High Hydration Miche with Sifted Whole Wheat Flour
The other day I posted on preliminary miche attempts. Due to problems with handling high hydration dough, the results were fairly disreputable. The nice crumb did give me hope that I was on the right track. Today I tried again, taking extra care not to fumble the dough. While the dough throughout had the consistency of a water balloon I handled with care and got a better result. This has a crispy crust and complex flavor which I don't really know how to describe, but it is definitely memorable. It is made with 40% hand-sifted whole wheat flour, which I think I'm safe in describing as 90% extraction and the rest AP and Bread Flour. For a simple formula - predominantly wheat - this bread achieves flavor that I usually can only coax out of multigrains and/or added ingredients. I think it's all about the fermentation which is aided by the high hydration.
I picked a difficult bread to try out a crescent moon score, but here it is:
Formula and method:
Starter |
| 4:45 PM | 9:15 PM |
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Seed | 28 |
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KAAP | 15 |
| 120 | 135 |
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KABF |
| 47 |
| 47 |
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Dark Rye | 1 |
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| 1 |
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Whole Rye |
| 3 | 5 | 8 | 5% |
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Water | 12 | 34 | 145 | 191 | 100% |
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| 382 |
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| Final | Starter | Total | Percent |
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Hi Ex | 303 |
| 303 | 41% |
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KAAP | 150 | 96 | 246 | 33% |
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KABF | 150 | 33 | 183 | 25% |
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Whole Rye |
| 6 | 6 | 1% |
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Dark Rye |
| 1 | 1 | 0% |
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Water | 480 | 135 | 615 | 83% |
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Salt | 14 |
| 14 | 1.9% |
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Starter | 270 |
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| 18% |
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| 1367 |
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Starter factor | 0.7 |
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Leave starter overnight after second feed for 10 hours 45 minutes before using
Sift Whole Foods Whole Wheat flour to around 90% extraction
Autolyse flour and water for 45 minutes
Mix in salt and starter for 20 minutes at KA Speed 1, 20 minutes KA Speed 2
Dough should cohere into a loose ball by end of mix
Do a quick stretch and fold in bowl right after
BF for 3 hours
Stretch and fold in bowl
BF for 30 minutes
Stretch and fold on counter by pulling out in all directions flat (around 2.5 ft diameter)
and then folding into center
BF for 30 minutes
Remove from bowl and preshape into a loose ball
Rest 15 minutes
Shape into a ball by loosely turning corners into the center
Dough is very squashy like a water balloon
Place seam side up into a basket covered with tightly woven well-floured cotton cloth
Proof for 1 hour 40 minutes until dough starts to lose spring
Very gently turn dough onto peel with wheat bran under parchment paper
Slide onto stone
Bake with steam at 450F for 20 minutes, without steam for 35 minutes
Leave in oven for 5 minutes with door closed and heat off to finish