The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

7 Grain Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Stephanie Brim's picture
Stephanie Brim

7 Grain Sourdough Sandwich Bread

I'm wanting to start working with whole grains more.  I'm going to be working up to the lovely 5 grain that gaaarp posted.

The bread I baked today was thrown together out of need for a sandwich bread for the week that would go well with ham, our choice of lunch meat.  It needed to be relatively soft with a soft crust, as that's my boyfriend's preference, and needed to be slightly sweet to complement the salty ham.  The other thing I wanted was some sort of higher fiber whole grain flour thrown in.

Last night I had to feed my hungry beasties at around 10:30.  I pulled out my discard, fed my 100% starter as normal, and added 1/8 cup water and a little under 1/2 cup flour to the starter.  This produced a very nice, very firm starter, which measured about 166 grams.  I let that sit overnight.  I also measured out 125 grams of my 7 grain flour blend and mixed it with 100 grams of water in the bowl that I was going to make the bread in the next day. I covered that and let it sit overnight as well.

The next morning I was greeted by the sight of a very active firm starter (it had almost grown out of the bowl) and a very nice soaker.  I had set the stages for a very good bread.

We eat a lot of sandwiches so I needed a larger amount of bread.  I added to the starter and the soaker 265g of milk, 355g of flour, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 2 tablespoons of honey.  This made a total of slightly over 1000g total dough.  I kneaded it all together and let it sit for about 45 minutes, at which point I realized I forgot the salt and kneaded in about 2 1/4 teaspoons.  Then I stretched and folded once an hour for...3 hours or so?  The dough was pretty wet and sticky.

I proofed for an hour before putting it in the oven in a makeshift brotform: a wicker basket lined with a floured tea towel.  I put it on my stone in a slightly warm (but not fully preheated) oven for 45-50 minutes.  400 for the first 30, then down to 375 for about 10 minutes.  I left it in the oven after turning it off for about 10 minutes as well.

I pulled this out.

7 Grain Sourdough

7 Grain Sourdough Crumb

I'm very happy with how things went.  I'm really getting some good results with my sourdough.

Thanks again, gaaarp!

Comments

Stephanie Brim's picture
Stephanie Brim

This works out to only about 20% 7 grain flour. I didn't have much since I just wanted to try it.  I'll be buying more.  I'm going to make the firm starter with it next time as well as upping the amount in the soaker.

mountaindog's picture
mountaindog

Nice job, Stephanie, that's a beautiful crumb on that boule, you're off to a great start with your new sourdough skills!

Stephanie Brim's picture
Stephanie Brim

Closer Sourdough Crumb

Better crumb shot.  I hate digital cameras, but sometimes they have their perks.

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Are you just "making these up"  ? You are so inventive, if so. I am doing all these test breads for PR so I have no way to make any others for now. Will look forward to being able to bake anything I want again in Mar. c