The Fresh Loaf

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Two Sourdoughs

xaipete's picture
xaipete

Two Sourdoughs

I baked two sourdough's today. The first, David's Pain de Campagne is rapidly becoming one of my favorite breads because it's so easy to make, is practically foolproof, and has such a wonderful flavor and crumb. I use Guisto's Baker's Choice instead of KA French style flour for this bread, and my own home-ground wholemeal rye. (I think Guisto's Bakers Choice has about 10.5% protein, so it is softer than KAAP.)

The second was kind of an experiment with Dan DiMuzio's SF Sourdough. I wanted to see if I could bake baquettes out of the dough instead of the more normal batards.

I mixed both doughs up by hand using a throw and slap method. (I had just finished watching a video by Richard Bertinet and thought I would give his technique a try.)

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough

I put both doughs through four of the throw and slap sessions allowing about 20 minutes in between. It was kind of a fun procedure, and I really enjoyed getting down and dirty with the dough. I think this method help to incorporate air into the doughs and probably contributed to their open hole structure.

The hint of rye in this bread really gives it a spectacular flavor and crumb.

I couldn't get my scoring to open up very well on these baguettes. I'm not sure why except that the dough really got a lot of oven spring.

I cut the baguette horizontally for a sandwich. I was very happy with the large holes in the crumb.

I

I retarded half of Dan's formula overnight in a banneton and baked it this morning. It was a little overproofed which didn't surprise me considering the amount of starter. Still, it baked up pretty well this morning. A little bit flat, but the flavor is very nice and the crumb isn't bad either!

--Pamela

Comments

Nomadcruiser53's picture
Nomadcruiser53

A fun  video and your bread looks wonderful. Dave

Yippee's picture
Yippee

Thanks for sharing!

Yippee

 

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

Pamela, beautiful crumb on those baguettes!

If I wanted to play with the David's Pain de Campagne this weekend, is there a type of flour could I use instead of KA French style or Guisto's Bakers Choice? I have access to neither here. (I know I could order some, but I didn't want to wait!)

Thanks,

Betty

xaipete's picture
xaipete

Hi Betty. I would just use regular AP flour. I'm sure it will work fine.

--Pamela

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Betty.

I agree with Pamela. It should work well with good quality AP flour or a mix of bread and AP, if your AP is on the low-gluten end of the scale. The main impact of different flours will be how they absorb water, so you may need to make adjustments.

The dough should start out pretty sticky, but not gloppy. (I love Maggie Glezer's "gloppy" term!) After the third stretch and fold, it should have good gluten development but still be sticky. It is much less sticky after the retardation.

It works well as baguettes, boules or bâtards.

Let us know how it works for you.

David

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

Thanks..I should be good to go. I have KA bread and Stone Buhr AP flours. OK, I have 2 recipes on my list for this weekend!

Betty

Just Loafin's picture
Just Loafin

Hi Pamela,

Just beautiful looking breads = )

The baguettes are just spot on - beautiful carmelization, and I'm not sure any more perfect crumb exists. Those would last about 10 mins on my counter!

The Bertinet procedure, in my experience, isn't all that much faster than my hand kneading. The nice part is that it's all self-contained, and there's no need for constant bench flour on the surface or the hands. That saves a lot of time right there... it's my 'go to' method most of the time, because I like to just get the dough developed and into the bulk phase. The other stretch and fold techniques are easier from a labor standpoint, but you have to drag the dough out every 20 or more minutes. It's a trade-off, but like I said, sometimes I just want to get on with other things and not have to go back to it.

Again, stellar looking breads! Congrats!

- Keith

xaipete's picture
xaipete

Thanks, Keith. One of them did last just about 10 minutes.

--Pamela

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven
SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

lol...I loved Pamela's way, Mini! 

xaipete's picture
xaipete

I just made it up. Does it really have a name? I guess so. Well, that's news to me. Thanks, Mini.

--Pamela

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Pamela, You must have had a lot of fun making this batch of loaves!  I bet they tasted great!

Sylvia

proth5's picture
proth5

Good crumb!