The Fresh Loaf

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Sourdough bread with what is in the cupboard

greyspoke's picture
greyspoke

Sourdough bread with what is in the cupboard

OK, I managed to get hold of some wholegrain bread flour, and some light rye flour, we also have a good amount of (UK) plain white flour and some sprouted wholemeal spelt flour.  And some gluten free brown bread mix (made one loaf according to the instructions and it was... not particularly bready).  What isn't there is white bread flour and instant yeast.

So, what to bake?  I am thinking of incorporating some of the non-wheat flours with the wholemeal bread flour, or using some plain flour with it.  I have had success with 80% wholemeal 20% swbf sourdough loaves, but I am not sure how well just replacing that with plain flour will go.  And I will have a go at an all rye loaf, but what the family wants is some "proper" bread (and for them rye isn't that, though I may be able to persuade them.)  Is the sprouted spelt going to behave like diastatic malt (which I have read about but never tried)?

So any way you look at it, it's experiment time.  All suggestions welcome, I will report back.

Martin Crossley's picture
Martin Crossley

Gluten-free bread... yeah... no thanks.

I'm in the UK too, and bread flour is noticeably absent from the shelves, isn't it.

Concerning the plain white flour, check the label... the 'Waitrose essentials" stuff is 10.5% protein, versus the Dutchy Organic white bread flour at 13.5% which is the stuff I normally use. So not as big a difference as I expected. For comparison, the imported Canadian 'very strong' is around 15-16%.

Can't comment on the spelt I'm afraid...

So I'd say go for a mix of 60% plain white flour and 40% wholegrain bread flour - I don't think you'll go too far wrong. Just don't autolyse it for more than 20 mins as you don't want to risk degrading the gluten more than you have to.

Please do report back :-)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

amounts of rye and spelt, they are married to each other and complement each other.  Hmmm. (You might want to wait on the brown gluten free mix for yeast.)  Typed up this only to miss the whole grain bread flour in the first sentence.   So sorry for all the editing.

  • 40% AP &
  • 20% whole grain bread flour to
  • 20% spelt
  • 20% rye           looks good to me

Toss in an egg white into liquids for added protein bonding and measure it as dough water.  Take a whisk to it before adding to the dough. You can drop the yolk in separately as a fat to soften crumb just don't measure it as water.  I'd go to at least 1.8% salt.  Don't know how you feel about sweeteners.  If you add sugar, subtract on the water gram for gram.  Taste the sprouted spelt, it may just be all the sweetness needed. Yes, it should boost fermentation.

Got any rolled oats?  Smear your tin with salt free butter and dust with the oats.  Could also roll the shaped dough in them for free standing loaf.  (I'm getting hungry.)

I take it this is going to be a sourdough?  Toss the rye in with the starter for the levain along with some of the wheat. The acids will help the rye stretch.

Martin Crossley's picture
Martin Crossley

Mini, you never fail to surprise me - adding egg white to boost the protein... i’d never have thought of that in a million years! Genius!

greyspoke's picture
greyspoke

Thanks Mini and Martin.  Egg whites - a whole egg is recommended in bread machine recipes, as is skimmed milk powder. I have tried the latter in sourdough, not an egg yet - I will give it a go.  The plain flour says it is 9.7% protein, so not too low.

So we have Mini's "use them all" approach, whereas Martin's idea has the advantage of really testing out how the plain flour works.  Anyhow, I have got the starter out of the fridge and it is reviving and I will start mixing in the morning.

greyspoke's picture
greyspoke

So I went with Mini's idea, more or less:

  • Wholemeal bread 16%
  • Wholemeal rye 4% (all in the levain)
  • Wholemeal sprouted spelt 20%
  • Light rye 20%
  • Plain 40% (4% in the levain)
  • Water 75% including the white of a small egg for 400g flour
  • Fat 5% made up of the egg yolk and some hazelnut oil
  • Dried skimmed milk 7%
  • Salt 2%
  • lightly ground toasted sesame seeds for sprinkles

So the levain was 8% by flour weight, at 100% hydration, well fruity as I had left it overnight.  I autolysed the dry ingredients (apart from the salt) with the egg-whitey water, then added the levain, fats and salt.  Proofed at a dough temperature of 25C for 4.5 hrs with two Rubaud type mixes and four in-bowl stretch and folds, shaped then proofed for a further 1.5 hrs, then 6 hours in the fridge, then baked in a cast-iron Le Creuset for 15 mins on max in a fan oven, a further 30 mins at 180C.

I think it needs more water, I don't normally get that high edges to the scoring.

We will see in the morning if it passes the marmalade test.

TIM

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

sounds so delish!  

I think you got my telepathy note on adding skimmed milk powder.  Looks good from here!  Must have fantastic aromas.

greyspoke's picture
greyspoke

(Sorry for the moody photography, there was this shaft of sunlight in the kitchen.)

Well it is a bit dense, but soft with some strength to it, tasty and makes good toast, and the holes aren't so big they let marmalade through.  Those last two are probably down to the water content, I find higher hydration loaves don't make for even toast, the crust gets burnt before the crumb gets a toasted layer.

Actually, I have been thinking about making a more small holes sandwich style loaf, this is getting there.

Thanks for the input Mini and Martin.

ETA our posts crossed there Mini.  Yes it smelt great coing out of the oven.