The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Kamut Barley Porridge Bread

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Kamut Barley Porridge Bread

   I had not made a porridge bread in a little while, and I've been loving adding freshly ground barley to my bakes, so here we are.  I thought freshly ground Kamut would make a nice combination with the barley and I was not mistaken.

I added some polenta I ground from the purple corn I recently purchased with some rolled oats to make a porridge and added some caramelized onions I had leftover in the main dough for good measure.

I was very happy with the flavor profile on this one and the nice moist and tasty crumb as well.

Please note, this formula made 3 loaves instead of my usual 2 since I gave a couple of them away to some former work colleagues.

Here are the Zip files for the above BreadStorm files.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together  for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I used my proofer set at 83 degrees and it took about 4 hours.   You can use it immediately in the final dough or let it sit in your refrigerator overnight.

Porridge Directions

Add about 3/4's of the water called for in the porridge to the dry ingredients in a small pot set to low and stir constantly until all the liquid is absorbed.  Add the remainder of the water and keep stirring until you have a nice creamy and soft porridge.  Remove from the heat and let it come to room temperature before adding to the dough.  I put mine in the refrigerator and let it cool quicker.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours  and the water for about 1 minute.  Let the rough dough sit for about 20 minutes to an hour.  Next add the levain, cooled porridge, olive oil and salt and mix on low for 4minutes.   Add the onions and mix until incorporated.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.  (Since I used my proofer I only let the dough sit out for 1.5 hours before refrigerating).

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature and will only rise about 1/3 it's size at most.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 545 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 5 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

For those of you interested, below are some photos from my gardens, which are finally taking shape.

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

The bread is awful nice too!!  looks great inside and put and the fresh whole multi-grains means it has to taste as good as it looks.  Just love your springtime posts.

Lucy is sending a picture of her Niece in Seattle after she hiked up to a mountain lake to go swimming with <t Rainier in the background.  What a beautiful place to take a very cold swim.  That Mabel is a hiking trouper for sure. 

Best to the black ones and hapy baking Ian

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Lucy's Niece sure likes to be adventurous!  We don't have too many mountains on Long Island, unless you count the garbage dump :).  I do take the dogs on hikes in some local parks, but the last time I went the tics were jumping off the trees and landing on me....yikes!

Anyway, glad you like the bread.  It was tasty and I'm sure you would like it.  I baked up a real tasty rye bread the other day which I will have post next. 

We finally finished planting all of the new plants, now just have to keep the dogs from chasing the squirrels and trampling my new Hostas!  The veggies are doing well so far, but we've been getting a bit too much rain, so hopefully that will taper off, otherwise the tomatoes will end up with all kinds of problems.

On a sad note, we had to say goodbye to one of our kitty cats, Misty. She had kidney disease and unfortunately it had progressed to the point where we had to let her go and be in peace :(.  At the same time we adopted my Father-in-law's kitty since he had to go into assisted living and can't take care of her.

Give Lucy a belly rub from Max and Lexi and rest of the furry LI gang.

Regards,
Ian

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

There's no way the bread won't taste great. The only thing you can do to make it even better is adding some sprouted grains. Sorry I keep bringing this up every time... Guess I genuinely love them :) For some reason, polenta porridge and caramelized onions make me think of pancetta. Crisped cured meat should make a nice addition too. Hmm... How about some freshly ground black pepper and grated aged cheese? 

Your garden is blooming with colors! All the plants are pieces of art but I particularly adore the pinkish white flowers and the dark green broad leaves. The array of decorations produces a playful and lively atmosphere, which I like as well.

Love this post, Ian! The scoring (esp. on the batard) looks beautiful btw!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

So glad you like the bake and the gardens.

My wife and I spend a lot of time on the gardens and really enjoy finding new unique plants to add each season.  We found some new varieties of echinacea which should start blooming any day and added a whole bunch of different hostas.

The bread was very tasty.  I wanted to really push the amount of barley on this one and also wanted to see how the freshly ground purple corn would do in a porridge.

I agree, adding some Pancetta would really take this one to the next level.  I was tempted to add some cheese, but held back since I was giving 2 of the loaves away and I know my one friend has an issue with cheese :).

Looking forward to your next post.

Best Regards,
Ian

Yippee's picture
Yippee

You always showcase your beautiful garden around this time of a year. It makes me want to visit you and New York.  Maybe I'll do it one day when I'm not tied down anymore! The garden views always distract me from your bread, but I'm sure this one is as tasty as ever!

Happy Baking!

Yippee

Isand66's picture
Isand66

You are more than welcome to visit...as long as you don't mind my 2 dogs and 5 cats :).

Glad you enjoy my garden photos.  Still have some work to do, but I'm excited about our echinacea which are starting to bloom.  We found some new varieties this year and I can't wait to see what they look like.

The bread was tasty and I'm sure you would like it.  I will have to continue our bread exchange and send you another loaf soon.  I think you will like the rye bread I made this week.  I will try and post it by tomorrow.

Happy Baking and enjoy the weekend!

Ian