The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Fat Baggie 12 Bar Blues

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Fat Baggie 12 Bar Blues

Now Lucy has her teeth cleaned too!  She isn’t happy about it like we are and bit every vet she could clamp onto before and after the procedure.  Her breath is 1,000% nicer for sure.  So now she will get her teeth cleaned every year since we now have an insurance policy on her through Pets Mart.  She doesnlt know about that yet….

She was feeling funky the day after and wasn’t in the mood to supply me with anything interesting or new for this Friday’s bake so I was left to my own devices, a dangerous thing for sure and likely to cause a small house fire or a police raid of the entire neighborhood if we were lucky.

Picked a ripe pear shaped, cherry tomato this week the 2nd one from a plant that I managed to save through the summer heat from last winter and it bloomed again this fall.  Both the green salad bowl and red romaine lettuce is up and thriving from the seeds I harvested from last year’s crop.

We some pizza and it was very good.  We have thee Smoked Bianco Sausage pizza down pat.

It has been unusually warm this fall so the lettuce didn’t get planted in time for a Thanksgiving salad like usual - but it will be ready for Christmas for sure.  We haven’t had any rain at all for over 3 maybe 4 months but it is cloudy today and it might rain but I’m not holding my breath.

A Brioche Bun Hamburger with cheese and a home made Kosher dill pickle.

Lucy has been outside on the still green grass taking note of the no sunshine and just relaxing so I could get a photo of her without her squinting into the sun.  The Minneolas and navel oranges will be ripe right after Christmas and it is time to fertilize them again for the late rush to ripen.  So things are back to normal around her for the first time in a year.

The 2'fer

This week I decided to bake my favorite SFSD style bread in a way I usually don’t make it.  First off, it is  30% whole 6 grain using my favorite varieties – white and red wheat, Kamut, oat, Spelt and rye in equal amounts with the rest of the flour Albertson’s bread flour that was on sale for 30 cents a pound last week.

The 4 most unusual things about this bake is that I didn’t use any whole grains in the 12% pre-fermented flour, 100% hydration levain, it was all in the dough flour.  None were sprouted either.  I used a 2 hour autolyse to compensate but forgot to add the levain when I put the dough water and salt in and started the 3 sets of slap and folds of 50, 10 and 4 slaps - 30 minutes apart.

We love home made smoked chicken noodle soup for lunch

So the autplyse was 3.5 hours, half with salt and the gluten developed before the levain hot the mix.  I know you are asking -  where was my totally, irresponsible apprentice when this horrible mistake was made?  She was no where to be found and asleep somewhere I’m sure.  She had that look of it’s not my problem master bro- tatochip!

I pretended that there were no slap and folds ever done and just redid them with the levain nicely tucked away inside this time.  I let it rest for an hour after slapping it around for many hours, calling it a short bench ferment.   It didn’t seem to matter much in the end from the looks of things from the finished outside.  The other thing that was different is that I made a shape we don’t use often and a basket that needs to be lined with a rice floured towel.

I’m not a big baguette fan if Don Baggs isn’t making them but I do love Fat Baggies, as much as any fat lover and slightly weird baker could, and that is what this is.  I am pretty pleased with myself and ability to come up with something new and different that turns out pretty well with only a few nasty flaws that were covered up craftily .........and not one lousy, loafing, ankle biting apprentice required!

Since I was a few hours late finishing, I dumped it into an oiled SS bowl covered it in plastic and put it in the fridge for a 10 hour retard.

This morning I got it out of the fridge and let it rest and warm up for 2 hours before doing a quick pre-shape and final shape 20 minutes later.  It went into the lined basket for 1.5 hours of final proof which gave me just enough time to make a mini pre-celebration, ginger, apple pie with snockered cranberries and a secret layer of bananas on top as a surprise.

When making bread, once the mega steam comes out you turn the oven down to 425 F convection which is also the perfect temperature for the first half of a pie bake letting you finish the bread as you get the first half of the pie done.  We like getting a double dose of some good out of the oven with one heating.

This bread blistered, bloomed and sprang quite nicely which is good since I am giving it away.   I might get a crumb shot if he lets me cut it when I give it away as part of the deal-- The pie also browned up great with the egg yolk brushed on top right before it hit the heat.   We like a 2’fer success without being nagged by a whiny apprentice under foot even though she was underfoot just waiting for something to hit the floor.

A favorite winter bloom

Comments

alfanso's picture
alfanso

and even Msr. Calvel would have a difficult time classifying that beast (not apprentice Lucy) a long batard.  But it is beautiful.. And you say that you never attained a skill scoring baguettes.  This is one lovely loaf, and one after my own heart.

Breaking new ground with slap and folds before the levain goes in!  Pretty funny.  And yes, blame it on the poor defenseless little critter.  Defenseless, at least, when she isn't taking a chunk out of your ankle.  

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

you never know when the blade will shine:-)  I find it very easy to slash low hydration breads, this one was 5%, when they are proofed in a couche or as in this case a towel.  This is more of a batard for sure but Fat Baggie sounds so much more sophisticated and almost elegant:-)  I guess if the crumb comes out nice I will have t odevelop the gluten before adding the levain more often. We could call it Naked Development or possibly Slapping While Folding Naked. 

Hopefully I will get to see the inside later today.  Glad you like it Don Baggs and 

Happy baking

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

didn't seem to harm things at all. I am curious to see the crumb since you got such nice oven spring. Well done!

But quit picking on poor Lucy! After all, she is the one that had to go through the trauma of getting her teeth cleaned!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

and traumatized by the effects of so many of them ganging up on me, all at once:-)  Talk about being victimized!  Every chance I have to get back at them I make sure to make the most of it.  Now that I know how much Lucy hates getting her teeth cleaned, I will make sure she get them cleaned every year:-)  If the sun ever fails to rise in the morning I am absolutely sure it will be Lucy's fault:-)

I didn't get a crumb shot of the loaf before I gave it away but I think it would have been pretty good.  Time to get working on the bread for the stuffing.  I have a levain just about ready!

Happy baking Danni

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Max and Lexi are swooning over that "pin-up" worthy shot of Lucy :).  That super-size baggies looks awesome and I'm sure the crumb will be perfect.

The rest of the food torture photos are making me want to skip breakfast and go directly to dinner!

Happy Thanksgiving from the "road warriors" Max and Lexi!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

with Guacamole and Pico de Gallo and home made Mexican beans with smoked pork necks for dinner tonight.  We piked up our daughter at the airport this morning coming home for Hawaii ad her honeymoon and she has been sleeping ever since.  I have to call her and wake her up and tell her dinner will be read in 20 minutes.  She lives a whopping 5 minutes away now:-)

She called while I was typing to find out what as for dinner.  Lucy is a cute as ever if a bit grayer around the nose.  Wish I could look that good at 91!  Lucy would never make it anywhere in a car. She hates it and just starts panting all the way like she is having a heart attack.  The only time she goes in a car is to the groomer and the vet and she hates both intensely:-)  You are lucky to have have such fine road warriors as the black ones!  She send her best to them.  Glad you like the bread and have a great Thanksgiving just like always in NC with the family!

Happy baking Ian- get those Thanks giving rolls going when you get there!