The Fresh Loaf

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Retarded yeast fermented 70% hydration batard

GabrielLeung1's picture
GabrielLeung1

Retarded yeast fermented 70% hydration batard

For about two years previous I had been making bread for groups of college students as a part of the college student outreach at my church. Every Sunday morning I would bring pounds of retarded yeast fermented dough to the church kitchen, prep it on site, and bake it off for our college lunch. I was pretty proud of the formula I used for it, mostly this was because it was mine. I chose the hydration, the fermentation technique, and the shaping and baking of it. And it always came out beautifully every time. Later on, i even started fermenting it with my sourdough starter. 

Fast forward five months. In addition to baking off a spiked sourdough boule, we would be making pane francese, a rustic dough that we would be forming into baguettes. It was made with a high proportion of biga, and a high hydration, around 70.5%. We ended up putting 6 folds into it as it dribbled around on the bench, then it would be shaped, proofed, and baked. It was supposed to be an exceptionally beautiful bread with a wide, open crumb. And it was.

Sometime after Chef showed us how to shape the loaves, and before his loaves went into the oven I recognized something interesting about the loaves. That shaping technique was the exact same one I used for my church batards. I thought this was intriguing and dismissed it. Curiosity bit me a few seconds later as I decided to check the exact hydration...70.5%. Another interesting thing. And to top it all off you use biga to give it great flavor and texture.

And then it was that I realized that for the past two years I had been making pane francese. Its amazing that by thinking about how I would make good bread, and implementing those factors, you can come up with a bread is very very old. 

Comments

summerbaker's picture
summerbaker

What a cool discovery!  You obviously figured out the technique that worked and tasted the best all on your own.  I think that it's safe to tell yourself that you have good instincts and "good taste!"

Summer

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

The scoring "#"  How was it done?  Is it scored part way into the bake?  70% Hydration would be very wet to slash unless...  Can you elaborate for us?

Mini

GabrielLeung1's picture
GabrielLeung1

The boule was scored 4 times in one direction, and 4 scores in another direction, with with probably about a sixty degree angle between them.

I scored after rubbing a heavy bread knife with water, it would probably work even better with oil, or rubbed with water, then dusted with flour. 

-Gabriel