The Fresh Loaf

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Sprouted Pa de Pagès Català Sourdough

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Sprouted Pa de Pagès Català Sourdough

After seeing Pa de pagès català - Catalan loaf posted by Abelbreadgallery about a week ago, I knew Lucy couldn’t resist making it something more to her liking by mixing it up some.  She has been struggling with her sprouted grain project but thinks she might finally have it sorted out after this bake- I’m not so sure since after she turned 10 she has slowed down recipe wise.

 

She increased the usual amount of whole grains in this loaf to 35%, and sprouted them because we like the taste if we can figure out  a way to keep the bread from over proofing due to the way more enzymes the sprouting unleashes…..which makes more sugar from the starch  allowing the yeast and Lab in the SD to run wildly out of control.

 

She also dropped the commercial yeast since it isn’t needed and we don’t run a bakery that needs to speed things along even if the flavor of the bread suffers.   She increased the hydration some to 72% and also subbed some Lafama AP and some Winco AP flour too for some of the bread flour.  We did use King Arthur bread flour for a third of the white flour making the protein for the white flours averaging out to 12%. 

 

Why the EU gave this straightforward SD bread made with a little whole wheat and bread flour special status for Catalonia is beyond me since people have been making this same bread all over the world for at least a hundred years and likely much, much longer.  Still, the Catalonians must be proud of it anyway…..but wish it has some rye or spelt and or both to improve the flavor but that would be another bread entirely.

 

Our usual 4 day process was extended a day to get the wheat berries sprouted and chitted,   which took a day.  By the time we dried them in the AZ at 110 F, milled them and sifted out the hard bits it took a day and a half.    We ended up with 28 g of hard bits that we fed to the 7 week retarded, huge looking if only  4 g, of 66% hydration, rye starter over 3 stages to build the final  tiny 7% levain at 60 g.  We retarded the levain  after the 3rd feeding for another 24 hours.

 

Once the levain came out of the fridge to warm up and finish doubling we autolysed the rest of the flour with the dough liquid that included the left over soaker water for the sprouts with the salt sprinkled on top of the autolyse ball so Lucy wouldn’t forget it.  After 2 hours, the levain was mixed in and 6 minutes of slap and folds commenced followed by 2 more sets of 1 minute each.  All the sets were separated by 30 minutes of rest,

 

We then did 3 sets of stretch and folds on 30 minute intervals and had planned to add some sage, walnuts and walnut oil to the mix or possibly some olives with the sage but then decided to make a plain old sprouted white bread since we don’t have any in the freezer and my wife might eat it.

 

After and hour of bulk ferment, we pre-shaped and then shaped the dough into a boule, placing the dough seam side down in the rice floured basket.  The dough seemed pretty springy and full of air.  Into the fridge it went for a 24 hour retard.   We hoped the small levain would not over proof the dough as it retarded but you never know until you look.  When we took a peek at 21 hours it looked OK so we let it go for the full 24.

 

Lucy decided to the boule come to room temperature and bake it then rather than cold right out of the oven.   This bread is baked seem side up and not slashed so a little over proofing won’t be a horrible thing like usual – just semi horrible which Lucy equates to semi sweet chocolate which isn’t all bad. 

 

Since it was only 80 F at 7 AM and cloudy this morning we decided to bake the bread in Big Old Betsy…… if it wasn’t 100 F by 11 AM.   It was preheated to 550 F and when BOB beeped it was at temperature we loading in the Mega Steam under the bottom stone.  12 minutes later the steam was billowing.

We un-molded the bread onto a parchment covered peel and slid the bread onto the bottom stone.  2 minutes later we turned the oven down to 500 F and 2 minutes later we turned it down to 475 F where it stayed for another 11 minutes when the steam came as we turned the oven down to 425 F – Convection this time.

 

The bread continued to bake for another 10 minutes when the bread read 208 F on the inside and was removed to the cooling rack.   The bread sprang well but didn’t open at the seams.  It also browned up nicely with the blisters we love so much.  We will have to see how the crumb looks and how it tastes later for lunch.  It did come out of the oven light as a feather which is always a good sign.

 

The crust softened as it cooled and this has to be the softest crumb of all time.  Almost impossible to cut while still warm out of the oven –maybe that has something to do with it!  The crumb was also open and moist bu8t it was the taste that stood out.  Much tastier than the normal 35% whole grain wheat bread and well worth the effort to sprout and dry the whole berries first.  We like this bread a lot and my wife might not find any left when she gets home.

 

Formula

 

RyeSD Starter Build

Build 1

Build 2

 Build 3

Total

%

7 Week Retarded Rye Starter

4

0

0

4

0.95%

18.66% Sprouted Wheat Extraction

4

8

16

28

6.67%

Water

4

8

16

28

6.67%

Total

12

16

32

60

14.29%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starter Totals

 

%

 

 

 

Flour

30

7.14%

 

 

 

Water

30

7.14%

 

 

 

Starter Hydration

100.00%

 

 

 

 

Levain % of Total

7.71%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dough Flour

 

%

 

 

 

81.34% Extract. Sprouted  Wheat

120

28.57%

 

 

 

 11.97% Protein Flour Mix

300

71.43%

 

 

 

Total Dough Flour

420

100.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salt

8

1.78%

 

 

 

 Sprout Water 125, Water

290

69.05%

 

 

 

Dough Hydration

69.05%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Flour w/ Starter

450

 

 

 

 

Total Liquid w/ Starter

320

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total. Hydration with Starter

71.11%

 

 

 

 

Total Weight

778

 

 

 

 

% Whole Grain

35.24%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.97% Protein flour mix is equal parts of LaFama 11.22% AP.

 

12.7% King Arthur bread flour amd 12% Winco AP flour

 

 

 

 

Comments

golgi70's picture
golgi70

Good move to keep the whole grain down.  I think that's been the struggle you've just hurdled. Looks like it sprang nice in the oven.  I bet it's super tasty.  

Cheers

Josh

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

has been on a learning curve for sure.  I'm thinking that 25 % sprouted grain with 25% whole grain un-sprouted would work fine at 7% levain.  I'm not sure what millers do to dry their sprouted grain,  If they dry their grains on the cool side like we do to keep the enzymes live and well you just can't use much of them in a long retarded SD bread.  But if you killed the enzymes off with higher heat then there is no problem on how much sprouted grain you use.

This time it sprang really well like you said but didn't open up on the seams like it was hoped for.  That may be due to the hydration being 71% vs 65%.  You don't have to try to get the seams to stick together  at 71% - they just do.  Maybe some flour in the seams before final folding would help?  Sprouted bread is more moist and soft then non sprouted too so, baking to 210 F in the inside rather than 205 F is the way to go for sure. 

One thing is for sure sprouted bread tastes better than non sprouted bread - at least to me anyway ...a lot better - who knew? Way more deep and earthy.   I've noticed that, after sprouting, the hard bits of bran and the rest of the flour are both darker in color than they would be if not sprouted.  The taste of this bread is as good as it it gets for being all wheat.  A little bit of sprouted rye and spelt in the levain and dough mix would only make it better.  Glad you liked it Josh and

Happy Baking 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

This bread looks as close to perfect as you can get.  Your photos look real good too and of course Lucy looks like she needs some kisses from her NY fellow apprentices!  Love the food photos as well.  That crumb is super moist and open and I'm sure this one will make some awesome sandwiches.

Happy Baking,

Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

The food and bread has been pretty good of late but did you notice that Lucy paints her eyes the same way Cleopatra did?  Amazing! No wonder Egyptians loved dogs:-)

http://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Hand-Made-Papyrus-Painting-Cleopatra/dp/B00971KH06/ref=sr_1_13?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1407001989&sr=1-13&keywords=egyptian+paintings

Lucy says hi to her East Coast Gang of 7.  Happy baking Ian

Kiseger's picture
Kiseger

She's got the meltiest chocolate eyes, gorgeous!  And your bread is another winner as well, love the blistering!  Well done DAB!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

next to her master  where she might get nice rubdown, tummy rub, scratch behind the ears or ....maybe even a treat! She really is the best friend one could have until you have to brush her teeth.  Then she becomes a real nasty piece of work that two people can't hold still :--)   Glad you like the bread - it does taste great.    Lucy thinks this would be great with sage and walnuts or sage and olives.

Happy Baking

wassisname's picture
wassisname

That's a mighty nice looking crumb, dabrownman!  A simple bread made this well is always a treat, but Lucy must be chopping at the bit (wait, I'm crossing up my animals here... howling at the moon...?  Barking at the mailman...?) to work her magic on such a nice, blank canvas.  I really like the walnuts and sage idea.  If I borrow that one of these days and forget where I got the idea please remind me :)

Marcus

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

I stole the walnuts, walnut paste and fresh sage from Phil's Super Human bread:  It was a great bread with the walnuts and walnut paste (made with walnut oil crushed with walnuts in a mortar), makes for a purple crumb and the green fresh sage is a nice herby touch for sure.  You will like it very much.  This bread is simple but packed with flavor due to the sprouted wheat which are quite different than non sprouted grains.  Lucy will work on it some more and get it just right.   Glad you like it Marcus and

Happy baking  

ExperimentalBaker's picture
ExperimentalBaker

Nice bread and pretty dog!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

She may not be the the best Baking Apprentice 2nd Class but Lucy is a looker:-)

Happy baking