Adding a soaker - is there a maximum percentage?
For flavor variety, if I want to add a soaker (to soften grains) to a recipe that doesn't use one, is there a maximum percentage of dry soaker ingredients I should use in the final dough? I've turned out some decent loaves of Forkish 50% Whole Wheat Bread with Biga, but would like to play with replacing some of the wheat in the final flour weight with flaked mixed grains or whatever's in the freezer. There are so many interesting combos and flavors to consider.
Also, does it make a huge difference in the texture of dough if I soak a flaked mix as is, vs. processing it to a somewhat coarse grind in the food processor & reducing the soaking time? Otherwise, after reading posts here I think I understand the hydration neutral issue and how to handle that, also when to use cold water vs. hot. Thanks!
I have recently started making porridge breads. The recommendation in Tartine is a 2:1 ratio of Water to grain. Some combos need to precook and cool while just soaking might be fine for less hard grains. The,amount of porridge or soaker is as much as 50% of the flour weight.
Maurizio, on the website theperfectloaf, has written up his oat porridge bread process. That is a good reference.
I use a cup and a half whole grains - a mix of whole wheat, barley, oats and rye - and soak overnight in the refrigerator with a cup and a half of water. In the morning after the soaker has come to room temperature I add a quarter teaspoon of diastaltic malt and a half teaspoon of yeast. After this starts bubbling I add a cup and a half of bread flour, reserving about a quarter cup for flouring my board as I do stretch and folds every 15 or 20 minutes all afternoon. One the dough is nicely developed, I shape into a loaf, let rise and bake in a cast iron loaf pan. That's my recipe for making bread that is 50% soaker.
Thanks Jane and Neuse River! Do you sail, and where?. We have a sailboat in Monterey Bay. Didn't realize you could go as high as 50%. Your recipe looks great. I have several multi-grain flaked mixes in the freezer to play with.