The Fresh Loaf

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Gilchesters’ Miche/Boules. Double-leavened Dough, made as a Sandwich Loaf and a Boule.

ananda's picture
ananda

Gilchesters’ Miche/Boules. Double-leavened Dough, made as a Sandwich Loaf and a Boule.

 Gilchesters’ Miche/Boules.

Double-leavened Dough, made as a Sandwich Loaf and a Boule.


I have been enjoying using a 3.5kg bag of both the Gilchesters’ “Organic Farmhouse Flour”, and the same size of their “Organic Pizza/Ciabatta Flour” in my breads this week.   Alison and I called into the big city [Newcastle!] on Saturday afternoon, en route to our friends’ house in County Durham, to allow me to stock up on specialist flour.   I also bought 2 bags of Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye.   This must mean a Borodinsky session is not far away!

On Monday this week, I made 4 Gilchesters’ Miche loaves using the same formula and methods as I used today, as posted below.   I also used the Pizza/Ciabatta formula with a mix of 2 leavens to make another dough.   I baked all this in the wood-fired oven.   It continues to be more difficult to build up good bottom heat, but the domed roof is producing a fantastic crust from lovely and gently radiated top heat.   I made a boule and 4 baguettines with the second dough.   The boule was lovely, but the baguettines convinced me I should not make these solely with natural leaven again.   At this stage of my journey, I am only interested in working with the natural leaven.   I have very limited capacity, much prefer to use only natural leavens anyway, and my wife has an obvious intolerance of bakers’ yeast as well; all very good reasons.   However, a friend had gifted me 2 half stick wires with 2 channels each, so I thought I would at least give them a trial.   Anyway, the baking was a success, as I sold all the loaves I made on the day, plus 3 Sourdough Seed breads specially requested by neighbours…which I just happened to have stashed in the freezer.

Since then, I have been working through all my accumulated teaching and learning resources [the paper-based ones!!!], and had a huge “throw out” of all the material I had either duplicated, or that has become out-of-date.   Alison was delighted when she got home to watch me filling our Recycling Bin with mountains of paper, previously languishing in cardboard boxes under my desk.   I’ve also acquired a website too.   More details, obviously to follow, but I have set time to one side 10th and 11th December to work with my brother to build this.   He and his wife have a website for their own small business, so I’m utilizing their expertise; how exciting!   And I have a Business Plan to write too!   These are my pre-Christmas plans, as well as circulating samples of bread to local businesses and flyers through peoples’ letter boxes in the village.   The MSc kicks off again later in January, so I need a regular income by then…although it will only be small, and things will be tight in our household.   It’s a tough time, but Alison knows how to keep me up-beat and confident this venture will be a big success for both of us.   That’s not easy when I know how much she must be worried too.

Anyway, onto the breads for today.   I built both my rye sour and wheat levain up over the course of yesterday.   The wheat leaven had 3 refreshments and the rye sour had 2.   I began with 40g of each in stock, and ended up with around 340g of rye sour and 980g of wheat leaven.   I have returned 40g of each to stock, and used up the rest in the formulae posted below.

1.    Gilchesters’ Miche/Boules

Material/Stage

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Wheat Levain

 

 

Marriage’s Organic Strong White Flour

25

500

Water

15

300

TOTAL

40

800

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Wheat Levain [from above]

40

800

Gilchesters’ Organic Farmhouse Flour

75

1500

Salt

1.8

36

Water

56

1120

TOTAL

172.8

3456

 

 

 

% pre-fermented flour

25

-

% overall hydration

71

-

% wholegrain flour [approx 85% extraction]

75

-

FACTOR

20

-

 

Method:

  •  Build the levain, see description above.
  • For mixing, first of all mix on first speed for 3 minutes with a hook attachment, then autolyse the Gilchesters flour with the water for 1 hour.
  • Add the levain and the salt.   Mix on first speed for 2 minutes, then second speed for 7 minutes.
  • Bulk prove the dough maintaining DDT of 26°C for 2 hours.
  • Scale and divide as follows: 2 pieces @ 525g, one @ 1050g and the remaining piece @ c.1350g.   Mould round and rest for 15 minutes.   Prepare bannetons, re-mould dough pieces and set to final proof.
  • Final proof DDT maintained at 27°C, for 2 hours
  • Tip each loaf out of the banneton onto a peel, score the top and set to bake on the sole of the wood-fired oven.   Small loaves bake in half an hour, next biggest takes 45 minutes and the biggest loaf took around 55 minutes.
  • Cool on wires.

I set these loaves in the oven with the top heat reading in excess of 300°C and even the bottom heat was close on 280°C.   I was confident it would settle out; this is easily the best firing I have achieved with this oven; so very pleasing.

2.    Double-leavened Dough, made as a Sandwich Loaf and a Boule.

Material/Stage

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1a. Rye Sourdough

 

 

Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour

11

110

Water

18.3

183

TOTAL

29.3

293

 

 

 

1b. Wheat Levain

 

 

Marriage’s Strong Organic White Flour

8.4

84

Water

5

50

TOTAL

13.4

134

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Rye Sourdough [from 1a]

29.3

293

Wheat Levain [from 1b]

13.4

134

Gilchesters’ Organic Pizza/Ciabatta Flour

62

620

Marriage’s Strong Organic White Flour

13

130

Gilchesters’ Organic Farmhouse Flour

5.6

56

Salt

1.8

18

Organic Butter [slightly salted]

1.8

18

Water

43.7

437

TOTAL

170.6

1706

 

 

 

% pre-fermented flour

19.4

-

% overall hydration

67

-

% wholegrain flour

16.6

-

FACTOR

10

-

 

Method:

  • Build the leavens as described above.
  • Weigh all the ingredients into the mixing bowl.   Attach a dough hook and mix on first speed for 2 minutes.   Scrape down as needed.   Mix on second speed for 7 minutes.
  • Bulk proof for 1½ hours, DDT maintained at 27°C.
  • Scale and divide, 4 pieces @ 300g for a Sandwich loaf, leaving one piece of just over 500g for a small boule.   Mould round and rest for 15 minutes.   Prepare one banneton and one large Pullman Pan.   Re-mould the boule, and shape the four pieces ready and tin up.   Attach the pan lid and set both for final proof.
  • Final proof; the boule took 2 hours and was loaded with the Gilchester loaves.   The panned loaf stood 3 hours and was baked in the wood-fired oven straight after all the other loaves were baked.   The Sandwich loaf baked in 50 minutes.
  • Cool on wires.

Plenty of photos attached.   The wood-fired oven behaved as it has never done so far.   When I set the panned loaf in the oven the top heat was still at 250°C and the bottom heat sitting nicely at 220°C.   This is so solid compared to previous baking and is really bolstering my confidence that I will be able to bake more in it than I had originally feared might be the case.

The builders across The Square are my latest fans; they bought 3 loaves and have placed an advanced order for Monday already.   The rest is for Alison and I and, hopefully, a trip to our local town, Wooler, tomorrow see if one of the shop’s is interested in taking it as samples.   We shall see?

 

Happy Baking!

Andy

Comments

varda's picture
varda

Andy,  I have a question:     you say "However, a friend had gifted me 2 half stick wires with 2 channels each" and I don't know what these are.   Also, what are baguettines?   I love the look of the sandwich loaves (I'm thinking about sandwich loaves lately.)   Thinking perhaps I could use my Korean flour for that, but not sure.    It seems you are making a great start on getting organized around your business, and I wish you the best of luck!  -Varda

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Varda,

Look here for a photo of the stick wires I have:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=french+stick+wireless&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1158&bih=487&tbm=isch&tbnid=aMTelx6_c1fauM:&imgrefurl=http://www.amazon.com...

Baguettines; small baguettes...the wires are only 35cm long, so half length.

Do you think your Korean flour will be strong enough for Sandwich bread?   If you do use it, I would counsel making a stiff pre-ferment which should be made with good quality strong flour.   That should be a minimum of 25% of your total flour.

Many thanks for your always-supportive comments

Best wishes

Andy

OldWoodenSpoon's picture
OldWoodenSpoon

Gorgeous bake Andy.  Your energy is an inspiration, as well as your products.  It's no wonder the local builders have become fans.  Who could resist the aroma of roasting grains wafting through the square! 

The Gilchesters' flour must be whole grain then? I assume so looking at the dough, which certainly looks wonderful.  Work of the Hobart again?

Very best wishes in your venture Andy.   I look forward to visiting your web site when you get it ready.
OldWoodenSpoon

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi OWS,

The Gilchesters Farmhouse Flour is the nearest I can think of to a "high extraction" flour as used by the likes of M. Poilane and recommended for Miche production by Hamelman, MacGuire et. al.   It is approx. 85% extraction.

The Pizza/Ciabatta flour is an unbleached white flour.   Whilst it is somewhat grey in appearance and therefore most likely higher in ash content than a regular industrial white flour, it is beautifully finely ground, and of similar extraction, at around 72%.

Yes, the Hobart is mixing high quality dough for me, as the first main photograph shows.

Your comments are generous and kind, and very much appreciated; than you

Best wishes

Andy

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

These are all impressive loaves once again...

I am so glad to hear that local businesses are buying your breads.  Who knows where this is all going for you...your own shop???? One just never knows.  Nice to have an outlet for all you bake too.

Janet

P.S. I am having fun using all of the math tricks I have learned here and your lessons on using %'s  and factors are among them....makes everthing so much easier!

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Janet,

Local businesses are not buying my bread yet.   But there are good signs of interest.

Glad you find the maths useful.   I develop each and every one of these formulae starting with % of pre-fermented flour to arrive at a finished formula where total flour equals 100.   From there I adopt a factor to calculate recipe.

Very best wishes

Andy

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Andy,

Ooops, guess I read more into this than there was - good old brain seeing what it thinks is there rather than what actually is there!

I love the 'factor' factor in getting loaves the size I want them to  be!

I explained this to my brother but he is a staunch volume kind of guy...not baking a lot of bread yet so maybe someday he will understand.  

Before I learned about the math part of baking I would get totally frustrated trying to figure out how to adjust recipes so I didn't bake a lot...I mean how does one get 1/3 of 1/2 of a teaspoon????  Enough to drive one crazy!

 But I do see his point too in that visualizing 1/2 cup of something is a bit more tangible than 100g of something knowing that the volume amount of the gram measurement changes with anything one might weigh - eg. a 1/2 of flour weighs less than a 1/2 of water....

Now I get to live in both worlds and it suits me just fine :-)

Take Care,

Janet

ananda's picture
ananda

Janet I run the risk of getting into so much trouble here.   As you know, I only inhabit one of those worlds.

Say no more

BW

Andy

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Beautiful baking and positive attitude, Andy!

Just as Janet sees, I also get the same feeling.  Your own shop, maybe even a liquor license 'lol'.  

Word of mouth travels fast and is the best source for a busy business.  Especially for the lucky locals, having a baker right handy for fresh baked breads.  I bet if you would have had some hot pizza's or pasties coming out of your oven the workers would have grabbed those up too.  

Best wishes always!

Sylvia   

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Sylvia,

That's an idea I've had under consideration for some time.   Nothing of that sort out here, I can assure you!

Don't think I'm really cut out to be a shopkeeper, or have an alchohol license.

I do do positivity, of course, in big quantities.   Many thanks for sharing yours too.

All good wishes

Andy

PiPs's picture
PiPs

Wonderful to see so much fantastic bread emerging from your oven destined to happy customers. Breads look outstanding again :)

Doesn't sound like you are easing into Christmas ... much to do. Good luck with all the behind the scenes business.

Sorry to hear things are so tight ... but how fortunate that you are in a position to change things for the better.

How long are you firing the oven for to reach and hold those temperatures.

Cheers, Phil

 

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Phil,

Yes, there is much to be done; but I'm happy it's coming together.

I began lighting the oven before 09:00, but it actually takes quite some time to build to a proper fire.   I reckon I fired it hard for about 3 hours and left the dying embers to burn fully through for a further hour before cleaning out the oven and baking on it.

By the way, what you can see in the photo top right of the bread baking in the oven is actually steam, not smoke.   I wrap a wet tea towel around the door and jam that in to close off the mouth of the oven.   The steam has all come from that wet tea towel!

Best wishes to you

Andy

PiPs's picture
PiPs

Hi Andy,

That's a pretty impressive amount of steam ... Are you using the wet towel even with a full oven load? I have to say the crusts on the miches are very impressive ... the kind of crust and colouring I strive for.

Sounds like your baking every few days ... are you finding the oven still has some residual heat or are you firing it from cold each time?

Watching with keen interest ...

Cheers,
Phil

 

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Phil,

The door is a piece of chunky plywood which my Dad cut to shape, and fastened a handle onto.   Using the wet towel is also a really effective way to wedge the door in place, and seal off any small cracks around the door to keep the heat in more effectively.

Yes, the crust on the Miche is my ideal too.   However feedback from others close to me suggests they prefer their bread with a slightly lighter crust.   It's a very personal preference, and one which I believe to be very difficult to conquer when operating in the commercial world.   Some like well-fired, some like soft and light.   And there are so many variations along that whole spectrum.   Is it possible "to please all of the people, all of the time"?    I don't think so!

So, I have an oven to fire now

All good wishes

Andy

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Andy,
Wishing you the best with your baking, website and business plan development.
I'm happy for you that your oven is firing well and that your mixer develops dough so beautifully!
The bread is lovely and it's no wonder everyone's 'snapping it up'!
:^) from breadsong

ananda's picture
ananda

Thank you very much for all your kind words, breadsong

All good wishes

Andy

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Andy,

Hard at work I see, and with your trademark high quality loaves to show for it as usual. Awesome bake on all counts, and good to know the oven is preforming the way you need it to.

A web site is a terrific idea Andy and one I'm very much looking forward to seeing when it's up and running. From what I understand Britain has the highest percentage of internet users in the European Zone http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/uk.htm which bodes well for you getting the word out about future business ventures, not only on a local but national level as well. A modern day version of word of mouth...at high speed no less. If you can tap even a small percentage of that that traffic your way, who knows what benefits could result from it. Here's to your great success with this project!

All the best,

Franko

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Franko,

Yes the UK bandwidth is filling up rapidly; I'm all too aware, and we get very good internet connectivity where I live too!

Will obviously post more on this to keep you and everybody else up to speed as it happens.

Meantime, your support and positive comments about the bread is always truely valued here

All good wishes

Andy

wassisname's picture
wassisname

Great to see the WFO back in action, Andy.  The Gilchesters' Miche always make me want to run home and bake a big, crusty loaf of something... anything!  Inspiring.  I'm looking forward to reading more Borodinsky adventures as well as the other baking adventures you have in the works.  Very best wishes in all of them!

Marcus

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Marcus,

I'm about to set 8.5kg of "Light Pain au Levain" dough to retard overnight in my fridge.

And..I've just assembled stage 2. "the Sponge" of the Auerman process for a large Rossisky loaf.

I don't have Blackstrap Molasses or Coriander in the store cupboard just now.   I did, however, include some of the Red Malt in the "Scald".

Busy day tomorrow on the wood-fired oven I guess!

Many thanks for your comments

Best wishes

Andy

Ruralidle's picture
Ruralidle

Hi Andy

Those loaves look excellent - as always.  Good luck with the business, give me a call if you want to tap my (addled) brain for some help with your business plan.

Best Wishes

Richard

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Richard,

Very good to hear from you; thank you as always for your compliments.

I'll be in touch about the Business Plan; your offer of help is very much appreciated.

Take good care

Andy