The Fresh Loaf

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20% Whole 8 Grain Sourdough with 13% Bran Levain

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

20% Whole 8 Grain Sourdough with 13% Bran Levain

Lucy is back to making white bread batards with a small bran levain.  But this one was a bit different in a couple of 3 ways.  First off, the levain was a white one that was retarded for a week after it was built and the bran didn’t go in until the day before the bake as build number 4.

The old levain was taken out of the fridge and fed 14 g of 8 gran bran and 14 g or water.  Lucy let it sit for 4 hours until it doubled.  This one had twice the potato flakes as the last white bread too.  The 20% whole 8 grains were: rye, Kamut, red and white wheat, Einkorn, oat and spelt.

We did not do an autolyze but another thing that was different is that we did a free from batard without basket support to proof this loaf and even though the dough came in at 84% hydration. Overall.  The reason we could do this is because 80% of the flour in the mix was Albertson’s bread flour that was way more thirsty than our normal LaFama AP.

We did our usual 3 sets of slap and folds of 50, 8 and 4 slaps and 2 sets of 4 stretch and folds.  All were done on 30 minute intervals.  After the dough rested for 30 minutes in an oiled SS bowl we retarded it for 12 hours in the fridge.

Once it warmed up for 2 hours we pre-shaped it and then shaped it into a batard and placed it on a parchment covered peel and covered it with a kitchen towel for 2 hours of final proof.  After slashing we slid it on the bottom stone at 500 F and turned the oven down to 450 F after putting 2 C of hot water on the lava rocks to make Mega Steam.

After 16 minutes, the steam came out and we continued baking for 14 more minutes at 425 F convection until it read 208 F on the Instant read thermometer.  It had browned, sprung, blistered and bloomed well enough for a batard.  Can’t wait to see what it looks like on the inside but we have to wait until tomorrow for that.

The crumb isn't as open as we thought it would be but it is soft and most and the taste is very good.  It makes great sandwiches and will be a star when grilled for bruschetta tonight.

Comments

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I am amazed that you retarded your Levain for an entire week! Will that cause your bread to be more sour?

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

cold.  This bread is delicious for a white bread.  Mega Steam and cool dough will put blisters on just about any white bread when the skin is dried out a bit by couche or cloth. The water vapor can't escape easily through the skin so it forms bubbles under it during the steaming stage,

Retarding NMNF starter for 5-6 months doesn't seem to bother it much either.  Glad you like the bread Danni and 

Happy baking 

alfanso's picture
alfanso

If Lucy keeps getting her way, you will be known as the man who formerly made boules.  Pretty soon she'll have a movie out called "Inglorious Batards", and you'll just be a Sonora Desert footnote as she waltzes through the Hollywood elite.

Love to see the batards coming out of your oven, and even if your eating requirements dictate staying somewhat far from white flour breads, once in a while one won't kill you.  Or will it?

Nice bread fer shore.

alan

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

to baggies next from batards.  The older she gets the more baggie she becomes.  So I'm pretty sire that is what she will come up with for a recipe this weeks but it might be DePumperizwe Baggies too!  Lucy doesn't need Hollywood to be a bread elite as long as Jeffry Hammelman thinks she is cute.  She thinks JH is learning Swedish just so he can talk to her.  I have no idea where she got that idea but it keeps her at least half decent some of the time.

Most of this whit bread went back to Chicago with my Son in Law who was visiting his new wife this weekend and said he needed bread and there was no decent bread to be found at the Navy Great Lakes Training Base  - where he calls home for the next 10 months or so as he finishes his residency up.  Then it is off to sea where what is left of a wonderful world probably awaits.

Stay tum-ned for some Baggies soon enough!

Happy baking Mad Dog.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

This one looks big enough for Lucy to ride down town on!  I was just saying to my apprentices that I need to make some free form breads soon and there pops up this beauty.  The crumb may not be as open as yiu would like but as you like to say, you can't eat air:).

Happy Baking and Holiday season!

ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

But this bread was tasty and perfect for grilling for bruschetta.  I can't remember the last time I made a free form bread either but with baggies coming up who knows. Freezing cold here this week in the mid 60's and Lucy isn't liking it one little bit.  She burrows under the covers at night and doesn't come out till she is hungry.

She says to keep those black one warm in that freezing cold on that long, non tropical island.  Glad you liked the bread and happy baking Ian