Wheat

 Wanting to bake another sourdough bread with a larger portion of whole rye, I started searching on the internet, and came across this recipe:

http://beginningwithbread.wordpress.com/2008/11/08/sourdough-rye-with-walnuts/

This was interesting because I had some walnuts left from something else. Not quite enough, so I added some sunflower seeds. Roasted them a bit.

I had already fed my sourdough starter and put it in the refridgerator before it reached its peak. The recipe mentions adding instant yeast in the final dough. I omitted that, because I wanted it pure sourdough.

Around midnight last Saturday I made the levain, whole rye, water, my starter. Did add a bit more than in the recipe. Left this out to ferment. 14.00 in the afternoon on Sunday I made the final dough, but did not let it rise outside, but instead kept it in the refridgerator (I had a party, so I didn't have time to bake it then). A 24 hour rise in the refridgerator later I took it out, formed a batard and let it proof for about 2,5 hours on a couche. 
Baked following recipe, and this came out: 

Update: Crumb photo's:

Today I baked the bread as described on this blog:

http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/08/my-new-favorite-sourdough/

I fed my starter yesterday evening, and it had more than doubled in volume this morning. After a quick trip to the local reform store, or "Ekoplaza" as this store is called, for some whole rye flour, I started the dough following the instructions. Made half of the recipe, opting to bake two 500 gram breads. 

Kneading and then S&F during bulk ferment went fine, so I then set up a couche from parchment paper. Shaped into two small batards and proofed for 2.5 hours. I had never really transferred bread from a couche to a peel, but I assumed I had to flip them on something and then put them on the peel, because they were supposed to proof seam-side up. This proved to be a bit of a problem because the dough had sticked to the sides of the couche. Guess I'll be getting me some cloth to use next time, I'm sure that would work better. You simply can't put flour on parchment paper, fold it so the paper is perpendicular to the table and expect it to stick ;). 

Eventually it did work out great though :) :

Edit:

Here are two photo's of the crumb. Didn't make them yesterday because the bread was still cooling. Thanks for the compliments!

No crazy marathon baking for me this weekend - just one loaf of bread and one apricot frangipane tart.

I love English apricots - a massive box for £2.50, can't complain, can I? I wonder if I can make a recipe for Apricot bread? Hmmm....

Meanwhile, I did a take on Western Wheat Bread from "Discovering Sourdough" e-book. I have a comment "very good" written next to the recipe in a print out - I do remember it being good when I made it last time, following the recipe exactly. Now I've decided to play around with the recipe a little bit - it came out looking quite nice, can't wait to cut it open and have a taste of it tomorrow.

Full recipe and pictures here

This recipe is inspired by quite a few recipes I've read the past few months. In my opinion this makes an excellent rye loaf.

Ingredients:

• 300 g Cold water
• 100 g 5-grain
• 100 g Stale rye bread
• 100 g Sourdough (click for my recipe)
• 5 g Fresh active yeast
• 10 g Sea salt
• 200 g Whole rye flour
• 200 g Graham flour

Ingredients:

• 1 dl (100g) lukewarm to warm water
• ½ dl (50g) plain naturel yogurt
• 15g fresh active yeast
• 8 g honey
  (pref. liquid)
• 10 g sea salt
• 10 g olive oil
  (this is a minimum, feel free to use more, I reckon 25g would be ideal)
• 250g various types of flour, I used and recommend:
  30g Graham flour
  70g semolina flour
  150g wheat baking flour
• Poppy or sesame seeds or for sprinkle

This recipe is very small, the smallest I've ever made. Usually I double the ingredients mentioned, except for the yeast, the dough rises just fine with 15g.

Recipe:

(Work: 20 mins - 1st rise: 30 mins - work: 5 mins - 2nd rise: 35 mins - bake: 30 mins)
Estimated time from start to finish: 2 hours 

Mix the warm water and yogurt, so you get a tepid mixture. Add the yeast and stir till dissolved. Add salt and honey and dissolve. Add the flour to the mixture, I ususally add 100g, mix and add then add more.

Knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes, put it into an oiled container, cover it with a hot teatowel and leave it to rise for 30 mins or so, can be more or less, usually more means better and less means less good.

Should be doubled after half an hour and shape it into a loaf. Place the loaf onto your baking surface of choice. Pat the bread with milk and sprinkle the seeds on top of it. Cover it again with a warm towel and let it rise for 30-60 minutes; Afterwards put the loaf into your oven.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the crust is golden and it makes that hollow sound you know so well, when you knock on the bottom of it.

Enjoy.