My stocks have been running low. Grains, flour, salt and even the bread in the freezer have all taken a beating over a busy Christmas period.
With suppliers back on board after holidays I was more than a little relieved when a new shipment of biodynamic wheat and spelt grains finally arraived.
Along with the grain, I was also in need of white flour. The idea of leaving a gentler footprint to me means that if I have to use processed white flour then it should be from a local and organic producer. So for this reason I have switched to organic plain white flour from the Kialla Pure Foods mill only 150 km away. (90 miles) Kialla’s plain flour with a protein level of 12.5% is stronger than the bakers flour I been currently using but has a slightly creamier colour and chewier mouth feel. For this weekends bake though, I wanted wholegrains and organic. I hadn’t planned on baking any rye until a friend suggested she would like to try a lighter rye sourdough. Nat and I have a strong appreciation for caraway seeds with rye so this was suggested as well.
Organic 40% Rye Sourdough with caraway
Formula
Overview | Weight | % |
Total dough weight | 1800g | |
Total flour | 1071g | 100% |
Total water | 769g | 72% |
Total salt | 19g | 1.8% |
Prefermented flour | 428g | 40% |
Desired dough temperature 26-27°C | | |
| | |
Rye sour build – 12-14 hrs 22-24°C | | |
Starter (not included in final dough) | 21g | 5% |
Freshly milled rye flour | 428g | 100% |
Water | 428g | 100% |
| | |
Final dough | | |
Rye sour | 856g | 133% |
Organic plain flour | 643g | 100% |
Water | 341g | 53% |
Salt | 19g | 1.8% of total flour |
Caraway seeds | 19g | 3% |
Method
- Mix rye sour and leave overnight to ferment
- Next day disperse rye sour in remaining water and add flour.
- Knead for 5 mins (this is sticky and uncomfortable)
- Add salt and knead for a further 10 mins until dough starts to show signs of smoothness.
- Gently mix in caraway seeds until combined.
- Bulk ferment one hour
- Gently preshape. Bench rest 20 mins. Gently shape into batards.
- Final proof was one hour at room temperature (27°C).
- Load into oven with steam at 230°C for 10 mins then reduce temperature to 200°C and bake a further 30 mins.
The rye sour had developed nicely and apart from the seemingly unending stickiness of kneading, the dough eventually bulk fermented into a smooth dough that shaped quite easily.
The final proof kept me only my toes as I was mowing the backyard and ducking inside every 15 minutes to check on it’s progress, as it has been quite hot and humid recently.
I am particularly fond of the crumb colour with the caraway seeds hidden amongst the rye bran. The flavour is a really nice balance of a subtle rye tang with a puff of caraway scent on some bites.
I also baked a pair of simple organic wholegrain sourdoughs - the first breads for our household this year. The levain contains a proportion of Kialla plain flour so approximately 90% of the flour is freshly milled wholegrains.
I tried a few new procedures with this bake. I milled the wheat grains in two passes. The first pass cracked the grains before passing them through the mill again at a finer setting. This didn’t produce much heat in the flour and I ended up with softer feeling flour than in the past.
The other change was the fold in the bulk ferment. I recently read a comment by proth5 on the timing of a stretch-and-fold in a two hour bulk ferment. (sorry Pat I can’t remember where you posted it) If the dough is already well developed before the bulk ferment, perhaps a stretch-and-fold could occur earlier in the bulk ferment allowing some larger gas pockets to develop in the 2nd half of the bulk ferment.
Organic Wholegrain Sourdough
Formula
Overview | Weight | % |
Total dough weight | 2000g | |
Total flour | 1081g | 100% |
Total water | 919g | 85% |
Total salt | 21g | 2% |
Prefermented flour | 270g | 25% |
| | |
Levain build – 4-5 hrs 26-27°C | | |
Starter (60g not included in final dough) | 100g | 40% |
Flour (I use a flour mix of 70% Organic plain flour, 18% fresh milled wheat, 9% fresh milled spelt and 3% fresh milled rye) | 240g | 100% |
Water | 120g | 50% |
| | |
Final dough | | |
Levain | 405g | 50% |
Freshly milled organic wheat flour | 703g | 86% |
Freshly milled organic rye flour | 108g | 14% |
Water | 784g | 96% |
Salt | 21g | 2% |
Method
- Mix levain and leave to ferment for 4-5 hours
- Mill flours and allow them to cool before mixing with cold water from fridge (hold back 50 grams of water) and autolyse four hours.
- Add levain to autolyse then knead (French fold) 5 mins. Return the dough to a bowl and add salt and remaining 50 grams of water and squeeze through bread to incorporate (dough will separate then come back together smoothly) then knead a further 10 mins.
- Bulk ferment two hours with one stretch-and-fold after 30 mins.
- Preshape. Bench rest 20 mins. Shape.
- Load into oven with steam at 230°C for 10 mins then reduce temperature to 200°C and bake a further 30 mins.
This has become familiar dough for me to mix. At 85% hydration doubts can creep into my thinking as the initial mix feels sticky and loose. Press on, add the salt and feel relief as the dough tightens up and releases cleanly from the bench.
The dough felt strong even after shifting the stretch-and-fold forward 30 mins so I left it untouched for the remaining time and was rewarded with light bubbly dough ready for preshaping. I am quite pleased with the proofing on both of the loaves and find I am becoming braver at judging their readiness for the oven. They sprang beautifully on a hot stone.
Some rye bran is visible scattered throughout the moist crumb which contains no hint of sour. The change in bulk ferment procedure has possibly led to a slightly more irregular crumb, but this will need to be experimented with and expanded.
Another busy day in the kitchen which was balanced by an equally busy day doing yard work. The sun is finally shining here after a day of humid grey skys. We plan to make the most of it.
Cheers,
Phil
