The Fresh Loaf

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First bake in WFO - Sourdough with Rye Malt

varda's picture
varda

First bake in WFO - Sourdough with Rye Malt

Word of the day: unseasonable.  I've been hearing that a lot lately.   What it means in practice is that after carefully checking the expected weather for the next few days, I decided it really was safe to bake in my WFO in March!    Last year my first bake was in July, but that was because I had to rebuild the oven first.    This year, the oven came through the winter more or less intact.    I pulled off the tarps and burned a bit of brush in there yesterday to warm it up.    Then today, fired it up and baked.   It was that simple.    Except it may take me awhile to get back into the routine.   This bread was totally overproofed since it took me forever to get a fire going and the weather is so warm that proofing was fast.    If I had baked it in that state in my gas oven, it would have just sunk like a stone.   Also, I didn't quite manage to get a steam pan into the oven.   Too much to keep track of.   Next time.  

 

This bread is a multigrain sourdough.   The wrinkle is that I threw in my leftover rye malt.   My son said it was delicious.    I thought it tasted vaguely similar to eating a beer.   Not sure why, since most beer isn't made with rye.    So actually pretty good, but strange.  

Here is my hobo oven ready for baking:

Update:   Formula and Method

3/20/2012

 

 

 

 

Sourdough with Rye Malt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4:35 PM

9:30 PM

 

 

 

Starter

35

 

 

 

 

 

KAAP

20

47

62

129

 

 

Dark Rye

1

3

3

7

5%

 

Water

14

55

100

169

125%

 

 

 

 

 

305

 

 

 

Final

Starter

Total

Percent

 

 

KAAP

350

123

473

75%

 

 

Dark Rye

 

7

7

1%

 

 

Whole Rye

50

 

50

8%

 

 

Spelt

50

 

50

8%

 

 

Whole Wheat

50

 

50

8%

 

 

Water

285

162

447

71%

 

 

Salt

12

 

12

1.9%

 

 

Rye Malt

17

 

17

2.7%

 

 

Starter

292

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1106

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mix all but salt and autolyse for 45 minutes

 

 

 

Add salt.   Mix in KA at low speed for 25 minutes

 

 

until dough is pretty strong and doesn't just flow down

 

 

when you lift the mixer arm

 

 

 

 

BF for 3 hours with no S&F

 

 

 

 

Cut and preshape

 

 

 

 

 

Rest for 30 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

Shape and proof (2 hrs)

 

 

 

 

 

Bake for 40 minutes in WFO

 

 

 

 

            

 

Comments

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

You are much to hard on yourself and your wfo..rustic and lovely 'added' 'the wfo' in my opinion and the big plus is...you did it all yourself and your getting great results!  Happy wfo baking.  This the season!

Hey, that's a great looking loaf for a seasonal warmup to baking, and super pile of logs  :)

San Diego weather here..one day like summer or spring next could be like winter.  I just finished removing the rain tarp on my wfo..no rain for a least another week or so : )

Sylvia

varda's picture
varda

Thanks for checking in.  Just to be clear, I love my oven, and in particular love what it does with bread.   I showed it to a friend of mine last fall and she said, hmmm, now what could we do to make this prettier.   She didn't have a suggestion.    I will definitely not have to worry about wood this year.   Last year, I was scrounging by the end of the season, but the freak October storm took care of that.   Now just have to nag (and by that I mean ask politely and nicely) my husband to do some splitting.   So looking forward to seeing your WFO cooking and baking.   -Varda

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Very jealous of your great looking WFO.

Look forward to seeing more of your bakes in your oven.

I imagine your pizza must be awesome.

Regards,
Ian

varda's picture
varda

Ian,  I hope to bake a lot more outdoors over the next few months.   Unfortunately the one or two times I've tried making pizza in it have not been a success.    Pizza is "fire in" which means you have to have a decent fire going plus room for the pizza next to it plus a way to get the pizza around the door corner.   Whereas with bread, I remove the fire and then pop in the bread straight through the door.   Ah well.   Perhaps I'll work it out.   Thanks so much for your comments.  -Varda

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I am confident you will find a way to make a successful pizza! :)  If not, I'm sure you will be busy enough with your great looking breads.

Ian

eliabel's picture
eliabel

Varda, what a beautiful bread! And what a wonderful oven! I am deeply envious or, should I put it in a more correct way, admiring?

varda's picture
varda

Thanks so much.   I took a look at your bread blog yesterday and was impressed with your baking.  So I can be envious / admiring of you too.  -Varda

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Your bread turned out way better than expected if it tastes like beer :-) Can a very low temp and long bake Borodinski be far behind a regular bake of say Tzitzel?  Isn't spring just great!  Nice bread Varda.

varda's picture
varda

wouldn't it be more efficient just to drink the beer?   I hope to get a lot of bread baked outside this season and hopefully can try out Andy's long bake of the Borodinsky.    Thanks so much for your comments.    -Varda

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Varda,

It's been sunny for sometime over in the North of England too; a joy to be baking outside.

How long do you fire the oven for?

The crumb of the bread looks lovely; I'm sure the rye malt will add deep body to the flavour...just like a great beer as you note

Very best wishes

Andy

varda's picture
varda

when I cut into the bread and saw the crumb, because I have changed my mixing style based on your comments.   This was a long mix at low speed in my KA with lots of scrape downs until the fairly wet dough barely flowed downward when I lifted the mixer arm.   And I went out while the dough was fermenting so didn't do any stretches and folds.   What I would have done previously is mix for around 5 minutes until the dough came together, and then try to build the strength with multiple stretches and folds.  But up to this bake I have never dispensed with the S&F altogether.  

As for length of time to fire the oven - I fire it until the outside in a certain spot reaches a certain temperature (around 200F.)    I didn't quite get there today, because I knew my dough was overproofed and I figured I'd better get it into the oven before it was too late.   It took me around 2 hours.   Last summer, I think I managed to get it to temperature in just over an hour if I had good wood and was careful about setting up the fire. 

Thanks so much for your comments.  -Varda

jcking's picture
jcking

Bread flour on sale $2.99.

Vardas' loaves "PRICELESS".....

Good show! Nice Oven!

Jim

varda's picture
varda

I almost hit the spam button on you.   Oops.   Hope you are doing well and baking also.  -Varda

BoyntonStu's picture
BoyntonStu

From a manufacturer of wood fired ovens:

http://www.chicagobrickoven.com/cbo-wood-fired-academy/wood-fired-101/faqs

What kind of wood should I use for my oven?
All kinds of hardwoods are suitable when they are clean and dry. Resinous and treated woods are not recommended and can be dangerous to your health. Waste wood should not be used because your wood-burning oven is a cooking instrument, not an oven for heating. When buying wood, ask for wood that’s been aged for about two years, or that has less than 25% moisture content. Soft woods are easy to light, but they produce less heat than hardwoods. We also recommend trying different varieties of aromatic, flavored wood to give different foods unique flavors.

Notice the last sentence which states that the gases/fumes from the burning wood enters the dough and gives it "unique" flavors.

 On several other posts, there were concerns about using Silicone, Teflon, and Parchment paper at 450+ *F. Be careful about what 'flavoring' you are eating in your dough.

OTOH Humans have cooked with wood for thousands of years but there is no statistics that I am aware of that indicate longevity and illness due to what is 'cooking' in your oven.

Life is short.  Enjoy each day, but be aware.



varda's picture
varda

I'm mostly burning small stuff that dries out a lot faster than 2 years.   And also not cooking with the fire - just with the heat retained by the oven floor and dome.  But I'll take a look at the link and make sure I'm not killing the family.   Thanks for posting.  -Varda

Syd's picture
Syd

Word of the day: unseasonable.  I've been hearing that a lot lately.

Thankfully it didn't read unreasonable. 

Despite your potestations to the contrary, they don't look overproofed. You still got a good oven spring from them and a nice round profile.  If they were overproofed you would expect some collapse of the crumb and not nearly as wide a grigne.  

My son said it was delicious.    I thought it tasted vaguely similar to eating a beer. 

That'll teach you not to sip on so many cold ones while firing up the oven. 

They look lovely Varda.

All the best, :)

Syd

 

varda's picture
varda

Syd,   I think the problem is I'm not drinking enough, and so just dreaming of beer.   I think you are right that this unseasonable weather is unreasonable or perhaps the other way around.    I maintain that had I baked these loaves in my gas oven, they would have collapsed, given the state they were in.   The WFO provides just that extra boost that carried them over the edge.   Thanks so much for your kind words.  -Varda

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Hi Varda,

i will not build a wfo.

I Will Not Build A Wfo.

I WILL NOT BUILD A WFO.

I WILL NOT BUILD A WFO


I keep repeating that mantra especially since someone brought the idea up to me yesterday when looking at all of my firewood.....

and then you post a loaf baked in yours.....

so I am back to yelling at myself now I WILL NOT BUILD A WFO


My husband really would kill me.....so I am consoling myself by appreciating what you are doing and thanks for posting too :-)  Your loaf looks very nice indeed and the taste sounds very interesting.  Did the addition of the malt create the beery taste???

I will satisfy my kitchen chemistry curiosity  by delving making cheeses and yogurt which I can do now with my proofing box :-)

Take Care and enjoy your oven for me :-)

Janet

varda's picture
varda

at the beginning but gradually got carried away (gave up) due to my infectious enthusiasm.    Which is not to be construed as advice of any kind.   In any case,  you have a lot going as it is.    Yes, the malt definitely added a completely different taste to the bread.   I've made a million of those kind of loaves - this flour, that flour, etc.   But the malt definitely changed the taste in a big way.    I added 17g of rye malt to around 1.1K of dough.    If I were to do it again, I'd probably cut it back to around 10g.    But first I have to make some more rye malt.   Thanks so much for checking in.  -Varda

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

What is it about the WFO that "saved" your over-proofed loaves?

I think Janet and I need to form a WFO-Resistance support group!

David

varda's picture
varda

Hi David,   I may have skimped on diameter in making my oven, but I did not skimp on thermal mass under the hearth or insulation below that.    It gets and stays very hot - much hotter than a gas oven, and I think that is the extra bit of juice to convince the yeast to make one last stand no matter how tired they are.    Thanks so much for your comments, and best of luck in your resistance.  -Varda

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Varda,

Somehow your 'best of luck in your resistance' doesn't come off 'sounding' genuine..... What do you think David?  :-)  :-)

:-)

Janet

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Varda,

Great results on your opening bake! Looking at your crust color on the bottom and sides, the color is consistent.  Is your oven open on both front and back or is it an optical illusion? It does look like the top radiated heat is lower than the sides. Regardless of this minor issue, your breads are wonderful. Happy Spring.

Eric

varda's picture
varda

Hi Eric,  The oven only has a door - no other opening or chimney, so that makes it a bit more challenging to get a fire going.   It does get easier with practice.   I am not sure if you are looking at crust color to say that top is radiating less.   To my eyes the top and sides are pretty uniform in color, so it is probably all that darn sunlight in the photo.    I thought, though, that this bake was too pale - a combo of the underfiring and overproofing.   Happy spring to you too and thanks for commenting.  -Varda

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

recipe for this fine looking Multigrain SD Rye Malt Bread?  Kids are the at their best when tasting bread and when they like it - I know I'll like it.  Oddly, I did the rye malt today to put in my Multigrain SD Challah I use for everyday sandwich bread - based on your experience with this bread.

Oddly, the spell checker says to replace Challah with Allah. People were much better spell checkers before they were all replaced by computerized idiotic software like my spell checker.

varda's picture
varda

with the formula.   Hope you enjoy it.  -Varda

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

I like your levain build, various flours and great taste your son liked. I wish I could find some dark rye or pumpernickel flour - actually both.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

King Arthur sells a good pumpernickel flour.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

buy their $7 lame too.  Maybe I can save some shipping and handling.

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Absolutely beautiful crumb structure, Varda!

Nice WFO btw!

 

varda's picture
varda

Khalid.   Hoping to get a lot of use out of the WFO this summer.  -Varda