The Fresh Loaf

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100% Whole Wheat Desem Adapted from Phils Formula

Isand66's picture
Isand66

100% Whole Wheat Desem Adapted from Phils Formula

I've been wanting to try my hand at making Phil's 100% Whole Wheat Desem bread since it sounded so simple but yet so good.  I had started preparing the Desem starter a while ago but had to abandon it when I went away for business.  I was not thrilled with the way it was turning out anyway so it wasn't a great loss.

I decided to try a different approach for building the starter from my 100% AP White Starter by doing a 3 stage build.  For the first build I used 50 grams of seed starter, 125 grams Bread Flour (KAF), 75 grams Organic Whole Wheat Flour and 200 grams of water.  I mixed this up and left it out at room temperature overnight for around 10 hours.  I then put it in the refrigerator until that evening when I proceeded to stage 2.  I added 142 grams of Whole Wheat, and 85.4 grams of Water.  I left this out again overnight and put it in the refrigerator until the next evening.

For the third and final build I added another 142 grams of Whole Wheat and 85 grams of water.  I left this out for one more evening and refrigerated it until that evening when I prepared the final dough.

I ended up making a lot more starter than I needed, but it was worth building it up to around 61% hydration as the starter was nice and fruity and ready to go to work!

Please see Phil's original recipe for the formula and his original procedures here http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/27999/honest-bread-100-wholewheat-desem-bread-and-some-country-bread.  I decided to change his procedures by using my Bosche Mixer as follows:

After the flour autolyes for 1 hour I added the levain and mixed on speed #1 for 1 minute and #2 for 4 minutes.  I then did a stretch and fold, rested the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  I then did another stretch and fold, covered the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  I did one more stretch and fold and put it in a lightly oiled bowl for 2 hours.  I then put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours I formed it into loaves and put them in floured bannetons and let them rise covered for 2 hours.

I then baked on my oven stone with steam at 450 degrees until both loaves were golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

The dough lived up to all of its good press and had a nice slightly sour/sweet taste.  I have been eating it all week and it makes great toast!

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

100% WW Desem.  Very nice crust, deep brown and the crumb is nice and open and soft looking, with fancy slashes to boot.  That's some $4.29  bread there Ian.  Glad it tastes as good as it looks.  Taste puts it to $4.79. 

Nice bake

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks for the compliment DA.. I was very happy with the taste on this one.

PiPs's picture
PiPs

Hey that's a great looking crust and crumb ... when I have bulk fermented these doughs in the fridge I get that lovely translucent crumb like you achieved with this bake. They do have more 'tang' when using this method.

The scoring looks really neat ... nice pattern. Man that crust looks good!

What brand of whole-wheat flour are you using?

Cheers,
Phil

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Phil,

I used KAF organic WW.  I'm sure it's not as good as your fresh milled but it sure turned out well.

Appreciate your kind words and sharing this excellent recipe.

I look forward to trying this again maybe with some roasted onions and nuts.

Regards

Ian

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Ian,

Lovely looking WW bread! The crumb looks great from what I can see but holy smokes man, when you get a crumb that looks that nice you really need to show it off a bit more with a closeup or two. :^) They are very nice looking loaves Ian, with an attractive scoring pattern and excellent crust. Well done!

Best wishes,

Franko

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks for the comments Franko.

I will try and improve the close up next time!

Regards,

Ian

 

varda's picture
varda

is always very interesting.   I particularly like the look of the non-basket loaf.   The crust color is very nice.   -Varda

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Varda.   Appreciate your  comments.

Regards

Ian

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I'm with Franko..the crumb looks great!  All around beautiful.  KA flours are pretty terrific, too!  

Sylvia

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Sylvia for the kind words!

Regards,

Ian

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Your bread looks delicious! I must make this again.

David

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Dave,

Thanks....I don't know if mine were as nice as yours or Phil's but I appreciate the kind words.

Regards,
Ian