After a long time being intrigued by artisan bread baking, I finally decided to give it a go.  I think I got it from my father, but I usually dive in head first and think "go big or go home."  

Last weekend, after experimenting a little bit with my sourdough starter I decided to pick up a copy of BBA and start baking...with the Poliane-style miche.  Other than not using the high-extraction flour (did a 50/50 bread + whole wheat mix) I made no modifications and I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out.  Of course, you guys are the experts, so please let a newbie know what you think!  Personally, one of the best tasting breads I've had in a while.  3 days after baking and I'm amazed at how the flavor has changed and gotten even more complex! 

Here's a shot of the miche right after shaping it into a boule:

The scoring (just a bought a lame, so hopefully it will improve quite a bit)

Right out of the oven...I think maybe it should be a little darker? The lighting is a little off..probably something to do with my iPhone:

A close-up of the crust and crumb:

Miche cross-section:

I've really only been baking on the weekends, but hopefully I can find a way to work in some bread baking around my weird work schedule during the week so I can post more often.

Cheers!

I have been admiring Andy's breads made with Gilchester flour for some time now - in fact since he posted this, and later this, and most recently this.   But I felt inhibited from trying it, since I didn't see any reasonable way to obtain the flour.   Recently Andy suggested that I might try using Atta flour, perhaps sifted to remove some of the bran.   The idea was to simulate the high extraction, low quality gluten properties of the Gilchester flour.   In fact I now have two different types of Atta in my closet - a 100% whole durum that I have posted on several times, and a more refined durum with some wheat bran added in, that I recently found at a local Indian grocery store (thanks Lynnebiz) both under the Golden Temple label.   I decided that rather than sift, I would just try the refined durum with added bran.    I proceeded exactly according to the instructions here with a couple intentional changes.   First the Atta flour rather than the Gilchester flour.   Second King Arthur AP rather than Carr's Special CC flour.   And one unintentional.   I autolyzed with starter rather than without.   I am so used to doing that that I didn't even check the instructions until it was too late.   Other than that I did the three starter feedings the day before, and left on counter overnight.   I did the first mix (before adding salt) in my Kitchen Aid, but did the rest of the mixing by hand very gently.    I also felt that more stretch and folding was necessary, so I did one more than the one that Andy directed.   And I baked in my WFO for around an hour.   I had a very hard time getting the oven up to temperature today since it has been extremely wet out, and no sooner was it up to temp when it started dropping off.   So while initial temperature was around right (600degF) by thirty minutes in it had dropped to around 380.  But fortunately crust had browned already and loaf had expanded.  

This is quite a large loaf - over a foot in diameter.   I had to score with my long bread knife - this dough is pretty wet, and a short blade would have caught in the dough.   We had this for dinner tonight - one slice was enough to cut in half for a chicken salad sandwich.   The taste is very mild given the high percentage of durum - that wouldn't have been the case if I had used the whole durum - but with very pleasant flavor.    Here is the crumb:

Reasonably even, but with mouse holes, which I've gotten every time I've used this flour.  

So in sum, I wish I had some Gilchester flour for this, but I think Andy's formula adapts well to this version of Atta and I'm glad I tried it. 

We cut the miche today, three days after baking...and after a lazy Saturday lunch sent my parents home with half.

This miche was made on the fly...with these thought processes.

Total dough weight: 1.8kgs
Hydration: 82% (Freshly milled flour is thirsty...did not seem this hydrated)
Prefermented Flour: 25%
DDT: 24°C

Whole wheat Levain @ 60% Hydration: 400g
Wheat Flour Freshly milled and Sifted: 517g
Spelt freshly milled: 122g
Rye freshly milled: 100g
Water: 661g
Salt: 20g

Milling

Cool grains from fridge milled before being mixed with cool water. Autolyse 1hr

Knead (slap and fold) 20mins with 5 min break in the middle.

Bulk ferment for 2hrs with two stretch and folds in the first hour at 30min intervals as dough needed some strength.

Preshape and bench rest 20 min before gentle shaping into boule. Shaped dough placed into mixing bowl with floured teatowel.

Final proof was in fridge as the miche had to wait for oven. I judged that the size of the loaf would take a while to cool and the proof would be complete in the fridge as the dough was pretty lively...was a good guess.

Baked under SS bowl at 250°C for 20mins then 40mins at 200°C

Really enjoy working with dough this size and was happy with the spring the oven achieved....the rye flour adds a touch of tang and earth. A bread of this size sure gets noticed.

One of my parents dogs, Mr Hermann spent some time cleaning crumbs off the floor.....

Cheers

Phil

Hi,

I am considering placing an order to Central Milling for high-extraction flour, the ideal flour for certain Miche loaves.  If anyone in the mid-Hudson Valley, anywhere from Yonkers to Kingston on either side of the river, wishes to go in on a 50# bag, please contact me off list.  Thanks very much.

Rodger

This 2+ kg miche is for an upcoming family gathering. Eighteen of us - most of 3 generations - will be getting together at the Central California beach town where my generation vacationed with our parents in the 1960's and '70's. There are lot's of wonderful memories of those Summers.

The formula for the miche is from the SFBI Artisan II workshop I took last December. I have described the formula and methods here: This miche is a hit! Since then, many TFL members have made this bread and seem to have enjoyed it as much as I. That includes brother Glenn, who has promised to bring along a matching miche.

The only modification of the original formula for this bake was to use half WFM Organic AP flour and half CM Organic Type 85 flour.

 The crust has lots of lovely crackles.

No crumb photos, since I'm taking it intact to the gathering.

I also baked a couple 1 pound loaves of the San Francisco Sourdough from AB&P today. The formula can be found here: Crackly Crust & Shiny Crumb: San Francisco Sourdough from AB&P

I think the "group photo" puts things in better perspective.

David

A collection of my recent bakes:

Poolish Baguettes

Cut for BLT's

Ciabatta (Craig Ponsford formula)

Somewhat disappointing crumb.  Another batch made the following week looked similar

Miche, shaped as a large batard.

With baby for (largely uninformative) scale

Crumb

More Ponsford Ciabatta, made without the final letter fold "shaping"

Crumb, still disappointing

Happy baking, everyone,

-Ryan 

Not too long ago, my SanFran sourdough starter died (of unknown causes) and one of TFL's Bay Area stalwarts, who shall remain nameless (you know who you are!) was kind enough to send me a beautiful blob of starter, which was extraordinarily robust and flavorful.

Herewith, my first results, a rustic flour sourdough miche that weighed in at about 3 pounds post-bake.

Dough:
Starter (70%) hydration 200g (27%)
KA Sir Galahad (11.7% protein) 645g (86%)
Dark rye flour 105g (14%)
Water 525g (70%)
Brittany gray sea salt 15g (2%)

Preparation (intermediate method):
2:00 mix with the flat beater to hydrate
2:30 mix under the dough hook to bring gluten together
Ferment and fold at 1:00:00 and 2:00:00 - total ferment 3 hours
Proof in floured banneton 2:45:00

Bake:
Preheat oven to 550F/290C baking stone in middle rack position
Pre-steam w/ 1c/225ml of boiling water
Load/bake 3min at 550/290 and add another 1c/225ml of boiling water
Reduce temp to 475F/245C and bake 5 min
Add final cup of boiling water at 8min, reduce heat to 410F/210C
Bake 52min for total bake of 1 hour

I let the bread stand for about 18 hours before cutting, and here's the crumb:

Here's a close-up of the crumb:

The cut loaf had a very rich sweet-acid smell.  The crumb was very soft and moist, with slightly chewy, well-developed gluten and a lovely sweet-nutty-sour taste profile.  The rye added just a hint of extra sweetness and the salt, although it has a distinctive flavor by itself, had receded to the background and provided a barely perceptible foundation for the flavor. The crust, which had undergone some cracking and settling as the loaf cooled, was thick and very crisp and chewy.  The deep caramelization gave it a slight hint of bitterness that played off beautifully against the flavor of the bread.

All in all, I'm very happy with the result.  Thanks a million, you-know-who!

Stan Ginsberg
www.nybakers.com

Here are my experiments of David's miche that is absolutely delicious and became my most favorite hard bread. I, who was not a big fan of sour flavor in the bread look for sourer taste in this miche now. I think because of my raisin yeast water doesn't get so sour like acetic acid, it is more like malic acid when I retard it.

 David's miche here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21644/miche-hit

How I made these miche:

No 1. 4/19( Started at 8 AM) to 4/21:

1. Step1 Mixed 26g KA AP/3g raisin yeast water +23g water　→ fermented for 10 hours at 76F.
2. Step2 Mixed the step1/94g KA AP/94g water　→ Refrigerated(42.8F) as soon as I mixed them and fermented for 24 hours until doubled.
3. Final dough: 586g KA bread flour/398g water/18g toasted wheat germ/15g salt

Method:

1. Autolyzed for 40 minutes　
2. Added salt and knead until passed a window pane　
3.  Bulk fermentation 10 hours ( S&F 2 times interval 45 minutes)
4.  Shape→ Proof in a refrigerator( 42.8F) for 12 hours 
5. Next morning: Proof at 72-74 F for 1 hours 45 minutes-
6. Bake I used the 2 pans like Dutch oven method.   

baked 20 minutes at 450F with steam, took the 2 pans and transfer the bread in the rack on the baking stone to bake more 40 minutes at 420F.

 It was little bit sour ( fruity) in 12 hours , but I did taste sour ( fruity) in 24 hours. It was a shocking moment to taste this wonderful bread. After we ate all this bread,I wanted to make more of this bread.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Then I did!

No.2  4/22( Start at 8:15am)-4/24:

1. Step1 : Mixed 22g raisin yeast water/ 22g KA AP--- That was a mistake. I was about to make 26g KA AP/ 26g raisin yeast water.--Fermented it for 6 hours at 76F until doubled. I should have waited until tripled.
2. Step2 Mixed the step1/94g KA AP/94g water- refrigerated as soon as I mixed them and fermented for 88 hours (4/26  6:12 AM) until doubled. I had to wait for long hours...
3. Final dough: 586g KA bread flour/398g water/18g toasted wheat germ/15g salt.

Method:

1. Autolyzed for 40 minutes
2. Added salt and knead until passed a window pane.
3.  Bulk fermentation 11 hours ( S&F Once after 45 minutes)
4. Shape
5. Proof in a refrigerator for 12 hours ( I put the shaped dough in a back pack and then kept in the refrigerator (50F) after I stored the dough in the refrigerator (42.8F) for several hours)
6. Bake 20 minutes at 446F with steam, took the 2 pans and transfer the bread in the rack on the baking stone to bake more 40 minutes at 400F.

The taste was sweeter. When I tasted it in 12 hours, I didn't taste any sour from the raisins. 24 hours later, I tasted fruity sourness slightly.  I rather sourer for this bread. I baked at lower temperature to get brown crust, but I found out that I liked darker crust for this miche.

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No.3  and No. 4

5/2 (Started at 7pm)-5/7: I made 2 miche: One (R)- Retarded , the other one (NR)--not retarded.

1. Step1 Mixed 26g KA AP/26g raisin yeast water x2 ---

                  (R) Fermented it in the refrigerator for 59 hours(  5/5   6 am) until doubled.

                   ( NR) Fermented it at room temperature ( 68-70F) for 12 hours until tripled.

2. Step2 mixed the step1/71g KA AP, 23g KA whole wheat/94g water x2

            (R) Fermented it in the refrigerator for 47 hours until doubled.

            (NR)Fermented it for 4 hours at room temperature (70F) until tripled

3. Final dough: 586g KA bread flour/398g water/18g toasted wheat germ/15g salt

No.3 (NR)

1. Autolyzed for 40 minutes
2. Added salt and knead until passed a window pane
3.  Bulk fermentation 11.5 hours at 68F ( S&F 1 time after 45 minutes)
4. Shape
5. Proof for 1 hour at 68F 
6. Continute to proof for 3 hours at 60F
7.  Bake 12 minutes at 465F with steam, took the top pan and bake 8 more minutes at 465F, took the bottom pan and trasfered the bread on the camp stove toaster  and continute to bake more 40 minutes.

24 hours later, The taste was sour ( fruity) slightly. I also tasted more flavor from the whole wheat that I put in the 2nd levain.  The crumb was not as moist as the others that I retarded, however it was delicious.

No.4 (R)

1. Autolyzed for 40 minutes
2. Added salt and knead until passed a window pane
3. Bulk fermentation 10 hours at 70F ( S&F 1 time after 45 minutes)
4. Shape 
5.  Proof for 1 hours at76F
6. Retarded (42.8F) for 6 hours, decreased the temperature to (50F) and continue to retard for 7hours.
7. Bake 12 minutes at 465F with steam, took the top pan and bake 8 more minutes at 465F, took the bottom pan and trasfered the bread on the camp stove toaster and continute to bake more 40 minutes. 

I didn't degas much before I shaped.   24 hours later, I tasted sour ( fruity) like the first one. but I tasted more flavor from the whole wheat that I put it in the 2nd levain.

 The top (NR) : The bottom (R)

I liked (R) more than (NR). Retarding over night gives the crumb moist very well. 

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No.5(5/12-5/14)

1. Step1 Mixed 26g KA AP/10g raisin yeast water +16g water for 12 hours.

2. Step2 mixed the step1/71g KA AP, 23g KA whole wheat/50g water+44g raisin yeast water.

    Fermented it at room temperature for 4 hours at 70F , decrease the temperature to 68F and fermented it more 6 hours .

   ( Yes, it became really sour ( acetic) !)

3. Final dough: 586g KA bread flour/ 190g raisin yeast water +208g water /18g toasted wheat germ/15g salt  I added 2 tbsp homemade rum syrup that I have kept alcoholic raisins which in my raisin yeast water with sugar.  I hoped that this yeasts which I used more raisin yeast water in the final dough and the rum syrup overcome the acetic bacteria...

Method:

1. Autolyzed for 40 minutes
2. Added salt and knead until passed a window pane
3. Bulk fermentation 6 hours at 68F ( S&F 1 time after 45 minutes) until doubled
4. Shape
5. Proof for 6 hour at 68F
6. Bake 12 minutes at 465F with steam, took the top pan and bake 8 more minutes at 465F, took the bottom pan and trasfered the bread on the camp stove toaster and continute to bake more 40 minutes.

It turned out pretty good. I only tasted fruity sourness ( sweet and sour) which was stronger than others above. but it was really good bread.

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No.6 ( 5/11-5/15)

1. Step1 Mixed 26g KA AP/10g raisin yeast water +16g water for 11 hours until 2.5 tims in bulk.

2. Step2 mixed the step1/71g KA AP, 23g KA whole wheat/25g water+ 42g raisin yeast water.

             Fermented it in the refrigerator for 12 hours until doubled.

3. Final dough: 586g KA bread flour/398g water/18g toasted wheat germ/15g salt .

Method:

1. Autolyzed for 40 minutes
2. Added salt and knead until passed a window pane
3. Bulk fermentation 9 hours at 68F ( S&F 1 time after 45 minutes) until doubled
4. Shape
5. Proof for 1 hour at 72F.
6. Retarded (42.8F) it for 11 hours.
7. Bake 12 minutes at 465F with steam, took the top pan and bake 8 more minutes at 465F, took the bottom pan and trasfered the bread on the camp stove toaster and continute to bake more 40 minutes.

24 hours later, The taste was very cloese to the one that I baked in 5/14.   But I like this better because the crumb had more moist.  

I still continue to play with this bread. :)

Thank you for sharing your wonderful miche, David!!  Thank you so much!

I also thank you everbody to read such a long story.

Best wishes,

Akiko

Tomorrow, Friday the 13th, my sis is celebrating her  50th... go figure :-)

Showing up without bread on my family's doorstep just isn't an option any more.

Since there's a big crowd expected for the birthday bash, I figured I needed something... substantial. And what is more substantial than a Miche Poilâne that can actually stand on its own :-)

I proofed this heavy-weight in my creuset and when I was about to transfer it to the peel decided to leave it right where it was, sort of liking the "push up" the skillet gave the boule.

So I baked it in my (cold) creuset, which was a first. Usually I heat it up when using it. It worked fine, juggling time and temp a little to compensate for the "slow start". 

The oven spring was less than I'm used to with this bread, but the nice shape makes up for that.

I took it out of the skillet for the last bit of the bake anyway. Lately, I turn my more rustic breads upside down in my convection-oven for the last 10 minutes or so. I like my bread just as crusty on the bottom as on top.

Have a good weekend, greetings from Amsterdam

Freerk

Hi everyone,

After my recent trip to Germany, and being just blown away by the piece of an amazingly sour miche I purchased at Soluna Brot und Oel in Berlin (see here for description and photos), I was inspired to try making an extra-sour miche like that one.

I think I came close.  In my previous efforts with trying to make my sour bread more sour (lower hydration starter), I tried Reinhart's idea of using a larger percentage of sour levain in the final dough.  So rather than the usual small amount of levain, I used just more than 40% levain in this dough.

The levain was 1020g (66% hydration) of a total of 2.445 kg dough  (170g starter, 510g flour and 340g water).

I also have had good results in coaxing complex flavors from my flour when making baguettes by using the cold-autolyse method: I put a bowl of flour in my freezer for about 1/2 hour, along with a large jug of spring water (just more than the recipe requires, since some freezes) and icecubes.  Mix the water and flour together and refrigerate overnight.  Since I was feeding the sourdough starter overnight, I decided to try this cold autolyse as well for the non-levain part of the flour.

Cold autolyse: 754g flour with 518g ice water (68% hydration).

final dough: all the levain and cold autolyze, plus 28g sea salt and 125g water.  Total dough weight of 2.45 kg at 70% hydration. 

Fermented for about 4 1/2 hours, with five S&Fs, one every half hour, at the beginning, then 2 hours undisturbed.

Shaped the whole loaf round with minimal degassing.  (I now think I should have bench rested it and shaped it again to further increase the surface tension.  It might have managed a bit more height and not almost run off my pizza stones if I had done so.)

I intended to increase the sourness by also retarding the loaf overnight.  But because of its size and the vigor of my sourdoufgh starter, after two hours in the fridge it was already looking dangerously close to over-proofed.  I don't think a 2.25 kg dough could cool quickly enough to retard the rising happening inside the dough.  So I chickened out; took it out of the fridge turned the oven on and baked it 3/4 hour later.

It turned out pretty good.  Caramelized crust (not uber-crunchy after cooling) with a cool creamy crumb that tastes both sweet and sour (at 18 hours after baking; I hope that will improve with time).

But still there is this ideal, even-more-sour version I had in mind, that the cold retardations could have produced.  

My question: Has anyone had success at cold-retarding large and vigorous loaves like this? Is this size the impediment to effective retardation, as I suspect it would be?

Here's how it turned out:

I proofed it in a large stainless steel bowl lined with my linen couche cloth.  It about 2/3 filled the bowl after shaping.

After 2 hours in the fridge, it had risen to about 1 3/4 the size it was after shaping (which was not fully degassed when I put it in the bowl to rise).  From the look of the surface at this stage, I figured that it was not going to slow down enough by being in the fridge, and it would be better to just bake it soon.

Just out of the oven.  This monster is about 16 inches in diameter; bigger than my pizza peel.  It just barely fit on the 20x16 inch pizza stone in my oven.

Crust is nicely caramelized and cracked in tha few places:

The crumb is translucent, and has nice holes.  None too cavernous, but large enough.