September 25, 2016 - 11:06am
Why isn't durum used in most multi-flour recipes?
Just curious why for example when bakers make mixed flour sd loaves, like white, ww and rye that most times durum is not part of that equation. I wonder what 5-10% of the mix as durum would do. Like 60% AP, 20% ww, 10% rye and 10% durum. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
hester
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Because a. durum flour is not widely available, b. its bread-baking quality can vary wildly, c. you won't notice it in a mixture like that
so even if (a) it's available and (b) it's consistent (i.e. I get it from a mill) (c) you think it won't be detectable as 10%. Okay, thank you
Consistency comes not so much from the mill as from the farm. There are varieties of durum that make wonderful bread flours and there are some that are terrible. That's particularly important if you use it to build levain. I've seen durum flour that behaved pretty much like regular wheat flour, and I've seen durum flour that in the same recipe behaved much like rye, producing a levain that had spongy structure with no perceptible gluten and was intolerably sour.
Not with 10% rye in the mix. Actually, I suspect that with 10% rye and 20% ww you can put far more than 10% of durum and still not notice the difference.
loaves and I run durum semolina through the mill to make it a better flour and use it a bit too. When I an get Desert Durum I put that in everything but it is hard ti get and very expensive when you can find i
Lucy's rule of thumb is that you can out 10% of any flour into any MG bread without even thinking about it too much - except for the malts. I can always tell when durum is in the mix since it gives the the loaves a bit sweeter taste and that unmistakable yellow tinge the crust and crumb when it gets to 20% of the mix.
15-20% and try it in my next loaf. My oven literally broke last week, so waiting (im)patiently for it's replacement b/f I can bake again. It was 25 years old but still....
Thanks again
hester
My little Cuisinart table top oven makes fine bread once I figured out how to steam it. It has convection bake too and puts the best blisters on bread.
Don't have one of those. Just gotta be patient. Frustrating when I want to bake. Don't know when it's coming yet... hopefully this week.
of bread tradition. Durum is for pasta, semolina and speciality Italian breads. That's it! :D
P.s. from working with durum flour and trying to replicate (badly) these fine Italian breads I rather think that to bring out the best in durum it needs to be handled in a certain way for these qualities that it'd be kinda lost as a mere addition in a flour mix.
I'm thinking it might add some subtle sweetness to a combination of flours: 60% AP, 15% ww, 10% rye and 15% Durum. Might try that once my oven gets here.... waiting, waiting, waiting...
TBH I don't think you'll notice anything unique but perhaps a change in texture and/or fermenting time. Let us see your ovens first loaves. Bake something really special.
gingersnaps. But I'm yearning to do some bread. lol
I use Durum flour all the time in my bakes at varying degrees of %s and it's one of my favorites. If you want to taste it than I agree that 20-25% is the way to start. You can build a starter with 100% durum to really get some added flavor.
thank you. I love you for this comment. I adore the flavor... lol
hester