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As we come upon the last weeks of the market I have now missed a few but next week will be 20. Had all plans set to make an olive bread but the cost of nice olives made me bail on a large batch and simplify.  Maybe had I thought ahead I could get some wholesale prices but I didn't.  So I threw together a formula for a Spelted Sourdough that I'm quite pleased with the results.  The dough is lovely smooth but quite slack and was just super fun to shape.  I also continue on my quest to learn and make 100% ryes which may or may not be going so well.  First batch was simply the worst and its improved since.  I thought I'd make a few pullmans and gift small loaves of this along with the SD.  I should have only made three but I planned on four and accepted that they would be short loaves.  

Last of the tomatoes, beets, cippolini onions, artichokes, daikon radish, goat cheese (pressed ricotta with cumin and fiennel, and queso fresco), new local tuna company, locall olives (which are cut and in my olive bread to bake today), two bags dried figs, cillantro, spinach and brocollli

If anyone is interested in the formula I will scale down and post later

Happy Baking

josh

This Friday’s bake started out as 2 bakes which were originally to be completed while we were smoking some brisket and pork sirloin over 12 hours.  Neither bread was to be  retarded but completed within 12 hours – not including the time it took to build the SD and YW levains.

This all in the same day bread is quite unlike our normal efforts to bring out the sour in the SD with retarding but sometimes a SD bread without so much tang is preferred by some others around here besides Lucy and I.

SD left YW right but it is hard to see the yellow color amd thd zest in the YW.

The YW citrus, fruit and nut bread was a Lucy adaptation of Floyd’s current home page post of Thanksgiving Baking Ideas  that featured a chemically leavened Orange, Cranberry and Walnut Bread here that featured a chemically leavened Orange, Cranberry and Walnut Bread here http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/cranberryorangewalnutbread

We really liked the looks and ingredients of Floyd’s bread but, since no sour was needed for this sweet enriched bread we decided to use YW for the leaven.   It has been quite some time since we used any YW from our refrigerated hoard of it and we needed to use some so we could feed the stored remainder to keep it perky.

The SD bread was similar to the ingredient list of the one we did last Friday except cut the whole grains in half but still keeping them all in the levain.  The YW fruit and nut bread ingredients we different from Floyd’s in that we cut the orange juice used as liquid by 1/3rd to get a more dough like consistency instead of a thinner batter.

We cut the sugar in half to 1/2 C – as a diabetic I don’t put a cup of sugar in anything, plus, the last change to3/4 of dried cranberries from 6 oz of fresh cranberries means that less sugar was needed since dried fruit is more sweet than fresh.

We built our levains the same way as always  The YW levain was slow compared to the SD even though both starters had been refrigerated for the same many weeks since they were fed last.

So we ended up retarding the SD for a bout 6 hours longer than the YW.  The SD levain fully doubled in the fridge after its lat feeding but the YW showed  little rise after it hit the cold.  So we took the YW levain out of the fridge 4 hours before the SD one and put both on a heating pad to get them to 82 F. 

When both had peaked we started the 2 off at the same time by autolysing the dry ingredients with the liquid for 1 hour before mixing and doing 3 sets of slap and folds and 2 sets of stretch and folds when the re-hydrated cranberries and walnuts were incorporated into the YW dough on the first stretch and fold.

Once again the YW proofing lagged far behind the SD bread, even though it had tons of sugar and sweet orange juice to fed on.  The SD proofed and was ready to bake in 5 hours on the counter after the last S&F but the YW took 11 hours and it never fully proofed with it still being 1“ below the rim of the tin when I finally gave up on it and baked the bread at 11 PM.  All proofing was done on the heating pad.

 We baked the SD in Big Old Betsy - GE regular oven that was preheated to 550 F with mega steam supplied by two pans filled with lava rocks and half full of water that were placed in the oven when it hit 500 F.   The SD was jingly and looked like it might over proof as the oven heated up so we refrigerated the dough in the basket for the 45 minutes it took to heat up the oven

15 minutes after Betsy beeped tell Lucy she was at 550 F, we took the SD out of the fridge, un-molded it onto a parchment covered peel, slashed it with a pairing knife and slid it onto the bottom stone that is 12 “ below the top stone. 

It sprang and bloomed very well for being so close to what we thought was near 100% proof.  The color was a little on the pale side though so we baked it to 208 F instead of our usual 205 F

It’s not bad color but it still didn’t look as boldly baked as we would have liked for that higher than normal internal temperature.  The crust also blistered well and was crisp as it left the oven only to soften as it cooled.

The crumb was open, glossy, soft  and moist but no more than last Friday’s bake that had twice as much whole grains in the mix.  What was noticeably different from last weeks bread was the taste

Not nearly as much sour tang or complex flavors – exactly what we thought would happen without the extra whole grains and long retards of levain and dough.  It is still a fine tasting bread

The big surprise was the YW bread.  After giving up on the proof on the heating pad at 11 hours at it only showing a 50% proof, it sprang like crazy in the oven, easily doubling in volume and splitting widely down on side.  This has happened one time before and I should have known to slash the top!

Pork sirloin sandwich in the making with the SD bread.

The bread was baked in the mini oven at 350 F without steam but it was brushed with butter after it came out of the oven to soften the crust and give it even more buttery flavor.  With all the sugars in this dough, it baked up a very pleasing dark brown.

Breakfast with the fruit bread French toast 

For so much spring the bread had a slightly open crumb which surprised me even though were a lot of cranberries and nuts in there to hold the holes back.   That YW can be deceptive in the proof and explosive in the oven - when you least expect it be that way.  YW is still less tame and predictable for me after a year and half baking with it.

Slicing the brisket

The taste of this bread is better than I thought it would be.  I don’t miss the missing sugar and orange juice but it could have used more orange zest to make it pop.  We like this brad very much for the Holidays as Floyd thought.  We are also glad we baked it ahead of time to make it will be better later when guests will be here for Thanksgiving.   This bread finished up 5 hours after the long low and slow smoked meat.

Sunrises are just as good as...

I almost forgot that pork sirloin isn’t like butt or shoulder and only needs to smoked to 150 F on the inside because it is so lean and caught this one at 160 F – very tasty, sliced very thin…. something you can’t really do with brisket which is way less lean, smoked to 185 F and cut in thicker slices.  The good thing is that they took the same amount of time it the smoker since the beef brisket is so much thinner than the pork sirloin.

The sunsets!

SD BBQ Bread Formula

YW, Orange Cranberry and Walnut Thanksgiving Bread Formula

After my white bread I decided to bake another load with higher whole grain content. 

this is based on peter Reinhardt cinnamon sticky bun, I charge it to 25% wholewheat and sub part of the yeast with sourdough. 

did a 6+ 4 slap n fold and 3 s&f over the initial 2 hours of bulk fermentation, total 3.5 hours till double in size.

I used water wash with bran topping which added nutty flavor from the side it looks like a shreddable crumb. A crumb shot with filling will be posted tomorrow 

Since I had a disastrous attempt at pumpkin sourdough, which ended up in the bin, a straight dough would be perfect for saturday bake.

this recipe is borrowed from Folkish - flour waster yeast and salt Saturday white. But since it is a straight dough I added 10% of whole grain to give it some flavor ( rye 3%, wholewheat 5% and corn flour 2%) And increased the hydration to 76% to compensate the whole grain flour water absorption.

i followed his mixing and in bowl folding method for this bread, which is absolutely no mess and easy to hand such high hydration dough. For bulk fermentation and Proofing I followed my gut. 

This bread is light with very good oven spring, but without the preferment it's on the bland side. I guess I'm a whole wheat person.

  I was asked to make some rolls for Thanksgiving again this year so I decided to try to turn my Sweet Potato Maple Pecan bread into rolls.  In the original bake I had discovered that I used way too high of a hydration in the dough so this time since I was making rolls I cut down on the hydration considerably.  My calculations say 53% total dough hydration and 78% with the add-ins but since the sweet potato variety I used this time was a red variety with white flesh I think the moisture content of the potatoes may have been less than calculated.

I decided to add some cranberries to go along with the holiday theme which definitely added a nice tough to these rolls.  I also used milk instead of water this time to try to make the crumb a little softer which I stole from Janet Cook's recipe here.  She also used butter in her bread which I decided not to borrow in this version, but may try adding in the next go around.

I also used some fall themed cookie cutters to try to make them pretty, but for some reason it didn't really work very well and the rolls ended up a bit misshapen on the top.

Acorn

The end result of this experiment was a tasty roll which didn't have the orange color I would have preferred or sweetness due to the variety of sweet potato but still tasted like a nice holiday roll worth of a Thanksgiving feast.  For the next go around I will use the correct variety of potato and also increase the hydration just a bit.  Using some Yeast Water couldn't hurt either.

Formula

Levain Directions

Build 1

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled. I used my proofer set at 83 degrees F. and it took around 5 hours.

Build 2

Add the stage 2 ingredients to the first Build (add 50 grams of mashed sweet potatoes) and mix thoroughly until incorporated.  Cover and let sit at room temperature or in your proofer if you have one.  In my proofer it took around 4 hours to double.  You can either use it immediately in the main dough or put it in the refrigerator overnight and use the next day.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, and the milk together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter, balsamic and sweet potatoes and mix on low for 6 minutes.  Add the pecan pieces and cranberries and mix for an additional minute to incorporate them evenly.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  Since this dough is so wet I did a total of 5 stretch and folds but if you adjust the hydration you won't need to do this.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and divide into pieces.    Shape into rolls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 425 degrees.  Bake for 35 minutes or until the rolls are nice and brown on the top and reach an internal temperature of 210 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack  for at least 2 hours before eating.

it suppose to be a pita bread, but it didn't puffs up all the way though, maybe the roasted garlic blocked the puffs somehow. But this bread is very soft and taste like a naan. 

These days I've been trying hard to my baguettes.  (still working on it...)

a few days ago, I got an idea to add a little beauty and fragrant to the dough--- the dried rosebuds from the rosebuds tea... For the flour, I just randomly mix what I have in hand.  The smell of the rose baguette is so beautiful when it's baking and after it's done^^~. 

poolish: (room temp. 12-16 hours)

200.5g of organic artisan breakers craft plus malted flour + 100 T55

yeast 1/8 tsp

water 300.5g

the dough:

200g of  organic artisan breakers craft plus malted flour

100.5 of T55 

and all the poolish

baking time : 25 mins on the stone at 550f for 3 mins with hot water steam and drop to 460f for another 22 mins.

This was my ode to my man!  I thought "hey these guys eat japaleno popcorn all day. I am going to send in some salami and spicy cheesy goodness!" I am picturing a home improvement Urrr Urrr Urrr sound coming from men as they take huge chunks of bread and taste that primal combo.  Well primal, maybe not there are no wild meats. However,  We have a wild woman, some wild yeast spicy cheese, and meat.  Let it begin!

I really like the look of the rustic banneton.  It also makes (in my humble opinion) my boules easier to move.  They feel more firm.  The boule with the C is a total natural seem opening.  Not bad, it almost looks like I placed a C on my boule myself.  Well, when I do 4 boules with 2 bannetons it does provide options for those that may prefer one to the other. 

Warm Regards,

Casey