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Szanter5339's picture
Szanter5339

 

Leavened white bread.
12-hour leaven baked bread. Beautiful exterior and delicate interior.
I changed so much leaven, that I spelled it with a spoon of flour.
Very nice baked in an earthen vessel.



700 ml of water
6 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons vinegar (20%)
6 teaspoons of salt
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1600 gram flour
40 grams of yeast
In yeast +

Preparation of yeast, 1-2 days before cooking.

yeast:
140 ml of water
150 grams of flour
1 tablespoon oil
½ teaspoon salt
20 grams of yeast

Earl's picture
Earl

Sourdough Sandwich Bread

made with homegrown starter

1 cup starter at 100%

1 cup water

1 egg

2 T. EVOO

1 cup Prairie Gold White Whole Wheat

2 cups AP unbleached flour

1 teaspoon diastatic malt powder

1 T. dough enhancer

1 T. whey powder

2 T. non fat dry milk

1/4 cup potato flakes

Mix everything in the breadmachine on the dough cycle

takes about 1 and 1/2 hours, let rest in pan for 20 minutes

after dough cycle finishes.

 

With care dump dough onto an oiled surface. Spray dough with oil.

Gently shape dough to fit in clay baker. Cover and retard over night.

Next day preheat oven to around 170 degrees. Take clay baker from fridge

and put straight into oven.  Let rise a couple hours.  Remove from oven.

Preheat oven to 450F and bake covered for 15 mintues.

Remove top from clay pot, drop temp to 350F and bake for 20 more minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

ananda's picture
ananda

Stormy Saturday: “Wholemeal” Pain au Levain.

Alison and I are going to stay over with some friends in County Durham this evening.   We go back many years to when we were students in the early 1980s, and have kept in touch ever since, although I was away from the North East for several years from the mid 1990s.

Anyway, I was asked to take bread, and we needed a loaf for the house too.   It’s really stormy outside, I only had a limited quantity of flour to bake with, so I’m not lighting the wood-fired oven.

I’ve made these 2 loaves with a stiff white levain which I built with 3 refreshments from Thursday evening.   I made the dough yesterday evening and retarded overnight in the fridge.   I pulled the dough out early for bulk proof, and stoked up the fire in our living room.   It’s now toasty warm here as I type, and the first of the 2 loaves is midway through baking.

Here’s the formula:

Note that the figures don’t quite balance.   I’ve bought a new calculator as my old one drowned.   This one gives the answers to the calculations as a fraction.   There is a function button which allows you then to see the answer using decimals, but I think this is what throws the formula slightly out.   I’d better just go back to using the calculator on my pc!

Material/Stage

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1a. Wheat Levain

 

 

Carrs Special CC Flour

29.63

400

Water

17.7

240

TOTAL

47.37

640

 

 

 

1b. Ambient Soaker

 

 

Allinson’s Strong Wholemeal

58.52

790

Salt

1.7

24

Water

52.6

710

TOTAL

112.82

1524

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Wheat Levain [from 1a]

47.37

640

Soaker [from 1b]

112.82

1524

Carrs Special CC Flour

11.85

160

TOTAL

172.04

2324

 

 

 

% pre-fermented flour

29.63

-

% overall hydration

70.3

-

% wholegrain flour

58.52

-

FACTOR

13.5

-

 

Method:

  • Build the levain as above.   At the same time as refreshing the leaven for the final time, make the soaker as follows.   Weigh the water into the mixing bowl.   Weigh the salt and dissolve into the water.   Add the wholemeal.   Attach a paddle beater and mix for 3 minutes on first speed until cleared.   Cover and leave until final mix.
  • For the final mixing, add the levain and remaining flour to the soaker.   Attach a dough hook and mix for 2 minutes on first speed and 7 minutes on second speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
  • Put the mixed dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and store overnight in the chiller.
  • Bulk ferment for 3 hours to allow the dough to warm.   Stretch and fold just once, after 2½ hours.
  • Scale and divide; one piece @ 950g, the other being the remaining dough, just over 1350g.   Mould both round, and rest, covered for 20 minutes.   Re-mould and set into prepared bannetons.
  • Final proof just over 2 hours.
  • Bake in a pre-heated electric oven [250°C] on a baking stone with steam.   Bake without convection for 10 minutes, then switch over to convection and drop heat to 235°C.   After 30 minutes drop the heat to 210°C and bake out each loaf.
  • Cool on wires.

 

Earlier this week I made 5 Pain de Campagne in the wood-fired oven.   My business adviser came out to take me to look at some industrial units just a few miles up the road.   Lots of potential here, but I’m moving more towards the idea of scaling up further in the late Summer, once my dissertation is complete.   I gave one loaf to Neil, and then sold the others to some friends who had staked a claim the last time we saw them.   Only later did I realise we had no fresh bread in our bread bin, so I had to go digging in the freezer!

Happy Baking Everyone!

Andy

PiPs's picture
PiPs

I have a confession …

I built a new levain …

… but why?

For a few reasons … We are only a couple of weeks into summer and my wholewheat desem starter is not coping. After trying many methods of slowing the fermentation I am still ending up with overly sour builds … they are out of my control and smell unpleasant and it is starting to show in the resulting bread.

I have built a stiff levain following Gerard Rubaud's methods using fresh milled flours and AP flour.  With a large proportion of AP flour (70%) and smaller feed amount I feel like I can control the fermentation again. Yes, I could have just converted my old starter to this new schedule but creating a new levain was another goal of mine when purchasing the grain mill … I love to tinker.

The new levain smells very different to my previous starter. It’s sweet, almost nutty. A find myself smelling it twice to try and place the scent … I can’t, but I know I really like it.

The levain is a week old and the breads in this posting have been leavened with this little powerhouse.

It was time to mill again.

The night before I bake, I mill … and to make things interesting this week … I was going to mix a batch of dough as well … another set of “Pain de Traitions” which I would retard in the fridge overnight. One for our landlord (we need some things fixed around the house) and the other for my first regular customer :)

I find the weighing, milling, sifting, soaking and levain feedings the night before busier than the following days bake. I milled and sifted flours for the "3 Grain Country Bread". I prepared the soaker for a batch of “Any Grain Sourdough”. I milled and sifted rye and wheat flours for the “Any Grain Sourdough”. I milled flours and mixed the levain and built the rye sour. The levain, rye sour, flours and container of water were placed on the patio outside at night to be at roughly the correct mixing temperature for the the morning.

I am tweaking the formulas slightly. For the “Any Grain Sourdough” I am using fresh milled flour throughout (previous versions used a small amount of bakers flour) and I increased the amount of dough to better fill the bread pans. For the 3 Grain Country Bread” I have reduced the amount of wholegrain spelt and the amount of salt.

 

Any Grain Sourdough in tins (grains included in total flour)

Formula

Overview

Weight

%

Total dough weight

2500g

 

Total flour

1390g

100%

Total water

1110g

80%

Total salt

27g

2%

Prefermented flour

278g

20%

Desired dough temperature 29°C

 

 

 

 

 

Starter build – 12 hrs 23°C

 

 

Starter (Not used in final dough)

55g

20%

Fresh milled rye flour

278g

100%

water

278g

100%

 

 

 

Soaker– 12 hrs 23°C

 

 

Wheat kibbled

136g

28%

Barley kibbled

136g

28%

Altus (100% rye sourdough)

136g

28%

Linseed

68g

14%

Water

486g

100%

 

 

 

Final dough 29°C

 

 

Starter

556g

88%

Soaker

972g

155%

Fresh milled rye flour sifted

343g

55%

Fresh milled wheat flour sifted

281g

45%

Water

343g

55%

Salt

27g

2%

 

Method

  1. Night before prepare soaker and rye starter.
  2. Next day autolyse sifted wheat flour and water for one hour, then stir with wooden spoon for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix 5-10mins. I use a scraper in my right hand to pick up and turn the dough and keep my left hand wet enough to avoid excessive sticking.
  4. Allow bulk ferment for 15-30mins.
  5. Shape and roll in rolled oats. Place into greased tins (mine were Pullman) seam side down.
  6. I proved these for one hour before placing into oven with lids on for 10 minutes at 250°C  then a further 1.5 hours at 200°C

 

3 Grain Country Bread mkII

Formula

Overview

Weight

%

Total dough weight

2000g

 

Total flour

1111g

100%

Total water

889

80%

Total salt

22

2%

Prefermented flour

167g

15%

Desired dough temperature 24°C

 

 

 

 

 

Final dough

 

 

Rye starter @ 100% hydration

111g

12%

Levain @ 50%

Built with 70% AP flour, 18% fresh milled wheat, 9% fresh milled spelt and 3% fresh milled rye + 1% Salt)

166g

17%

Freshly milled wheat flour sifted

756g

80%

Freshly milled wholemeal spelt flour

189g

20%

Water

778g

82%

Salt

21g

2%

 

Method

  1. Autolyse flour and water for one hour. (hold back 50 grams of water)
  2. Add levain and rye starter then knead (French fold) 5-10 mins. Return the dough to a bowl and add salt and 50 grams of water and squeeze through bread to incorporate (dough will separate then come back together smoothly) then knead a further 5-10 mins.
  3. Bulk ferment three hours (mine was in a cooler bag with icebricks to control rising temps) with three stretch and folds 30min apart in the first 1.5hrs.
  4. Preshape. Bench rest 20 mins. Shape.
  5. Final proof was roughly one and a quarter hours at room temperature (27°).
  6. Bake in steamed oven for 10 mins at 250°C then 30 mins at 200°C

 

The kitchen buzzed with activity early this morning. The "Pain de Tradition’s" were taken from the fridge and left at room temperature for an hour before being baked in a dutch oven. Amazing oven spring again with a lot more colour in the crust this time. No crumb shots as these are not for us :)

 

The "Any Grain Sourdoughs” are always a hit for us and this bake is no different. I am very pleased with the result using entirely fresh milled flour. The flavour is as good if not better than ever (thanks to the altus, rye starter and fresh milled flours) with the crumb being softer than my previous efforts. I love the contrast between the rolled oats and dark caramel crust. These will sustain us during our working week for breakfasts.

Last into the oven today were the “3 Grain Country Breads” These proved extremely quickly as the temperatures rose today. This is my favourite bread. The new levain was evident in the first bite. The bread tasted sweet and I could detect the scent of the new levain. It tasted fresh. A thin crust leads to a crumb that is lighter and softer with the reduced spelt … perfect for kids who enjoyed banana sandwiches on it (they were awesome apparently)

It has rained for the first time this month and as the rain continues softly tonight my new little levain is feeding happily.

All the best,
Phil 

suzyr's picture
suzyr

First

A walnut sized of fully risen dough, such as pizza

1/4 cup of warm water

2/3 cup of all purpose unbleached flour

Mix this well and place in bowl and cover at room temp.  Let sit for 8 hours then move on to second stage.

Second

The first starter

1/4 cup of warm water

3/4 cup of all purpose flour

Pour water over first starter and then add flour and mix in well.  Cover again and let this sit at warm room temp for 4 hours.  Then place in refrigerator for up to 8 hours. Take out and get ready for final day.

Third

The Final Dough

1 1/4 cups of cool water

1/2 tsp of instant yeast

the second starter

3 1/3 cups of flour all purpose

1 tab of salt

Take the starter out of the bowl and cut up into pieces, like 4 and place in work bowl add water and yeast.  Let soften for 5 minutes and add flour and then salt. Mix well and switch to dough hook. Let this sit for 10 minutes and then start hook for about 8 minutes on medium speed. Then place in oiled bowl for 1 1/2 hours at 80 degrees. Fold this, not punching down at all.. then cover again and let this finish covered for 45 minutes.  Take out and shape into baguettes or boule’s.  Baguettes are around 10 ounces each.

Bake baguettes for 30 minutes at 450 with steam.

Szanter5339's picture
Szanter5339

The best bread!
My favorite white bread, 24-hour leaven.
Beautiful foreign and domestic, and very tasty too!

tn gabe's picture
tn gabe

I'm thankful for bread, this website and all the bread nerds here. Hope everyone is having a great day. I've been wanting to share some pictures of my breads, but never seem to get around to taking pictures, but here are a few I've managed to snap. Instead of being in the middle of trying to throw together ten or twelve dishes like I usually am today, I'm lazily putting off making some quickbreads until the last minute and finally gettin my blog going here. My wife has started working nights and we're not having much of a Thanksgiving this year. Well actually I'm deep frying a Turkey at my inlaws, but that's another story...

Blog posts here on TFL are often very thoughtful or instructional. This is neither. Just some random bread pictures.

This is Vollkornbrot made with 100% rye meal because I didn't have the chops, as it were. I've made this a few times now and think these loaves may have used a few more minutes before going in the oven, but overall pretty happy with it. Eating some now in fact, to try and fill my belly and keep away from the pain chocolate.

 

The next loaf is my adaptation of PR's Struan in Artisan Bread's every day, the book that got me going.

The percentages are pretty much the same as the original, but instead of doing a cold bulk ferment on the dough, I make a poolish with 25% of the flour and mix the cornmeal, oats, and wheat bran in a soaker. Quinoa and raw sugar instead of brown rice and brown sugar. I've started coating in wheat bran because it looks nice and because I bought 20lbs of wheat bran and with less than 1/2oz per loaf going in the dough, I figured I should use it up somehow.

A couple of the less terrible looking sourdoughs I've made. Trying to make large batches of hearth breads in home ovens makes it 'challenging' to get a consistent bake. These started on the lower shelf so they baked on a double layer of quarry tiles and had the ones on top shelf radiating heat down and keeping some more moisture in the area while the crust was setting.

 You can also see some less pleasing loaves flanking these two. I need to work on my slashing, obviously. Maybe getting a lame handle and some razor blades would be a step in the right direction. I've just been using a utility knife blade.

Finally, the bane of my existance. 

So simple, yet so difficult. I am very thankful to have a wife who can sleep through me beating 700g of butter into a thin sheet, and then of course all the swearing while I fold a roll, fold and roll. Sometimes they look like this and the swearing stops, briefly. The plan for the coming year is to make once a week along with filled croissants and danishes, freeze, and then bake in the am's before market. That and get a bigger rolling pin. Or a sheeter....what can I say, I love restaurant auctions!

 

 

codruta's picture
codruta

I am trying to find the possible cause for this balloon section in a batard loaf. It did not happen to me, but to some of my romanian readers, and I find this to be an intriguing subject to debate. I think the balloon shape is not a quality, but contrary, is unatractive and not to be wanted. Am I wrong?

I tried to figure what are the possible causes for this particular shape and these are my own conclusions:

1) The upper skin on the dough is dryer and/ or thicker than the bottom part of the dough. Possible cause:

a. if the banneton is not completely wrapped in plastic, but covered only on the top (the top which will be the bottom of the bread)- the dough will dry in banneton and will create a skin,

b. excessive flour on the banneton, 

When the dough gets in the hot oven, it will swell from the part where the skin is moist and thin... in this case, the bottom.

(2) a certain technique of shaping the dough encourages this peculiar shape... can it be?!
(3) because of the characteristics of the oven / steaming method/ or because the baking stone is not hot enough ... I do not know exactly ... the dough placed in the oven forms the upper crust faster than the bottom, bottom which is still soft and wet, at which point the dough starts to rise from the bottom up. The top is rigid and will not allow the dough to swell.
(4) the scoring cuts are too small in length (not in depth) and the dough can't expand enough at the cuts, and therefore will expand from the bottom and will deform the section.
(5) a simpler cause, would be insufficient proofing

(6) if the batard is too long in lenght and too small in section, will create a tubular shape, because at the same perimeter, the circle has the biggest area.

Am I missing something? Am I right, am I wrong? Am I the only one intrigued by this subject?

I'm very curious about what you think.

codruta

arlo's picture
arlo

Advanced warning: For those seeking pictures, turn back now. I was too busy to pull out my phone and take pictures over the course of production. Sorry. Maybe in December though!

As some of you may know, I moved on to a new bakery a little bit more than a half a year ago. My new employment brought along great opportunities, such as being in charge of bread production, recipe development and better hours. I have been enjoying it, though it has given me plenty of ups and downs, but thankfully I made it through my first holiday at the new bakery.

I arrived Tuesday morning a bit before 2:00 a.m., so not much earlier than normal. I had been working through the weekend on and off formulating what I felt I would need to bake for Tuesday and Wednesday, and had it checked over with the owner. This saved some time Tuesday morning allowing me to start the mixing as soon as I arrived. I had on the agenda 250-300 rolls (butter, sour-seeded, multigrain, rye, pumpernickel), around 70 loaves of bread (eight varities), stuffing mix (essential old bread, re-baked, seasoned, ect.), crostini, numerous brioche-cinnamon rolls, and I am sure something else as well. Doesn't seem like too much, but I am the only one who does any of the bread baking, shaping, mixing, ect. And I also needed to be at college by 9:30 a.m. Ha! Challenge accepted. I just turned on my favorite cd and began.

Needless to say, I took up every deck of our Blodgett Oven, used a lot of flour, butter and other goodies and made a nice assortment of products for our small bakery. When my time came to leave, I had everything out of the oven and all products cooling.

Wednesday morning I arrived a bit earlier than Tuesday. I had another 200 rolls to make, about the same quantity of bread, and even more crostini. Also some help making various pies, scones and other assorted pastries  a bit later in the day. Thankfully because of my early arrival, I was able to make the most of my time and used it effectively. I was able to leave around 10:00 a.m. with everything all cleaned up and the products cooling on the racks. I felt accomplished and hoped for a good day!

I stopped by my old bakery to chat with my friends since it is right across the street from my current apartment. They were up a great percentage from last year (not that they were down the past years) and made around 1000 rolls on Monday and Tuesday, plus they worked Sunday. Wednesday was another day for a tremendous amount of rolls as well. It was nice to see everyone and they let me run the oven for a bit, finishing off some rolls and loaves of bread.

I thought about how different my two jobs are from each other when I walked home. One was a large production kitchen were I was a baker among three others, not including the two table helpers for shaping and panning. At the new place I am all alone with my music and my craft. Do I regret the switch? No, I do not think regret is the right word. I enjoy my freedom and responsibilities now, and the thought of growth. But I do miss sharing all those laughs with my co-workers. Such is life though! So it goes.

Now here I am, I didn't sleep-in since I was planning on making some goods for my fiance and I while we relax before she has to work tonight for Black Friday (4th year at Best Buy and watching those crazed shoppers) and before I go back in and start all over again.

Hope you baking goes well today :)

 

 

ph_kosel's picture
ph_kosel

I recently got a $20 bakers couche from brotform.com and tried it out for the first time today.  I floured it up liberally and whomped up a couple of sourdough loaves with sesame seeds for tomorrow (Thanksgiving). 

The loaves expanded lengthwise more than I expected as they rose in the couche so I had to sort of scrunch them a little as I maneuvered them onto my oiled baking sheet so they would fit, and they wound up with some minor "accordian pleats".  A nice skin formed on the loaves as they rose in the couche and that made slashing easy as pie.  Somewhere along the way the "accordion pleats" mostly went away and the loaves turned out rather pretty!

I'm not really sure how to get the excess flour off without losing sesame seeds but I'll try to deal with that tomorrow.  Aside from the unexpected lengthwise expansion and the excess flour problem I think I like this new couche!

Any input from others on "couche techniques" would be most welcome!

 

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