33% Rye Levain Batards ala WoodenSpoon
Inspiration comes from a few places. I almost never crack open either of my two bread baking books anymore, as the world of TFL is the best on the market! My main interests in the next loaf to tackle are usually spurred on by something in the Bread Browser, the Also on TFL or someone’s Recent Blog Entries posting.
For a while I’d been eyeing WoodenSpoon’s Rye Levain [1] batard in the Also column. Having delved into the world of rye flour dough recently, the time had come. Especially since I had some still potent stiff rye levain from recent breads I made this past month. I very much like the Greenstein-Snyder method [2] of gauging the maturity in the rise of a rye sour levain. Sprinkle some rye flour on top and watch for it to dome and separate into “islands”. With a very stiff levain build such as used here, that rise is minimal, but the “cracking open” of the loose flour sprinkled on top is a sure-fire indicator that the levain is active and healthy.
Changes from the original formula:
- adjusted for 1500g, three batards at 500g each
- No milling of my own flours – I use off-the-shelf products
- I wouldn’t know a “rye chop” if it came up and bit me from behind, so that was out
- I took WoodenSpoon’s word as is when he states “Bread Flour”. Not having any on hand (apparently too lazy to git me sum), I used a combination of AP flour and Vital Wheat Gluten, using my now handy Pearson’s Square [3]to accurately calculate the (somewhere around) 13.3% total protein that using bread flour would provide.
- Bulk ferment for 2 hours with letter folds at 40, 60 and 80 minutes and a final 40 minute bulk bench rest.
- Refrigerate for ~1 hour, then divide and pre-shape, 10 minute rest, and final shape.
- Onto a couche, then slipped inside plastic bags to preserve moisture and prevent any surface drying. Retard for ~18 hours.
- Scored directly from the refrigerator and put into the 500dF oven, already under steam, add 2 cups very hot water to the lava rock pan, and pull my face back quickly!
- 15 minutes of steam at 450dF, rotate and continue baking for another 22 minutes with 5 minutes of venting at the end.
Retarded overnight, a light shower of raw flour, scored and ready for the oven
Steam released and rotated after 15 minutes
The Kids are Alright
A little denser than I was expecting
alan