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Multi-grain sourdough bread made with home-milled flours August 12, 2018

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Multi-grain sourdough bread made with home-milled flours August 12, 2018

Multi-grain Sourdough Bread with home-milled flour

David Snyder

August 12, 2018



Today's bake is another variation on the multi-grain sourdough breads I have been baking for the past few years. This bread differs from the one posted August 8 (See: Multi-grain sourdough bread made with home-milled flours August 8, 2018 ) in only two ways: I increased the Spelt flour from 10% to 20% and decreased the Rye flour from 17.5% to 7.5%. I also used a high-protein bread flour for all the “white” wheat flour. The increase in dough strength during bulk fermentation was noticeable, but the dough was still quite slack and sticky.

Total Dough

 

 

Ingredient

Wt (g)

Bakers' %

Bread Flour (hi protein)

600

60

Whole Wheat flour

125

12.5

Whole Rye flour

75

7.5

Whole Spelt flour

200

20

Water

830

83

Salt

21

2.1

Total

1851

185.1

 

Levain

 

 

Ingredient

Wt (g)

Bakers' %

Bread flour (hi protein)

144

75

Whole Wheat flour

36

25

Water

144

75

Active starter

36

25

Total

360

200

  1. Dissolve the starter in the water. Add the flours and mix thoroughly.

  2. Transfer to a clean container, cover and ferment until ripe (6 hours for me.) If you don't use it immediately, it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Final Dough

 

Ingredient

Wt (g)

Bread flour (high protein)

440

Whole Wheat flour

85

Whole Rye flour

75

Whole Spelt flour

200

Water (85-95ºF)

670

Salt

21

Active levain

360

Total

1851


Procedures

  1. Mix the flours with the water to a shaggy mass.

  2. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 45-120 minutes. (Autolyse)

  3. Sprinkle the salt over the dough surface and add the levain in 4 to 6 portions.

  4. Mix thoroughly. (I start by folding in the salt and levain with a silicon spatula. Then, I use the method Forkish specifies – squeezing the dough between my fingers alternating with stretch and folds in the bowl. I wear a food service grade glove and dip my working hand frequently in water.)

  5. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled, clean bowl large enough to accommodate doubling in volume. Cover well.

  6. Ferment at 80ºF for 2.5 – 3.5 hours with stretch and folds every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours. The dough should have nearly doubled in volume and be quite puffy.

  7. Transfer the dough to a well-floured board. It will be quite sticky and needs to be handled quickly with well-floured hands, helped by a bench knife.

  8. Divide the dough as desired and pre-shape in rounds. Cover with a cloth and let rest for 20-30 minutes.

  9. Shape as boules or bâtards and place in floured bannetons. Place these in food-grade plastic bags sealed with ties and let proof for 30-60 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate 8 hours or up to 36 hours at 40ºF.

  10. The next day, pre-heat oven. Let the loaves sit at room temperature while the oven pre-heats. You can bake on a baking stone ,with steam for the first part of the bake, or in Dutch ovens, as you prefer. The oven temperature and length of the bake will depend on which of these methods you choose and on the weight and shape of your loaves, as well as on how dark you prefer your crust. When done, the loaves should sound hollow when thumped on their bottoms. The internal temperature should be at least 105ºF.

  11. Let the loves cool completely on a rack for 1-2 hours before slicing.

These loaves were baked in Cast Iron Dutch ovens at 475ºF for 30 minutes covered, then 20 minutes un-covered.

Oh, my! This is the best of the current series. The crust is crunchy. The crumb is tender but slightly chewy. As expected, the crumb is more open than that of the breads with more rye. I suspect the higher gluten flour contributed to the good oven spring and open crumb as well. The flavor is assertively sour with a nice balance, leaning toward the acetic acid side. It is not so assertive that is swamps the nice, mellow wheaty flavors however. This one is a keeper.

Happy baking!

David

Comments

pul's picture
pul

Hi David, very inspiring series with such crust color, crumb and scoring! Thanks for detailing all the process that you follow to come up with these beauties.

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Love the multigrains.  45% whole grains at 83% hydration has to be sticky but the crumb sure is open as a result. This is the kind of bread you can eat every day for just about everything and be healthy too!  Using fresh milled flours really makes a difference.  Well done and happy baking David

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

but I think I'd like this time's just a bit better. There is a higher spelt to rye ratio, which makes it more attractive to me. Not only do I prefer the taste of spelt, but I also find the experience of working with it much more enjoyable. 

The way your bread is baked: bold and dark, always reminds me of the artisan sourdough bread that shows up in high-end bakeries :) With over 40% whole grain, it must be really flavourful, unlike some beautiful looking yet rather boring tasting bread. Some people like their bread sweet but I like mine with at least some tang. Yours sounds perfect to me.

Nice bake as always!

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

After reading your process and the length of time fermenting I was amazed at the crumb and how much they still rose .  So many variables that " watch the dough " is certainly the key. 

I just love the color of your crust. Beautiful crumb as well. c

PalwithnoovenP's picture
PalwithnoovenP

Love how boldly baked these ones are. All of your efforts were rewarded with beautiful and tasty loaves.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

@ Caroline. I don't think of this as having that long a fermentation, unless you are counting the cold retardation. 

I think one of the "advanced" shaping skills from which these loaves benefit is pre-shaping and shaping tightly, without excessive de-gassing. It's especially important with a relatively high-hydration, soft, puffy dough like this.

I clearly favor a "bold bake." It provides the crunchy and very flavorful crust I love.

David

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Excellent crumb and crust.  This one must have tasted great.

Regards,

Ian

alfanso's picture
alfanso

so I'll just use yours: "Oh, my! This is the best of the current series. The crust is crunchy."  I love that last transversal shot with that great crust - you probably know that I live for a dark thick crust. My dentist loves me for it!

alan

miker940's picture
miker940

Are the dutch ovens that are featured here made by Lodge?

Also what is the size of the ovens please.  I have a Lodge double dutch oven that is a 3.2 quart size and I sometimes think that it is not deep enough.  I worry that the lack of height may be keeping my breads from reaching maximum rise.  

Thank you.  Your contributions here are very helpful.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The DO's I use are Lodge "Combo Cookers."  I believe they are 4 quart size. I find them just right in size for my  ± 1 Kg loaves. 

Happy baking!

David