperature for 2 hours to remove the chill. It has risen considerably in the fridge (almost doubled). I dusted my work surface and divided the dough into a boule and a batard, and preshaped both into rough rounds. After a bench rest of 30 minutes, I shaped the rounds and placed them in floured proofing baskets.  After an hour and a half, I preheated my oven with baking stones in for one hour. The loaves were inverted onto a parchment paper lined peel, and loaded. I baked the loaves for 500 F / 250C for 15 minutes under steam, and 20 minutes at 400 F without steam.

I cut into the cooled loaves 2 hours later, as my young son demanded some sourdough bread. I was delighted yet amazed at how he consumed the slice I gave to him: he started by peeling the crust off and eating that first. By the end of the third slice, all that was left was a single shred of a soft inner crumb! If a 6 year old boy prefers an untoasted bread crust as against its softer interior, then the bread must be really good.

The flavor of the crust was nutty/sweet with very good caramel undertones. The crumb was soft, slightly moist, with clean custard like flavor and a slight sour. Thank you, Txfarmer.

Khalid