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During out trip to England my kids fell in love with English granary bread.  So I came up with a recipe that I thought would produce something similar to that lovely soft, nutty tasty grainy english favourite.  It worked out great and after a couple of test bakes its now featured on mybreadandbrot.com.  So if you also like a sandwich/toast bread that is healthy, high fibre, tasty, perfect for sandwiches or toast, then this recipe would be a good for you.  

This bread box was made by my brother. The wood is from an oak tree that was removed when a house was built 5 miles away 15 years ago. Lumber was milled from the tree and used as trim and stair treads in the house. The leftover was given to my brother. 

 The wood was cut, fitted, sanded and glued mostly by hand it has no fasteners other than screws in the hinge. The wood was treated with linseed oil then finished with satin polyurethane. I'm just guessing that there was in excess of 30 hours work involved, when you enjoy what your doing who keeps track. It came out beautiful. 

I told him that if we put it on the Web he could get at least $19.99. The reply was maybe for 15 easy payments.

Now I've got  to make some bread worthy to be put in the box.

Stu

I had one more can of Guinness left so figured I might as well put it to good use.  I finally had some time to mill some fresh flour especially after finding rye berries at Whole Foods again. For this loaf I milled some fresh whole rye, spelt and whole wheat flours.

I wanted to add a little sweetness to this loaf so decided to add some real maple syrup I bought last time I visited KAF in Vermont last year as well as some balsamic maple vinegar.

I have to say you can really taste the Guinness in this one and the maple ingredients add a nice sweet background flavor.  All in all it's a tasty bread, great for sandwiches or a schmear of cream cheese.

Formula

Download the BreadStorm File Here.

Levain Directions

Mix all the Levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, rye chops and most of the beer (hold back around 30 grams) together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), balsamic and maple syrup and mix on low for 1 minute.  Add the remainder of the beer and mix on low for 5 additional minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.   Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.  The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 550 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 500 degrees and after another 3 minutes lower it to 450 degrees.  Bake for 25-35 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 210 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.