Pain au levain

Submitted by Bushturkey on April 24, 2008 - 1:48am

Pain au levain

A breadman. He/she even looks French with a beret!

Pain au levain -crumb. Do you reckon he/she looks French and wearing a beret?!

Holes big enough to hide a mouse?

Holes big enough to hide a mouse?

I had a go at Hamelman's pain au levain (95% wheat, 5% rye, 65% hydration). I didn't do some things as well as I should have.

1. After mixing the final dough, I left it overnight in the fridge. It was 2300 hours, I was tired and working night shift from home.

Next day, the dough was cold and it took a long time to "wake up". May be it was exhausted. It seemed to take a long time to rise.

2. I probably under-proved the loaves. The oven spring tore the loaves apart and my scoring was probably sub-optimal.

Ah well, the journey continues. It would be nice to have a baker near by to learn from, though.

Submitted by Mini Oven on April 25, 2008 - 12:50pm.

Hide a mouse! Throw that mouse in some great chowder and sop 'em up with your bread? Gosh I could use a chunk of that right now! I got a sauce here that begs for sopping up. Broil a slice of cheese on top and oh.....sopping! I'm getting so hungry! So what if it's a little underproofed, you did a yummy job and I think you're doing good on your own. Keep it up!

Mini O

Submitted by Bushturkey on April 26, 2008 - 12:35am.

Sopping

Hi Minni O.

Thanks for your comments.

Who knows?; maybe in a few years' time, an electronic chewing device, with a tongue and nose will be invented. I could attach it to a computer and put a piece of bread in it and someone on line (with a special headset of course) can receive the mouth feel, the crust crackle, the taste and smell signals and actually get a taste of the bread! Wouldn't that be something? And no calories (kilojoules)!

The bread is delicious, yes. Yesterday I made the recipe again, to take to some friends who invited us for a meal.

Today, I tackled Hamelman's recipe for Olive Levain. I'll post pictures in my blog.

Regards,

Submitted by Mini Oven on April 26, 2008 - 1:20am.