That crumb looks ab-so-lute-ly PERRRRRFECT!

Zolablue, I tried a 'clipped' recipe for semolina bread and remember being distinctly under-whelmed with the result, but this is so pretty I'm going to try again with this recipe. Thanks for posting, lovely as always.

ZB,

Wow, that's phenomenal oven spring. Hey, how'd you do that? I know, RTFM (Read That Fine Manual, a common retort in the technology world), in other words read another beautiful write-up like the one above to know just how it works. Thanks for all the recent comprehensive how-to blog entries with great photos.

Bill

Another beauty ZB! I love that you did this in such a short time. I have a bag of Semolina from KA that I have been looking for a formula for. I'll have to give this a try. Great job as usual on the write up. You're such a pro!

Eric

Browndog, did you use durum patent or the grainier semolina flour?  I ask because I had quite an interesting experience trying to add the latter to a ciabatta recipe.  It behaved very differently although tasted fantastic.  I have been trying to find out how the differences in the grind of semolina affect the dough and final bake.  It's pretty interesting.  Do try this for a luscious loaf.  My hubby just ate a tuna salad sandwich on it and told me it was outstanding!

Thanks, you guys.  Honestly, the oven spring on this baby just floored me.  I let it rise to just about an inch over the top of the pans worrying about letting it go too long based on the other sinking semolina dough mixture experience but it just magically poufs like crazy in the oven.  And it has a very unique flavor that is wonderful. 

I know some people turn their noses up at sandwich loaves but how could you when you get something like this.  Even sandwich loaves have their place.  (I was looking for the perfect bread to make cucumber sandwiches with this summer, while my plant was growing, and I'm betting this would be a good choice and very pretty.)

Loved the texture and slight crunch.  

I totally love the semolina loaves I've made, but I have questions about durum flour as opposed to semolina.  The bread is called semolina, but the recipe often calls for durum flour.  Now, I have semolina, and when that's used up I have durum wheat that I can grind up.

So the questions are:

(1) What do I use in semolina bread?  Is the semolina too grainy?  Will soaking it help?  And if they don't want me to use the grainy semolina, why do they call the bread semolina?

(2) When I grind up my durum wheat in my NutriMill, what will I get?  Can I get durum flour?

Rosalie

I made this with levain (rather than throwing it away when I fed the starter), omiting the yeast in the recipe. Although the color was not so yellow, the taste was terrific and oven spring was great. Definitely a keeper.

 Rosalie,

Here is some information (BELOW) I got off the internet about Semolina and Durum.

It looks like if we grind WHOLE DURUM GRAIN we would get DURUM FLOUR INTEGRALE, like a whole wheat flour. To get FINE OR COARSE SEMOLINA we would have to grind only the endosperm, which we can't do. To get DURUM FLOUR we would have to grind SEMOLINA very fine.

If we sifted DURUM FLOUR INTEGRALE I don't know what the flour would be like or how it would compare, if at all, with what is sold as DURUM FLOUR.

Not much help, I know, but that's all I got. Who knows if TFL's own mad scientist, aka Bill, will be working on Durum. We'll see.

Semolina Granules: When the largest particles of the endosperm of durum wheat berries (a variety of hard wheat grown in cold climates) detach during milling, they're known as semolina. Pale yellow and granular, semolina resembles cornmeal and can be used to sprinkle on your baking stone, work surface, or parchment paper to keep breads from sticking. Semolina granules cannot be substituted for semolina flour in bread baking.  

Semolina Flour: Amber colored and slightly grainy this flour is milled from semolina granules, Pulverized, these granules make a coarse flour that is high in gluten protein. Generally used in making pasta, it cooks up firmly and absorbs less water than pasta made with softer flour. When mixed with organic bread flour or whole wheat flour, semolina also makes fine Mediterranean breads,

Durum Flour Integrale: The whole-grain version of semolina flour, durum flour is made from the same hard wheat and is milled using the entire wheat berry. It has the traditional powderlike, brown-flecked texture of fine whole wheat flour and a pronounced wheaty taste.

Golden Durum Flour: Ground from the endosperm only of durum wheat, golden durum flour is the same thing as semolina flour except that it is ground finer. If you can't find it, you can make it yourself with the help of your blender. Simply blend one part semolina granules with two parts organic bread flour until a silky fine-grind texture is achieved.

ZB, Weavershouse, Rosalie,

I haven't even tried durum flour yet, let alone grinding my own durum wheat berries. I suppose the day will come eventually. Right now, I'm too wrapped up just fine-tuning all the milling and sifting steps for regular hard winter wheat. Next, I want to make a high extraction flour from some of the high protein northern plains wheat berries from Wheat Montana. I guess durum would be after that. The problem is that it's hard for me with just a mill and sieves to make fine, very low ash flour with a decent yield so far. I wonder if you could make a version of this recipe that would be from a higher extraction, finely milled (at home) durum flour that would still be good? Or, is the point of this to be super light in color and texture?

Bill

I'm new at this, so please forgive me if I'm asking a dumb question, but I'm a little confused on the ingredient amounts.  The recipe says: (1 1/2 cups/10.6 ounces) water -- but aren't there 8 ounces in a liquid cup, which would make 1 1/2 cups = 12 ounces?  And I don't know gram conversions at all, so that doesn't help me. 

 Thanks for your help -- I'd like to make this bread, it really looks yummy!!

I weigh in grams when I bake and actually never thought of this while I was typing the recipe. I just checked the book and I have copied it the way it is written. It does seem that 1 1/2 cups of water would translate to 12 ounces instead of 10.6. Am I missing something magical here about fluid ounces or is this another typo in the book? Perhaps he meant to say 1 1/4 cups of water...?

Dolf - Can you help? Or maybe add this to your list? (Page 251...:o)

 I made this recipe last night, although i did not get your beautiful rise it did taste and come out pretty darn good.

The only problems i had were that the extra virgin olive oil overpowered the taste too much. Is it supposed to taste that way?  And you say for standmixer to use the dough hook on speed 4, my kitchnaid hook says to use only on speed 2. Is it safe for speed 4 ( I'm so new to the world of bread!)

Also on an interesting note: those of us (myself included) who lack kneading skills/time and use a stand mixer or bread machine to do the kneading I found that the bread machine dough barely rose above the rim of my pan, while my kitchen aid dough went at least 2 inches above.

Thanks for the yummy recipe!

Oh, no, I didn't find the olive oil at all overpowering. The semolina has such a distinct flavor and I found this bread so good, in fact I've been craving it lately. I agree with Leader that it is a great introduction to fine semolina flour but then I am just mad for the stuff. I found it strangely elegant for a rustic pan loaf.

As for the stand mixer instructions, well, those are Leader's. I honestly did not realize that KA states never to go above speed 2. Trust me, I beat certain dough on high speed based on some of Leader's recipes and in my KA mixer! Poor thing, those KA mixers just are not made for dough and to be abused this way. I won't go into all the problems I experienced but suffice it to say they were great enough that I went out and bought myself a new Electrolux DLX mixer and I've never looked back.

I'm not familiar with a bread machine but that is interesting about the rise differences. One thing that is stressed about semolina is that you have to be very careful not to let it overproof so that could be part of the problem in not getting quite as high of rise but also Hamelman talks about a point at which the dough can quickly break down from overmixing so it may be a fine line. I was shocked at the way mine sprung up and I'm quite sure I was jumping up and down when I saw it!

Your bread looked so good I had to try!  I got hold of some fine semolina quite easily and used that. Results weren't as attractive as above but it still tasted alright.

 Photos here

I just tried this out with the Bob's Red Mill Semolina flour and I think it's too coarse for this recipe. The bread came out almost exactly like yours but it was a little too gritty for my tastes. That may also be attributed to a mistake on my part if I didn't knead it enough, the crumb wasn't as yellow as yours however so I think I kneaded it even more than you did because I oxidized it a little making a whiter crumb.

For some reason the olive oil tasted odd for me, but another person who tried it liked the olive oil flavor. Maybe next time I'll try a cheaper olive oil that's milder and a finer flour.

It certainly was pretty though and it's a nice recipe. 

You're right, you need to use DURUM Semolina, the other is too coarse. I don't knead at all, just a couple of Stretch and Folds and mine doesn't come out as yellow as zolablue's either. Might be her camera. This is one of my favorites and I make it often. A strong olive oil might give you a stronger olive oil taste but I wouldn't use a cheap oil because that might give you a stronger or bad taste. We don't really taste the oil at all, it just tastes buttery to us. I buy a medium priced oil. Good luck, hope you try it again.                                                       weavershouse

And threw them into my grinder/blender for a few minutes (batches of 150g) being careful not to overheat.  The granules were only semi-pulverized but I made it anyway.  I used sunflower oil, and hardly kneaded at all.  The loaf came out yellow and tastes great!  After 30 min oven time, I took the loaf out of the pan and gave it 10 more minutes baking on rack for a lovely crunchy crust.  The grain was grown here in Austria, w..a..y down south.  The granules (grieß as it is called here) is sold here for dumplings and gnocchi.   

Mini O