The Fresh Loaf

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Seeded SD v4

Ru007's picture
Ru007

Seeded SD v4

Hello friends! 

This weeks' bake was fun for me, tried a few new things. Second time doing coil folds for gluten development (I like it), first time using a "young levain" (I don't like it), first time using a stencil for my design (I like it!)

Formula: 

160g 100% hydration levain (73% whole wheat, 27% rye), used after 5 hours. [Normally, I'd use it just after it peaks, 10ish hours after feeding. The dough felt a bit different this time, really soft and not as tight. It wasn't terrible, just not what I'm used to.]

294g water 

315g white bread flour

55g whole wheat flour

40g toasted mixed seeds soaked in 40g water overnight.

11g salt

Method: 

1. 2 hour autolyse. 

2. Mix in levain, seeds and salt using regular folds with 10min rest in between each fold for an hour. 

3. 4 coil folds, during bulk 45mins apart, leave to finish bulk fermenting for about 2hours or until there's loads of bubbles. 

4. Preshape, rest for 30min, shape and rest for another hour. 

5. Retard overnight. 

6. Bake @ 250dC with steam for 20mins and then 23mins without steam. 

I'm happy with the spring on this one: 

I didn't handle the dough very well when I was getting it out of the container to preshape, had I done better, I think I could have gotten a better crumb. I'm not too bothered though, the taste and texture are great. The crumb is much softer than my seeded loaves usually are. Maybe because of the less acidic younger levain? 

I loved making the stencil, it was so relaxing and therapeutic.

Credit for the design goes to @sourdough_nouveau (link: https://www.instagram.com/p/BcVR7TMh8AK/?taken-by=sourdough_nouveau

I did tweak the pattern a bit to make it more "me". 

I almost got super clean lines, but then I smudged the flour as I took the loaf out of the oven, so close... LOL!! 

Happy baking everyone, and have a great week :)

Ru

Comments

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

I knew it had your name on it Ru! Beautiful....

I am also intrigued what you say about your young levain...I have to admit I don't probably pay enough notice of that and sometimes use it young, if I am in a hurry and other times a bit when it just has peaked...I will pay more attention of the difference but I have not noticed yet...

Lovely...and have a good week!   Kat

Ru007's picture
Ru007

I really appreciate the compliment. I think it's a subtle difference and it's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. I think I only noticed because I made a point of using my levain young. I'm going to try the recipe again this weekend and only change how old the starter is when I use it. I suspect that using the levain when its older and more acidic, will make the dough tighten up a bit more. 

Happy baking! 

Ru

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

As Kat said it has your touch!  Can you tell me what was different about using the young levain? was the dough different, or the rise slower? just curious

Leslie

Ru007's picture
Ru007

I think the best way to describe it, is kind of how you described the dough tightening up when you added the salt after doing a few folds and not with the levain (I think that was in your last post?). Usually, when I use my levain after it peaks the whole mixture tightens up quite quickly, this time it felt like more like flour and water as opposed to flour, water and levain, I hope that makes some sense? It kind  of got there in the end though, just the early stages felt different. It didn't really take too much longer to rise.

Thank you for the compliment, always appreciated :)

Happy baking

Ru

alfanso's picture
alfanso

How are you going to top this beauty?  Really lovely and I love the deep brown color of the crust.  And also that you didn't throw everything but the kitchen sink into the dough but kept it at a minimum of ingredients - my kind of bread.

alan

Ru007's picture
Ru007

You're too kind :)

I totally agree with minimizing ingredients, right now I have 3 formulas that i'm working on, a plain with loaf, an oat porridge loaf and this one. I think it's nice to have fairly simple flavours, otherwise something gets lost. 

So glad you liked the loaf :) Happy baking Alan

Ru

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

I'm not one who falls for sophistication scoring patterns or fancy stencil designs since they'll all be gone once the bread is sliced...However, apparently your bread doesn't only have "outer beauty" but "inner beauty" as well. I mean, just look at that super soft and nicely open crumb!

Cutting the time leaven ripened by half was quite a brave act. The observation you made is thought provoking. Did you notice if the dough took longer to ferment?

Alan is right: Your bread demonstrates the beauty of simplicity, which is always lacked in mine :) 

Ru007's picture
Ru007

I really appreciate your kind words :0

I was never really into designs on my loaves until a couple of months ago, but I'm starting to really enjoy the world of decorative bread, its a really nice creative outlet for me. 

The dough didn't take too much longer to ferment, but it was quite warm this this weekend. I just noticed that the dough didn't feel as tight as normal. Have you ever tried to make a loaf with no salt in it? The dough feels quite loose, almost as if its struggling to hold together, I kind of got that feeling this time. 

I think we just have two different styles and both of us can bring something special to the table!

Happy baking Elsie

Ru

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

That stencil is stunning! I think you are being way too hard on yourself since the crust and crumb are to die for! 

Add me to the bunch that are curious about your observations of using a young Levain. Did bulk take longer?

Ru007's picture
Ru007

That's so nice of you to say! 

No, the difference wasn't really in the length of the bulk. It was the feeling of the dough. I've tried to describe it in my response to Elsie and Leslie. 

Hope you can make sense of it! 

Thanks again and happy baking

Ru

Abe's picture
Abe (not verified)

Wow! Ru. That is one beauty.

Don't know how you do it.

Would love to this one our front page.

Ru007's picture
Ru007

What a lovely thing to say, really appreciate that :)

Happy baking

Ru

Ru007's picture
Ru007

What a lovely thing to say, really appreciate that :)

Happy baking

Ru

Solano's picture
Solano

What wonderful bread, Ru! The color of this crust and this crumb, I can imagine the butter sliding on it, just wonderful!

:)

Solano

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Looks great inside and out!  Crumb is perfect and love that stencil design.  

Regards,

Ian