The Fresh Loaf

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Sept 15: 66% Whole Grain Porridge Loaves

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

Sept 15: 66% Whole Grain Porridge Loaves

Thanks to the influence of Isand66 and danni3ll3 and dabrownman (among others), I seem to have become somewhat hooked on the textures and flavours created by adding a cooked porridge made with toasted grains.  Since I wasn't sure how my "challenge" rolls would taste, I still wanted a moist and flavourful loaf for our sandwiches, and went with one of my favourite techniques:

INGREDIENT

AMOUNT (g)

FLOUR TOTAL (g)

% WATER

WATER (g)

BAKER'S %

LEVAIN

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh Milled Durum

90

90

 

 

10.18

Water

72

 

 

72.00

8.14

TOASTED ADDERS

 

 

 

 

 

Steelcut Oats

20

20

 

 

2.26

Rye Flakes

20

20

 

 

2.26

Barley Flakes

20

20

 

 

2.26

Wheat Germ

20

20

 

 

2.26

Oat Bran

20

20

 

 

2.26

Whole Millet

20

20

 

 

2.26

PORRIDGE (made w/ toasties)

 

 

 

 

Non-fat Dry Milk Powder

40

 

 

 

4.52

Full Fat Sour Cream

60

 

74.5

44.70

6.79

Water

158

 

 

158.00

17.87

DOUGH

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh Milled Durum

105

105

 

 

11.88

Fresh Milled Hard Red Wheat

105

105

 

 

11.88

Spelt

150

150

 

 

16.97

Red Rye Malt

7

7

 

 

0.79

White Rye Malt

7

7

 

 

0.79

Salt

13

 

 

 

1.47

All Purpose Flour

300

300

 

 

33.94

Water

400

 

 

400.00

45.25

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Dough Weight

1627

 

 

 

184.05

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Flour

 

884

 

 

100.00

Total Water (Hydration)

 

 

 

674.70

76.32

 

LEVAIN: Use 8g of 65% hydration durum starter from fridge and do a 3-stage build up to highly active 162g of 80% hydration levain (90g of durum / 72g water). Plan to use shortly after peak on 3rd feed (refrigerate at peak and hold overnight)

PORRIDGE:
Toast 20g each of millet, steel-cut oats, oat bran, wheat germ, rye flakes, and barley flakes over medium heat.
Add 280g of boiling water to 40g of dry milk powder and 60g of sour cream. Whisk until fully blended. Set aside extra hot water.
Remove pan with grains from heat, and carefully pour in about 3/4 of the hot water mixture. Stir until it is fully absorbed. Add the rest of the liquid, and return pan to medium-low heat, cooking until reaches soft and creamy consistency. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

AUTOLYSE:
Mix together 105g of freshly milled whole hard red wheat, 150g of whole spelt, 105g of freshly milled whole durum, 300g AP flour, 7g diastatic rye malt, 7g red rye malt, and 400g of water in to a shaggy mass. Cover and let rest for 2 hours.

DOUGH:
Add levain and 13g salt to the autolyse. Knead for about 10 minutes (minimal gluten development), then cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
Knead again (about 300 turns) up to medium gluten development, adding water if needed. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Transfer dough to wet work surface, and do 2 full sets of stretch-and-fold. Roll in to tight ball, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.
Weigh out the now cooled porridge to determine how much water was used. Spread out dough on wet work surface, and spread out the porridge over top as evenly as possible. Incorporate the porridge using a few sets of letter folds. Do a dozen or so slap-and-folds if needed to get it fully incorporated. Transfer to clear fermenting container, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.
Do two more sets of stretch-and-fold in the container on 30 minute intervals, then transfer container to the refrigerator overnight.

PRE-SHAPE, SHAPE, PROOF, BAKE:

Once dough has fully fermented in the fridge, transfer it to a clean work surface, divide in to two equal sized pieces, and pre-shape both in to rough logs. Cover and allow to bench rest for 30-60 minutes.

Lightly dust work surface with flour, then flip, de-gas, and stitch / shape in to final loaf shapes. Transfer to bannetons, one covered in a damp towel and allowed to proof on the counter, and the other covered by a plastic bag and placed back in the fridge for an hour.  After the hour, put it on the counter to finish proofing as well.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F with roaster inside.

Once dough is fully proofed, score then transfer to roaster. Bake covered at 450 degrees for 25 minutes, then uncovered at 425 degrees for 25 minutes (to internal temperature of 200-202 degrees). Transfer to cooling racks to cool completely, while returning roaster to oven and again pre-heating to 475 degrees F.  Repeat with second dough once it has fully proofed and oven is hot.

Do not cover loaves until fully cooled (at least 6 hours) and do not slice until next day.

On all previous bakes with this much dough, I have shaped and baked it as a single loaf.  With some conversations about shaping and scoring here in the fora recently, I decided to split this attempt in to two loaves, to see if it made any difference to the shaping and scoring.  Well - what a difference!  Getting a good shape, with a tight skin, is much easier with less dough --- and the scoring works better with that tighter skin.

I still wasn't feeling great, so didn't think about getting pictures of both loaves until the next day when I was slicing one up for sandwiches:

While I was very happy with the shaping and scoring, I was over the moon with our idea of a "perfect" crumb for sandwiches:

This loaf was first sliced on Saturday --- and I had the last slice from it this morning.  It was stored in a plastic bag on the counter, and it was so moist and fresh-tasting still this morning that I enjoyed it plain --- not toasted, and no toppings.  The second loaf came out just as good, and is more than 3/4 gone in sandwiches and nibbling.  The last bits are in the freezer, but I doubt that they'll be there for long...

For a few days when I wasn't feeling well, it sure was nice to have the bakes fall so nicely in to place.  Hoping that all of your bakes work out so well, too, and that you still manage to bake happy (even if a wee bit under the weather)...

Comments

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I really enjoyed reading your detailed method on how you make your porridge breads. I need to try cooking grains into a porridge like you do instead of just soaking them. Maybe I will try this this weekend!

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

I find that just scald / soak is about the same when using mostly oats and barley, but with the wheat germ and rye flakes the texture is totally different when you actually cook them for a while.  Of course, DAB got me hooked on the flavour from heavily toasting them first, then I added Ian's technique for cooking the porridge, and finally using DAB's timing of adding in the cooked porridge on the second set of folds --- well, all of them together give me this kind of result!

It was your Oats 4 Ways that first convinced me how much "more" a loaf can be with some extra soaked grains in it, and I still use your technique for scald / soak and mixing it in with the autolyse when I'm just using softer grains like oats and barley. 

I gotta say I feel pretty darned grateful to you and the others for posting the details of your techniques, so that I can steal them! 

Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to seeing your great results from trying Ian's porridge-cooking method!

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

That is one lovely loaf. Great colour and crumb. Love the write up and gotta try me this.

Porridge breads are fun and they do add really lovely texture and flavours to the bread.

Enjoy!

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

I knew what I was talking about with my "gateway loaf" comment - I'm just a wee bit ahead of you on that road of addiction! 

I will still use your approach of trying any new-to-me grain either straight up by itself, or in a plain recipe that I've done before (I haven't found a better way of getting the "feel" for a grain - its behaviour and feel and flavour), and love having a simple loaf now and then, but it sure is fun to play with additions like the porridges!

Thanks for your kind words - and I look forward to seeing *your* crumb on this one!

Keep baking happy, Abe!

Best, Laurie

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Because that sounds a lot like something he would do, with some dab overtones in the malts. 

In all seriousness, that looks and sounds like a scrumptious bread.  Lots and lots of good flavors and textures going on those loaves. 

How did the dough handle?  It reads like a very sticky dough, from the standpoint of the ingredients and the pregelatinized starches in the porridge.

Paul

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

Well, Paul - the reason it sounds like Ian was in my kitchen is that the porridge preparation is totally stolen from his wonderful and detailed instructions for many of his bakes!  He writes it up so well that it really seems like he's standing over your shoulder with helpful pointers to make sure that you get the best result.

Heavily toasting the porridge grains before adding the liquid is a direct steal from DAB, along with the malts, and his timing of adding the porridge at the second set of stretch-and-folds (with a few slaps to get it fully incorporated).  It's this timing that makes the dough actually really easy to work with - since it is quite low in hydration (this time it was about 62%) during the initial mix and for the manual gluten development.  The porridge doesn't really get a chance to add the extra hydration to the rest of the dough until it is sitting in the fridge for the retarded bulk ferment.  This actually makes the cold dough a bit softer and more extensible than it would be otherwise, making it really easy to manipulate and form a tight skin when shaping.  Since I still need lots more experience to build my dough-handling skills, this timing where I get a lovely low-hydration dough to build gluten on, and an equally lovely higher-hydration so softer and more extensible dough to shape, is pretty much my "ideal" for learning on!

The only time that I had this back-fire on me a bit, was on a day where I mixed the main dough in very dry conditions, so jacked up the hydration to over 78% to get it to "feel right" when developing the gluten.  I compounded that by cooking the porridge earlier the same day, but then neglecting to weigh it to see what it would end up adding during the fermentation.  Well - that one ended up at just over 100% hydration when everything was added together, and was beyond my skills to shape in the morning.  It got bundled in to greased loaf pans and did bake up okay - but I learned to weigh the cooked porridge and do the overall dough calculations BEFORE deciding on initial hydration for the main dough and to be very careful about adding during mixing!  The BBGA ideal of an "hydration neutral" porridge adder is just not something that I have accomplished, but a bit of planning and weighing works out overall just as well.

Thanks again for your kind words - and for all of the inspiration and help you give here!

Best, Laurie

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I had my drone hovering near by giving me live video so I could add my two cents :).

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

between telling the truth (I WISH you had a drone here and I had live advice from you!), and apologizing for killing the drone by swatting at that buzzing in my ear...;)

Isand66's picture
Isand66

i can hear my ears buzzing now!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Wow!  I love this one.  Looks like it came out perfect with a nice moist open crumb. I'm glad I could inspire you a bit.

I actually have a porridge bread ready to go in the oven in a few minutes made with caramelized onions, potatoes and a porridge similar to your.  It's going to my Cousin's for Rosh Hashana dinner tonight.  Hopefully it comes out as good as yours :).

Regards,
Ian

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

instructions, and the kind words!

I have no doubt that your loaf will be far better than mine, and will be perfect as a feature at the feast.

My best wishes to you and yours, Ian, for a joyous celebration and a wonderful New Year.

L'Shanah Tovah

Isand66's picture
Isand66

It did turn out excellent.  Don't know if it's better than yours though!

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

you have used so much technique!..... 

Funny reading this tonight after my not so sucessful porridge type bake - I have a long way to go....

well done Laurie

Leslie

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

It really is wonderful how much can be learned from all of the blogs and posts here, and taking that information and just getting your hands in to the dough. Sometimes I get lucky (like this time) and other times - well, it's a good thing I enjoy learning experiences ;)

The best thing, though, is that it's always fun, and there is always a use for the result (even if that use is altus or bread crumbs).  I have much more to learn and farther to go than you, but I am always looking forward to what kind of fun I can have with the next bake...

Here's to always baking happy!

Flour.ish.en's picture
Flour.ish.en

It looks like a perfect porridge bread. You've got it right in so many ways: toasting the flakes, adding water and sour cream, controlling hydration, using Durum. The detail writeup gives me assurance I can repeat your methodology. Very tempting to try my hand on this bread. Great job!

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

We really do love this bread, and I can't say enough for all of the great write-ups that inspired it, and all of the techniques that I've so happily stolen ;)

Thank you so much for your kind words, and I hope that you get a chance to try your own version of it.

Keep baking happy!

Best, Laurie