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36 hours+ sourdough baguette with increased whole grain - how much is too much?

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

36 hours+ sourdough baguette with increased whole grain - how much is too much?

Yet more variations on my 36 hours+ sourdough baguette formula. ((original recipe here, 3 earlier variations here, 3 more variations here) I love the taste of wholegrain, also like the nutritional value, but mostly I actually just love the rich sweet fragrant taste. I also love baguettes for their light, airy, cool crumb, and thin crackly crust. I want to use as much as wholegrain in my baguettes to maximize the flavor, at the same time still maintain the light mouthfeel. In another word, I don't just want a heavy wholegrain bread in stick shape - that's neither a baguette, nor a good wholegrain bread (they tend to have thicker/chewier crust, and the stick shape is just too much crust IMO). Since I am making these 36 hour sourdough baguette every week, I put a bit more wholegrain each time, and observe the results.

1) 20% wholegrain

AP Flour, 400g

barley flour, 25g

ice water, 325g

salt, 10g

rye starter (100%) 150g

-Mix flour, ice water and autolyse for 12 hours.

-Mix in salt, starte, then follow the basic 36 hour sourdough baguette formula here.


There are 75g of rye flour in the stater, along with the 25g barley, the whole grain ratio is 20%. The lightness of these baguette is similar to a white flour one, with much improved flavor. However, 5% of barley didn't contribute too much in term of taste, rye starter did most of the work, can't say it's much different from my usual rye starter baguette.

2) 30% whole grain

AP Flour, 350g

barley flour, 75g

ice water, 325g

salt, 10g

rye starter (100%) 150g

-Mix flour, ice water and autolyse for 12 hours.

-Mix in salt, starte, then follow the basic 36 hour sourdough baguette formula here.

 

Barley flour ratio is increased to 15%, along with the 15% rye in starter, this batch is super flavorful. I just love the earthy sweetness of barley flour, and it's much more detectable here. The bread did feel "heartier" and "heavier" but still qualify as "delicate".

3) 45% wholegrain

AP Flour, 275g

barley flour, 75g

whole wheat flour, 75g

ice water, 340g

salt, 10g

rye starter (100%) 150g

-Mix flour, ice water and autolyse for 12 hours.

-Mix in salt, starte, then follow the basic 36 hour sourdough baguette formula here.

 

15% each of ww, barley, and rye, hydration is increased to 83% (from 80% for the previous two). Rich whole grain flavor, each of the ww, barley, rye provides a different dimension. Looking at the picture, they still have open holey crumb, but, they do taste "heavy". The main culpit is the thicker crust. Even though the crust is still crispy, but when they are thick, the chew is different, even the airy crumb can't offset the "dense" feeling.

 

I think even more water may help, since the dough felt tighter than usual, and my scoring came out beautiful - a sure sign that the dough was not deadly wet.

 

So far, I like the 30% one the best, the 45% tastes great, but a bit heavy to my taste - it still qualify as acceptable baguettes though. I wonder what would happen if I increase the wholegrain even furthur.

 

Submitting to Yeastspotting.

 

Comments

teketeke's picture
teketeke

It is nice airy and lighter but it looks very moist baguettes, Txfarmer.   I admire your bread baking completely.   It is amazing to see such  grain baguettes that is very lighter and a lot of holes!!     It is nice scoring, too!

Best wishes,

Akiko

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

Thanks!:)

coffeemachine's picture
coffeemachine

i am speechless.....i guess the secret must lie within the dough handling. i've been lurking around your beautiful beautiful blog, and even made the 15% rye baguette following your recipe to the letter. they really were tasty,but even at 15%, my rye baguettes aren't quite as open as your 45% whole grain ones.

 

i'm wondering though, what if you incorporated some water roux in the higher percentage whole grain ones? would it soften/lighten it? just a thought

 

p.s. from reading your blog, i gather you grew up in shanghai. so did i. i was so happy to see some shanghainese eats pop up on your blog. yes, you are officially crazy. who the heck makes their own "fried dough strips" and mooncakes anyway?

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

Nice to see another TFLer from Shanghai! I am familiar with water roux method, but it usualy make the crumb even, fluffy, and tight (and soft), which is the opposite of what I want in baguettes.

coffeemachine's picture
coffeemachine

so it makes the bread less chewy, but also less open? hmmm, guess i'm stuck making separate breads for myself and my boyfriend then. i like bread with really open crumb, don't care too much how chewy or not chewy it is. my boyfriend likes bread that doesn't require much chewing, but doesn't really care how holey it is. i was hoping if the water roux could make the bread fluffier, but still have an open crumb, that we would find a common ground. oh well...

wassisname's picture
wassisname

A true testament to your baguette method/technique - spectacular results even when experimenting and pushing the boundaries.  Speaking as someone who has attempted to make something "baguette-like" with whole grains and produced some very strange results, I must say, I'm impressed.  I look forward to your next baguette adventure! 

Marcus

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

Thanks Marcus, it's fun with play with the formula like this, I plan to make a batch with 60% wholegrain, let's see what I will get.

arlo's picture
arlo

Like stated above, your technique is incredible. The baguettes look amazing at every stage of exploration!

Txfarmer, it's always a delight to see your handywork!

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

Thanks arlo!

songwritergirl's picture
songwritergirl

All of the versions look great-they remind me of the texture of bread I had in northern Spain. I don't know how the flours differ there, but the white artisan or hearth style bread seemed to have more texture to it there than similar white loaves over here in the U.S.

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

I'd guess there are some whole grain flour in them.

codruta's picture
codruta

hi! can barley flour be substitute with oat flour?

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

I have never used oat flour before, but I don't see why not!

teketeke's picture
teketeke

Hi, Txfarmer

I used your original formula using strawberry yeast water ( I used alcoholic strawberries were in the yeast water after I smashed them using FP)  that is the best baguette so far.  I just love your formula and method that is awesome. The crumb was really soft and moist and the crust was really crispy!!   I didn't a good job on shaping because there are some that didn't open were exploded on the back. But it is really tasty!  Thank you so much, Txfarmer. I will practice more!!

Sincerely,

Akiko

RonRay's picture
RonRay

Akiko,

Your crumb is looking really good with the strawberry yeast water ! Well done.

Ron

teketeke's picture
teketeke

:) Thank you very much, Ron  

Strawberry yeast will have very nice crumb and flavor! 

Best wishes,

Akiko

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

Very Nice! That's a great open crumb!

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Txfarmer, You belong to a league of your own! you have pushed the boundary of what is possible in baking to new horizons!

And Barley! How did it taste in baguette?

Congratulations!

kshaunfield's picture
kshaunfield

I'm a novice baker but am comfortable working with up to 50% whole grain breads so I finally gave your 36+ hr Baguettes recipe a try (the 30% wholegrain option -  I used my WWW starter and 15% medium rye flour).  I will say mine aren't pretty (my first attempt at shaping/scoring baguettes) and due to a cold snap fermentation was very delayed after the 24hr retard (they ended up being 48hr baguettes), but the bottom line is the texture and flavor are great and I do love the crust-to-crumb ratio of baguettes so I will definitely keep practicing.

I follow your blog and consider this your signature recipe. Thank you for taking the time to share your depth of experience with this great recipe (and all its many variations)!

 

Cheers,

Kirk

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

ones almost ready to go in the oven with a 40 hour fridge bulk ferment instead of 24 to fit my sleep schedule ":-)  They haven't risen much out of the fridge now almost 3 hours.  Fired up the oven anyway and hoping for the best.  Empress Ying's (txfrmer)baking is out of this world and her multi-grain baguettes prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt - not that there ever was a shadow near her or her breads.

Us mere mortals continue to preserver,  still banished from our Baguette field of grainy dreams :-)