The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

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proth5's picture
proth5

To quote my university hymn “Time like an ever rolling stream” (well, and it originally went on to say “bears all her sons away” which made the whole thing problematic once those of us with the double X were finally allowed to roam the Dear Old Place’s hallowed halls – but that is another story…) and it has been quite a while since I posted part one of this saga. (The rocks and bumps over which the stream has rolled is yet another story – suffice it to say, a long one.)

Whole wheat bread in a bread machine seems to be a popular topic and I have been working on a formula, so it seems like a good time do to a full write-up.

Consulting the leaflet that came with the bread machine, it seemed that every whole wheat variation came with the ingredient of “vital wheat gluten.” Of course, upon reading that I could hear The Voice in My Head scornfully saying, “Well, Pat, if you want to use vital wheat gluten…”

To which I could only hang my head and reply, “No, I don’t, Sensei. I’ll aspire to better.”

(Oh, no – now I’ve gone and done it.  I’ve said negative things about the ingredient vital wheat gluten. Well, let me assure my small reading public that “The Voice in My Head” comes from actual conversations with a very real, and, as I like to put it “well qualified” baker. I will not intone “You do what you want” as I have no power to compel or prevent anyone from doing anything.  But as for me, I will deal with qualities of the grain as I find it and use technique to overcome any hardships.)

Of course, the tools were at hand.  A good intensive mix would make a fluffy whole wheat loaf, but no setting on the machine would mix long enough to deliver this – and I have been coming to the point where I love the “set it and forget it” aspect of the bread machine (at least for the sandwich bread to feed “the house” – I’m still hand crafting a lot of other stuff to satisfy my public…)

The other obvious tool in my arsenal was – you guessed it – a pre ferment. But not just any pre ferment, a firm levain.

“Why?” you ask.  Well, a firm pre ferment will tend to add strength (due to the acids that develop in a pre ferment and the lesser amount of protease action because the pre ferment is relatively dry) and a sourdough based pre ferment will add more acids because of the nature of the leavening.

As we wind on in this saga of me inexplicably becoming intrigued with this appliance, I make an observation: discussions on these pages pushed me to try the same formula with a firm commercially yeasted pre ferment.  Although the bread was certainly edible, it did not have the same texture nor did it rise as high as the sourdough version. If I were baking by hand, I would have to wonder if I had unconsciously done something differently – but with the machine, the cycle marches on.  So even though I “kinda” knew that sourdough would result in a stronger dough, I’m a lot more convinced of it now.

Other than that, the only thing I needed to do was up the hydration a bit and jigger the sweeteners and butter.  No long, drawn out story.

I did, however, avail myself of the “Sourdough starter” cycle on my machine (a Zojirushi Virtuoso) to mix the pre ferment.  This could just as easily have been done by hand in a bowl, but for those who don’t want that inconvenience; it turns out to be a good option.  I didn’t want the fast rise that would be engendered by the “rise” cycle – nor did I want to stay up way past my bedtime to wait for the thing.  So, I cancelled the cycle after the mix and then (had it fit into my proofer – or if my night time kitchen temperatures were warm enough) I could just cover the pan and let it proof overnight.

So, without further ado, here we go with a formula and some pictures.

Since this is a bread machine post, I will present the formula two ways, in the Bread Baker’s Guild of America format and in “recipe list” format.  For those of you just beginning to practice your baker’s math this is a good opportunity to see how the “list” format easily translates into what can be a perplexing little grid.

Bread Machine 100% Whole wheat

Firm Levain Pre Ferment (40% of the total flour pre fermented)

Whole Wheat Flour                                         228 g

Water                                                                   173 g

Seed (taken from storage starter)             5g

Mix the above ingredient (by hand or using a bread machine mix only cycle). Cover and allow to rise overnight until mature (doubled) – 8-12 hours at 76F.

The next day (or when the Pre Ferment is mature) Load the pan of the bread machine in this order:

Water (40F)                                        277 g

Agave Nectar                                     40 g

Molasses                                             24 g

Firm Levain                                         all of it, broken up into roughly 2 T chunks distributed over the bottom of the pan

Dry Milk                                               9 g

Salt                                                         11 g

Butter (room temperature)        46 g

Whole Wheat flour                         342 g

Instant Yeast

 (in small well on top of flour)     3 g

Use “Whole Wheat” cycle on the bread machine and bake per instructions.

Is it a work of food art? Well, no.  But as I looked at it I thought “This is a nice, solid, bread.  Nothing wrong with it.” Not too shabby. No vital wheat gluten. Tastes good, too…

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

San Francisco-style Sourdough Bread with Walnuts and Figs

March 3, 2013

I like sourdough breads with nuts and dried fruit, but not very often. They are enjoyed as something special and “different,” but I much prefer an unadulterated San Francisco-style sourdough or Pain au Levain as my daily bread. Well, it has been quite some time since I made a sourdough bread with dried fruit and nuts, and I have developed a craving.

This year, the quality of locally grown dried Calmyrna figs has been outstanding. I've been going through a pound of them every 10 days or so for the past several months. I would eat even more, but my gut wouldn't take it. (Let's just point out that dried figs are an excellent source of soluble fiber.)

I have made walnut bread with my San Francisco-style sourdough several times, and it has been delicious. Therefore, I decided to make a bread based on my San Francisco-style Sourdough with walnuts and dried figs. I took the baker's percentages of the nuts and figs from Hamelman's formula for Hazelnut-Fig Levain.

 

Total Dough Ingredients

Bakers' %

Wt (g)

AP flour

76

416

WW Flour

8

46

Bread flour

14

78

Medium rye flour

0.7

4

Water

69

378

Salt

2

11

Stiff starter

12

66

Walnuts

18

98

Dried figs

18

98

Total

217.7

1195

 

Stiff levain

Bakers' %

Wt (g)

Bread flour

95

78

Medium rye flour

5

4

Water

50

41

Stiff starter

80

66

Total

230

189

  1. Dissolve the starter in the water. Add the flour and mix thoroughly until the flour has been completely incorporated and moistened.

  2. Ferment at room temperature for 16 hours.

Final dough

Wt (g)

AP flour

416

WW Flour

46

Water

337

Salt

11

Stiff levain

189

Walnuts

98

Dried figs

98

Total

1195

 

Method

  1. In a stand mixer, mix the flour and water at low speed until it forms a shaggy mass.

  2. Cover and autolyse for 30 minutes

  3. Coarsely chop or break apart the walnut pieces and toast them for 8 minutes in a 300ºF oven. Allow to cool.

  4. Coarsely chop the dried figs, rinse in cool water, drain and set aside.

  5. Add the salt and levain to the autolyse, and mix at low speed for 1-2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium (Speed 2 on a KitchenAid) and mix for 5 minutes. Add flour and water as needed. The dough should clean the sides of the bowl but not the bottom.

  6. Add the walnuts and the figs to the dough and mix at low speed until well-distributed in the dough. (About 2 minutes)

  7. Transfer to a lightly floured board, do a stretch and fold, and form a ball.

  8. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly.

  9. Ferment at 76º F for 2 1/2 to 3 hours with a stretch and fold at 50 and 100 minutes.

  10. Divide the dough into two equal pieces.

  11. Pre-shape as rounds and rest, covered, for 10 minutes.

  12. Shape as boules or bâtards and place in bannetons. Place bannetons in plastic bags.

  13. Proof at room temperature (68-70º F) for 1-2 hours.

  14. Cold retard the loaves overnight.

  15. The next morning, proof the loaves at 85º F for 2-3 hours.

  16. 45-60 minutes before baking, pre-heat the oven to 480º F with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.

  17. Transfer the loaves to a peel. Score the loaves as desired, turn down the oven to 460º F, steam the oven, and transfer the loaves to the baking stone.

  18. After 15 minutes, remove the steaming apparatus, and turn down the oven to 435º F/Convection. (If you don't have a convection oven, leave the temperature at 460º F.)

  19. Bake for another 15 minutes.

  20. Turn off the oven, and leave the loaves on the stone, with the oven door ajar, for another 15 minutes.

  21. Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack, and cool thoroughly before slicing.

 

The crust was crunchy. The crumb was stained by the walnuts and, perhaps, somewhat by the figs. The flavor was very good, mildly sour sourdough with hits of nutty and figgy yumminess. The nuts and figs are sparse enough so the good bread flavor still comes through. This is a bread I could make a meal of. I think it will also be great with a thin spread of butter or cream cheese or with a tangy gorgonzola or sharp cheddar.

 This bread is delicious and highly recommended.

David

Submitted to YeastSpotting 

 

Gail_NK's picture
Gail_NK

I've been experimenting with a 3-day ferment using a biga/poolish (what ever you call it) and finally have some loaves that are approaching what I'm looking for.

Unlike the folks who are looking for "lighter, fluffier" bread, we like nice chewy bread with body and flavor. I've been playing around with Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast, and here's what I've come up with.

(Sorry for the fuzzy iPhone quality, but you get the idea...)

Formula and processes:

Step 1 - Night of Day 1

500 gr unbleached white all purpose flour - Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill
340 gr water
1/2 tsp dry yeast

Mix together well in large bowl, cover and let rise on the counter until morning.

Step 2 - Morning of Day 2

250 gr whole wheat bread flour, fine grind - Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill
230 gr water

Add the water to the previous day's mixture, in the same bowl, blending in well. Then add the flour and mix completly.

Cover the bowl and let rise all day on the counter.

Step 3 - Evening of Day 2

Fold the biga over itself several times to de-gas, cover and put in the refrigerator over  night.

Step 4 - Morning of Day 3

250 gr whole wheat bread flour, fine grind - Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill
230 gr water
1 tbs salt
1 tsp dry yeast

Remove the biga from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature - about 3 hours

To make final dough, whisk the salt into the flour and dissolve the yeast in the water.
Blend the yeast water with the biga, mixing completely. Then mix the flour/salt mixture with the biga to make the final dough.

The dough is plenty sticky, and I use flour to manage my stretch and folds. In this case, 4 stretch and folds 8 minutes apart seems to work fine.

Bulk rise: 2 - 3 hours, depending on room temperature - should double in volume.

Shape into 2 boules, set rounds aside on parchement paper and cover them lightly with plastic wrap. Let rise approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Oven temperature: 500 F

Place baking stone in the oven and turn the oven on to preheat 60 minutes before baking time. Place broiler tray on shelf below baking stone to heat for steaming.

I have a small-ish oven and baking stone so I have to bake these one at a time.

Slide the loaf - on the parchement paper - onto the baking stone. Pour 1 Cup of water in the broiler pan for steam and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the parchement paper after 15 minutes.

Bake the second loave the same way.

Let cool on a rack.

Yummy!

evonlim's picture
evonlim

after reading last couple of week's blogs.. lead me to experiment with new ingredients.

with kiki's help, she gave me this tutorial website on yeast water http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-GmnAD4J7E

started soaking my raisins with water in a clean jar as showed in the video. to my surprised it work wonderfully.. on the 8th day i used it to make this bread. mixed 75gram yeast water with 75gram of bread flour, left it 8 hours in room temperature to mature. 

my formula

bread flour   100%     750gram

water             75%      563gram 

salt               1.5%       11  gram

starter                         150gram

since i have some 320gram of Chateau Charmail 2009 left over from saturday's dinner, thinking to myself why not.. so i did :) water 243gram. mixed with AP flour and left overnight. 2nd day added the starter. autolysed for 30mins. added the salt after. rest for 40 mins and SF. realising i had a couple of small Tasmanian purple carrot in the fridge.. i grated and added in the dough when i did my first SF. 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds and 1/2cup of soaked n drained raisins went into the dough as well. (this is because i am baking for a friend who loves raisins!!) 2nd SF after 40mins.

left it rest for another 40mins, put in the fridge to retard. 3rd day, in the afternoon after my work, took dough out from fridge. rested for an hour, scrapped out from bowl and divide into two and preshape. rest for 30mins. transfered into 2 small loaf pan. covered and proof for 1 hour. score the top, sprinkled with blue poppy seeds. baked 450F for 20 mins covered with aluminium foil. uncovered for further 15 mins. 

it smells divine during baking. lots of depth in flavor ends with a nice bitter in the mouth as you chew on it.

my lucky experiment inspired by kiki, Ian and Yuko :) thank you

happy me

evon

more pictures..

 

 

 

 

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

In October, 2011, I baked a bread I called “pugliese capriccioso.” The formula was based on my best understanding derived from reading formulas in American books of what typical breads from Apulia are like. I baked another version, differing in the use of a firm starter (biga), in February, 2012. I remain unbiased by personal experience of the authentic bread, but the breads were good. Several other TFL bakers have made these breads, and all those reporting found them good as well.

More recently, I baked Hamelman's “Durum Bread,” which is 100% durum flour. I didn't like it as well as my pugliese, but my posting stimulated some interesting discussion regarding this type of bread and has prompted me to try a re-formulated pugliese capriccioso, using a higher percentage of durum flour.

My new formula uses a stiff biga made with bread flour (12.7% protein). Fifty percent of the flour is “fancy (finely milled) durum.” Forty percent of the flour is pre-fermented. Hydration is 80%

 

Total Dough Ingredients

Wt (g)

Baker's %

Bread flour

180

36

AP flour

70

14

Fine durum flour

250

50

Water

400

80

Salt

10

2

Active starter (50% hydration)

36

7

Total

946

189

 

Biga Naturale Ingredients

Wt (g)

Baker's %

Bread flour

180

100

Water

90

50

Active starter (50% hydration)

36

20

Total

306

170

  1. The day before baking, mix the biga.

  2. Ferment for 8 hours at 70ºF.

  3. Refrigerate overnight

Final Dough Ingredients

Wt (g)

AP flour

70

Fine durum flour

250

Water

310

Salt

10

Biga naturale

306

Total

946

 

Method

  1. Take the biga out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for about an hour.

  2. Mix the water and flours to a shaggy mass, cover and autolyse for 20-60 minutes.

  3. Sprinkle the salt over the dough and add the biga in chunks.

  4. Mix at Speed 1 for 1-2 minutes until the ingredients are well-mixed.

  5. Mix at Speed 2 for about 10 minutes. The dough will be quite slack. It will almost clean the sides of the bowl and form a ball on the dough hook, but a large portion of the dough will still be on the bottom of the bowl.

  6. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl with a tight-fitting cover.

  7. Ferment at 76ºF for 2 1/2 to 3 hours with a stretch and fold at 40, 80 and 120 minutes.

  8. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Pre-shape into balls and let the dough rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. (This wasn't much of an issue. The dough was extremely relaxed and extensible.)

  9. Shape the pieces as tight boules and place them seam-side down in floured bannetons.

  10. Place the bannetons in a food-safe plastic bag or cover with a damp towel. Proof the boules at 85ºF until the dough springs back slowly when you poke a finger into it. (About 2 hours)

  11. 45 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 500ºF with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.

  12. Transfer the loaves to the baking stone, seam-side up, steam the oven and turn the temperature down to 460ºF.

  13. After 12 minutes, remove the steaming apparatus. Bake for another 14 minutes or until the loaves are done. The crust should be nicely colored. The internal temperature should be at least 205ºF.

  14. Leave the loaves on the baking stone with the oven turned off and the door ajar for another 10 minutes to dry the crust.

  15. Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

These loaves are about half the size of my previous pani pugliesi. One will be gifted to my Italian language teacher who grew up in Palermo and loves bread, I am told. I'm eager to hear her assessment of my pugliese's authenticiy.

These smaller loves have the appearance of miniature versions of the larger ones, with similar crust color and texture. The crust was firm when they were first taken out of the oven, but it softened as the breads cooled. I was hoping the folds would open some with oven spring. That's why I baked them seam-side up. They opened up a bit on one loaf. They probably would have opened more if I had under-proofed a bit.

 

Slicing revealed the crumb was moderately open – less so than the pugliesi made with 25% durum, more so than the 100% durum loaf, although that had lower hydration also. The dough had been quite yellow, but the baked crumb was less yellow.

The crust was thin and chewy. The crumb was tender and cool-feeling. The flavor was not as sweet as the previous pugliese versions, but the crust in particular had a nuttier flavor. This bread was more enjoyable eaten with other foods than alone, in my opinion. I am curious how the flavor will develop over the next couple days.

David

Submitted to YeastSpotting

greedybread's picture
greedybread

 

Tasty Turkish Cinnamon & Raisin Bread Twists….

These are simply scrummy and a great addition if you want something a little different for Xmas nibbles.

Now that Xmas has past....Maybe easter nibbles or just nibbles in general:)

Delicious

You can have them as is, with hot sweet tea or my fav black coffee with the consistency of tar:)

You can also use them for dipping in dips, sauces etc..

Now the beauty with these is , even though they have raisins and cinnamon in them, they are not overly sweet, so you could forgo the icing sugar and have them with cheese and chutney.

Have a bite …

Unlike many yeast products, these are quick, time wise.

Proving while cooking.

What will you need?

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 cup of strong bakers flour

15 g dried yeast

1 Tbsp honey melted

350 mls warm water

2 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup of raisins/ sultanas

Icing sugar for sifting.

Combine all dries together

Yeasty honey mix

Warm water and stir in melted honey and then add in yeast.

Allow to stand for 10 minutes to become frothy.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl together and mix in the yeasty mix.

Combine well and knead for about ten minutes.

Place dough in lightly oiled bowl ,cover and stand for 45 minutes.

Dough…

After proving, Turn dough out on lightly floured board/bench and cut into 6 pieces.

Roll out each piece into a long thin sausage.

Fold dough in half and twist into shape (see below)

ready to roll…

Roll out….

Twist into shape…

Place dough twists on tray with baking paper.

Pre heat oven to 75 celsius.

Lightly brush bread twists with oil/ melted butter.

Place in the oven and bake with the door slightly ajar for 45 minutes.

Then turn oven up till 200 celsius and bake until golden, usually about 10-15 minutes.

Twists…

After 45 minutes in the oven…

Baked and cooling…

Remove from oven and allow to cool on racks.

When cool, dust with icing sugar.

ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY!!

Twisty….

Tasty…

These would be lovely for breakfast as they are too….and I slipped the wholemeal in as well:)

lovely fresh…

Merry Xmas!!!

Uzumlu Tarcinli Ekmek recipe adapted from Turkish Bakery Delight by

Deniz Gokturk Akcakamet….

http://greedybread.wordpress.com/2012/12/23/tasty-turkish-cinnamon-raisin-bread-twists/

And a quick look at whats on tomorrow!!!

Its all done, tastes heavenly…..

Fresh home made stollen:)

http://greedybread.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/sublime-stollen-german-xmas-bread/

Wingnut's picture
Wingnut

I was bored so I messed around with making a heathly tortilla with ground Lentils and White Whole Wheat Flour

They were quite tasty, I expected more tang out of the sour starter but it was quite mild.

Cheers,

Wingnut

 

mwilson's picture
mwilson

Thanks Luciana for posting this recipe.


Gotta love chocolate!

Recipe source: http://www.panperfocaccia.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=16418


Final dough moulded and later fully risen.

Primo Impasto:

  • 230g flour, I used very strong
  • 90g sugar
  • 120g egg yolks
  • 100g water
  • 80g butter
  • 100g natural yeast, refreshed three times prior

Secondo Impasto:

  • 50g flour
  • 20g egg yolks
  • 15g sugar
  • 60g butter
  • 2.5g salt
  • 60g cocoa paste (1/3 cocoa +1/3 butter + 1/3 sugar)
  • 130g candied orange cubes
  • 100g chocolate chips, I used 50g milk / 50g dark
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • zest of 1 orange
  • seeds of 1 vanilla pod
  • 15-20g water to adjust dough consistency


Up close before before being scored with a cross and cooling upside down after the bake.

After cooling completely, this panettone was wrapped and left to mature for 5 days before being cut into… The texture was the best I’ve had so far, very bready and very shreddy. For my taste this could have done with a little more salt even though I did raise it to 3 grams already.


Various photos of the crumb.

Close-ups

-Michael

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

After 4 Fresh Loafians recent trip to KA flour where they took the rye class from master baker Jeffrey Hamelman and the recent spate of posts on altus, my apprentice couldn’t help but devise a baking test to see if we could tell the difference, taste wise, when altus was added to a high percent rye and 100% whole grain bread.

Perfect bread holder for home made Pate Maison.

 

Our last bake was a test on ‘old dough’ that proved old dough makes a difference in taste that is noticeable and really quite profound.  Normally we would put altus in high percent rye bread, if we have it, but have never baked the same recipe at the same time under the exact same conditions with and without altus to determine first hand if there really was a noticeable taste difference.

   

We would have made a 100% whole rye bread for this test but didn’t have enough rye berries to grind up.  We decided to use whole spelt berries for 50% of the mix and bake it like it was pumpernickel, that had real pumperdime berries cut in half - long, low and slow, to bring out the dark color.  The instant coffee, cocoa, molasses, barley malt, honey and red malt also helped to turn this loaf dark.

 

The altus we used came from this bread - Multigrain SD/YW Brown Bread with Aromatic Seeds and Multi-Grain Scald which was also a multi-grain and YW/SD combo levain bread sort of similar to this one.

Today's lunch sandwich featuring the bread we used for the altus in todays bake that is still in the oven going on 7 hours.

You want to start the levain and scald the day before you bake.  We had a mainly rye and spelt 100% whole grain starter, that had been developed to its peak for the last bake.  It had been in the fridge for a coupe of days putting on some more sour.  It was used to make the combo levain with 30 g  of YW - a tiny amount in the scheme of things but YW really makes a huge difference to open the crumb in heavy whole grain breads.

 

All of the cracked and meal varieties of rye and spelt, half the total flour amounts used for the levain, along with some whole rye and spelt flour was used in the 1 build.  The rye and spelt berries were soaked overnight for 12 hours and then simmered for 10 minutes and allowed to cool.  The excess soaker / scald water was used to soften the altus so none of the flavor was lost.

 

It took about 12 hours for the levain to double on the counter.   While that was happening, we autolysed the dough flour, salt, all the add-ns (less the altus and the scalded berries) using excess soaker water for the liquid for 4 hours.   We like longer autolyse times for whole grain breads.  We also see no difference if the salt is included to the autolyse or not… so we always put it in.

   

Once the autolyse and the levain came together we mixed the heavy 76 % hydration mass with a big metal spoon to try and get things acquainted before turning it out on the counter and doing 10 minutes of French slap and folds when the dough really came together nicely from a structure point of view but still very sticky.

The dough was rested for 15 minutes before the first of (2) S&F’s were completed on 15 minute intervals.  The scald was incorporated in the first one and the seeds in the 2nd one.  Then the dough as divided in two with one dough 72 g more than the other since the smaller dough would have 72 g of soaked altus added to it. 

Once the scald was added the dough felt wetter than a 76% hydration dough because of the excess scald water carried along with it – even after draining and running a paper towel through the berries.

15 minutes later, the altus went into half and a minute of slap and folds was used to distribute it properly.   A few slap and folds were also performed with the other half to get it back into better shape gluten wise.

 We then panned each into half of a PAM sprayed large metal loaf pan and covered the non altus side with the lighter colored oat bran and the altus side with the darker wheat bran to mimic their actual color since the altus had made that side darker.

We then covered in oiled plastic wrap and allowed it to proof on the counter for 30 minutes before refrigerating it for a 12 hour retard at 38 F.  After removing the loaf from the fridge the next morning, we allowed it to warm up and proof on the counter for 6 ½ hours at 68 F until it nearly doubled to the rim of the pan.

We covered the top with a PAM sprayed double layer of heavy aluminum foil and placed it on the 375 F mini oven’s broiler pan that was half full of water along with (2) of Sylvia’s steaming cups that were heated to the boiling in the microwave.   Even though the loaf tin was covered we still wanted as much steam as we could generate in the mini.

After 30 minutes we turned the mini oven down to 350 F for 30 minutes.  We continued the baking in a falling oven with steam according to the baking schedule:  Many will notice that this is similar to the baking schedule for Black Pumpernickel that Hamelman uses.  This one just starts a little higher

 

Theise were 3"pieces of pumpernickel (altus left) that we got 12 slices out of the altus side than the 11 slices we got out of the non altus side.  For lunch the altus wa more moist and produced few crumbs when slicing and the non altus side was more dry and produced more crumbs when slicing.  It will be altus pumpernickel from now on.

375 F - 30 minutes

350 F - 30 minutes

325 F - 30 minutes

300 F - 1 hour

275 F - 2 hours

250 F - 2 hours

225 F - 1 ½ hours

200 F - 1 ½ hours

Turn oven off and leave the bread in the oven until morning or 8 hours.  Uncover and de-pan the bread.  Wrap the cooled bread in cotton cloth or linen for a minimum of 24 hours - 36 hours would be better.

A great lunch sandwich of Pesto Infused Roasted Pork Loin with; pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato and homemade Dijon mustard.  The fruits and veggies, include Poblano peppers cantaloupe, carrots, a homemade kosher dill pickle and a Minneola from the back yard.  A piece of this bread with a schmear of grilled salmon and cream cheese was included because it was go fantastic at breakfast.

Beautiful sunrise this morning!

Please note that the altus actually used for half of this loaf was 72 wet grams not the 144 listed in the formula below.  The 90 g dry and 144 g wet altus would be used in a full, non test loaf of this bread.

Crumb shots will be 24 hours from now.

The great aroma of this bread didn't start permeating the house until the temperature had been reduced to 250 F.  There were some unusual things and some expected from the crust points out.  First the loaf shrank a little bit while baking instead of springing. I have never used a  long low slow baking schedule for this kind of bread before and have never had one shrink - maybe this is normal?

The altus side came out of the pan much wetter than the non altus side and it was more caramelized.  We have never had a bread come out of the pan this wet before but this too may be normal?  When the aluminum foil lid came off, the aroma was incredibly pungent and pervasive.  It sure smells like a very nice black pumpernickel and I can't wait to slice into it.  But we will wait, even though my apprentice doesn't want to her being German and this loaf dear to her heart.  The loaf is now resting in its cotton cocoon for 24 hours - making it 32 hours after it finished baking before we will slice it. 

After baking and slicing the color difference went away,  the non altus inside was more open with larger holes.  the altus side was open too but the holes more even throughout.  The crumb was glossy and moist.  The YW really helped to open the crumb and make it lighter than just about any other bread of this type that I have made, seen or eaten.  Great taste - less weight :-)

The long low and slow bake at the end produced a finished temperature of exactly 205 F . Amazing!  This loaf was perfectly baked and the taste was just the best we have ever experienced.  The difference between the altus and no altus was slight though not nearly as great as we would have expected.  The altus side had a deeper and more complex flavor though and next time we have this bread for the altus. What a great loaf of pumpernickel!

Formula

100% Whole Grain Rye and Spelt  Sourdough - The Altus Test

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starter

Build 1

%

 

SD Rye & Spelt Starter

15

3.83%

 

Whole Rye, Meal & Cracked

80

20.43%

 

Yeast Water

30

7.66%

 

Whole Spelt, Meal & Cracked

80

20.43%

 

Water

130

33.21%

 

Total Starter

335

85.57%

 

 

 

 

 

Starter

 

 

 

Hydration

100.00%

 

 

Levain % of Total

34.50%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dough Flour

 

%

 

Dark Rye

112

28.61%

 

Whole Spelt

112

28.61%

 

Dough Flour

224

57.22%

 

 

 

 

 

Salt

7

1.79%

 

Water

150

38.31%

 

Dough Hydration

66.96%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Flour

391.5

 

 

Water

317.5

 

 

T. Dough Hydration

81.10%

 

 

Whole Grain %

100.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hydration w/ Adds

76.20%

 

 

Total Weight

971

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Weight does not include added water from the scald and altus

 

 

 

 

Add - Ins

 

%

 

Barley Malt

6

1.53%

 

Molasses

6

1.53%

 

Honey

6

1.53%

 

Red Rye Malt

10

2.55%

 

Rye and Spelt Altus

90

22.99%

 

Coffee Cocoa

20

5.11%

 

Spice Seeds

20

5.11%

 

VW Gluten

7

1.79%

 

Total

165

42.15%

 

 

 

 

 

Altus weighed 144 g after adding soaker water to soften

Spice Seeds - corriander, black and brown caraway, anise & fennel

 

 

 

 

Scald

 

%

 

Spelt

45

11.49%

 

Rye

45

11.49%

 

Total Scald

90

22.99%

 

 

 

 

 

Scald weighed 188 g when incorporated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

My last bake was a lemon sourdough which ended up as food for the squirrels unfortunately.  I decided to recover from that calamity and baking a good wholesome multi-grain bread.

I made a soaker with a bunch of different grains and let it sit for 24 hours in a bowl with hot water to soften it up.  The grains will soak up about 75% of the water which will end up making your dough very moist.

This bake came out excellent with a great dark and thick crust and open and moist crumb.

Soaker

45 grams Malted Rye Berries

80 grams Groats

75 grams Soft White Wheat

275 grams Boiling Hot Water

Mix water in a bowl with other ingredients and let sit covered at room temperature for 24 hours.

Starter Build 1

36 grams Seed (Mine is 65% AP Flour Starter)

114 grams European Style Flour (KAF)

45 grams Yeast Water

30 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

Mix seed with water to break up for a few seconds and then mix in flour until the starter form a smooth dough consistency.  Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover and leave at room temperature for at least 6-10 hours.  The starter should double in volume.

Starter Build 2

150 grams European Style Flour (KAF)

95 grams Yeast Water

Mix the Yeast Water and flour in with the starter from Build 1 for about 30 seconds to a minute until all the ingredients are incorporated.  Cover and leave at room temperature for at least 6-10 hours.  The starter should double in volume.

Main Dough

Ingredients

425 grams Starter from above (It's possible you could have a little left over from above but I had exactly 425 grams)

100 grams White Rye Flour

100 grams Potato Flour (KAF)

300 grams European Style Flour (KAF)

All of the Soaker from above

325 grams Water (90 degrees F.)

16 grams Sea Salt (or table salt)

22 grams Honey

Procedure

Prepare the soaker 24 hours before you want to bake the bread.  When the soaker is ready, make sure to drain any of the water it has not soaked up.

Next mix the flours together with all the water except for 90 grams for about 1 minute and let it autolyes covered, for 30 minutes in your mixing bowl .    After 30 minutes add the levain, honey, salt and the soaker and mixed on speed #1 for 1 minute or by hand until everything starts to come together.  Add additional water as needed and mix  for 4 additional minutes.  Note that this is a very sticky dough so don't be afraid to use all the water but make sure you don't end up with soup.

Since this dough is very wet I put it directly into my oiled dough rising bucket and did a couple of stretch and folds.  Rest it in the covered bucket for about 10-15 minutes and do a total of 2-3 additional stretch and folds within 2 hours.  After 2 hours and several stretch and folds (I did a total of 3) place the dough in your refrigerator for 12 - 24 hours.

The next day I let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours I formed it into 1 large miche and put it into my floured cloth lined basket.

Let the dough sit at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours.  It should start to get a little puffy but it won't rise a lot so don't be alarmed.

Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

I pre-heat my oven to 505 degrees F. about 30-40 minutes before baking.  I add 1 cup of boiling water to a heavy-duty sheet pan on the lowest shelf in my oven and I have 1 oven stone on the top shelf and one above the steam pan.

After placing the loaf in the oven I add the water and lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Since this loaf is so large I had to lower the temperature after 30 minutes to 425 degrees and baked another 35 minutes until it reached an internal temperature of 205 degrees F.

Let the bread cool for at least 2 hours or longer until you try it.

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