The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Multi-grain Sourdough with Soaker

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Multi-grain Sourdough with Soaker

Today it's snowing.  Not enough to bring out the snow-blower but enough to enjoy a nice cup of soup with a sandwich made with my hearty multi-grain bread.  I've made similar breads before and I followed the basic procedure but I varied the soaker/scald ingredients and the combination of flours in the main dough.

I used some Vermont maple syrup infused with vanilla to add a touch of sweetness to offset some of the bitterness from all the whole grains used in the recipe.

I cooked the whole grains with 290 grams of water on my stove top and let it come to a boil for about 5 minutes.  I then transferred the scald to a bowl and let it sit overnight covered.  The scald absorbed all of the water so I adjusted my final water amount accordingly.  I still ended up with a very moist dough but one that was manageable.

I really like the way the crust and crumb came out on this bake.  A nice dark thick crust with a chewy interior, perfect for the cold days and nights ahead.

I have to say I've bought multi-grain breads from the supermarket in the past and there is just no comparison to this healthy and tasty bread.

Closeup1

Multigrain-SD-withSoaker-1

Closeup2

Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours with the water and honey in your mixer or by hand for 1 minute leaving 50 grams of water to add later.   Let the dough autolyse for 20 minutes to an hour in your bowl and make sure to cover it.  Next add in the salt, olive oil and the soaker and mix for 2 minutes.  Add the balance of the water as needed and mix for an additional 4 minutes.  The dough should have come together in a ball and be tacky but not too sticky.

Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface or a clean dough rising bucket sprayed with cooking spray.  Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  After the rest do another stretch and fold and cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Do one more stretch and fold and put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature covered for 2 hours.  After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking.  Feel free to do some additional S & F's if you feel it is necessary.  I baked the bread about 24 hours later.

The next day (or when ready to bake) let the dough sit out at room temperature for 1.5 - 2  hours.

basket

Next, form the dough into your desired shape and put them in floured bannetons, bowls or on a baking sheet and let them rise covered for 2 hours or until they pass the poke test.  Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.  I made one large miche for this bake.  I also added some organic oat bran to the bottom of the basket which adds a nice texture to the outside of the bread.

Scored

Set your oven for 525 degrees F. at least 30 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your on  your oven stone with steam and let it bake for about 5 minutes.  Next lower the temperature to 500 degrees for about 2 minutes and then lower to 450 degrees.   Since I baked this as a miche I then lowered the temperature to 425 degrees about half way through the bake until it was finished.  When you have a nice dark crust and the internal temperature reaches at least 210 degrees you can take it out of the oven and place it on a cooling rack.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an 6 hours or so before eating as desired.

Crumb

CrumbCloseup

 

 

Comments

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Beautiful.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Floyd.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Just the way I llike it!  Great mix of whole grain and white flours, nice mix of scalded berries to get some chew in the crumb, very nurtitious, hearty, sourdough, lower GI and better or us blood sugar challenged, perfectly baked and gorgeous inside and out.  I could eat this bread all day - especially off that Cooking Cat Apprentice Plate! 

The only change i would personally lthink about making, and it is pretty minor and more personal tomy on health, is to take the malted rye berries out of the scald and the malted wheat flakes out of the add ins, grind them up and get them in the SD levain build from the beginning or in the autolyse as flour - but that is only if both were never subjected to heat over 137 F after they were malted.  I think if you have these things that are hard to make, cost more and have the added boost of enzymes developed my malting - best to get them in the levain or a into a long autolyse for the dough flours so they start their work earlier.  

The taste difference this would make is one toward more sour but, for me,  it is also part of converting more starch into sugars that LAB can use to make more acid by converting sugar into lactic and acetic acid and getting rid of more sugar that diabetics like me try to avoid.  Should make for lower GI bread that way.  With longer, lower temperature ferments and proofing of all kinds, this process is extended for acetic acid production and better for my blood sugar as well tempting for my more sour tastes in breads.

For me these kinds of breads just taste better too.  Well done Ian and Happy baking - Lucy says hi to Max and she even published a picture if herself for him this morning on one of our other threads .

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks DA.

I will give your suggestion a try on the next bake and see if I notice any difference.

I did see Lucy's pretty picture and Max commented on it.

I figured you would enjoy this bake as it's probably one of the longest ingredients list I have done to date.

Look forward to your next bake.

Regards,
Ian

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Wow you packed it full of lovely grains .  That is a beautiful and healthy miche .  I don't even know where to get malted rye berries !  I am going to have to do a Google search and see what is available. I know they have wheat berries and bulgur at my health food store…is that what you mean by cracked wheat ?  

You talked about the bitterness of the grains. I was just reading the material from Farine's blog and the West coast bread conference she attended. The fellow from King Arthur taught the class and said one should always put some salt in the soaker if it is left overnight. Supposed to counter the possible bitterness. So much out there  to read. His whole talk is on her blog if you are interested. Good material. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Caroline.  I never heard of adding salt to the soaker and to be honest I didn't find this bake or previous ones to be bitter at all.  I think the added sugar from the maple syrup easily counterbalanced any chance of bitterness, but I will certainly have to give that a try and see if it makes any difference.

I bought the malted rye berries from King Arthur Flour and I'm sure you can find them online in several other places as well.  Cracked Wheat I believe is the wheat berry which is actually cracked into small pieces.

I'm glad you liked the post.

Regards,
Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

salt was so versatile than it already is!  I have to admit, now that I think about it asi'm typing poorly, , that i put salt in bread dough that has whole grains in it but salt doesn't quite cancel the bitterness of what i think comes from the portion of whole grains that is sifted out to make other than whole grain.  It might just be the bran though.

Still, I will have to read the Farine blog.  - so much good info out there and thanks for bringing this up. I don't like bitter in bread and, like Ian, add some kind of sweetness in high percent whole grain breads - Durum flour, agave, honey, dried fruit left over re hydration water etc - doesn't take much - trying to counter the bitter taste.

I also like to get the sifted out portion of the whole grain into the SD levain build hoping the wee beastes will make it softer and less bitter if they work in it as long as possible too.

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi Ian,
This bread of yours really is one of a kind, with all of the wonderful ingredients - brought together in this beautiful loaf. Fabulous-looking crust, getting off to a great start with that 525F preheat temperature!
:^) breadsong

Isand66's picture
Isand66

You are too kind Breadsong!  I really appreciate your kind words.  I just started trying the hotter initial temperature and so far I am pretty happy with the results.

Regards,

Ian

Mebake's picture
Mebake

This is one hearty healthy bread, perfect for the cold weather. I totally agree, nothing comes close to a home made sourdough multigrain bread; a true treat.

Lovely baking, Ian!

-Khalid

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you as always Khalid.  I am glad you like it.

I hope you are able to get back to baking in your class soon so you can share your next level of goodies with us.

Regards,
Ian