The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Less pain with my Levain

Franko's picture
Franko

Less pain with my Levain

Since I began making Levain breads several weeks ago I've  wanted to try making the Roasted Garlic Levain from Jeffrey Hamelman's excellent book, but up until the last 3 or 4 Levain loaves I've made I just haven't had the kind of result I've been looking for. These naturally fermented doughs were and still are to some degree, completely new territory for me. The two stumbling blocks I kept running into were judging the bulk and final fermentation, since the dough doesn't behave quite the same as one made with bakers yeast , which I'm pretty familiar with. What was happening was the dough was splitting or blowing out during the last part of the bake. Verrry frustrating! However with a lot of reading and research as well as a couple of consults with Andy-ananda I think I'm finally getting a handle on it.


On the weekend my wife brought in a handful of fresh garlic and shallots from our garden so I decided there was no better time than now to make the roasted garlic levain. I used Jeffrey's formula as a guideline, sticking to the basic percentages of flour, salt, etc. but changed the percentage of levain down to 25% in the final mix as well as making a less stiff levain than what's called for, probably around 80% hydration Also I reduced the amount of garlic since our home grown variety is quite a bit stronger than what we normally buy at the grocer. Although the formula calls for a 1% addition of bakers yeast I think I could have left it out without any appreciable difference. Next time I will. This formula makes a beautiful dough that is very easy to work with even at the higher hydration that I mixed. It had a 2 hr ferment and about an 1.5 hr final rise, then the usual slash and steam. It yielded what I think are two very nice loaves, one at 800 grams and the other at 640 gr . What I really like about this bread is that the flavour is not heavy with garlic like some that I've had that are almost inedible if you value any sort of social life. Part of that may be because I used roasted shallots along with the garlic, but I tend to think it's because Mr. Hamelman formulated it so that the flavour of the bread itself would predominate. When I tasted it the first thing I thought of was how good this would be to use for bruschetta...and I was right! It grills/toasts very nicely, and as the garlic is already in the bread you don't really need to rub any on as you normally would with bruschetta.  With our Canadian Thanksgiving coming up next month, the other thing I've been thinking of using it for is as a stuffing base for ' the bird '  which I think it'd do brilliantly. Roasted Garlic Levain is certainly a keeper for me and I'd recommend the recipe to anyone wanting to try a real garlic bread.


Franko

LeeYong's picture
LeeYong

What beautiful breads you've made! How did you get such great crust on your round boule? Love the cracked look! I love a great garlic bread - this is one to try!

happy baking!

Franko's picture
Franko

Thanks LeeYong,much appreciated!

The crust you see on the large boule is a mainly because I took it just at the right point of proof so that it still had enough energy/gas in it to expand while the crust was forming. Combined with a moderate amount of steam to allow expansion , and a hot oven, you get the crust and the crack. Easier said than done most times in a domestic oven , but do-able nonetheless.

ATB,

Franko 

LindyD's picture
LindyD

They look quite heavenly, Franko.

I keep on baking JH's Vermont sourdough because I enjoy it so much (and it's an easy midweek bake) - but based on your description of his roasted garlic  levain, I see I should branch out more.

There's a wide variation in the crust color of your boules.  Did you bake them separately?

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi LindyD,

First of all, thank you for your comment, and yes I did bake them separately. The small one was ready to go but I don't think the oven was quite up to temp. In it went anyhow and by the time it was 2/3rds done the other one was ready to bake and the oven was at a full 460F. I would have liked to have seen the crumb on the small one but it was a gift to a friend.

Franko

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Franko,

You must be really pleased with these.

As you say, for a home oven, the crust is exceptional.   As for the crumb; that is just how I like it best.   Open, but not too open, and soft and translucent.   Just a touch of some type of wholegrain in there too.   Lovely!

Best wishes

Andy

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Andy,

I am very pleased with the way these two 2 loaves turned out and hopefully it's an indication I've turned the corner on this levain saga of mine. Can't thank you enough for all your help.  Maybe somewhere down the line I'll have a chance to return the favour...I hope. You do see some 100% whole wheat flour in there which the formula calls for at 10%. I think I'll play around with this next time by increasing the % and go for something with a bit more density. It is a good crumb but I'd prefer more 'chew' to it than it has.

All the best my friend,

Franko

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Franko,

Thanks for your kind words; it's a pleasure to advise really.

Anyway, what about adding 5% Dark Rye to the grist.   Alternatively, you could drop the wholemeal, and add a "Granary"/Malted Grain type flour @ 15 -30%?   That would be fun, and it may sweeten the final loaf too.

All good wishes

Andy

ps. I've learnt loads from you already, so consider the favour returned.

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

I will be starting with the Mellow Bakers Challenge this weekend and making Hamelmen's cheese bread. I want to go back and read the introduction in Hamelmen's book as I think this will add to my knowledge of baking good bread. The garlic bread sounds like a good one for me to try as well and I love the idea of adding shallots since we love all things garlic and onion around here. I am admiring the crust on the darker bread and the crumb is outstanding. The bruchetta looks delightful as well!

Trosj

Franko's picture
Franko

Thanks very much for your nice comments. Good luck on the challenge!

Franko