100% Sourdough Oat Bran Bread
I have finally managed to bake a 100% sourdough bread with oat bran that is not too dense and tastes rather good. The first criteria I decided upon was the weight of the loaf I wanted to bake. In this case, it had to be small since this was an experiment, hence 600g total. I was not sure how it would turn out and did not want to waste flours. The slashes are not very good. Maybe next time.
This bread was formulated to allow for the interaction of a couple of specific enzymes. A dough enhancer was also factored in. I wanted it to be from a natural source, namely in this case extra virgin olive oil. The added oat bran and wheat bran had to be of specific weights, calculated as a percentage of total flour weight (TFW). This bread is hand kneaded.
INGREDIENTS
Starter
60g of mature whole wheat/rye starter, comprised of:
14g stone ground whole wheat
22g stone ground dark rye
24g filtered water
Sourdough preferment
All of starter
9g organic wheat bran (finely ground) [2.5% of TFW]
34g organic oat bran (finely ground) - [10% of TFW]
102g filtered water (room temperature)
Dough
106g unbleached all purpose flour [~ 46% of TFW]
160g unbleached bread flour [~ 31% of TFW]
108g filtered water
7g sea salt - 2%
14g extra virgin olive oil - 4%
Total flours (including oat bran & wheat bran and flours from starter): 345g (100%)
Total liquid (including from starter & preferment): 234g (68%)
Method
1. Starter is built the day before & allowed to grow at room temperature for 12 hours.
2. Preferment is then prepared by thoroughly mixing the starter with the water, and adding the ground oat bran and wheat bran. Fermentation lasted 12 hours.
3. All remaining flours and water are then mixed with the preferment and the salt; the dough is then kneaded until everything comes together.
4. Extra virgin olive oil is then gradually incorporated in the dough and the dough is kneaded for a few minutes more.
5. Bulk rise lasted 3 hours. Dough had not doubled but I did not want to wait longer to prevent the development of too much sourness.
6. Three sets of stretch & fold were performed at 30 minutes interval.
7. Dough was preshaped and allowed to rest for 20 minutes.
8. Dough was shaped and transferred to an oiled & semolina-coated clay baker for proofing.
9. Proofing lasted 3.5 hours.
10. The clay baker finally went into a cold oven and the temperature turned to 450ºC.
11. The loaf was baked covered for 20 minutes at that temperature, then uncovered for another 30 minutes at 375ºC, to an inside temperature of 210ºC.