The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Pain au Levain with Barley Flakes

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Pain au Levain with Barley Flakes

   This past weekend I decided to make 2 different styles of bread, with one being a classic Pain au Levain and the other a new higher percentage Jewish Rye.  I will post on the rye separately shortly.

I have made different versions of Pain au Levain in the past with moderate success so I wanted to change-up the flour a little and also add some barley flakes to hopefully add another layer of flavor.

I used a high percentage of KAF French style flour which I love baking these hearth style breads with and one of my favorite whole wheat flours called Turkey Whole Wheat.  I also added some white rye to make it interesting.

The final bread turned out just as I was hoping for with a nice thick chewy crust and an open crumb.  The taste was just enough sour tang along with the whole wheat nutty flavor profile.  My wife who tends to be very picky about my breads, ate more than half the loaf herself over the last few days, some even with no butter or cheese which is a major compliment to yours truly.

This is also a great bread to eat with a nice hearty soup or use to make a grilled cheese sandwich for the snowy cold days that have already arrived.  My apprentice Max gave it 2 paws up and was eager to taste another slice after his first romp in the snow.

Max-First-Snow

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Formula

Pain-au-Levain-with-Barley-

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ScoredCloseup

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 275 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) 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 5 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 1 large boule shape.   Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.  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 550 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

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 500 degrees and after another 3 minutes lower it to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 210 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

CrumbCloseup

 

Comments

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Beautiful bake. I haven't yet run across the Turkey flour. I do have 30# durum coming in the mail so I am going to love experimenting  with the real deal . Your loaf looks beautiful.c 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you for your kind. Words.  I really love the way this one tastes.  I bought the Turkey WW from Breadtopia and it's a pretty coarse variety.

Look forward to your bakes using the Durum which is one of my favorite flours.

Regards

Ian

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

I missed it on their list of flours !!  I got the Durum from them ...even with shipping was 1.50 a # !! Great price. Too late to add the Turkey...already shipped. I will get it next time for sure. Will post when I get the durum..have plans for that flour :) c

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Nice job, Ian! It is a lovely testimony that your wife approves of it. 

I doubt that you buy your breads anymore now, Ian, you make such wonderful breads.

Happy holidays!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you Khalid.  I did get lucky and pick a cute helper.  I feel like someone is stabbing me every time my wife buys a loaf of bread from the market :).  Hopefully I can keep her happy.

Happy holidays to you and your family as well.

Regards,

Ian

bakingbadly's picture
bakingbadly

Oh, scrumptious! Especially love that score and patterned dimples on the loaf.

And it's always a great feeling when somebody chooses to not apply any spreads. That's a strong indication that your bread was well rounded and flavourful. 

Happy baking,

Zita

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you so much Zita.  I appreciate your kind words.

Look forward to reading more about your exciting bakery project.

Regards,
Ian

Faith in Virginia's picture
Faith in Virginia

First off what a great looking loaf...top  notch !!!

My question is ...well let's back up a second... My shelves are getting full of this ingredient and that ingredient some of which take up more space then get used on a regular basis.  So I question your use of French style flour and turkey W/W flour. (Items not on my shelf at present)

Now on a scale of 1 to 10 how much difference would using "standard" AP flour or an off the shelf W/W make in the final bread.  

Until they invent smell-o-internet or taste-o-internet i will need to ask these silly questions.  Although, I can't say I look forward to the day when we all sniff and lick our computers for that extra sensory input.  :-) 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

My original comment did not show up for some reason so I will try again!

I think if you subbed AP and regular WW the bread will turn out just fine.  It will be different than mine but still great.  I do like to experiment with new flours and I really like the French style from KAF.  It is supposed to resemble the protein and ash content used in France for hearth style breads and you can definitely tell the difference just by looking at it.  I would give this one a try and see what you think.  The Turkey WW is a bit courser than your normal off the shelf WW and does have a different consistency.  I'm not sure if it is better but it's just a little different.  It's hard to tell some times how the taste changes unless I was to do a side by side comparison.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Ian

Faith in Virginia's picture
Faith in Virginia

Ian, the other day I made a post to Varda and the only thing that showed up was the subject line.  Thinking that is what happen here???  FLOYD!!!!

Faith in Virginia's picture
Faith in Virginia

I like experimenting with new flours also.  Think that's why my shelves are so full.  Thanks for the input and I will put the French stye flour and the Turkey W/W on the shopping list.

Thanks again.

Faith

varda's picture
varda

Hey Ian,   Always great when the spouse deigns to eat the bread.   Love Max's winter coat.    If we put one one obi wan he would eat it somehow.   -Varda

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Varda for your comment.

We have 3 different coats for him, with the first being more of a wool sweater that is a pain to put on him.  This one easily velcros on and off so I love it.  Funny thing, when we were visiting NC for Thanksgiving Max was playing with his Nephew "Bud" and they were having a tug of war with his coat!  I was not amused but they were chasing each other around the house in circles and having a good old time :).

Regards,
Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

inside and out and flavor wise too - with not even butter on it!  Max looks snug and warm in his new coat too!  Lucy woundn't go out in the cold, even though she is pretty furry, for any longer than it takes her to get her business done - coat or no coat.  Living in AZ, her blood has become too thin like the rest of us.

40% whole grains is the sweet spot for open crumb and flavor around here too.    Well done!

Guess more cold is coming your way.  We are going to get to 70 F today finally and I can quit bringing the garden in every night for about a week!

Happy baking Ian!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks DA...I was real happy with this one and will bake it again soon as we've been eating it all week and it's almost gone.

Max was not too keen to go out yesterday when it was snowing again.  He's getting used to the cold, but I think I may need to get him a hood for his coat to keep is ears and snout warm :).

Glad you are getting back to normal.  One day I shall be happy to move by you where it's much warmer.  I've never been a big fan of the cold or snow and sleet.

Look forward to your next bake as always.

I have to start working on the next request from my wife, a Challah with chocolate chips and cherries.  Just have to decide whether to go YW, SD or regular yeast...

Happy baking to you and Lucy too!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

website sometimes.  Losing comments is just plain unconscionable!   I'm doing a chocolate cherry loaf like trailrumnner's only with YW only of I can get it woke up - it took 18 hours for the levain to double and a plain 50% whole grain, multi-grain SD - this time with barley thanks to your post, some ground flax & sesame seeds with a bit of honey and malts.

After living in Saudi the closest thing I could find to warm was Phoenix.  The perfect life for me would be to winter  in Phoenix and summer in Denver. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I was going to try that one too but my wife insists on a challah bread.

one day when and if I get to retire I would love to move some place warmer maybe on the west coast like San Diego.  Lookmforward to your post.