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OldWoodenSpoon's picture
OldWoodenSpoon

Well, it's been a while (about two years I think) since I last posted to my blog.  Lots of irrelevant reasons for that, but last night's bake from the first edition of Jeffrey Hamelman's book BREAD inspired me to return.  Time will tell if I can keep it up.

I baked this one "by the book" with only a longer final proof than prescribed because I undershot the desired dough temp by 5-6 degrees, and in my cool house the dough just never caught up.  The end result was, nonetheless, delicious.  We love this bread, and prefer it to the base Vermont Sourdough because of the extra flavor that the added whole wheat flour produces.  I used Guisto's Unbleached Artisan flour alongside my home-milled whole hard white wheat flour.  In this case the wheat was only milled a couple of days before the bake.

The crust shot is at the top, and here is the crumb.

Vermont SD w/ added Whole Wheat

The crumb is not as open as I like, but that is due to my less than excellent dough handling skills.  Thanks in part to the excellent qualities of the Guisto's flour this dough was a joy to handle, albeit poorly on my part, and the flavor was excellent.  The crust came out crackling crisp, and the crumb cool and creamy, wheaty sweet with a perfect (which for us means pretty mild) sour tang.  It wrapped the meatloaf sandwiches perfectly at lunch today.

Thanks for stopping by
OldWoodenSpoon

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Lucy figured it was time to get back to baking the kind of bread that she likes but I reminded her we still have a couple of half loaves of SD pumpernickel in the freezer along with some white breads and who knows what else.

 

So we compromised by baking one of my favorite kind of breads - even though I like them all.  This one is a 60% mix of 8 whole grains, sourdough, has oat and potato in it along with home made red and white malts and sprouts, honey, pumpkin, sunflower, flax and sesame seeds.   The liquid is a mix of excess sprout soaker water but mainly yogurt whey.

 

Even though rye chits in 24 hours, the rest of the grains take 48 hours to chit when making sprouts so you need to start the sprouting at the same time as the SD levain if you want to have it ready when you mix the dough 48 hours later if you want to refrigerate the levain for 24 hours after the 3rd stage feeding.

 

We always have yogurt whey on hand since we regularly make our own but if you buy a quart of the cheapest plain yogurt at the store and drain it in the fridge for 4 hours, through a colander with a sheet of paper towel in the bottom, you will make really expensive Greek yogurt and have whey for your bread too.  A twofer if there ever was one.

 

Per our new normal using a heating pad in the winter, we made the SD levain over 3 stages from our whole multigrain 66% starter that had been undisturbed for 4 weeks in the fridge getting sourer by the day in the cold.  The first stage was 3 hours where it rose 25% and the 2nd stage was right at 4 hours before it doubled.

 

We then fed it the 3rd time and after it rose 25% after about an hour we then refrigerated it for 24 hours.  The next day it was placed back on the heating pad and allowed to double, which took about 3 hour,s while we autolysed the rest of the dry, less the seeds and salt.  We held back little bit of whey to dissolve the salt to add in later.

 

After out last bake that was too wet and the dough spread, we decided that this bread would be better at 81% hydration including the add ins.  After everything was mixed we let it sit for half and hour.  The dough certainly felt and performed better that the last bake and was still wet enough to do the 3 sets of slap and folds of 8, 1.and 1minutes  without difficulty.

 

3 sets of stretch and folds were done on 20 minute intervals where the ground sesame and flax, pumpkin and sunflower and sprouts were incorporated on the first 3 and evenly distributed by the 4th one.  Once everything was in the dough, we shaped it in to a ball and put it in the fridge for a 12 hour retard in bulk like Ian or Peter Reinhart would do.

 

By the next morning it had doubled in the fridge and we put the dough on the heating pad to warm up for 1 ½ hours before shaping it into a boule and putting it seam side down in a rice floured basket to final proof so that we could bake it upside down with out slashing and letting the bread crack at the seams as it sprang in the oven.

 

Yes ,it's a BLT - very special since we only have a couple a year.

After 1 3/4 hours we fired up Big Old Betsy and let it hit 500 F and stay there for 20 minutes to let the top and bottom stones catch up.  This time we decided to bake this bread on the bottom stone while covering it with or Goodwill $1 aluminum Dutch oven bottom as a cloche.

 

As soon as the bread was overturned onto parchment on a peel and slid into the oven and covered with hot preheated cloche, the temperature was turned down to 475 F for the 18 minutes the bread was steamed with its own steam.

 

Once the lid came off, the oven was turned down to 425 F convection this time and the inside hit 203 F right at 12 minutes later when the oven was turned off.  Total baking time was 30 minutes for this smallish loaf. 

 

Once the bread hit 205 F we opened the door of the oven, leaving it ajar and let bread sit on the hot stone till the bread hit 207 F on the inside when it was removed to the cooling rack.  It sprang and browned very well and cracked handsomely.  The crust was very crunchy when it came out of the oven too.  The crumb was fairly open for a bread so high in whole grains, sprouts and seeds.  It was a medium well for sour because of the whey and there are lots of bits in the crumb.  The crust stayed a little crisp and was boldly baked just the way we like it.  Between the fine flavor of the crust and crumb that is nutty, tangy and deep, there isn't much not to like about this fine bread.  It would be a fine candidate for Lucy's DaPumperizing method.

 

 

Formula

 

Build 1

Build 2

 Build 3

Total

%

Multigrain SD Starter

20

0

0

20

5.73%

Whole Multigrain Mix

16

24

40

80

22.92%

Water

16

24

40

80

22.92%

Total

52

48

80

180

51.58%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multigrain SD Levain

 

%

 

 

 

Whole Multigrain Mix

90

25.79%

 

 

 

Sprout Soaker Water

90

25.79%

 

 

 

Hydration

100.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Levain % of Total

21.40%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dough Flour

 

%

 

 

 

AP

130

37.25%

 

 

 

Potato Flakes

12

3.44%

 

 

 

Whole Multigrain Mix

117

33.52%

 

 

 

Dough Flour

259

74.21%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salt

7

2.01%

 

 

 

Yogurt Whey

200

57.31%

 

 

 

Dough Hydration

77.22%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dough Hydration w/ starter

83.09%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Flour

349

100.00%

 

 

 

Soaker Water 82 & Whey

290

83.09%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hydration w/ Adds

81.31%

 

 

 

 

% Whole Grain

60.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Weight

841

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add - Ins

 

%

 

 

 

Honey

12

3.44%

 

 

 

White Malt

3

0.86%

 

 

 

Red Malt

3

0.86%

 

 

 

Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds

40

11.46%

 

 

 

G. Flax, G Sesame Seed

25

7.16%

 

 

 

VW Gluten

12

3.44%

 

 

 

Total

95

27.22%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sprouts

 

%

 

 

 

Whole Multigrain Berries

100

28.65%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whole Mulitgrain Mix is: barley, emmer, Kamut,

 

 

 

spelt, rye, oat, buckwheat and wheat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60% whole grain does not include the whole

 

 

 

grain soaker.  It is 70% with the soalker.

 

 

 

 

Bob S.'s picture
Bob S.

This dough was mixed in a KA K5SS stand mixer equipped with a replacement spiral hook for a KA 6 quart mixer. The preparatory sour was mixed by hand. This batch used 15 ounces (425g) of flour, yielding a 24 ounce (680g) boule.

Formula:

Preparatory Sour:

  6 2/3%     Dark Rye Flour

13 1/3%     Water

   0.12%     Instant Yeast

Time:24 hours    Temperature: 76°F (24°C)

 

Dough:

66 2/3%     Bread Flour

26 2/3%     Dark Rye Flour

  2 1/2%     Vital Wheat Gluten

  1 2/3%     Shortening

   0.19%     Granular Soy Lecithin

   0.82%     Instant Yeast

     1.2%     Ground Caraway Seed

      60%     Water

        2%      Salt

  3 1/3%     Sugar (added for crust color only)

Sliced Rye Buole

Method:

The preparatory sour and all of the dough ingredients were placed in the mixer bowl and mixed at slow speed for 4 minutes. After a fermentation time of 2 hours 15 minutes, the salt and sugar were added. The dough was then re-mixed at speed 1 for 30 seconds, then at speed 2 for an additional 2 1/2 minutes. The dough was rounded and given a ten minute rest. The dough ball was then re-rounded and panned. Proof time: 1 hour.

Since this loaf was to be baked in a convection oven, a 9 inch round pie pan was chosen. The dough was quite slack, and it spread nearly to the edge of the pan. Slashing was performed with a Mafter lame that I had purchased a few hours before. With practice (and a less sticky dough), I anticipate better results next time.

adri's picture
adri

Here a preview of my new bread. It has the exact same ingredients (As to flour, water, salt, spices) as my previous bread (Adrian's rustic whole rye bread with some spelt). But this time I used a different way of fermentation!

The sourdough leaven was 750g at 100% hydration, fermented for 16 hours. Compared to what I later added (390g of flour) it is a lot and the bread should have a stronger taste than last time.

This is how it looked like after 12 hours (4 hours before I used it):

If the crumb and taste is good (I can't wait until tomorrow morning), I'll post what I did in the forum section.

Adrian

namadeus's picture
namadeus

I currently proof wholemeal sd loaves (approx weight 900gms) for between 4 and 6 hours in warm kitchen (22 degrees). What can I do to accelerate this slightly ? I look forward to hearing thoughts. 

With thanks

 

 

aptk's picture
aptk

A basic white bread with the addition of onion, garlic, cheese, green chili and bacon. An excellent breakfast bread when serving egg based dishes.

Bob S.'s picture
Bob S.

This bread was mixed in a KitchenAid "Ultra Power" stand mixer, instead of the K5SS equipped with a spiral hook (my preferred mixer). In addition, the absorption was low, making mixing difficult. Even so, after about 12 minutes of re-mixing at fairly high speed, the dough began to soften. Dough temperature dropped from 81° F to 79° F (probably due to convection cooling). The motor housing surface temperature had reached 102° F, which convinced me that it was a good time to cease re-mixing. It took 90 minutes for the loaf to rise to the proper height for baking.

In spite of the difficulties, the final loaf was acceptable. Although a spiral hook does a better job of re-mixing, the "C" hook used by the KSM-90 Ultra-Power was able to accomplish the job.

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

I just took this out of the oven, and hoping that

when we cut it for lunch I will see excellent crumb.  I was pleased that there was good oven spring on this one, so I do have my hopes up.  I experimented a bit on this loaf and used more white flour than wheat, as was called for in the recipe.  I also made enough for two loaves, so I froze this dough.

After defrosting in the fridge, I did a series of stretch and folds and  sprayed it with a little water, as I believe I haven't had high enough hydration in my doughs to get the crumb (and bigger holes) that I am looking for.  I returned it to the fridge to proof and then took it out right before I went to bed.

 

Fingers crossed that I make progress in my quest for the perfect crumb, which I am sure is difficult to ever achieve! Phyllis

p.s.  I finally figured out how to add more photos, but I will keep practicing on this as well to get better.  Thanks to all of you for the tips....I am using them all.

 

Bashert's picture
Bashert

Here is my morning experiment... 85% hydration organic whole wheat/rye with soaked steel cut oats added in. I was pretty pleased with how they came out. I keep trying to get maximum flavor out of my sourdough... weaning myself off store bought AP flour! This dough smelled great as I mixed it.... and the oats (soaked overnight) gave the finished bread another layer of flavor and texture. I gave the dough a 3 hour bulk rise, then shaped it and gave it an overnight 8 hour rise in the fridge, with 1 more hour at room temp before baking.

 

One question for you guys: Is anybody else using Great River Organic Milling flour from Amazon.com? If so, what do you think? I used their "whole wheat bread flour" and "specialty rye" for this formula. Anybody use their "specialty all purpose whole wheat flour"? Or any of their other blends? Very curious about the differences. How about the "unbleached wheat flour"? Is that their version of white flour?

Thanks and happy baking! - Joel

 

 

dosco's picture
dosco

After reading Reinhart's various and sundry compliments of the Poilane style, I thought it would be interesting to give it a try.

I made half of a batch ... I may post a crumb shot later today. The flavor is nice, but the crumb is very tight. You might see in the pic that there was some oven spring but not all that much ... I'm sure some of that is because WW is less extensible than breads based on white flours, but I'm fairly certain that some of it has to do with hydration.

The starter was made at the mass and hydration specified, it fermented overnight at ~66F then went into the fridge for 10 hours, then went into the final dough. The final dough fermented at 80F for about 3 hours and then went into the fridge for about 21 hours. I split the dough in half and preshaped 2 balls which proofed for about an hour at 80F. I then shaped 2 batards, seam-side up, which proofed overnight at ~66F. They definitely increased in volume which was nice to see. I flipped them, scored, and baked with steam on a stone at 525F for ~15 minutes, then baked until brown at 485F (~20 minutes). Final internal temp was measured with a meat thermometer at ~210F.

If I decide to try this recipe again I will go with a higher hydration. The flavor is an interesting mix of WW, nuttiness, and sour ... although the WW flavor is a bit much. Might be good to add in ~20% unbleached/white bread flour so as to back off on the heavy WW flavor. On the other hand making it with a higher hydration may also change the flavor profile...

Cheers-

Dave

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