The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

A mamoth bake!

Mebake's picture
Mebake

A mamoth bake!

I don’t know why I sometimes push myself to the extremes, but I can’t resist having excess ripe sourdough, without putting it to good use. I have adopted a lazy method of feeding my starters prior to my weekend baking, and building it to a leaven similar to the ones used in Hamelman’s Bread. No planning involved as to which bread I’ll bake, and I often end up with an excess leaven when I decide to change my recipe at the last moment.

As a result, I had a 2.48 times more Rye Sourdough than my recipe called for, and the final dough mass was 4.22 KG! Why did I fail to notice that I’m actually doubling the recipe? Again, the thought of an excess ripe Sourdough distracted me.

The recipe is a 17% Whole Rye flour, and 8% Whole wheat, taken from TFL member Hansjoakim. The recipe has become quite popular with my wife, and makes a very versatile bread.

Mixing is a nightmare here, as i had to manually mix the ingredients to a 75% hydration wet dough. My back didn't thank me for that :) However, once the dough rested for 1/2 hour autolyze, and subsequent stretch and fold regime, i was content to the fruits of my labor. I have never mixed or baked such amount of dough before, and the size did pose challenges, although i did eventually manage it.

I preheated the oven for 1.5 hours with two stones on two different racks, and loaded two loaves on each rack. During the oven spring, the loaves were cramped in space, and were seen edging beyond the stone surface towards the oven window. All was well, in the end.

I will not bake such dough quantity at once, nor would i recommend it to anyone.

The Ripe Sourdough:

1 Kg loaf, each:

 

Next day, three loaves were sliced and frozen, and the third was given away.

The flavor, crust, chewiness, all were consistent with what i'm used to. A very good daily bread that is good with almost everything.

Khalid

 

 

 

 

Comments

varda's picture
varda

Khalid,   Each one of your pictures shows the high quality of your bread and I'm impressed with the quantity as well even if not quite intentional.   Hope your back is recovering.    Your rye sour looks great.   I have sometimes tried to make breads with same total percentages one with rye sour versus one with wheat starter but I guess I'm not much of a scientist so never reach any conclusions.   What do you think of the differences?  -Varda

Mebake's picture
Mebake

I have learned through many trials, that a good ripe rye sour is superior in leavening power and flavor to a wheat leaven, especially with doughs that contain a higher ratio of whole rye flour than whole wheat flour. 

Syd's picture
Syd

Great baking Khalid.  I love the photo of the loaves stacked up one upon another. Great scoring and crumb, too.  Haven't been around here for a while and it's nice to come back to see familiar faces doing great baking. 

All the best,

Syd

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Glad to see you peeking in, again.  I hope that whatever it is that is keeping you away from TFL isn't serious. We've missed your wonderful breads. 

Thanks for the nice comments!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

bread we like - with 25% whole grain rye and WW!  The rye sour must  have pumped up the sour a notch too.   Love the crescent moon scoring.  Baked nicely brown and blistered, with the crusty crust and chewy, open, soft, crumb......this bread is perfect, with the crescent scoring for every night sandwich during Ramadan.

Nicely done Khalid.  With a bad back you might try a smaller bake but I'm with you an wasting ripe SD.

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, DA! yesterday, i dined on a sandwich from this bread, filled with tuna w\ mayo w\ chopped lettuce sprinkled with some freshly cracked black pepper. The filling is so harmonious with this bread, and i enjoyed it so much.

As to the crescent scoring, i never intended for it to celebrate the month of Ramadan, thanks for the great idea! Actually, i have found that such scoring encourages an upward expansion during oven spring. I had a limited space on a rack than on the other, and so scored two with crescent for the spacious rack, and scored square for the less spacious to encourage lateral expansion.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

mention the great spring you got. Will remember the scoring to promote it.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

It reminds me I want to bake some mixed flour breads using rye sour. I'll bump it up on my "to bake list."

David

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, David! The flavor profile is quite distinct with this recipe, and i was hooked on the unique flavor this bread has, from the time Hans posted about it (when life gives you too much sour rye).

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Khalid,

Great to see you back at it, with marvelous looking bread to share with us once again. Your 1K loaves have excellent volume, and your trademark even, open crumb. Nice baking! I agree completely with you on the superiority of rye leaven over wheat, reminding me it's high time I started using mine again.

Best Wishes,

Franko

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thank you, Franko!

I find the crust extra flavorful with breads leavened with sour rye. This bread has won my loyalty over other pain au levains from Hamelman, although i love all his other breads.

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Hi Khalid,

I love your crescent scoring.  Something new for me to try on my next boule :-)

I hate tossing extra leaven out too.  Your were more sensible than I have been in the past.  Instead of tossing I have used the extra to make a totally different bread which complicates things in a 'one woman' kitchen.  After doing that one too many times I now will toss the extra....well,  I don't toss it straight away.  I put it in my refrigerator thinking I will use it for a build or a batch of Pat's (proth5) waffles.  When it doesn't get used and has sat for several days it is easier for me to toss it into the bin.....

I know several of us have a hard time tossing out leaven and I know for me it isn't that I feel like I am wasting flour because it really isn't that much flour....It's more about the difficulty of sending something to it's 'death' after I have spent time feeding it to keep it alive and healthy so it can serve it's purpose....I have no such qualms when I put it into a hot oven in a loaf of bread because then it has done what I intended it to do....silly mind games/rationalizations....

I didn't know that a rye sour has more rising power than a ww one.  Does that hold true if the ww leaven is of low hydration?  Something else for me to experiment with.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your breads here.  They all look great :-)

Take Care,

Janet

Mebake's picture
Mebake

True, if it has to die... then let it die for a purpose. :)

The double crescent boule has both a functional and an aesthetic purposes. I've found that the scoring encourages upward lift during oven spring, such as this:

 

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi Khalid,
You put your excess sourdough to wonderful use...look at all of that lovely bread that came of it!
Bravo for your oven management, getting all of those loaves baked at once, and so beautifully.
Your talent at baking is matched by your talent at scoring, and illustrating (love those drawings)!
:^) breadsong

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, breadsong! I knew it would be a

tight fit,  but most ovens are spacious enough, if you have the following :

- Large enough stones

- proper scoring pattern to control the expansion in relation to the clearance above 

- efficient loading medium that facilitates accurate placement of dough. ( i use cheap flexible plastic dinning mat, with parchment on top , and some corn meal underneath.)

As to talent, thanks!  your scoring and baking is also very inspirational to me.

 

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi Khalid,
Thank you so much, for these tips and your kind words :^)
I understand why overhead clearance in the oven is a consideration for you, given the beauties you bake...like this one!
:^) breadsong

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Great looking bake Kahlid.   It is nice to see your beautiful breads once again.  I feel your back pain all the way from China!  I know whatstanding on your feet for that long can feel like.  As others have said I love that inventive scoring pattern and I wish I could bite into that sandwich as it sounds perfect.

P.S.  I've had the injections and then fusion surgery.  I wish you luck and hope the first option works for you.

Regards

Ian

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, i appreciate your sympathy. You should freeze some bread of yours and bring them along to China, as this will comfort you somewhat during your business trip.

Our Crumb's picture
Our Crumb

I salute the respect you show for your microbial charges -- none to be wasted and all serving the common good.  I'm sure I'd have composted 60% of that oversized starter and stuck with the recipe.  I've saved your (and hansj's) formula -- a keeper judging from that inviting crumb.  I love the stack photo.  And the double crescent (or is it a yin-yang?) score.  Beautiful.

Cheers,

Tom

Mebake's picture
Mebake

No compassionate feelings for any starter from now on, Tom. I'd rather chuck the excess into the bin, than having to deal with an oversized dough.

 

berryblondeboys's picture
berryblondeboys

One year I got this hair brained idea to make a triple batch of Christmas stollen. A SINGLE batch (in the book) says it makes one large stollen or 2-3 smaller stollen (My Heart's Brown Stollen from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book). Well, I had forgotten, as it had been a couple years, how BIG these loaves were. My idea of using a machine quickly got sacked as I realized how much I had to knead, so I kneaded, what turned out to be 9 large loaves of stollen - trying to incorporate all that rum soaked fruit in the last kneading. NEVER AGAIN. I totallllly empathize on you about trying to knead a large batch of dough. But, at least it all turned out and was edible, right? Imagine if it had flopped after all of that!!!

Mebake's picture
Mebake

So, How did your large batch turn out? I have never tried a stollen before, sounds interesting. If i were to bake a 100% wholewheat anything, i'd make sure to limit the production to suit my sole consumption, as my household prefer lighter, crunchier, and seed laden bread. Thanks for your  solidarity!

berryblondeboys's picture
berryblondeboys

They turned out well. It's an expensive bread to make, so it truly would have been a disaster if they hadn't turned out. Froze 3 and gave six away as christmas presents - and they were greatly enjoyed.  

 

And yes, in this house too, I have to make two kinds of breads, though my family would prefer 4 kinds. My husband likes 100% whole grain bread - lots of seeds and crunch and healthy stuff. My mother in law 'says' she likes the dark stuff, but what she means is that she likes 50/50 stuff. Too bad, I don't make a third variety to satisfy her (long MIL stuff). My kids like white fluff.  I had sympathy this past year on the 1st grader with missing front teeth and stooped to buy his bread from the store as I couldn't get those super soft crusts on homemade breads, but now that he has teeth, he and the teen will eat variations of white breads with some whole grains 'hidden'. Never easy to please a family, is it? Oh, and me? I don't eat bread. Sugars and grains don't agree with me. Go figure!

Mebake's picture
Mebake

I wouldn't be surprised that such quality breads would  fly away, anything from laurel's book is exceptional.

I'am really sorry you can't tolerate eating bread, does this include sourdough baking? Janet, a seasoned wholegrain baker  on TFL also bakes for others as she can't tolerate cereals. 

Best, 

Khalid

rayel's picture
rayel

Hi Khalid, impressive baking. Looks like a lot of work, but you'll have lovely bread for a while.

Regards.

Ray

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, Ray. Yes, this is one advantage of making a large dough.

jarkkolaine's picture
jarkkolaine

I hope you have a big freezer :) I have sometimes done big batches of dough too, to experiment a bit with handling a lot of dough, but my freezer is rather small, so most of the time, I try to keep the doughs (a little) smaller... I've already filled 2/3 of it with bread :)

That scoring looks good. I'll have to try it in my next bake!

Cheers,

Jarkko

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, jarko. I have a big fridge, thank God.

Doughs weigh.. i mean their density is higher than one would imagine. I'll stick with smaller dough from now on.

 

 

yozzause's picture
yozzause

Hi Khalid  you haven't told half the story, you haven't mentioned the outside temperatures that you are experiencing in Dubai at this time of the year, very hard to get enthusiastic about firing up the oven when everyting is already so hot and humid.

It was great meeting you mate on my stop over and thankyou again for generously sharing your great breads.

 I will get my trip story done soon kindest regards Yozza

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Hi, Derek, and welcome on board!

During your brief visit to Dubai, you've experienced the harsh weather conditions that prevail here. However, all indoor facilities are well airconditioned, including all vehicles. In addition to living in an airconditioned house, my kitchen oven efficiently seals heat within, and so i have no worries about baking in summer.

As temperatures in Dubai remain mostly high to very high round the year, air conditioning is considered a basic necessity for every single resident in Dubai, not luxury.

I'am glad to have met you in person, Derek, and look forward to your post about the wonderful Voyage of yours.

Khalid