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Pain de Mie with Wheat Levain, Exploding Mixed Leaven Pain de Campagne and a 90% Rye Sourdough made with the Three Stage Process

ananda's picture
ananda

Pain de Mie with Wheat Levain, Exploding Mixed Leaven Pain de Campagne and a 90% Rye Sourdough made with the Three Stage Process

Pain de Mie with Wheat Levain, Exploding Mixed Leaven Pain de Campagne and a 90% Rye Sourdough made with the Three Stage Process

 

1.    Pain de Mie

I made 3 loaves in pans, varying sizes as noted below, using only a wheat levain to raise the bread.   There is a basic amount of enrichment in the formula.

I built the leaven in 3 stages, beginning with 40g of stock on Thursday lunchtime and ending up with over 1300g of ripe leaven for Saturday morning baking session.

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Built Leaven

 

 

Carrs Special CC Flour

25

350

Water

15

210

TOTAL

40

560

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Wheat Levain [from above]

40

560

Carrs Special CC Flour

70

980

Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour

5

70

Salt

1.5

21

Milk Powder

2

28

Organic Butter – lightly salted

2

28

Water

50

700

TOTAL

170.5

2387

FACTOR

14

-

% pre-fermented flour

25

-

% overall hydration

65

-

 

Method:

  • See leaven build
  • To mix, combine all the ingredients slowly to form the dough.   Rest for 10 minutes, then develop for 10 minutes, rest a further 10 minutes, then develop a final 10 minutes.   DDT is 28°C.
  • Bulk proof in a covered and lightly oiled bowl for 2 hours.   Give one “stretch and fold” half way through.
  • Scale and divide as follows, moulding each piece round:

One Pullman Pan needs 4 pieces @ 285g each; total 1140g

Large Loaf Pan, 4 pieces @ 195g each; total 780g

Small Loaf Pan, single piece @ 467g

  • Pan the large loaves as “four pieces”, and use a single piece for the small tin.
  • Final proof 3 hours
  • Bake profile: I made the small loaf as a “Split Tin”, floured top with single cut along the top of the loaf.  Pullman is baked with the lid on throughout.   I set the bread in the oven at 220°C, with a reasonable amount of steam used for the first 10 minutes of the bake.   The small loaf baked in 25 minutes, larger loaf in 35 minutes, and the Pullman loaf was ready after 45 minutes.   Each loaf recorded a probe temperature reading of 96°C at the core.
  • As ever, cool on wires.

 

 

2.    Exploding Pain de Campagne

This only ever seems to happen to me in the following situation: baking at home using my Baumatic Fan Oven with dough pieces which have been retarded to any extent.   The reactions seem to kick in after 5 – 10 minutes in the oven and the spring is too great, so the dough explodes at the most convenient spot……here, at one of the cuts; just one, of course!   I cannot believe the dough has not been properly fermented, but I have not cracked this problem yet.   I ended up with 2 loaves proved in bannetons, scaled as described below.

The bread is raised with 2 leavens, both built with 3 refreshments.   The wheat levain is described above.   The rye sourdough was refreshed at the same times and I began with 40g stock and ended up with a kilo of built culture.

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Wheat Levain

 

 

Carrs Special CC Flour

12.5

150

Water

7.5

90

TOTAL

20

240

 

 

 

2. Rye Sourdough

 

 

Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour

7.5

90

Water

12.5

150

TOTAL

20

240

 

 

 

3. Final Dough

 

 

Wheat Levain [from above]

20

240

Rye Sourdough [from above]

20

240

Carrs Special CC Flour

80

960

Salt

1.75

21

Water

48

576

TOTAL

169.75

2037

FACTOR

12

-

% pre-fermented flour

20

-

% overall hydration

68

-

 

Method:

  • Build the leavens as above
  • Autolyse flour, water and rye sour for 1 hour
  • Add salt and wheat leaven and develop using slap and fold technique for half an hour with 2 rests of 5 minutes within that time.   DDT is 28°C.
  • Bulk ferment for 1½ hours ambient, then 1 hour chilled.
  • Scale and divide @ 1237g and 800g pieces.   Mould round, place in bannetons and proof in the chiller for 2 hours.
  • Tip out of the banneton, cut the loaf top and bake with plenty of steam in a hot oven.
  • Cool on wires.

 

3.    90% Rye Sourdough made with the Three Stage Process

Building on the theme explored with Borodinsky in the previous post, this recipe uses the same 3 stage process, but the “scald” is very much a “mash”, as opposed to a “boil up”.   I have called this a “zavarka”, as this is the term we used at Village Bakery where we made a “boil up” as part of the Pane Toscano breads.   This is a “mash” much more akin to the techniques used by Peter Reinhart is his “Wholegrain Breads” book.   Where the “boil up” seeks to fully gelatinise the starch, and thereby encourage maximum water take up, the mash is seeking to create optimum amylase activity by holding the mix at the ideal temperature to expose the sugars, and to engender the enzyme reactions.   It is the process used in brewing beer/ale/lager, which I enjoyed experimenting with way back in the 1980s as a student.

For the rye sourdough, I used the mature culture from the previous bread giving it one more refreshment.   However, this time I refreshed in a way which altered the hydration level from 100:167 to 100: 113.   This was a means to achieve the lower hydration I plan to use in the final formula at 78% rather than 85%.

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1a] Built Sour

 

 

Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour

30

300

Water

43

430

TOTAL

73

730

1 b] Zavarka - mash

 

 

Red Malt

5

50

Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour

20

200

Water

35

350

TOTAL

60

600

 

 

 

2. Sponge

 

 

Built Sour [from above]

73

730

Zavarka – mash [from above]

60

600

TOTAL

133

1330

 

 

 

3. Final Dough

 

 

Sponge [from above]

133

1330

Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour

40

400

Carrs Special CC Flour

10

100

Salt

1.5

15

TOTAL

184.5

1845

FACTOR

10

-

% pre-fermented flour

30 + 20 = 50

-

% overall hydration

78

-

 

Method:

  • Prepare the final refreshment for the rye sour and set to one side for 5 hours.   Make the zavarka by combining the red malt and the dark rye flour with water @ 85°C to give a mix temperature of 65°C.   Hold the mash between 55°C and 65°C for 5 hours.
  • For stage 2, combine the rye sour and the zavarka and leave to ferment overnight.
  • Add the remaining flours and salt to the sponge to form the final paste.
  • Bulk ferment for 1 hour
  • Line a Pullman Pan and smooth the paste into it for final proof.
  • Final Proof 3 hours
  • Bake for 2 hours in an oven at 160°C with a steady source of steam.
  • Cool on wires.

 

Sorry no crumb shots of the Pain de Mie; had to get the bread to the freezer whole for future projects.

Next week it’s the UK TFL Course in College on Tuesday and Wednesday; then, I’ll be on my way….

Best wishes to all

Andy

Comments

siuflower's picture
siuflower

Hi Andy,

Love the breads and enjoy your posts. I want to know what size is the pullman pan. I have a 13 x 4x 4 inches and want to try your Pain de Mie.

 

siuflower

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Siuflower,

It's a Chicago Metallic; I've measured it in metric, but the dimensions are the same as yours

Thank you for your kind words

Andy

wassisname's picture
wassisname

You're killing me with these rye breads, you realize that?  This is giving me the itch to try baking an all, or almost all, rye again.  It's just that mine don't tend to turn out like yours.  Methods seem to vary so wildly with these kinds of breads that attempting to tease out the common, underlying premise of them makes my brain hurt.  The overnight ferment of the combined starter/mash made me pause, but then a little light bulb came on.  More food for thought.  Thank you, as always, for the post.

Marcus

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Marcus,

The interim stage is something very new to me too, and I've been baking all-rye breads for over 15 years...in very large numbers at times, too!

I don't believe the "scald" is the real secret to success, although it undoubtedly brings some really special qualities to these type of breads.   Fundamentally, for me, a strong and fully fermented sour, generous hydration and confidence in materials and process are the crucial aspects.

These are a couple of great references you may care to chase up.   I passed these on to Nico recently; a fellow fiend of rye!   See:

http://danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1766

http://www.food.actapol.net/pub/8_1_2006.pdf

I know you have no reason to feel intimidated by any of these aspects given the standards of breads in your own posts.

All good wishes

Andy

wassisname's picture
wassisname

Great resources, thank you.  I'll be digesting that scald study for a while.

nicodvb's picture
nicodvb

Andy, the amylase actions really shows!! Fantastic color, I can feel the aroma of malt from here!

What do you mean by fiend? A kind of little demon?  :-)

You happened to use a same method very similar to the one described by Ginzburg in Weston A. Price's link (the mix of the first leaven + the zavarka is called Opara in that pdf) although the percentages are quite different and the zavarka he describes looks almost a boil-up rather than a mash. That bread was the first that I made that really exhibited the potential of rye.

Thanks for the pointers!

ananda's picture
ananda

Nico, one possessed with the "rye bug" of course.

Like me!

All good wishes

Andy

varda's picture
varda

Thanks so much for the detailed write-ups.  I hope to make the Pain de Mie some time soon using the information you've provided.    And so nice of you to include the exploded loaf to make all of us who've had our own explosions feel better.   But what is factor?  -Varda

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Varda,

Thank you, and yes, make the Pain de Mie sourdough style if you can.

Regarding explosions, I've listed the 2 common factors which I regard as the causes as refrigerated retarding and a disappointing domestic fan oven.   Do I need to go further than that?

All good wishes

Andy

varda's picture
varda

No need for clarification of cause of explosions as you said you were investigating.   What I was asking is what is the factor you are using in your formula.    You have a factor of  14 for your Pain de Mie.   I just don't know what it is.   Thanks.  -Varda

ananda's picture
ananda

How silly of me to miss what you were really asking, I'm sorry, Varda.

The factor is the number used to multiply up the formula to get the recipe needed to produce the amount of dough I made.

That's the other major benefit of Bakers' % as well as demonstration of a balance to the formula, of course.

Best wishes

Andy

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Andy,

A little late to the party I'm afraid, my apologies.Time has been precious for me this week , but I finally had a chance today to sit down and have a good look at your breads, as well as your typically thorough writeup.  The Pain de Mie and Pain de Campagne look terrific, no surprise there, as ever. Speaking of the Pain de Campagne and  the 'blow-out' just let me say I wish my blow-outs looked half as good. I find I have more of these when I'm cold fermenting overnight as well. I don't know how much experience you've had with cold risen doughs but I'd venture to say it's more than I've had . Until I started this new phase of learning in bread production that I'm on, I'd never used it on the job or at home. For myself I think it's a matter of familiarity with how a dough feels coming cold to the bench as opposed to one that comes from a warm, humid proofing environment. Yes, I allow the dough to come to room temp for an hour or more, but the cold rise, at least for me, alters the 'feel' of the dough to the extent that the signs of when it's ready to take, are subtly different from that of a typically proofed dough. I've come to the point now where if I think it's ready to take, I'll give it (if I remember...big if ) another 15-30 minutes to compensate. I'm not sure how the fan in your oven would provoke this sort of behavior, as many pro ovens have this feature nowadays, but domestic ovens are quirky things when it comes to bread baking. Most of them were never designed to properly do what we're asking of them. That any of us TFL'ers manage to achieve the breads we do with these dinky little ovens primarily meant for roasting is remarkable.

The 90% Rye looks delicious, dense and moist from your photos. At 78% hydration this must have been a mucky old soul to work with! The length of time you indicate for both the BF and final rise are surprisingly long for a sour rye dough considering the % of preferment in the mix. I'm curious what you attribute this to, whether the flour, or ambients temps ..or maybe the red malt? In my limited experience with high ratio rye breads, I've found they ferment so quickly it's a job to stay on top of it in order to catch it just right.You've managed to find a slow, final ferment for this bread that you've caught at optimum for bake-off. I can only imagine the flavour this bread must have due to it's long fermentation phase. Brilliant baking Andy! 

Best Wishes,

Franko 

 

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Franko,

Anytime; it's always really good to have you along!

Yep, the Pain de Mie loaves were very pleasing indeed: everyday bread, but produced with sourdough only as a leavener, with a hint of rye too, but a tad of enrichment and a largely white, high-crown loaf made with well-developed dough.

We had extensive and interesting discussions about the cons of domestic ovens in the closing stages of the bread course today.   Of course, having spent 2 days working with my electric deck ovens, the delegates were just the right people to have this discussion with.   I learnt from this session that the regular bricks I have in my oven are not as efficient at storing heat as the purpose-made oven stones used by so many on TFL...my fault for being such a cheap-skate.   BUT, the real problem is that lack of power.   I believe it takes many minutes for the retarded doughs to heat up over 53*C [yeast death-point] when loaded to the oven...minutes too long in fact.   So, nothing happens for several minutes, then yeast activity suddenly kicks in with avengeance leading to sudden rise in the dough which the matured gluten strands simply cannot cope with.   The burst is always at the single weakest point!

I need to invest in a proper stone, for sure; however, having seen the internal wiring used to feed the electric current used to heat the oven and then contrast this with the 3 phase power of the deck ovens, I realised long ago how poor domestic ovens are for baking.   I totally agree with your comments here; many TFL posters work minor miracles baking their superb breads in these very limited hot boxes.

As for fans, well, I've always detested convection ovens, and remember agreeing when my mentor disparaged "smelly, dirty rack ovens"!   Alas, I cannot switch the fan off in my oven at home!   Well, it's all I have, so got to make the best of it!   Or, sort out the wood-fired beast so it doesn't smoke out the village!

I mix all these high rye breads with plastic scrapers and a neat plastic spoon with a few slitty holes in.   If I have to use hands, then I have a bowl of water on hand to use to stop the paste just latching on to my skin.

But you actually have hit on a real problem I had with the latter stages of fermentation in this bread; somewhat disappointing, but altogether to do with this dilemma I have about the "scald" which is seeded with the sour to form the sponge.   This time I tried a mashing technique to try to extract maximum possible sugars and enzymatic activity.   I knew that would mean the paste would not accept the same water levels I've achived in Borodinsky recipes I've made using the "boil up" which has maximum impact in terms of gelatinisation.

So, I'm converted to boil up rather than mash; however, I cannot explain why the use of the mash led to slower activity in the final fermentation.   But, it most certainly did, as you have pointed out in your wise comments.   The bulk ferment was fine.   But, the final ferment in the pan was really slow.   I actually docked the top of the loaf, and left it a little while longer hoping for more lift; it really was somewhat short of the top of the pan, and the sour taste is stronger than usual, despite use of mash to maximise sugars.   Mmmm???    Quite curious; any ideas?

I've long been sold on that magic 85% hydration.   A really good sour is the first essential.   That portion of fully-gelatinised starch from the boil up guarantees success.   So, I'm going back to that in the future!

All good wishes

Andy

 

Franko's picture
Franko

 Hi Andy,

Thanks for the warm welcome to your post. Greatly appreciated!

I've promised myself that this fall I'll devote a month or two of bakes to doing as many of your favourite breads as I can, and this post of yours is a great set of formulas to start with.

Re: the slow activity resulting from the mash.

I've never used a mash so anything I could offer as an idea is gained from a little reading in AB&P. If the concept of a mash is to extract sugars, my take is that it may have had a high % of very complex sugars as a result. The enzymatic breakdown illustrated in AB&P shows as many as 7 stages before it reaches the glucose stage where it can be converted to alcohol and the all important CO2. I wonder if leaving the mash to sit for longer than 5 hours might be what's needed. I'm assuming that the 5 hour time was the procedure used when you were at The Village Bakery and that the flour used in the zavarka wasn't Bacheldre. From what you've related in previous posts regarding the Bacheldre flour, it's a very high quality grain that's milled to exacting standards with processing kept to a minimum. This may be what's behind the lengthy final fermentation of your sour rye bread...at least that's my best guess at this point. It might be premature to abandon the mash procedure in favour of the boil-up before you've sussed out how the Bacheldre mash behaves given more time. It's an interesting production problem that I think a good number of us rye heads here on the site would like to know the solution to. I can't think of a more qualified person to deliver that solution than you my friend, not to put you in the hot seat by any means, but it would be a valuable lesson to any of us that bake these high ratio rye breads.

Always a treat to swap ideas with you Andy,

Franko

nicodvb's picture
nicodvb

Andy, what was the consistence of mash after the 5 hours? Still gelatinized as when you prepared it or liquified? I ask it because I noticed that when you use a very large amount of "gel" (in this case it's 600 gr out of 1800 total, so 1/3) the final paste doesn't rise as fast as usual, as if the gelatinized starch represented an obstacle to the leavening, a kind of physical impediment.