The Fresh Loaf

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Hamelman’s Five-Grain Levain - Take 2

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Hamelman’s Five-Grain Levain - Take 2

I loved the taste of this bread so decided to make it the way it was originally written by Hamelman as much as possible (except for the addition of yogurt) since I am doing this by hand and he used a mixer. I also used some vital wheat gluten to replace his high gluten flour which I am guessing is around 15% protein. To do this, I found the niftiest online calculator. 

http://flourmath.bradfordrobertson.com

Hamelman calls for wholewheat flour and I used sifted freshly milled Red Fife flour. The bran was used in feeding my starter to get it up to speed before making the final levain.

Makes 3 loaves

Liquid Levain build 

272 g Bread flour 

343 g Water 

55 g Starter (liquid)  

Soaker

100 g Rye berries

100 g Flaxseeds 

85 g Sunflower seeds 

85 g Oat groats

484 g Water, boiling 

6 g Salt 

Dough

533 g Unbleached flour 

15 g Vital Wheat Gluten

274 g Sifted freshly milled Red Fife flour  

303 g Water 

30 g yogurt 

21 g Salt 

All of the Soaker 

650 g Levain 

A couple of days before

  1. Soaker prep: Crack the rye berries and the oat groats by putting through a very coarse setting on the Komo mill. I turned the dot right to the back to get the texture I wanted. Reserve. Grind the flax seeds coarsely in a Bullet or spice grinder. Add to the rye and the oats. Toasts the sunflower seeds and add to the rye, oats and flax. Add the 6 g of salt. Cover and reserve.
  2. Main dough and levain prep: Mill 320 g of Red Fife berries and sift to obtain ~278 g of sifted flour and ~36 g of bran. Use 274 g of the sifted flour for the main dough and reserve the bran and the remaining few grams of sifted flour to revive or feed the starter prior to making the final levain. 
  3. Main dough prep: To the 274 g of sifted flour, add the unbleached flour, the vital wheat gluten, and the salt. Cover and reserve.

The night before making the dough

  1. Levain: Twelve to sixteen hours before the the final mixing of the dough, put all of the ingredients together for the levain and keep covered at room temperature (73 F).
  2. Soaker: Add the boiling water to the soaker ingredients and cover. Leave to cool overnight at room temperature.

Final mix and bake

  1. Put the water and the yogurt for the dough in a bowl and add the soaker. Mix well to loosen the mass. Measure 650 g of the levain, add to water and soaker, and mix again. Add this mixture to the reserved flour mix. Mix well to integrate all ingredients and do several series of folds to begin developing the gluten.
  2. Place the dough in a warm spot (oven with the lights on and the door cracked open) and do 2 sets of folds a half hour apart. Do another set 45 minutes later. Let rise 50%. My dough rose more like 60-70% by the time I got to it. This took 3 hours at about 82 F. 
  3. Divide the dough into 3 loaves of ~900 g and pre-shape gently on a lightly floured counter. Let rest 15-30 minutes. Do a final shape by cinching and pulling the dough to make a fairly tight boule, but without deflating the dough. Place seam side down in rice/ap floured bannetons and cover. Put to bed in the fridge for the night.
  4. The next morning, pre-heat the oven and the Dutch ovens to 475F. Place parchment rounds in the bottom of the pots and place the dough in seam side up. Score if desired. Cover and bake for 25 minutes at 450F. Remove lids and bake for another 25 minutes at 425F or until the inside temperature is 205 F or or more.

They came out of the oven looking very nice!

 

 

Comments

hreik's picture
hreik

I did this one about 3 years ago.   The taste is wonderful

 

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

That’s part of the reason I redid it this weekend. Hopefully the crumb on my loaves is as nice as yours!

hreik's picture
hreik

but hubby is not a fan of seeded breads.  Took 2 years to get him hooked on sourdough.  Getting him to like seeded ones is well beyond my pay grade and asking too much of his taste buds.  I did a simple Norwich sd today, with additions of rye and whole wheat with long fermentation times both bulk and final.  At least I got him to like sd.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

to make fun of by bakers:-)  Yours look grand as usual.  Well done and happy baking Danni

Cedarmountain's picture
Cedarmountain

Beautiful loaves Danni...I like the various scoring patterns you've used, especially evident in the last group picture, very nicely done. You've packed a lot of nutritional value into this bread, the kind of bread I really like because it tastes good and is good for you.  I am in awe too that you are doing all this by hand, not with a mixer...you won't need to worry about going to the gym what with all the bread you're baking and tossing pots!  

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Although I am down 8 lbs with 8 more to go so I can get back in my summer clothes! It’s tough with all this good food around! 

 

gillpugh's picture
gillpugh

Thanks for the link to the gluten calculator. Your bread is lovely too.  I love a seeded loaf, I bet it tastes great.  

gillpugh's picture
gillpugh

Thanks for the link to the gluten calculator. Your bread is lovely too.  I love a seeded loaf, I bet it tastes great.  

nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

A beautiful outcome for all your effort, and no doubt, a treat for one and all. Seeds in bread makes a great fit, they add flavor, texture and nutrition. Did you make two batches? I see 6 loaves, but the recipe says 3 @~900 g.

 

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I make one loaf for us, 3 go to a soup kitchen and the rest I sell to friends and donate all of the money collected back to the soup kitchen. So I make a total of 12 loaves every weekend. 

nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

Awesome! Thank you for your generosity, and for your compassion.

Cathy

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

Nifty photos of yummy bread.  I was going to ask what you do with all of these loaves, and your response is a fabulous way to practice the craft, get some personal enjoyment from a loaf, and make a great contribution to the community.

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I had friends that were asking for bread and I was already making loaves for the soup kitchen just to have somewhere to donate bread since we couldn’t eat it all. At first, I was going to keep part of the sales to cover the cost of the ingredients but I didn’t want to get into the bookkeeping business to track it and I don’t need the money. So it all goes to the soup kitchen and I get a charitable tax donation receipt for taxes. I get to share delicious food and that brings me a lot of personal satisfaction especially when I know that this is something healthy that they would never have otherwise. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Love the scoring on these and I'm sure the crumb must be great too!

Nice write-up as well.  I'm not sure I have tried this one myself so I will have to give it a go soon.

Regards,
Ian

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Looks good!

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

on it for dinner tonight! 

https://minimalistbaker.com/chickpea-sunflower-sandwich/

You’re welcome! ?

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

I’ve baked this bread too many times to count. It is my favorite bread and a constant request from the neighbors. Your’s came out great. The crumb is beautiful. Makes me salivate when I look at them.

Question; what affect does the yogurt have on the bread?

Dan

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

Delete, double post

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

This is certainly one of the most flavorful bread ever devised.

David

bread1965's picture
bread1965

Ok, I give up.. I'll try this bread.. it looks beyond delicious.. and that sandwich is pure and unadulterated food "stormy-daniels" material! (not to be political!).. Wow... You never cease to amaze!

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

for the sandwich. Hubby is the one that found the recipe and makes it for me. Yes, I am spoiled!?

And you do need to try this bread. I think it has a flavour profile you would like. Post it when you make it!

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

What a decent rise! With the freshly milled flour, seeds and grain, it must taste amazing! I noticed you often add milled flaxseeds to the dough, how much water are they gonna absorb? Would they make the crumb softer?

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Two things that I try to put in my breads all the time are flax and yogurt. I add the flax for the omegas and the yogurt for the softer crust. Family and friends were complaining the crust was too crunchy.?

Figuring out how much water the flax is going to soak up is sometimes a bit of a guessing game. I usually figure out the hydration I want (and I look back at previous recipes) and initially put in about 50 to 100 grams less, then I add water back in until it has the right feel for me.

When I do an autolyse, I really err on the side of caution, and try to add just enough water to get all the flour wet. If I slightly overdo it, the flax helps soak some up. Later when I add the salt and Levain, this is where I add water until the dough is at the consistency that I am used to.

Easy to add water but impossible to take away. 

Filomatic's picture
Filomatic

Beautiful work.  I also have that sifter attachment.  I'm surprised not to see a hand tightly holding it in place.  Do you not find it necessary?

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I just make sure that the tube is clicked into those two little balls and it stays put. I agree though that this is a very poor design. That tube should screw into the base, not just precariously perch there. I read a number of reviews that warned against picking it up by the tube so I knew not to do that. 

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

Today is my first look at TFL in 10 days as we are travelling and have been in remote countryside. it is such a delicious bread, it sounds as if all went well. so glad to hear, the sandwich looks wonderful.

Happy Easter Danni

Leslie