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GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

San Francisco Country Sourdough—New Sourer Variation with Wheat Germ

My wife likes her sourdough sour.  And a happy wife is better than the alternative.  Not that I dislike sour sourdough.  Indeed, for some purposes (along side a salad, or as toast, or as an appetizer with cheese, or….), I like my sourdough sour, too.

I hadn’t changed anything up in my usual sourdough bread (which I call San Francisco Country Sourdough) for a while.  I’d been meaning to try it with some toasted wheat germ added, a variation taken from the SFBI Miche formula many of us have played with.  Also, the talk recently about the Larraburu Brothers bread, and means of achieving sournness, had me thinking I should go for the sour.

So I followed my usual formula, but I added 2% toasted wheat germ (18 grams) and an additional 20 grams of water.  To encourage sourness, I let my liquid levain ripen longer than usual (14 hours), retarded the loaf for 16 hours after a three-hour primary ferment, and baked the loaves four and a half hours after the dough came out of the fridge (90 minute warm up, 60 minutes between pre-shaping and shaping, and a two hour proof).

The bread is nicely sour.  The crust is crispy as usual.  The crumb is moist and toothsome but not tough.  The crumb is more regular (less full of irregular holes) than usual; this might be attributable to the wheat germ cutting gluten fibers.  All in all, a good variation.

My sour-loving wife liked it, and noticed the extra wheaty flavor.

Here’s the formula:

San Francisco Country Sourdough—With Wheat Germ (version 12-8-12)

Yield: Two 770g Loaves; or Three Mini-Baguettes (245g each) and one 800g Loaf; or One 1000g loaf and two 270g baguettes; 0r Three 513 gram loaves; or…   

Ingredients

LIQUID-LEVAIN BUILD

100 grams   AP flour

24 grams  Whole Wheat flour

12 grams  Whole rye flour

170 grams   Water, cool (60 F or so)

28     Mature culture (75% hydration)

FINAL DOUGH (67% hydration, including levain)

640 grams   All-Purpose flour (83%)*

85 grams  Whole wheat flour (11%)**

45 grams   Whole rye flour (6%)

18 grams toasted Wheat Germ (2%)

455 grams   Warm water (80 F or so) (58%)

17 grams   Salt (2%)

306     Liquid levain  (48%)   

Directions

1. LIQUID LEVAIN:  Make the final build 12 to 15 hours before the final mix, and let stand in a covered container at about 70°F

2. MIXING: Add all the ingredients to the mixing bowl, including the levain, but not the salt. Mix just until the ingredients are incorporated into a shaggy mass. Correct the hydration as necessary.  Cover the bowl and let stand for an autolyse phase of 30 to 60 minutes. At the end of the autolyse, sprinkle the salt over the surface of the dough, and finish mixing 5 minutes. The dough should have a medium consistency. 

3. BULK FERMENTATION WITH S&F:  3 hours. Stretch and fold the dough in the bowl twice 20-strokes at 45-minute intervals.  Place dough ball in lightly oiled bowl, and stretch and fold on lightly floured board at 45 minutes.  If the dough has not increased in size by 75% or so, let it go a bit longer.

4. RETARDED BULK FERMENTATION (optional):  After second S&F on board, form dough into ball and then place again in lightly oiled bowl.  Refrigerate 8-20 hours, depending on sourness desired and scheduling convenience.

5. DIVIDING AND SHAPING: [Note: if bulk retarded, let dough come to room temperature for 30-90 minutes before pre-shaping.]  Divide the dough into pieces and pre-shape.  Let sit on board for 30-45 minutes, and then shape into boules or batards or baguettes.

6. PROOFING: Approximately 1.5 to 2.5 hours at 72° F. Ready when poke test dictates.  Pre-heat oven to 500 with steam apparatus in place.

7. BAKING: Slash loaves.  Bake with steam, on stone.  Turn oven to 450 °F after it hits 500F after loading loaves.  Remove steaming apparatus after 12 minutes (10 for baguettes). Bake for 35 to 40 minutes total (for 750g loaves; less for smaller loaves).   Rotate loaves for evenness as necessary.  When done (205 F internal temp), leave loaves on stone with oven door ajar 10 minutes.

Glenn

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Leader's WW Genzano Country Loaf, almost

With few exceptions, most of my baking in the past weeks has been, well, pedestrian.  One of the exceptions would be Bernard Clayton's Pain Allemande Aux Fruits.  There's no way a bread like that can be pedestrian, even if the baker's efforts aren't stellar.  There was also the treat of introducing a young South African friend to the simple joys of a Southern-style breakfast featuring buttermilk biscuits, sausage gravy and fried apples.  We initiated him into the Kansas City fellowship of barbecue with lunch at Jack's Stack on another day.  He is also now a fan of key lime pie.  But I digress.

A little more bluntly, I've been baking but haven't invested much of myself in the effort.  And it has showed in some rather medocre, if still serviceable, breads.  So I tried to do something about that this weekend and I'm pleased with the outcome.

Back in April 2009, I blogged about the Whole Wheat Genzano Country Loaf from Leader's Local Breads.  I said that it was so good that I would make it again.  Now, almost three years later, I have.  Almost.

The almost refers to three departures from the formula and process presented in the book.  The formula calls for 250g of whole wheat flour in the final dough.  There were only 140g left in my whole wheat flour container.  How did that happen?!  Faced with a hurried trip to the store or improvising, I improvised by subbing in 60g of whole rye flour and another 50g of bread flour to make up the difference.  So, technically, this is no longer Leader's Whole Wheat Country Loaf.  Rather, it is Paul's Now What Do I Do? Loaf.  The second variation is in the mixing regime.  As with my previous bake, I just don't see the purpose or value of the extended high-speed mix that Leader recommends.  After 10 minutes at speed 6 on my Kitchen Aide mixer (note that he recommends 8-10 minutes at "medium speed" which he defines as speed 8, followed by an additional 10 minutes at speed 10), the dough was already clearing the sides and bottom of the bowl and I was able to pull a windowpane.  That, of course, was after switching off the machine which I had been forcibly holding down on the countertop so that it didn't launch itself.  The third and final variation is that I preheated the oven at 500F and then turned it down to 450F after steaming and loading the bread.

In terms of being more purposeful with this bake, I made sure to pull my starter from the refrigerator and refresh it in ample time for it to be fully active.  The biga naturale was prepared and allowed to fully ripen.  I maintained the prescribed fermentation temperatures.  With the exceptions noted previously, I hewed to the formula and process, only deviating where necessity dictated or experience suggested.  Most importantly, I paid attention to what I was doing.  When it came time to shape the loaves, which is an exercise in minimalism, I was very careful to be gentle.  As a result, most of the gas in the dough was retained in spite of this being a sticky dough that wants to latch onto whatever it touches.  I even did a mini-hearsal of what movements I would need to take to get the shaped loaves onto the stone in the oven, which led to my reorienting their position on the peel.  Based on the loaves' development in the oven, I chose to pull the steam pan at about the 9-minute mark.  That seems to have been a good call, based on their coloring.

Given all of that, was the outcome perfect?  Of course not.  But I'm pretty happy with the bread.  Here's why:

The color on these loaves is much closer to what Leader describes in the book than what I achieved with my previous bake, so my decision to preheat to a higher temperature paid off.  Although the loaves sang softly while cooling, the crust retained its integrity instead of crackling.  Here's a closer look:

The higher preheat temperature had a couple of other effects.  One was to boost the amount of oven spring.  The loaves are probably almost twice as tall as they were when they first hit the baking stone.  The second effect is that the crust is thicker and chewier this time around.  I'll take that, given the richness of the flavor that comes with the bolder bake.

The crumb from one angle:

And face on:

One loaf exhibited slight tearing along the bottom, which suggests that I could have let the proofing run another 10-15 minutes.  However, the dough was so gassy that I was concerned more about overproofing.  

This is a good bread.  The rye doesn't stand out distinctly but it definitely adds another layer to the flavors.  The crumb, a day after baking, is moist, cool and firm.  The crust requires a definite bite and some deliberate chewing.  It went very well with today's dinner of brined pork loin. This week's sandwiches should be good.

My advice (mostly to myself) is to pay attention to the details because every detail matters and good bread is worth the extra effort.

Paul

zekemon's picture
zekemon

New KitchenAid Mixer --- Not the right model for bread or did I do something wrong?

Hi,

My lovely wife bought me a KitchenAid Mixer for Chrismas this year.  Today was the first time I had a chance to bake since the holidays and I decided to break it in with a fairly wet dough (about 60% hydration, 550 g flour, 330 g water + 100% starter).   This particular model has a 300 watt motor with a 4.5 quart bowl (model number KSM95CU).  I should also note I did not exceed the speed setting of 2 while kneading.  (I think I did turn it up a bit higher when I was mixing 330g flour and 330g water prior to autolyze, but I didn't notice anything then and it had a 20 minute rest before I added the rest of the flour and the problems started happening).

I had two issues, #1 is not major but #2 is the real concern.

1. The dough kept climbing the hook. And by climbing the hook I mean it went over the top of the attachment and if I did not repeatedly stop the mixer and push it down, it would have spun up and inside the motor.    This is not a huge issue, I can work with that.  There is also the spiral dough hook I can try, and I can also try greasing it better or making smaller batches.  The next issue is the real concern.  

2.  The top of the mixer got *very* hot and it started giving off the smell of a motor about to burnout.  I've burnt out a few handheld electric mixers in my day and it was smelling exactly like a handheld mixer starts to smell right before it burns out.

 

Now the dough turned out quite nice, so I am happy with that.  My main concern is that the mixer will burnout from repeated use.  I guess we are debating now whether this is normal and not cause for concern or if we should exchange for either another model with a higher watt motor or something else like the electrolux dlx.   It seems like an expensive mixer like this should not have any trouble mixing up a small dough batch without burning out, I mean I thought this is what they were for after all....

Axel's picture
Axel

Looking for flour expertise in China

I am located in China and currently use "Lam Soon" flour from Hong Kong, such us Golden Statue.

I need your expertise in comparison of different types of bread flour from this company. I want to find an optimal flour blend for baguette.

Thank you for your time.

FoodFascist's picture
FoodFascist

Poppy Cake

Poppy seed cake

 

   

This cake is my own creation, made with layers of lightly moist sponge (this is effectively the same sponge as in Black Prince, with minor alterations), a sweet poppy seed filling, and a basic Tiramisu cream filling. I recommend using cream cheese rather than mascarpone because cream cheese has that bit of sour flavour to it, creating a fresh contrast against the sweetness of the sponge and poppy.

Ingredients (makes a 1.1 kg cake or thereabouts)

For the sponge

  • 2 medium eggs
  • 140 g sugar
  • 120 g sour cream
  • 80 g plain flour
  • 1 heaped teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 50 g poppy seed, rinsed

 For the poppy seed filling

  • 150 g poppy seed, rinsed (or 200 g if you aim for a thicker layer)
  • Approx. 120-150 ml milk
  • 3-4 tablespoons double cream
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons honey

 For the cream filling

  • 200 g cream cheese (I used Philadelphia light)
  • 250 ml double cream
  • 1 heaped tablespoon caster or icing sugar
  • (Optional) 2-3 teaspoons brandy, cream liqueur or strong sweet wine
  • (Optional) seeds of 1/3 vanilla bean, or equivalent amount of vanilla paste, or extract (I used 1/3 teaspoon vanilla paste)

 

Method

Sponge

Beat eggs and sugar together to a pale and smooth mass. Switch your mixer to a low speed and add the sour cream in 3-4 increments (or more). Stir the bicarbonate of soda into the flour, fold into the egg and sour cream mix. Lastly, fold in the poppy seeds. (NB I put poppy seeds in the sponge for structure rather than flavour, it’s a bit like adding more flour but without making the sponge too dense.)

Transfer the batter into a greased cake tin. Ideally, use a small diameter springform tin (because you’ll be layering the cake in the same tin afterwards). It’s important that the diameter is no more than 15 cm because we want a tall cake. Don’t worry, the batter is too runny to bake to a volcano shape. Mine usually comes out with a perfectly flat top.

I’ve only got one springform tin and it was in use, so this time I baked my cake in a 1 lb bread tin.

Bake at 180 C/350 F for approx. 30-40 min, or until a wooden stick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Poppy seed filling

Poppy seeds sometimes come with bonus sand in it. So it’s best to give them a rinse, in case. Put the rinsed seeds in a dish and pour over some boiling water. Cover and allow to infuse for 30 min.

Drain in a sieve and transfer to a small pan. Level with the back of a spoon. Pour over enough milk to cover the poppy seeds, plus another couple of tablespoons (should make about 10-12 tablespoons altogether). Add the sugar and 2 tablespoons cream. Cover and heat to a simmering point, then lower the heat and continue to simmer until soft. This takes approx. 30 min. Stir every few minutes and add milk by the tablespoon as required. When it’s ready, stir in another tablespoon or two of cream. Allow to cool and stir in some honey, to taste. You can of course stir in the honey while the poppy filling is still hot, but honey will lose any health properties if heated.

Cream Filling

Beat the cream until soft peaks form.

It’s important not to over-beat at this stage as you want to leave some room for mixing the other ingredients into it. Add everything else, beat together until well combined (only a few seconds!).

Layering

Slice the sponge horizontally to make 3-4 equal size layers.

If not using a springform tin, lay a sheet of parchment paper into the tin so you can later lift the cake out by pulling at the ends. Use one sheet for a rectangular tin, or two sheets, placed crosswise, for a square or round tin.

Lay the first piece of sponge into the tin. Spread some poppy seed filing over it. Press down slightly.

Next, spoon some of the filling over the poppy seeds, covering the whole thing. Use a teaspoon and take care not to leave large gaps, because spreading the filling over seeds is quite tricky. Level out the filling. Some seeds will inevitably end up in the cream filling at this stage, that’s fine.

Repeat layers, finishing with cream filling on the top. Reserve a couple tablespoons for later.

Refrigerate overnight.

Take out, carefully lift out of the tin onto a serving plate. Spread the remaining cream filling over the sides.

Decorate as you wish, I used some butter icing (creamed butter, icing sugar, red colouring for the red icing, cocoa powder for the brown).

If you like the idea, one other version you could try is a berry cake. Just replace the poppy seed filling with some seasonal fresh berries; or if using frozen berries, defrost thoroughly and drain excess juice – you can then use it to soak the sponge if you wish. Sprinkle some icing sugar over the berries, or make the cream filling a little sweeter. You could also replace the poppy seed in the sponge with 50g ground nuts, or leave out altogether.

 

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

How Not to Make a Larrabura Sourdough

I was somewhat concerned with the long fermentation times and moderate to high temperatures in this recipe, but I had time on my hands, so I made the Larrabura Sourdough.

I didn't have a piece of old dough or stiff starter, so I made one with these quantities and let it ferment overnight at room temp.

  • 40 g bread flour
  • 20 g water
  • 20 g white mother starter

I used 45 g of this old dough to make the stiff levain (sponge) and let it ferment for (what I thought to be a ridiculous) 9 hours at 85 F. 

  • 90 g hi-gluten flour
  • 45 g water
  • 45 g stiff starter

I used all of this stiff levain to create the final dough (for 2 loaves) and let it bulk ferment for (what I thought was a really, really, really ridiculous!) 3 hours at (an unbelievable!) 105 F:

  • 1067 g hi-gluten flour
  • 640 g water
  • 21 salt
  • 180 g stiff starter (all of the above)

It was already 11 pm by the time the bulk ferment was done, so I shaped the loaves, put them in linen-lined bannetons, wrapped them tightly in plasti-crap, and (here's the error:) put them in the refrigerator for an overnight retardation at 35 F.

They were just beautiful when I took them out of the refrigerator. They had that certain feeling dough gets when you know it'll hold its shape, score beautifully, and rise perfectly–and they did: They are beautiful loaves with those gorgeous retardation bubbles and all. 

And they tasted of nothing!

Insipid.

:(

 

I followed the Larrabura process (that Doc.Dough posted) as close as I could (until adding the retardation step) and really believed that a (1) overnight-fermented piece of dough followed by a (2) 9-hour ferment stiff levain at 85 F followed by a (3) 3-hour ferment at 105 F followed by a (4) 7 hour retardation would produce (5) really flavorful sourdough loaf; that it might even be especially sour (not something I particularly like, but it's edible if not paired with anything).

I knew the retardation was pushing things (and was a break with the Larrabura process), but I would have never expected it to result in no flavour at all. After all the fermentation, nothing? No taste?

I don't have an explantation for it either, other than perhaps my starter is Lactobacillus free (or the 105 F bulk killed the lactos). (No, I don't really believe that.)

The yeast didn't exhaust the food, because they browned nicely.

I just don't know what happened.

I do know, however, that breaking the Larrabura process by including a final retardation is a good way to produce beautiful loaves that have no taste whatsoever. Or that by adding the retardation step, I simply didn't make a Larrabura loaf. 

lookahead's picture
lookahead

What's proportion of of endosperm, bran, germ?

I am going to buy white bread flour, wheat bran and germ separately and then combine them into whole wheat flour. May I know what is the proportion by weight that I should combine them to resemble the natural proportion found in wheat berries?

BKSinAZ's picture
BKSinAZ

My dough never passes window-pane tests; what is wrong

No matter what recipe, I can never get my dough to window-pane. Does this mean I am not kneading it long enough or is there another issue?

My flour is always King Arthur and my last recipe was http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-baguettes-recipe

I always weigh ingrediants.

TastefulLee's picture
TastefulLee

Need a Child's Guide to Sourdough Starter Development and Use

Hi, all. I’m having such a great time learning and reading on this website. As a very new baker of things containing yeast, there is certainly much to learn and I’m grateful to all who have contributed in expanding the knowledge of others.

I’m currently working on my first juice/whole grain sourdough starter, and I’ve read much about the development and maintenance of one, so I think I’m off to a good start - HOWEVER - there’s a lot I don’t understand. I’m running into trouble when people are discussing things like ratios, and also how to bulk up a starter for use in a recipe. I’m also having difficulty with percentages, such as 100% hydration, for example--what does that mean, and how do you formulate a recipe based on that type of expression?

I know there is much information here, but does anyone know of a post that already exists that specifically and clearly explains these and other information about sourdough starter development and use, from the ground up for those of us who are brandy-new and terrible at mathematics? I think that despite my inexperience and deficiency with numbers, I could manage if I could grasp the concepts I could begin to figure it out. Unfortunately I’m finding that I need things explained to me as though I was in kindergarten. L

Thanks in advance for any information or referrals. Have a GREAT weekend! J

FlourChild's picture
FlourChild

Craig Ponsford's Ciabatta from Artisan Baking- help with crumb?

This is from Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking.  Wonderful flavor, glossy sheen to the crumb and slightly chewy, can't wait to make it again.  The only issue I had was that the large holes were clustered just under the top crust, rather than being more or less evenly distributed throughout the crumb.  And the crumb in the bottom half of the loaf was more dense, with no large holes.  Anyone know how I might improve upon that?

My thoughts focused on either more aggressive dimpling, or on proofing less.  It's a yeast-leavened dough with a 24hr biga and a touch of whole rye and whole wheat.  My biga was supposed to triple in 24 hrs but only reached 2.5x by 28 hrs, by which time I went ahead with the recipe.

 

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