The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Champlain(ish) Sourdough

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

Champlain(ish) Sourdough

ORIGINAL RECIPE : http://www.breadwerx.com/champlain-sourdough-recipe-video/

304g Water
389g Bread Flour
38g Whole Spelt Flour
19g Whole Rye Flour
50g Starter @ 100% Hydration (25g All-Purpose Flour/25g Water)
9g Salt

 

RE-DONE FOR 100G STARTER

279g Water
364g Bread Flour
38g Whole Spelt Flour
19g Whole Rye Flour
100g Starter @ 100% Hydration (50g All-Purpose Flour/50g Water)
9g Salt

 

MY TAKE 

279g Water
364g Bread Flour
38g Wholegrain Einkorn Flour
19g Mixed Malted Flour (wheat, barley and rye)
100g Starter @ 100% Hydration (25g Bread Flour/25g Whole Wheat/50g Water)
9g Salt

 

syros's picture
syros

Nice loaf! Can't wait to see the crumb shot! did you follow Trevor's timeline? I'm sure it's delicious!

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Thank you Sharon. While my loaf cools I'll explain my method which will be followed by a crumb shot and taste report in a little while. 

My aim was to feed my starter which is 50:50 bread and whole-wheat flour @ 100% hydration. From that I was going to take some off and build a small levain for 100g bread flour @ 100% hydration. My starter build went well and was strong. So instead of doing another build I put my starter in the fridge and just took off 100g to use when ready (a few hours later). 

So starter was fed the night before at around 8:30pm (ish) and refrigerated 8:30am the following morning. 

 

1: Autolysed the flour and water only (3:45pm)

(Took out starter from the fridge while the flour and water was autolysing). 

2: incorporated the salt and starter then formed the dough following Trevor's method (4:45pm - 5pm)

3: Bulk fermented till 10pm with stretch and folds every hour. 

4: Pre-shape and bench rest for 20 minutes (10:20pm)

5: Shaped into banneton, wrapped the banneton in a towel and placed it in a plastic bag. I then kept it at room temperature for one hour. I find that my doughs are rising somewhat in the fridge but aren't coming out ready even after a long final proof overnight. So I reckoned one hour would suffice. The common advice is to continue the bulk ferment at room temperature but then you lose the advantage of baking straight from the fridge. Baking from cold gives better oven spring. So I figured one hour should do it. And it did! :)

6: Baked straight from the fridge about 14 hours later. 

MonkeyDaddy's picture
MonkeyDaddy

cover the loaf somehow, or steam the whole oven?

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

 I've taken to steaming two ways. One is to pre-heat the metal drip tray and pour water on it (the whole oven method) and the other is to use an overturned pot over the loaf. If I remember correctly I used the whole oven method.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

With einkorn and some barley flour I think it made an interesting crumb. Not tangy (I have two starters one of which doesn't bring out a lot of tang and this is the one I used - the other does) but flavoursome. 

On the starter I used... It's a bit temperamental when it comes to tang and it may be in my method of maintenance. I have brought out tang before when using it but it's a bit of a struggle sometimes. I gave it a big refreshment before using so perhaps that took the edge off. I used this starter in a tang experiment a few weeks ago, with more careful maintenance in bringing out the tang, and it worked a treat. 

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Will have to give this a try and add my own touches as you did ;) Always something new to try. c

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

I didn't want to buy new flour before using up the flour I have already. Crumb shot and taste report soon. 

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

i am trying to use up everything so I can buy only whole grains and mill them myself. Baking is a work in progress for sure!

syros's picture
syros

I’m trying to cut down on the tang - which is more for other people - not everyone is a fan. But I must say this bread toasted is really delicious. 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Agreed. Not tangy doesn't mean any the less tasty. This bread is delicious. I'll try it toasted tomorrow night. The trial I did in tang was more of a lesson in how to control a starter. Some people have a naturally tangy starter and it'll always produce a tangy bread with little effort. Mine needs more deliberation and was a good experiment to do rather than just stumble across a flavour. I think that's a bit like a very open crumb. It's a technique which might not always aim for but a good thing to know. 

hreik's picture
hreik

That is one good looking loaf.  I'm so impressed at your persistence in always wanting to try something new and different.  After all these trials, do you have any favorites?

hester

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

And that is one very difficult question. I'm not sure if I can can pick just one. I'm still trying to perfect many things. I love a Hamelman loaf. Always seem to get good flavour out of his recipes. I also like walnuts and currants or cranberries as additions in the bread. Walnuts together with some sweet berry is a lovely combo. Love adding a touch of rye or einkorn both of which go a long way. I'm leaning towards a larger levain percentage for flavour as well. Trying all these experiments is helping to get a clearer picture of that ultimate loaf. 

syros's picture
syros

I have various ranges of tang - the ones I feed with rye are all pretty strong and I have to start feeding them with all purpose for a few days. If I leave my starter out for a few days and just feed with a/p flour, then I can get a milder flavor and I guess using a “young” levain - rather than one that has been developing for 8-12 hours will be milder. I’m still figuring things out and I like what you did with your timeline. Interesting. And you only autolysed for an hour, no salt. 

Makes me less afraid to play around with this recipe. 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Experiment away... I'm still learning. Always learning! With each bake I take away something I can incorporate in my next bake. Playing around with and keeping different starters is also another good way to learn. I've got two unique starters and depending on what I want that week I'll choose one of the other. To test my skills I might take the less tangy one and try to bring out more tang. 

Elsasquerino's picture
Elsasquerino

Great looking loaf, Abe. Hows the einkhorn? On my list of things to try! 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Einkorn is a bit of a b*gger - to coin a British phrase :) until one knows how to handle it. Great as a small percentage add-in where a little goes a long way just like rye. I use Dove's Farm Wholegrain Einkorn. Word of warning when following a recipe originating from the other side of the pond for an all Einkorn bread. Our Einkorn is different to theirs. The popular North American brand is Jovial where it's around 12.6% protein whereas our local Einkorn is around 10.6% protein. Just needs to handled a tad differently I think but when adding it in other breads for flavour I think you'll love it. When you wish to try it please give me a buzz. 

Elsasquerino's picture
Elsasquerino

I'll be sure to do that... I finally picked up a bottle of kefir today so I'm excited to play with that next weekend. Any advice/ideas gratefully received. I won't hijack this thread though going to start a fresh one. 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/51927/100-whole-spelt-kefir-bread

Have fun! Really looking forward to see what you come up with. Kefir bread baking is fun too! 

not.a.crumb.left's picture
not.a.crumb.left

The bread looks delicious...I have not tried einkorn yet and thank you for the flour recommendation....I've got a new book Sourdough from a norwegian baker and it has recipes with emmer, einkorn and all sorts of flours... Must give them a go but try to 'walk' before 'running'...getting more confident with the Champlain.... Kat

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

It was a nice bake. I'd like to re0run it though with spelt next time to see the difference. Einkorn is a very interesting flour. I find in small quantities it brings out a lovely flavour which goes a long way. I also love 100% einkorn but really need to be handled differently. Looking forward to more Champlain baking.

not.a.crumb.left's picture
not.a.crumb.left

Abe,

Have you ever tried this flour? It came up on a blog with Vanessa Kimbells' SD school and I was intrigued and may try a wholewheat flour 50:50 type of loaf with it. 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

But I have tried this https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/sainsburys-wholegrain-seeded-flour--taste-the-difference-1kg

Very tasty indeed! Malted flour makes for a very tasty bread.

not.a.crumb.left's picture
not.a.crumb.left

Oh I must try to find this.....do you just use it as wholewheat flour portion in any recipe? Thank you!

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

But replacing the whole-wheat of a recipe with this works very well. Find one where you have a significant proportion of whole-wheat and substitute. Flavour is amazing.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

It's a very strong flour at around 16% protein. Good wholesome ingredients but they've also added in wheat gluten to up the protein.

not.a.crumb.left's picture
not.a.crumb.left

Another one to put on the list!

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

The crumb looks really nice too!  haven’t tried einkorn,  maybe one day. there are always so many yummy recipes to try, love to see what you come up with next.  The Swiss farmhouse bread is definitely on my list to do soon.

Leslie

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Einkorn adds some wonderful flavour. I have the same problem... not enough days in the week to try all the recipes on my to-do list. Need longer weekends. Been thinking about turning the Swiss Farmhouse bread into a sourdough to compare them.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

This one has to be tasty.  Happy baking

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

It was a very nice loaf. A little Einkorn goes a long way.