whole grain

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

Pour the water into a bowl and dissolve the yeast. Put the grain mixture and the stale bread, which you have shreadded into tiny bits, into the water. Let it soak for 15 minutes or so.Add the sourdough and salt, mix. Start adding the flour, little by little to make it easier to get a smooth dough.Start kneading. The dough should be rather sticky and difficult to knead, unlike white breads. But you need to knead it for a while to heat up the dough and activate the yeast.Leave it to rise until doubled. I left it for 90 minutes and then I put it into the fridge over night. The next morning I took it out, shaped it into a loaf in a baking tin. Let it again rise to about double size. Just make sure it doesn't overrise and collapse on itself.Get your oven to max heat and place the loaf on the bottom shelf. Turn the heat down to 170 degrees celcius and bake for around 90 minutes, until it makes a hollow sound when you knock on the bottom.If you enjoyed the bread, repeat the process when it gets stale.

I'm a homebrewer. One of the best smells in the world is a boiling pot of wort, and I've always wanted to somehow "eat" that smell. Well, this is what happened on my fist attempt at a "brewer's bread".

 

Day 1: 3/4 c KA bread Flour

  3/4 c Whole Wheat flour

          1/16 tsp instant yeast

  enough water to make a very sticky dough

mix well and let sit at RT for 18-24 hrs then refrigerate for a day.

 

Day 2: Go to your local homebrew store and pick up a pound of your favorite malted barley (or wheat). I used 3/4 lb caravienne and 1/4 lb belgian aromatic. Mash at 150F for an hour with one quart of water. I used a crockpot and a thermometer. Strain the wort into a bowl and sparge with a cup or two of boiling water. Process the spent grain in a food processor until it obtains a paste-like consistency. Refrigerate the wort and the grain paste overnight. 

Day 3: Cut up the biga into 10 pieces. Combine:

Biga

1 1/2 c bread flour

3/4 - 1 c spent grain paste (depending on how much "whole grain" you want to taste

2 tsp instant yeast

2 tsp coarse kosher salt

1 tsp canola oil (or whatever you like... try melted lard!)

1/2 c wort ( adjust as necessary... my final dough was very sticky)

Stir with a fork until you get a ball, then knead with dough hook on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Rest dough 20 min, stretch and fold in bowl, repeat three times. form into loaves or boules, proof 2 hours. Set oven to 500f, pour 1 1/2 c hot water into steam pan and place loaves in oven. Reduce to 425f and bake for 15 min, rotate then bake for 10 min or until dark brown and center reads 200f.

 

I was expecting to get a dark, heavy brick, but I was pleasantly surprised by how light and crispy it turned out. Next time I'll add some hops!

 

 

 

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 700g all purpose flour
• 700g bread flour
• 200g rye flour
• 150g whole wheat flour
• 100g wheat germ
• 100g ground whole grain cereal
• 100g milk powder
• 50g cracked/kibbled wheat and/or rye berries
• 40-50g course kosher salt
• *1/2 teaspoon citric acid powder
• *1/2 teaspoon ginger

First, grind, weigh and measure all the dry ingredients, combining them in the mixer bowl.

Let the mixer stir the dry ingredients to an even blend. I use the paddle attachment turning on its lowest speed in the completely filled bowl of a Kitchenaid K5A mixer. Once mixed, you will divide the dry ingredients into two equal parts.

I should mention here that the portions and processes in this recipe were designed to match my own kitchen and my own equipment. The dry measures completely fill my largest mixer bowl, the four loaves are the maximum that my oven can handle in one bake. 

WET INGREDIENTS

I start building production starter a couple of days ahead, with the aim of having about 600 grams of vigorous starter ready when I plan to start mixing and fermenting the loaves. 

Measure separately for each batch:

• 250g production sourdough (from whole grain rye, whole grain wheat and unbleached KA all purpose -- all organic)
• 660g water
• *2 tablespoons honey (from a local coop)
• *1/2 teaspoon natural soy lecithin
• *1 tablespoon organic barley malt syrup
• *1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Make two batches of wet ingredients. The dough will be mixed in two batches to prevent ruining the mixer by overtaxing its motor and gears. One batch of wet ingredients goes into each half of the dry ingredients mixture. 

MIX

Into each of two large mixing bowls, add one measure of the combined wet, then one measure of the combined dry ingredients. Fit dough hook onto mixer and carefully work one measure of wet ingredients into one measure of dry ingredients for only a few minutes, ending with two batches of wet dough. Cover each  bowl with plastic and let it rest for 1/2 hour.

FERMENT

Dump each bowl of wet dough into the same large plastic lidded tub. Stretch-and-fold dough a few times in the tub, then cover tub with lid and place into refrigerator for total of 16-24 hours.

Remove tub from refrigerator for about ten minutes of stretch-and-folds at two intervals, first after 4-6 hours and once more after 8-12 hours. Rest in refrigerator for final, uninterupted 8-12 hours.

Place at least a pint of water into a clear glass or plastic container and place the container the same spot the final rise will occur. A ball of dough will be dropped into water at the same time as the loaves are set in the rise location. By watching for the moment when the sunken ball of dough floats the the surface it will be possible to determine exactly when the dough has reached its maximum rise. The vessel of water is placed in the area where the final rise happens well ahead of time to ensure that the water achieves the same temperature as the air --and the rest of the dough-- in that space. 

FORM LOAVES & FINAL PROOF

Cut a small (50-75g) piece of dough off and shape into tight ball. Cover and set aside.

Divide remaining dough into:

• 2 pieces @ 950g for smaller (8") loaf pans, and
• two pieces @ approximately 1125g for large (9") loaf pans.

The process I use is to portion two pieces of dough at 950g, then weigh remaining dough and divide it into two equal portions. The larger amounts can vary somewhat but I find this recipe gives the best result from the standard 8" loaf pan when the loaf is formed from a 950g measure of dough. Shape and pan dough into the greased loaf pans. Place loaves into plastic bags or lidded tubs for final rise, then move to the final rise location. 

Now, retrieve the reserved ball of dough and drop it into the glass of water which had been placed hours before in the same final rise area where the shaped, covered loaves have now been placed. The ball of dough will sink to the bottom of the container of water. The ball of dough will remain submerged in the glasss of water for a long time, but start checking it periodically after about two hours. The amount of time required for the dough ball to float (which marks the end of the final proof) can vary widely, from at least two to more than four hours, depending on temperatures and the vitality of the starter. I have found that capturing the precise moment when the dough achieves its maximum rise (but not a minute more) is the key to producing a really remarkable flavor and appearance from this recipe. Excellent and repeatable results are obtainable by using this method to monitor the final rise: when dough ball floats to the surface the loaves must go immediately into the hot oven.

BAKE

About an hour before you think baking will begin, place a shallow metal pan in the bottom of the oven and turn on the oven to preheat to 500°F. As soon as the dough ball floats to the surface of the water it has been submerged in, place a mug 2/3 full of hot water to boil in the microwave. Remove panned loaves from their plasic enclosures and slash each loaf once down the middle, along its longest dimension. Take mug of boiling water from microwave and pour it carefully into the metal pan in the bottom of the oven. Place the four panned loaves on one shelf, set at a height just below the center of the oven, close oven door and reset oven temperature to 460°F. After ten minutes lower temperature to 425°F. After 20 minutes rotate loaves for even browning and turn heat down to 375°F. After 40 minutes begin checking loaves for doneness. I bake the loaves to an internal temperature of 205°F - 210°F, which takes 45-55 minutes. Each of the loaves always seems to need slightly more or less time in my oven. 

Cool loaves on rack for at least two hours before slicing. Flavors don't fully develop until about 24 hours after removal from oven. 

*NOTE ON MEASUREMENTS: Measuring cups and measuring spoons handle thick liquids and small quantities of dry product more accurately and with less waste than my scale does.

Recipe submitted to YeastSpotting page at Wild Yeast.

 

 

Back to basics in my quest for a whole wheat sourdough that doesn't take over my weekend or keep me up half the night.

The method this time is about as conventional as it gets, except for the long, refrigerated pauses.  Some of my previous attempts were so far from my usual routine that simply getting my head around them was a chore, and the bread suffered as a result. My brain will only put up with so much! 

The guiding premise of this attempt did turn out to be "less is more".  The dough sits around for so long that it tends to get worn out by the time it goes in the oven.  So, this batch was subjected to less kneading, less bulk ferment time at room temperature and less final proof time.  And it feels like I'm moving in a better direction.  It's not perfect, but it's something worth tinkering with.

This formula is for 2 loaves - approx. 2 kg total final dough.

Day One - starter build

286g whole wheat bread flour

50g whole rye flour

252g water

110g whole wheat starter @ 75% hydration

Mix everything, knead for 5 min.  Ferment @ room temp (65F) for 12 hrs, then refrigerate 10 hrs.

Day Two - final dough

700g whole wheat bread flour

525g water

All of the starter

2 ½ tsp salt

+20g water for kneading

Mix flour and water. Autolyse 20min

Add starter and salt, knead gently with wet hands 7-8 minutes.

Bulk ferment 1 hr at room temp. then 21 hrs in refrigerator.

Day Three - proof and bake

Flatten out the dough and let it warm (covered) 1hr at room temp.

Divide and shape.

Proof  1 ½ hrs at approx 75F.  Preheat stone to 500F.

Bake 475F 15minutes - 10 minutes covered to steam.

Bake 425F another 40 minutes.

 

Next steps -

Leave out the rye.  As much as I love a little rye in everything I fear that it may be working against me in this case.  Maybe my reasoning is off, but I'm trying to protect the dough during its long, cold fermentation and rye generally encourages more fermentation, right?  We'll see.

Lower slower bake.  The bread is a little dense and takes while to bake through.  It improves considerably after a day or two on the counter, which makes me think a little more oven time could help.  I'll keep the hot, steamy start then drop the temp a little more and bake a little longer.  I'll give it a bit of drying time with the oven off as well.

I think that will be enough tinkering for one bake.  Except maybe I'll also try... =) 

Side experiment - photos below

As I was shaping the first loaf  I decided to try something different with the second.  The loaf  on the right was shaped in traditional  batard fashion:  flattened into a rectangle, long ends pulled to the middle, then folded in half.  The loaf on the left was shaped along the lines of the boule method described in dmsnyder's excellent tutorial.  I gave it three foldings instead of one (not because I thought it would be better, but because I couldn't quite remember how it went, I just knew there was folding - now it is locked in my brain for next time!) and then gently coaxed it into an oblong shape.  There was no visible difference while proofing, but when they hit the oven they sprang very differently.  The boule shaped loaf clearly tried to return to its original shape, resulting in what I think was a better spring and a more attractive final loaf.  Thank you David!

Marcus

 I want my weekends back.  Some of them , anyway.  I would like to have the option of not being tethered to my kitchen, with the ticking clock in the back of my mind, for most of a day off.

The trouble is, I am hopelessly addicted to whole wheat, sourdough, hearth bread.  Not a good place to start.  Staying up half the night during the week is not the answer either, not for me.  I need my sleep.

I realize I am being a little silly here.  There are lots of breads I could, and do, make during the week, but this is the one that I can't get out of my head.

Tinkering with conventional scheduling strategies got me pretty close to my goal.  Build a starter one night, mix a final dough the next, cold ferment, then warm/shape/bake the third night.  The third night has been the problem.  My reliable window of opportunity is generally 4 hours.  The lump of cold dough just wasn't coming around quickly enough.

After a while I was just thinking in circles and getting nowhere.  A new tack was called for.  Why not start from the other end of the spectrum and work back toward the middle?  Goodbye tried and true, hello bizarre and unusual. 

Night 1

Build a large amount of starter.  288g WW bread flour / 216g water / 95g seed starter.  Refrigerate immediately! 

Build a small soaker.  100g WW bread flour / 75g water / 2g salt.  Leave at room temp.

Next Morning

Take starter out of refrigerator.

Night 2

Combine starter and soaker.  Add 50g Whole Rye flour / 7g salt / 40g water (added while kneading).

Knead 7-8 min.  Rest 10 min. Shape.  Rise 2 hrs.  Bake w/ steam 10 min @ 475F, then 425F for 40 min.

 

If you're still reading this I'm sorry.  This is more for me than for you - like therapy.

If you're following the logic I'm impressed, because even I'm having a hard time keeping track of what I was trying to do.  At this point, I'm having a hard time just keeping track of what tense I'm in.

Here's the thinking:  Skip the bulk ferment - put nearly all the flour in the starter and soaker to develop flavor and gluten ahead of time.  Huge starter percentage- Nearly 70% of the weight of the finished dough to strengthen the dough, speed the final rise and further compensate for lack of bulk ferment.  Refrigerate starter first- then bring it out to ferment so there is nothing cold going into the final dough.  Add Rye to final dough- to jumpstart fermentation.

I was expecting disaster, but I have certainly made worse loaves.  The gluten seemed pretty worn out during kneading and it shows in the final result.  The crumb is fairly tight, but soft and moist.  It didn't go gummy, which surprised me.  I see a few obvious improvements I could make to the method so I'll probably give it one more go, but I'm not sure the result is worth all the strangeness.

Final note - it occurred to me just before I started this post that I could simply split my conventionally prepared dough into two smaller loaves and save at least 20 min on baking time right there... huh... waddayaknow... but where's the fun in that!

Marcus