The Fresh Loaf

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Yes, 3 White Sourdough Breads in a Row

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Yes, 3 White Sourdough Breads in a Row

Risking being struck by lightning from the Dark Side, Lucy came up with another white bread this week.  This one was bit different since it had 20% pre-fermented flour – in the summer – twice as much as usual.  It also had a 1 hour bulk ferment before shaping and no retard of the dough two additionally unusual processes.

I suppose it just shows how variable sourdough bread baking can be.  This one did have a bran levain made from 9 sprouted whole grains and the levain was retarded after it doubled after the 3rd stage but only for 3 hours since the 3rd stage was 9 hours instead of 3 like it should have been.

The levain had peaked and was in the process of falling when we tossed it in the fridge – we fell asleep and it was left on the counter till 5 AM - nearly overnight.  In this case the sprouted flout was almost, but not quite all in the levain

 

The levain didn’t seem to care that is was ignored and mistreated.  When we took it out of the fridge the next morning and stirred it down, it quickly doubled again in one hour as the dough flour and water was autolyzed with the salt sprinkled on top.  Perhaps the larger feeding, nearly double, of the 10 g of NMNF starter allowed it to keep itself ready and raring to do its job.

The bread ended up being 25% whole sprouted grain with the remainder being 1/3 high gluten from Smart and Final and 2/3rds bread flour from the Winco bins.  The 9 grains were: spelt, red and white wheat, oat, buckwheat, rye, emmer and Kamut – our recent 9 grain mix.  Overall hydration was a very low 72%.

Lucy's favorite is Pie - in this case: mango, plum, blueberry, white nectarine and white peach - Yum!

Once the levain hit the mix we did 50 slap and folds to mix it all together and get the gluten development underway in earnest.  We did 2 more sets of 10 slap and folds – all on 20 minute intervals.  Then we did 2 sets of 4 stretch and folds on 30 minute intervals.  Then the dough rested for an hour before pre-shaping and shaping.

We placed the dough in a rice floured basket for proof.  The dough proofed for 40 minute before we started the preheat of the oven to 500 F.  This dough was really moving fast during bulk and proof due to the high amount of levain and the 80 F kitchen temperature.   By the time the oven hit 500 F with the combo cooker inside the dough was 95% proofed – a bit more than one hour after shaping.

We un-molded the dough and slashed it quickly in a square and placed it into the combo cooker.  After 18 minutes of steam at 450 F we removed the lid and continued baking at 425 F convection for 6 more minutes before removing the bread from the bottom of the cooker to finish baking it on the bottom stone.  6 minutes later it was nicely browned and tested 208 F.

The dough sprang, bloomed and blistered nicely under steam and we expect the crumb to be open, moist and soft since there weren’t huge amounts of add ins to get in the way of holes this time.  We started the sprouts on Wednesday at 1 PM and the bread hit the cooling rack at 1:45 PM on Friday afternoon – a 48 hour sprouted, home milled SD – about as quick as you can get all the work done.  Now we wait for the crumb shot. The crumb came out soft moist and open and the crust went soft as the bread cooled.  it has a very noticeable tang too,  Yummy!

And donlt forget that smked chicken 

Formula

20% pre- fermented flour, bran sprouted 9 grain levain @ 100% hydration

Overall

25%  Sprouted whole grain

37.5 % High gluten flour

37.5% Bread flour

72% water

2% salt

Lucy loves a great salad and any kind if Mexican food.  In this case Green Chili Chicken Quesadilla and Enchilads

Comments

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Canine-to-Human brain messenger/interpreter, she and I have been rigging the system to get you to make whiter boules.  Apparently this is so far only a one way street as I am all over the board, but she has you completely under her paw-thumb lately.  If you look closely under her left ear flap, you can see where she placed her implant.  Laking an ear flap, mine is for the world to see, although I tell people it is a ladybug that took up residence on the side of my head.

"The levain didn’t seem to care that is was ignored and mistreated" is my favorite line here and seemingly so true.  As I just mentioned elsewhere, I refreshed my stiff levain this week.  My M.O. is to cleave off a wad of the old levain before replacing it with the fresh one and wrap it in plastic-crap  (thanks DMS) as insurance, and to record the date of the refresh on the top of the tupperware container.  The now two crossed out dates on the masking tape label are from early November, 2015 and early April, 2016.  And it was still going strong, so I probably could have gotten at least another decade out of it.  Quite a life span and resiliency these goopy little buggers have!

The tight shot of the boule's surface is a beaut.

alan

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

your brain from the inside out.  I told her that Doxies don't have much to lose on the brain side of things but she, being the compassionate one, is more afraid her master'e brain might turn to goo like an over ripe sourdough.  It is too late for that but nothing a good implant can't cure well enough to continue down the baking road to Gugglehumph Land.

Those stiff starters can last a lifetime if ignored properly....and stored in Tupperware.  We are starting to like white bread but will soonn have too much of it in the freezer and the dark ones will be gone:-)  You would like this one 

Happy baking Alan

BXMurphy's picture
BXMurphy

I see you baked for 30 minutes and came to 208°F. Your crust looks wonderful where mine is somewhat more pale at the same temperature using David's SD from SFBI's Artisan II class with about 641g flour all in.

How large are your loaves (I'm guessing 800g from your NMNF primer)?

Good job catching that proof in the nick of time! I'm delighted to see how you really can't screw things up if you bake with confidence. I'm learning that I'm underproofing rather than over and think I'm not letting the sugar develop to allow for a deeper color in the crust.

May I have your thoughts on sugar development and crust color?

Thank you, dabrownman.

Murph

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

The 5 things you can do to up the residual sugar for crust carmelization is to do a longer autolyse, add some while malt, use sprouted flour, don't over ferment or over proof and use some fruit juice for some of the liquid ir get some extra sugar in the mix.  Longer autolyse and sprouted grain do it for me.

Glad you like the bread and happy baking Murph

nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

Lucy definitely keeps us all guessing what she'll come up with next. Love the nine sprouted grains, so colorful. Your loaf looks terrific, blisters and deep, crusty color. I imagine you watched the proof (without napping), otherwise it may have taken over the kitchen.

Lucy's looking shiny and fit, but I'm hoping she's refraining from jumping from her perch on the couch. Not a wise idea, even if there's a pie cooling and enchiladas baking.

I'll try out my new yeast water this weekend, started a little over a week ago from an apple from a friend's garden. It's bubbly and smells great, quite a bit less cloudy than the one I tried with cherries a few weeks ago. It probably was fine, but a bit scary looking, even for someone who studied mycology in college.

All the best,

Cathy

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

have in the fridge. It has unique properties and make unique bread.  I still bring up Ron Ray's video on occasion to see apple yeast water happily bubbling away.  

This bread fermented very fast and we got the oven hot just in time.  I was taken by the sour tang it had too, but i didn't taste it till the next morning after it had aged.

Even at 12 with those short legs,Lucy jumps up on and down from the couch.  They say the down part can be bad on the back but she has never had back problems.  We give her 3 steps up on the bed though but she jumps down from there too. - fingers crossed.

Glad you iek the bread and happy baking Cathy - Lucy sends her best to Tillie and Daisy.

Ru007's picture
Ru007

More white bread! LOL!

I think all the sprouts and different grains still make it a healthy bread, which is what I think Lucy wants.

In any case, it's a beautiful loaf! I agree with Cathy, that crust looks really good. Love scoring on this one. I'm sure the crumb will be great.

I'm glad your neglected levain still came to the party. I actually left my levain for my loaf this week on the counter all night too! It seems ok though.

Can't wait for that crumb shot.

Great bake Dab :)

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

this one liked going a long time on the counter.  The sprouted grain really helped with the favor.  Crust and crumb came out just the way we like it.  It was a good thing we were watching this dough closely.  It was very fast!  You would like it I am sure.

Happy baking Ru007

Filomatic's picture
Filomatic

Dab, please explain the use of steam when also using a combo cooker.  First, doesn't the combo cooker obviate the need for steam, and second, it seems that steam could affect the oven temp. 

Phil

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

I was just saying it was under steam when the lid was on.  I do prefer Mega Steam and baking on a stone though,but you can't beat a DO for being easy and foolproof.

Happy baking Filo!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Max and Lexi are besides themselves!  Another white bread!  Both of them being of the black persuasion they are mortified at yet another white bread coming out of that oven of yours :).  They do think it does look pretty amazing with that soft billowy crumb.

That smoked chicken looks like the smoke fogged your camera lens but I'm sure it tasted amazing as for those enchiladas....I don't even know what to say but Fed Ex some of those over immediately!

Happy Baking to you and Lucy from Max, Lexi and the rest of the fur-ball gang!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

reason to bake any for a while:-)  It is hard to come back from the dark side so when you do you need to stay there for awhile.  Smoked a couple of racks of ribs this weekend while the wife was in Chicago.  Normally it takes two of two meals to eat one rack buit somehow I smoked 2 with her gone:-)

Glad you liked the bread Ian and Lucy sends her best to her dark friends!

Happy baking.

Yippee's picture
Yippee

Looks like Lucy is eyeing all the goodies and waiting for her share! Her silky hair is pretty.  I did not realize how petite she is because she looks big in all your pictures.  The bread looks soft and springy and it's good to switch once in while because our bodies need variety of foods.    Mexican food is one of my kids' favorite, too!  So much good food in your house! 

Happy baking and cooking, DBM!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

with.  She is getting heavier as she ages unlike the rest of us......This one is soft and springy.  IT tastes great too.  We like it a lot for a simple bread.  After moving to Arizona 30 years ago you either learn to like Mexican food or go hungry!    We aren't hungry around here for sure.  Cooking and baking are on the top of the ist around her since our daughter has left home.  She just graduated from PA school with honors and is looking for a job and trying to get married in a year ir so.  Busy girl unlike her Dad:-)

Glad you lioked the bread Yippee and happy baking           

Yippee's picture
Yippee

You must be pleased to see your baby turning a new page in her life!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

forward to her working 40 years to pay off her loans!  Hopefully she will pay then off a bit early :-) She is one fine young lady and she landed one great guy for a fiance.  They will be very happy together and have many children who will be smart, good looking and perfect in every way since we are not:-)

Thanks for the congrets