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hearthbakedtunes's picture
hearthbakedtunes

Roggenmischbrot mit Korner und Hafer



I have to be honest with you. This bread was originally called Weizenmischbrot mit Saatan und Haferkleie but I made some significant changes to the formula so I renamed the bread. Its another David Wolfe original. I changed the word "weizen" to "roggen" because I replaced the cracked wheat with rye chops. I changed "Saatan" to "Korner" because Alex explained that Saatan refers to seeds that are used to grow crops rather than those that you eat. I also changed "Haferkleie", oat bran, to "Hafer", whole oats, because I didn't have oat bran and substituted whole oats. The new name is now Roggenmischbrot mit Korner und Hafer.
Similar to all of the other German breads that I have baked this year, this loaf starts off with a rye sourdough build. This one was already 100 percent hydrated, so I did not need to make any hydration adjustments, as I explained in my last postThis bread did call for a hot water soaker because cracked grain is a much coarser grind than grain chops. And although I replaced the cracked wheat with rye chops, I still used the hot water soaker. The soaker for this bread contained sunflower seeds, flax seeds, rye chops, oats, boiling water and all of the salt in the final dough. Note that salt is often added to soakers particularly in the warmer months. This helps to reduce the enzymatic breakdown of the grains incorporated into the soaker. I recall learning about this in Hamelman's bookBread. Actually, I had a brief moment of panic when I realized that I had not added any salt to the final dough. Then I remembered that the salt was already incorporated into the grain and seed soaker.

As usual, I toasted the sunflower seeds in this soaker even though they are already roasted and salted. Heating up the oils inside the seeds allows their flavor to permeate the soaker and thusly the final dough. I never toast flax seeds. First of all, I know they are hard to absorb, and heating the oil degrades the nutritional value further.  Additionally if you try to toast them, they pop in the pan and go flying all over the place and make a big mess. Feel free to toast the oats if you wish. I feel that this is a Mickey Mouse sort of thing, because it really will not make much of a difference. In the future I will use full oat groats, which will tend to give the soaker a bit more crunch and grit.
The last change that I made to this bread was less significant.   I replaced malt extract with malt syrup. I happen to own and love malt syrup. I love the color and its robust flavor, so I always use malt syrup in place of malt extract. I also always use instant yeast in place of fresh yeast at a rate of 40%. (1 g of fresh yeast = 0.4 g of instant yeast).
Although this bread does contain a fair amount of bread flour in the final mix, is is still fairly heavy in nature and very robust in flavor. The final dough contained less than 100 grams of whole rye flour, but when you take into consideration the whole rye flour in the sourdough build and the rye chops in the grain and seed soaker, it makes a significant contribution. Had I used cracked wheat, this bread would have had much different characteristics. All in all, I am glad I made the changes. I guess that I will never know how the original would have been, so I will have to bake it in the future.

The mixing of this bread was very simple: five minutes on first speed and five minutes on second speed. The dough really did come together. About half way through the mix it looked too wet so I let it just mix for a while and it really came together perfectly. Roggenmischbrot mit Korner und Hafer is another medium heavy, full flavored rye bread that makes this baker smile!

A photo without flash to show to full bake on this bread! Chef Miscovich would be pleased!
Bake On
hearthbakedtunes's picture
hearthbakedtunes

Before I get into this bread I would like to to thank Karin Anderson, a colleague and blogger who has been helping with my brot's over the past few months. I recommend that you take a look at her blog Brot & BreadShe is dedicated to her craft and her love of German bread comes through in her posts. This is the first formula of hers that I have used, and although I have not yet tasted the bread, it is a beauty. Although my friend Alex has been helping me with translating, Karin has the insight of actually being a German baker. Although she never baked bread while she lived in Germany, she certainly is a German who bakes German bread. Karin knows a thing or two about a thing or two (That is at least four things)!
There are several ways that this bread is different than the normal rye breads that I bake. First of all, this bread is made with a whole wheat mother starter. I did not quite have a 100% whole wheat starter, so I fed a stiff levain at 60% hydration and gave it one feeding with whole wheat flour and provided it with a 75% hydration by flour weight. The result was a stiff levain with a good amount of whole wheat flour and a wonderful amount of gluten development. In the future, I will continue to feed this stiff levain with whole wheat flour and it will eventually come very close to becoming 100% whole wheat! Starters that are made with whole grain flours such as whole wheat, whole spelt or whole rye are stronger than their white flour counterparts. Whereas I am a Registered Dietitian, I am all about the "whole-grain" approach to bread baking and all cooking for that matter.
During this post, I will pay particular attention to the attributes in this bread which differentiate it from the typical German breads that I have been baking.
As I mentioned above, this bread is leavened with a whole wheat starter, but the build is actually fed with bread flour. This helps to develop gluten in the build and thus the final dough. Even though this build was only given eleven hours to grow, you will notice excellent growth and an almost smooth finish. Looking at it, you can see the flecks from the whole wheat starter that was used. Another difference with this bread is that it used a large amount of starer. Typically, when I bake sourdough bread, I use between 7-11 grams of sourdough starter (depending on the size of the bread) This recipe called for 114g for two 650 gram loaves. That is a nearly 16 and a half times the amount that I normally use. To give you a better idea of how much starter was used in the build, check out the picture. Karin's methods for building and feeding a sourdough starter are different. By all accounts, it is just a different technique for baking bread, one that I have simply not practiced before. It required me to build my starter up more often. If the loaf tastes as good as it looks, it will be well worth it!


Secondly, this grain soaker contained both whole wheat flour and whole rye flour. Typically, my soakers are made only of rye flour. Other than one of Hamelman's breads, they do not contain rye flour but rather chopped rye or cracked rye. Another change is that all of the rye flour in this bread is contained in the soaker. Karin notes that one can replace the rye flour with spelt flour, but I chose to use the rye. How could I refuse? Another difference was that all of the rye flour was contained in the soaker. The only other bread that I do this for is my 40% rye with caraway or Kummelbrot. I probably do not practice this because the rye breads that I make are typically at least 50% rye by flour weight. To include all of the rye in the soaker would be overkill.The next major difference was the water. There is no water used in the final dough. All of the water is contained in the soaker and in the sourdough build. My normal practice is to combine the water in the final dough with the sourdough build to help to break up the sourdough so that it is more easily distributed during the mix. This was not possible, so I tore the build into eight or nine pieces so that it would distribute during the mix. During the mix I had to take the dough off of the hook several times. I know that I should be using a paddle, but that is another practice I do not do. (That is mainly because my dough hook is in the attic and it is roughly 35 degrees Fahrenheit up there).

  The fourth big change is that the sourdough build and the soaker are prepared in the morning and the final dough is mixed at night. I always prepare the soaker and build the night before and bake the following morning. The final dough contained all of the soaker and and all of the sourdough build, plus about 90 grams of whole wheat flour, 8-10 grams of honey, a little salt and a pinch of fennel and caraway. This bread is then divided in half and allowed to ferment in the fridge over night. The next morning it is shaped into boules and then proofed in bannetons, or brotforms. The bread is then baked at 475 degrees for 10 minutes and then baked at 425 for an additional ten minutes. The loaves are then rotated 180 degrees and baked for an additional 10-20 minutes. Typically, I do not rotate my breads in the oven, but I am glad that I did for these. This rotation provided a very even color to the finished bread.


All in all, this technique was new to me in several ways, and I am glad that I was able to bake this bread. Using my intuition as a baker, I made sure to guide the process along in each its stages. Although I have not yet tasted this loaf, I am certain that it will get the "hearthbakedtunes seal of approval" and I am anxious to take my first bite! Karin has given me two more formulas to try and I am looking forward to my next brot!
I just tasted this bread and it has a nice spice to it, but I think I would prefer the taste without the fennel and caraway. I think it detracts from the rye and honey in this formula! The crumb is tight, which makes sense, there is quite a bit of whole grain but the crust is simply beautiful but a bit too thick from over baking.
-Bake On
-DW, The Rye King

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

For the 2nd test of our new 2 week old WW starter, we though we would continue our 100% whole grain quest to a 3rd bake, similar to the last 2, but making a few changes along the way as my apprentice usually does.  She just can’t leave well enough, or me either for that matter, alone.

 

We decided to add in some YW to the mix to help open the crumb of the planned pumpernickel baking temperature and schedule.  We also decided to change from a 100% whole wheat, 100% whole grain bread to one that was still 100% whole grain but had equal portions of WW, Spelt and Rye.  We omitted the VWG on this bake.

   

We also added some barley malt syrup and cut the molasses in half and throw in some bread spices consisting of; black and brown caraway, coriander, anise and fennel.  To keep in line with the change in whole grains we also changed the whole berry scald to match it using WW, Spelt and Rye.

  

The resulting overall hydration of 87.5% is fairly in the middle of the pumpernickel hydrations we do around here in AZ where it is so dry all time.  The method was pretty straight forward if a tiny bit unusual.   We built the whole wheat combo SD YW levain together over (2) 4 hour builds where it easily doubled.

  

After a 1 hour autolyse that had everything in it but the levain and scald, we mixed the levain and the autolyse together with a spoon and then did 10 minutes of slap and folds trying to develop as much gluten as we could = what fun.  We then folded in the scald berries with a bench knife.

 

 Once the berries were evenly distributed, we tossed the paste into a large bread pan filling it about 3/4th full.  The paste filled the pan fuller than we would normally like for pumpernickel but, my apprentice was lazy and refused to pull it out, divide it and put into two smaller cocktail pans.

 

 She did, to be fair, reminded me that the Altus loaf at 300 G lsss in size actually shrank the last time leaving the finished bread 1” below the rim of this same pan.  We dusted the loaf with oat bran and let it ferment on the counter for an hour before it went into the fridge covered in plastic, for a 16 hour retard.

 

It's a little more dense and moist on the bottom.

It had risen to the top of the pan when it came out of the fridge the next morning when it went into a plastic bag to warm up and do final proof on a heating pad for 3 hours.  Since the bread would eventually rise almost an inch above the pan rim, we decided to bake it low and slow; pumpernickel style, in the WagnerWare, MagnaLite turkey roaster with the trivet inside so extra water could be added to steam the loaf.

The temperature reducing (as time goes on) baking schedule follows:

400 F - 30 minutes

375 F - 30 minutes

350 F - 30 minutes

325 F - 30 minutes

300 F - 1 hour

275 F - 2 hours

250 F - 2 hours

225 F - 1 ½ hours

200 F - 1 ½ hours

We had a powerful sunset last night

When the bread tests 205 F in the center, turn off the oven and leave the bread in the DO inside the oven for 8 -12 hours.  We did 8 hours and the oven was still warm in the morning due to the two baking stones on the top and bottom rack of the oven.

The 3 P sandwich - DaPumpernickel, Pepperjack and Pate

Yes, it is a long bake but worth it in the end if you want to make a classic pumpernickel style loaf.  Not that this one is a classic, since it isn't 100% rye, have cornmeal, potatoes or bacon fat in it.  But this sure tastes like a pumpernickel even if it doesn't really use classic pumpernickel flours and uses an Irish Stout for much of the liquid. That’s the great thing about bread – there aren't any real rules, especially if you choose not to follow them like my apprentice.  This bread smell tremendous with the caramelized grains, scald and aromatic seeds.

Love the first one so much we made a variant - DaPumpernickel, Irish Swiss and Pate open face

Sadly, even after it cools you don’t want to slice it for at least 32 hours.  Just wrap it on linen or cotton and be as patient as you need to be…. We love pumpernickel and do not mind waiting, as long as, we win the Power Ball tonight for over $320 plus million.  Well we didn't win the big moola drawing but we still won a jackpot none the less.  We took a few slices off the loaf this morning for pictures and breakfast, re-wrapping the rest to let it sit another 24 hours before slicing it.

A close up open face sandwich - in your face:-)

This bread easily sliced 1/4" thick slices even for such a large loaf.  The bread was open and very moist.  It is also about the best tasting example of a non-traditional pumpernickel my German apprentice has ever tasted.  She wanted to take the rest of the loaf outside to bury it in the back yard but I managed to stop her before she got to the doggie door.  It is a powerful bread flavor wise, as much so as last night's sunset,  and we can't wait to try it with some robust red wine, pate, cheese and fruit spread especially after this morning's toasted pumpernickel with butter, egg, hot sausage and bacon delight.    Yummy. 

Formula

SD Starter

Build 1

Build 2

Total

%

Mini's WW Starter

20

0

20

3.28%

Yeast Water

30

0

30

6.00%

Whole Wheat

50

50

100

20.00%

Water

20

40

60

12.00%

Total

90

90

210

42.00%

 

 

 

 

 

SD Levain Totals

 

%

 

 

Flour

110

22.00%

 

 

Water

100

20.00%

 

 

Hydration

90.91%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Levain % of Total

16.15%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dough Flour

 

%

 

 

Whole Rye

165

33.00%

 

 

Whole Spelt

165

33.00%

 

 

Whole Wheat

170

34.00%

 

 

Dough Flour

500

100.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salt

9

1.80%

 

 

Guinness

423

84.60%

 

 

Dough Hydration

84.60%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Flour

610

 

 

 

Guinness, YW & SD Starter Water

523

 

 

 

T. Dough Hydration

85.74%

 

 

 

Whole Grain %

100.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hydration w/ Adds

87.50%

 

 

 

Total Weight

1,300

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add - Ins

 

%

 

 

Red Rye Malt

3

0.60%

 

 

White Rye Malt

3

0.60%

 

 

Caraway, Anise, Fennel & Coriander

16

3.20%

 

 

Toadies

4

0.80%

 

 

Barley malt

16

3.20%

 

 

Molasses

16

3.20%

 

 

Total

58

11.60%

 

 

evonlim's picture
evonlim

weekend baking is always for friends. my friends have no preference, so it allows me to experiment and practice... !!

 

getting confident with my hands :)

i am making bread now as well for Sunday's friends. more practice

 

here is the crumb shot.. added cranberry for color contrast.

one more picture :)

evon

 

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I haven't made bread with my Yeast Water starter in a while so I figured I would try making a YW levain using my proofer set at 86 degrees F. and see how it came out.  I was hoping the proofer would allow the YW levain to develop better than it usually does and it did not disappoint.  The levain was made in 2 builds with the first one lasting 7 hours and the second about 4 hours.

Since I was not going to use my sourdough starter in this one I figured I would use some buttermilk to give the dough a little bit of tang.  I wanted to make at least a 50 plus percent whole grain bread so I used the Turkey Hard Red Wheat flour again along with some Organic Bread flour from KAF, Barley flour, Wheat Germ for some nuttiness and some Potato flour to round it out.

I picked up some smoked cheddar just for this bread and added some walnut oil to add a bit more nuttiness as well.

I followed a similar time schedule using my proofer as I did for my last bake using my normal bulk fermentation for the dough to develop the flavor.

The final dough came out as good as expected with a nice dark crust with cheesy goodness throughout the tender open crumb.

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.  (Note: I used my proofer set at 85 degrees).

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

Levain Directions Build 2

Add all the ingredients listed to the levain from Build 1 and mix well.  Let it sit in your proofer or a warm place about 85 degrees for 4-5 hours until the starter is nice and bubbly and has doubled in size.

Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, buttermilk and water 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 (cut into about 7-8 pieces), walnut oil, and mix on low for 4 minutes.  Next add the cheese (cut into small cubes) and mix on low-speed for another 2 minute to incorporate the cheese 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.  (Note: I used my proofer set at 80 degrees). 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.  ( I used my proofer set at 80 degrees F.)   Remove the dough and shape as desired.  I made 1 large miche but you can make 2 boules or other shapes.  Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel.

I put the dough in my proofer set at 85 degrees F.  The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature or it will take 1.5 hours in the proofer.  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 450 degrees.  For the large Miche I baked at 450 F. for 35 minutes and another 40 minutes at 425 degrees.

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

hearthbakedtunes's picture
hearthbakedtunes

 

 Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! This is by far the most exciting and interesting Vollkornbrot that I have ever baked, and I have baked quiet a few of them! I got this idea from the Baeko recipe database. As you might expect, I made several changes to the original formula. This bread is loaded with whole grain goodness, a high amount of fermented flour, a high amount of soaked grain and a truckload of dried fruit and toasted nuts and seeds. My approach to this bread was to simply use the fruit and nut soaker idea and throw that into Hamelman's recipe for Vollkornbrot. The result was fantastic. However, first I would like to shed some light on the process and give you an in depth discussion of the taste and texture of this bread.

This bread is made with 100% whole rye, coming in the form of whole rye flour and rye chops. The rye chops are soaked in warm water overnight, but most of the whole rye flour is located in the sourdough build. What I want to spend most of my time talking about is the dried fruit and nut soaker. This soaker was made with 100 grams of dried cranberries, 100 grams of golden raisin, 100 grams of sliced dried apricots, 100 grams of toasted walnuts and sunflower seeds and 100 grams of boiling water. I used boiling water because I knew that the heat in the water would help to extract the natural sugars and flavors found in the dried fruit. It would also help to extract some of the salty-nutty flavor from the seeds and help to spread it throughout the entire dough during the final mix and fermentation/proofing stages of this bread.

There is something about golden raisins that I love. I am not sure what it is, but they are special to me. I do recall spending an afternoon with my good fried Isaac in 2006 eating handful after handful of golden raisins in our room in Jerusalem. I will admit to regretting it later, because that was a lot of fiber, as with anything else, I had to pay the ultimate price. But lets not "go" there. I also remember eating loquats, which are my favorite fruit, in ample quantities. I like them because they are weird and hard to come by as they are grown in the Middle East and in Bermuda. This soaker makes this bread a lot of fun because it fills the crusty bread with a tenderness and a sweetness that exceeds the typical caramelization of a fully baked rye bread. And this one took close to 90 minutes to bake. This is not a bread for the faint of heart and the fruit and nuts do bring a lightness to a bread that is not typically light. All of the ingredients including the rye, seeds, and fruit brings an intense bread to a whole new level of intensity. This bread is so delicious that it scares me!

 Like any other Vollkornbrot this is a very crusty bread. It is also a very dense bread whose character changes as it is allowed to rest. Much like ourselves, it start off as child, and with the passage of time, it becomes an almost wiser version of itself. But, if you let it get too wise, you will find that it will break your jaw. If this bread is kept in a plastic bag in the fridge, it will last for close to three weeks, maybe even longer. I never have a problem with bread going bad, because it is a major staple of my diet. When a bread is as nutritious and as wholesome as this one is, you never have a guilty feeling about going back for another slice. Over the past few days I have eaten this several ways but the two ways that I have enjoyed it most are "naked" and oddly, with cold pepper jack cheese. (For those of you who are new to this blog, the "naked" refers to the bread and not me.) The spiciness of the pepper jack goes wonderfully with the sweetness of the fruit. The next time I bake this bread I am going to withhold the walnuts and simply add some toasted salted sunflower seeds in their place. I would normally leave them out of the soaker, but once again, I love the salty flavor that the seeds can bring to the crumb when they are added to a boiling water soaker.


I now realize that I did not speak much on the production of this bread. I am currently on an Amtrak train on my way to Atlantic City, and do not have access to my notes, so I will only add a few notes from memory to shed light on a little bit of the process. This dough is mixed on first speed only, and for ten minutes. Karen H Kerr, a baker whom I respect greatly, recommends using the paddle attachment. I gave it a whirl, but it did not work so well for me. Perhaps her formula for Vollkornbrot is much different than mine. After about four or five minutes, I put the hook on and I found it to be more effective. I am a traditional in that sense and cleaning thick dough such as this off the paddle was really a pain in the batinsky! But hey, ‘live and learn and die learning’, that is what I always say. After the dough has come together completely, the fruit soaker is added and allowed to mix until combined and spread evenly throughout. My attitude is: "get the fruit in the dough and don't worry". To me, when you have a dough with this much whole rye flour, the full bake is much more important than a perfect mix. This bread dough is really somewhere between a dough and very thick batter! I always start this bread in a hot oven (470 F) then after twenty minutes bring it down to 375 and bake for one more hour. I then remove the bread from the Pullman pan and let it finish directly on the stone for 15 minutes. This helps firm up the sides a bit and ensures the bread is baked fully! It will be dark, even the flour coating on the pan will have adhered to the bread and look very toasted

This is a bread for the ages! One that I hope one day I will be remembered for!!

Bake on!

-DW, The Rye King


hearthbakedtunes's picture
hearthbakedtunes

 Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! This is by far the most exciting and interesting Vollkornbrot that I have ever baked, and I have baked quiet a few of them! I got this idea from the Baeko recipe database. As you might expect, I made several changes to the original formula. This bread is loaded with whole grain goodness, a high amount of fermented flour, a high amount of soaked grain and a truckload of dried fruit and toasted nuts and seeds. My approach to this bread was to simply use the fruit and nut soaker idea and throw that into Hamelman's recipe for Vollkornbrot. The result was fantastic. However, first I would like to shed some light on the process and give you an in depth discussion of the taste and texture of this bread.

This bread is made with 100% whole rye, coming in the form of whole rye flour and rye chops. The rye chops are soaked in warm water overnight, but most of the whole rye flour is located in the sourdough build. What I want to spend most of my time talking about is the dried fruit and nut soaker. This soaker was made with 100 grams of dried cranberries, 100 grams of golden raisin, 100 grams of sliced dried apricots, 100 grams of toasted walnuts and sunflower seeds and 100 grams of boiling water. I used boiling water because I knew that the heat in the water would help to extract the natural sugars and flavors found in the dried fruit. It would also help to extract some of the salty-nutty flavor from the seeds and help to spread it throughout the entire dough during the final mix and fermentation/proofing stages of this bread.

There is something about golden raisins that I love. I am not sure what it is, but they are special to me. I do recall spending an afternoon with my good fried Isaac in 2006 eating handful after handful of golden raisins in our room in Jerusalem. I will admit to regretting it later, because that was a lot of fiber, as with anything else, I had to pay the ultimate price. But lets not "go" there. I also remember eating loquats, which are my favorite fruit, in ample quantities. I like them because they are weird and hard to come by as they are grown in the Middle East and in Bermuda. This soaker makes this bread a lot of fun because it fills the crusty bread with a tenderness and a sweetness that exceeds the typical caramelization of a fully baked rye bread. And this one took close to 90 minutes to bake. This is not a bread for the faint of heart and the fruit and nuts do bring a lightness to a bread that is not typically light. All of the ingredients including the rye, seeds, and fruit brings an intense bread to a whole new level of intensity. This bread is so delicious that it scares me!

 Like any other Vollkornbrot this is a very crusty bread. It is also a very dense bread whose character changes as it is allowed to rest. Much like ourselves, it start off as child, and with the passage of time, it becomes an almost wiser version of itself. But, if you let it get too wise, you will find that it will break your jaw. If this bread is kept in a plastic bag in the fridge, it will last for close to three weeks, maybe even longer. I never have a problem with bread going bad, because it is a major staple of my diet. When a bread is as nutritious and as wholesome as this one is, you never have a guilty feeling about going back for another slice. Over the past few days I have eaten this several ways but the two ways that I have enjoyed it most are "naked" and oddly, with cold pepper jack cheese. (For those of you who are new to this blog, the "naked" refers to the bread and not me.) The spiciness of the pepper jack goes wonderfully with the sweetness of the fruit. The next time I bake this bread I am going to withhold the walnuts and simply add some toasted salted sunflower seeds in their place. I would normally leave them out of the soaker, but once again, I love the salty flavor that the seeds can bring to the crumb when they are added to a boiling water soaker.


I now realize that I did not speak much on the production of this bread. I am currently on an Amtrak train on my way to Atlantic City, and do not have access to my notes, so I will only add a few notes from memory to shed light on a little bit of the process. This dough is mixed on first speed only, and for ten minutes. Karen H Kerr, a baker whom I respect greatly, recommends using the paddle attachment. I gave it a whirl, but it did not work so well for me. Perhaps her formula for Vollkornbrot is much different than mine. After about four or five minutes, I put the hook on and I found it to be more effective. I am a traditional in that sense and cleaning thick dough such as this off the paddle was really a pain in the batinsky! But hey, ‘live and learn and die learning’, that is what I always say. After the dough has come together completely, the fruit soaker is added and allowed to mix until combined and spread evenly throughout. My attitude is: "get the fruit in the dough and don't worry". To me, when you have a dough with this much whole rye flour, the full bake is much more important than a perfect mix. This bread dough is really somewhere between a dough and very thick batter! I always start this bread in a hot oven (470 F) then after twenty minutes bring it down to 375 and bake for one more hour. I then remove the bread from the Pullman pan and let it finish directly on the stone for 15 minutes. This helps firm up the sides a bit and ensures the bread is baked fully! It will be dark, even the flour coating on the pan will have adhered to the bread and look very toasted

This is a bread for the ages! One that I hope one day I will be remembered for!!

Bake on!

-DW, The Rye King


PiPs's picture
PiPs

I am completely amazed every time I look up from my bench and to the left and see the oven. I talk to it as I walk past it in the early morning. I feel like I know it already as I have seen it formed from the ground up. We will make great bread together ... will just take time to get to know each other.


Enzymatic Preferment

Most of my efforts have been in the kitchen this week. Extending an autolyse for flavour via increased amino acid build up is something that ars pistorica talks about on his blog ... and it is something he suggested I try.

Ars explains this process with knowledge (much more than me ... that's for sure) and vigour on his blog ... so let me just say it that it baked into some of the most delicious sourdough I have had made in a long time ...

Leaven
65% Hydration
29-30C
T80 sifted fresh milled wheat
10% inoculation
aerated 4 times
12hrs

Final Dough
Autolyse 12 hours 
75% Hydration
Inoculation 18%
Fresh milled wheat 10%
Bulk 4hrs at 25C (1 stretch-and-fold + 1 really, really gentle fold within first hour)
Final proof was  30 mins at room temp and 5hrs in cool room
Baked in very ordinary ovens :) 

YUM! ...

Cheers,
Phil

p.s. whew ... my work is finished for the week ... but have to share a pic of the sourdough from this mornings bake ... Shame that I didn't get to taste one ... they all disappeared up to the restaurant before I had the chance :(

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Miche made with High-extraction Flour

March 20, 2013

I have been meaning to bake another miche for some weeks. Yesterday, I made one. It is quite similar to the one on which I blogged in This miche is a hit!  All the flour in both the levain and the final dough was Central Milling T85 flour. The differences were: I did the initial mix in my Bosch Universal Plus, rather than by hand. I scaled it to 2 kg, and I omitted the toasted wheat germ.

The miche was baked with steam at 450ºF for 15 minutes, then at 425ºF convection for another 45 minutes. I left it in the turned off oven with the door ajar for another 30 minutes. After cooling on a rack for 3 hours, I wrapped it in baker's linen and let it rest for 24 hours before slicing it.

 

The crust was crunchy and the crumb was tender. The flavor was wheaty and sweet with a moderate sourdough tang. Very tasty. Highly recommended.

David 

 

 

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I made the Pain Au Levain 'sourdough' pg. 158 from the book 'Jeffery Hamelman Bread'.

What a lovely delicious bread that has been enjoyed by many who have baked it.

When preparing my wfo for this bake, timing was very important because, I also make dinner in it before doing my baking.  

I call our dinner on Mike's work days 'time orders'.  

When he arrives home from a cycling exercise ride.  He has just enough time for showering and eating before, leaving the house.

So dinner is on table usually about 4:15.

 

I fired the oven up, mixed my bread and, roasted the chicken after the first logs burned down.  I only needed to add one log at a time to burn  a low flame for the roasting.

When the chicken was done.  I placed it into my elec. oven to keep it hot.  I made the salad, tended to my bread strectch and folds and made the pizza's.

Dinner was ready.  The pizza's only take a few minutes.  Everything was timed great and tasted delicious.

Just after dinner.  The loaves were shaped.  

Now there only some hot coals to rake over the oven floor.  Then I cleaned up after dinner.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I raked out what was left of the dying embers and ash.  Mopped my oven floor, placed the door on and left the oven to stablize for one hour and 15 minutes.  

The oven and loaves were both ready.  The timing worked out very good.

Everything was done.  Now the fun.  Baking my bread and I also put in some yams.

I had plenty of stored heat in the oven and could have baked longer.  But, it was a long day and I was tired and didn't really need the extra rustic pies I was thinking about adding to the days bake.  Easter and my birthday will be here soon.  How time flys.  Plenty of time for sweet eating and calories.

 

The neighborhood farmers market was full of fresh greens.  I should have brought my camera.  I especially wanted the Cara Cara Oranges for my roasted beet and goat cheese salad, basalmic glaze, all were topped over spinach.  Roasted walnuts were forgotten :/ would have added a nice crunch.

 

 

Whenever I fire up my oven.  I always include an organic chix.  Good for dinner, sandwiches or, what have you!

 

Lemon, Garlic and Herb Chix.  Delicious and very tender.

 

 

Mike's favorite  -  Pepperoni

The dough I had already frozen and used it today.  It was 100% Caputo 00 flour.

 

Heirloom tomato from the FMarket on this one, with a little pepperoni that was left.

 

 

Farmer's Market Squash Blossom's for this Pizza

These were the female blossom's, so I added the tiny zucc's

 

Delicious and tender

 

And now for more bread bakes. 

The lovely JH Pain Au Levain ' sourdough', melt in your mouth delicious 

 

They sprung so fast and started browning.... 10 minutes in the oven... before I got the steam pans out.  Not to much harm done.

 

Browning up nicely... apx. 30 min. in the oven... I removed them.  Let them cool overnight.

 

The bakers hand fell asleep about 3/4 away down the slash on the loaf on the left.

 

Crumb was open.  No extra hydration was added.  I stuck to the books formula

 

 

I was happy with the bottom crust.  The oven floor was a nice temperature.  Oven was apx. 500F and lowering.

 

Oven's clean and ready for the next firing.  Nothing beats a self cleaning oven.

 

Sylvia

 

 

 

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