Oatmeal Bread - Adapted from Bread by Jeffery Hammelman

I enjoy this bread. We usually make it for general eating around the house. Its a straight dough but it disappears before it has a chance to stale. We will make this sometimes to turn into croutons or bread crumbs too. Here are my issues with this though. The flavor has always seemed a little flat to me. And the dough can be slack and not develop good tension. I have solved some of the problems and very happy with the results. The recipe given is not the same as Jeff's and that's why I'm posting it. Please check out his book for the original recipe.

287g   Flour, White

 96g   Flour, Whole Wheat

 63g   Oats, Old Fashioned

227g Water, Warm

 43g Milk

 29g   Molasses

 29g   Butter, Unsalted

  8g   Salt, Kosher

  5g   Yeast, Instant

Toss it all into your KA bowl.

Mix on speed 1 or 2 to incorporate ingredients.

Once incorporated mix on speed 3 for 10 minutes.

Disclaimer: KA states not to mix dough above speed 2. Doing this will void your warranty. My KA 6 quart can handle this dough amount with ease. Other KA models may have an issue. Please watch your mixer and never leave it unattended. You can mix at a lower speed just extend the time to 15 - 20 min.

After mixing move dough to oiled bowl and cover, allow to double. (Turn dough in bowl to lightly cover surface of dough with a coat of oil to prevent drying)

Once doubled, remove from bowl and de-gas. Shape into loaf and let final proof in style of your choice. (I use a brotform) Keep an eye on the loaf it will proof much faster than you expect.

Heat oven and cast-iron double cooker to 425 degrees F conventional or 400 degrees F convection.

Once the loaf is proofed place in cast-iron and slash top. Place top on cooker and bake covered for 15-min. Once time is up remove top of double cooker and bake for an additional 15-min or intill done.

Let cool before slicing.

I used molasses instead of honey. This gave the sweetness for the loaf and also a fuller flavor profile. That took care of the flat flavor I got from the loaf. The slack dough was from using whole oats. It would break the gluten strands. Processing the oats into a finer meal gave better gluten development and improved handling of the dough. The recipe says oil or butter if I remember right. I used oil for a long time but didnt get the crumb I wanted. Butter was the way to go. Think oil for chewy and butter for cakey. I wanted more of a cakey crumb for sandwiches. I also backed down the hydration to 70% improving dough handling and crumb texture. Its summer here now so come winter you may need to increase the water back to 75% hydrated for consistency.