The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Durum Semolina Sourdough

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Durum Semolina Sourdough

This is my second bake of this bread in the last few days.  I had made a batch of dough to go with my wife's football party eggplant parmesan and chicken parmesan with homemade sauce, meatballs and sausage.  She also had made some fresh croissants with chocolate inside and all I was going to do was make some bread.

Well of course I didn't hear my wife tell me she wanted to make garlic bread out of my bread so I ended up making several baguettes instead of the original boules I was going to make.  It was not easy to form the baguettes in my small kitchen since my wife had croissants baking and eggplant frying etc. so I was not too pleased with the shape but in the end they came out pretty good.

I needed some bread to eat in the house and my freezer was devoid of any so I decided to remake the same recipe and make it into the shape I desired this time.

Flowers1

I must say, this simple recipe makes the most elastic and silky dough I have ever made.   It baked up perfectly with a nice crispy crust and golden-yellow crumb along with lots of nice holes to drip olive oil all over my chin and shirt.

Closeup1

DurumSemolinaSD

Closeup2

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, and 350 grams of the water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), honey and olive oil and mix on low for a minute.  Add the rest of the water unless the dough is way too wet.   Mix on low-speed for another 4 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.  I made 2 loaves using my bannetons.  Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.

Rising

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

Scored-closeup

Scored

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

Crumb

Flowers2

CrumbCluse

Flowers3

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

bread I have ever seen you bake and one of the most open too.  So much for wet dough making bigger holes.  Got to love this bread with its blistered crust -  and the football spread had to be spectacular.

I used to have a whole bunch of ice plants here.  They were supposed to grow well a succulents but alas they do better on Long Island than Phoenix it seems.  Such beautiful blooms and anything that blooms here is beautiful.

Been smoking and curing a lot of meat recently.  Maple, brown sugar and apple wood smoked bacon goes in the smoker tomorrow and boneless chicken thighs yesterday. My daughter said the chick tasted like ribs.  Well they have the same rub, no long rub marinade for the chicken though.  I eat both all the time and I can tell you these thighs are better than ribs...at least as good but the smoked salmon next week will be your apprentices meow!  Hot smoked though - if 175 F is hot.

For Friday Lucy has very healthy and  low GI 100% whole grain,SD, multigrain, soaker, seeded bread for us diabetics to eat and compare to two identical ones except  - one is a YW version and the other a YW /  SD version.  Trying to see if the keeping qualities are as good with the other two as the SD.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks DA.  You are right, it is surprising that such a modest hydration level would produce such an open crumb but for some reason the combination of flours, with some added honey and olive oil produced the silkiest bread dough I have made to date.  This dough did not behave like a low hydration dough and was just perfect.

I'm getting hungry thinking about all your delicious smoking and curing and they all sound great.

Look forward to seeing your post about your next multi-grain.  I have not had time this week to concentrate on the challenge bread yet, but I have a few ideas I'm mulling and hopefully can try them out soon enough.

Happy baking.

Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

to make it feel good at a low hydration. 

varda's picture
varda

I love that kind of bread, and have never tried adding the oil and honey to a durum loaf. Wonder what effect it has.   Nice baking.  -Varda

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Varda.

I think the oil and honey added to the silkiness of this bread and it felt wonderful to work with.  I think you will like the extra subtle sweetness the honey adds to the final bread and hope you try it if you get a chance.

Regards,
Ian

annie the chef's picture
annie the chef

It's a beautiful bake. Perfect scoring, crust and golden crumb... just delicious!

Look forward to reading your next bake.

Annie

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you Annie.

Appreciate your comments.  It is a tasty bake.  I do love durum flour and its nutty but light tasting flavor.

Regards,
Ian

bakingbadly's picture
bakingbadly

Personally speaking, I wouldn't call that a "simple" recipe. Perhaps simple to handle for an experienced baker, but if I'm working with more than two flours I consider the recipe "complex". ;)

Anyway, that's a really nice bake. And somewhat of an unusual one, too. As Dab mentioned, the hydration of your dough is not very high, contains enrichments, and yet retains a porous, open crumb!

It's really all in the technique, isn't it?

Zita

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Appreciate your comments Zita.

I know you are certainly more than accomplished enough to handle a dough like this based on what I have seen from your posts.

You are right though, half the battle is the technique which just takes time to master.  I'm still not ready to quit my day job though :).

Regards,
Ian

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

You had me at durum/semolina ! I love the way they are so silky. I add semolina to a lot of things just ....because. Lovely bake. I have found also that hydration is only a small part of the whole hole thing. It is handling as well as  fermentation. You have it all. c

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you for your kind words.  Appreciate it and glad you too like durum as much as I do.  I just ordered some more a minute ago from King Arthur Flour.  I'm heading to Vermont for a weekend next month and hope to stock up!

Regards,
Ian

Wingnut's picture
Wingnut

Great looking bake Ian. Would go well with a nice plate of Bolognese.

Cheers,

Wingnut

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Wing!  Appreciate it.

Making some chicken sausage with roasted red peppers, fresh Mozarella, grilled onion and some grilled bread but he Bolognese would work too :) 

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Hi Ian

Beautiful loaves!  I love it when something turns out and the dough is a dream to work with as well.  Sounds like you found a winning combination with this bake.

Take Care,

Janet 

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you Janet.  Appreciate your kind words

Regards

Ian

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Those are some attractive breads, Ian. The dough is so yellowish and soft, and you had a magnificent ovenspring! This goes to show how well fermented handled and baked bread this was.

-Khalid

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you for your kind words.  Appreciate your comments as always.

Regards,

Ian

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I know this bread is delicious.  

What a lovely crumb and color.  With the addition of honey and OO this is a great combo.  I wouldn't hesitate to try different flavors of honey.   

The hydration level gave a lovely crumb.

I like the addition of olive oil in my breads.  It just makes them that much tastier and fresher longer.  

I make a similar one and it's a favorite, using avocado honey and olive oil the honey tastes very similar to molasses and nice finish to the flavor of the durum.  It's a favorite of mine and I find that 65% hydration gives a lovely open crumb.  I will have to try it using some durum in my levain.  I don't mind shaking up the durum percentages either and plan on trying it with my new caputo 00 rinforzato.

Sylvia

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Sylvia for your feedBack. Love the sound of that honey and I must try and find some.  I've been buying all kinds of flavored olive oils and vinegars from a few specialty shops and I do like to mix them in to add another subtle flavor profile.  treetops me know how your new flour works out.  I just used some of the Caputo pizza style flour for some SD pizzas and I do love the dough it produces.

Regards

Ian

TD's picture
TD

What a lovely recipe though I added more water as found the dough too stiff.  After a few S&F's it became lovely dough to shape.  Baked straight from the fridge after approx 20hrs in the fridge.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Beautiful scoring!  How did your crumb turn out?

depending on your flour the amount of liquid always needs adjusting.  I'm actually going to bake a version of this shortly with home milled durum which is much thirstier than the KAF version.  So glad you tried this and liked it!

regards,

Ian