The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

A wee burst of summer

Joyofgluten's picture
Joyofgluten

A wee burst of summer

A wee burst of summer
Buttermilk Aromastück brot fueled by the grainy sweetness of an Aromastück concoction, prepared from rye&wheat, straight off the grinder stones. This comes together with oatmeal porridge, buttermilk and a dark wheat flour levain for a full spectrum of aroma/flavour. Hybrid leavened, 0.4% fresh yeast. 20% buttermilk.




The term  Aromastück comes from out of the German baking trade lexicon, basically it is a grain preparation of 1 part  cracked grains to 2 parts water. A little enzyme active malt(or lab. Amylase) is dissolved in the water and the concoction is carefully brought up to hold in the 60c. to 65c. range. This works well in a double boiler, it must be stirred fairly often though and it's very important that the temperature not exceed 65c. Over the course of 2.5 to 3 hours, the preperation's colour darkens considerably as the enzyme amylase, converts the starch into a sweet grainy porridge. 
The next step is to deactivate the amylase, this is achieved by increasing the temperature into the 80c range.   
This all requires time to cool, so should be prepared at least one day in advance. It may also be refrigerated for several days. Typically an Aromastück addition of 10%, based on total flour %, is calculated into a formula.
Due to the preperation time and care involved, the Aromastück is a seldom practised method in todays world of commercial baking short cuts. The rewards in aroma and eating qualities are there though and for the craft baker or serious home breadhead it's all quite feasible.  http://joyofgluten.weebly.com/bread-blog-gallery

Comments

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Very nice loaves.  I do a similar thing as outlined in Peter Reinhart's  Whole Grain Breads  which is a mash loaf.  It does indeed do nice things to the grain and the resulting loaves.   (Procedure varies a tad bit but basically the same idea.  I have never had a problem with the enzymes in the dough causing break down to the final dough so I haven't had to do the rising of the temp. to 80°C.  I just hold at the lower temp. and then, after 3 hours, let it cool down.)

I had never considered using my double boiler to hold the temp.  I have always used my Cadco oven for that but I like your idea of the double boiler much better.  Next time I mix up a mash dough I will give it a go.

Thanks for the idea!

Take Care,

Janet

Joyofgluten's picture
Joyofgluten

Hello Janet

Thanks for the compliment, i'm having a fair bit of fun here. I realized also that i have this Reinhart book stashed away on the harddrive in e-format, it is great that he covers this material, hopefully many bread heads will choose to dabble in this direction, the rewards are plenty. I'd recommend trying semolina, it turns oh' so sweet.

The double boiler, i find, works quite well, does require a fair bit of stirring though to distribute the temp.well. It's a fine rainy afternoon pastime in the kitchen. 

May the crust be with you

cheers

daniel                                                                                            

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Next bake of a mash loaf I will give semolina a go.  Thus far I have used barley, wheat and a 7 grain mixture that I have and hadn't thought of the semolina.....

I don't mind the stirring.  In fact I love to make hot cereals. Fond memories of childhood and the warm cereals that my mother always cooked up for us kids.

Janet

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Yesterday I decided to try your method of creating a mash rather than bake the loaf I had originally intended to bake.  I wanted to see what the results would be with your variance on zapping the enzymes with a burst of heat at the end of the 3 hour mark.

First

 I loved using the double boiler and wondered why I hadn't thought of that earlier.  (I have heretofore used my oven on its lowest setting.)  Really simplified things.

Second

This morning, when I shaped the dough ( I always bulk ferment my doughs overnight), I was hugely pleased to see that the dough had maintained its strength overnight.  In the past the dough has degraded slightly due to the enzymes created by the mash process and I hadn't figured out how to solve that nor had my researching the issue come up with any viable results. 

Third

Dough is proofing now so I have no final results to share.  These loaves are promised to others and I will ask for their comments on flavor etc and let you know about that too.  I used durum for the mash combined with a 50/50 mix of red and white freshly ground ww for the remainder of the flour in the formula.

I will be using your method again due to how the dough maintained its integrity and its simplicity.

I am not sure if you own Dan Leopard's book, The Handmade Loaf, but he discusses gelatinizing flour too - but in just a short few lines.  His emphasis is on cooking at different temps. and noticing the differences the temps. create.  I also found a bit written HERE from a former member of this site. Not much else is written so this is one of those obscure bread methods that one learns about via experimentation and good luck of finding hints along the way.

Thanks for sharing what you have learned for it has helped me with this formula of mine that I have stuck with despite the problems I have had with it in the past because people love the flavor and the texture that the mash adds to the resulting loaves.

Take Care,

Janet

Joyofgluten's picture
Joyofgluten

I'm glad to hear that that worked out for you and look forward to updates on any further observations.

many happy bakes to you

daniel

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks for sharing.  Beautiful loaf of bread and excellent crust and crumb.

Ian

Joyofgluten's picture
Joyofgluten

thank's Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

I do the same thing with milled sprouted whole grains some white and red malt at 100% hydration that is balked at 140 f for 2-3 hours, stirring every half hour, until it is really dark - but I don't deactivate the enzymes/  The color comes from two reactions -  the Maillard where the protein's amino acids react with reducing sugars and caramelization where the sugars in the flour are browned.  Both processes produce different and complex flavors that make the bread very tasty indeed.  When you rais =e the temperature in your method, carmelization takes over to brown thing where at lower temperatures the Maillard effect is the main browning agent although caramelization will take place over long times.,

Both are wonderful ways to add complex flavors to bread and yours are fine examples.  Sad that many professionals don't use this in their bread making where speed is sometimes the king.

I'm glad to find out where these methods came from.and that it is called Aromastuck - very German

Happy baking 

Joyofgluten's picture
Joyofgluten

It's great to hear that others are fooling with this as well, I've had some excellent results over the past half year with this, but feel that i've only just begun to really understand the process, it's clear that there is much valuable technical material to read and put to test here. I have an insider supply of lab. amylase (mixed with flour at 5ppm), along with it came the advice to do the end phase deactivation. My doughs are mostly weighing in at 11kg, so i'm sticking to that advice.

cheers and happy baking to you as well

daniel

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

to make sprouted grain bread, I don't want to deactivate the enzymes created by sprouting.  I just want the extra flavor of caramelization and the Maillard effect created by a low temperature bake.  I don't ever want to make a batch of dough that weights 11 kg either:-)  Now i see why you put commercial yeast in many of your breads.  Can't have any failures and want the make sure it is consistent from bake to bake.

Happy baking 

Joyofgluten's picture
Joyofgluten

I add small amounts of commercial yeast, primarily to steer the acidity.

Bread consumption here in Switzerland is high, those that prefer loaves with a pronounced sour flavour though make up only a small minority. Bread acidity levels are a matter of personnel choice and vary by tradition, culture, region and continent. I believe that hybrid leavening, is, here north of the alps much more prevalent than the full SD process.I personally enjoy well made full SD breads with the sour nicely upfront, my family somewhat less so. I sneak a batch in  every three weeks or so, that’s about right for me and i’ve also found a few takers for this style of bread.

 To me a well made hybrid loaf, is in no way inferior in flavour/eating experience to full SD loaf, I believe that the subtile grainy/ germ oil elements of  fresh stoneground grains come through to the forefront better in a dough with a light acidy.

Small additions of commercial yeast also add an element of predicability, which of course helps when preparing back to back oven loads. Break, shred and ears are also nice perks.

I figure that if it's so much fun making 3 or 4 loaves, why not just make 30. I have no trouble finding cutting boards for them.

Cheers and many satisfying bakes to you.