squattercity's blog

So I was super-patient with the yeast water -- letting four organic apricots sit in water for six days till the liquid was bubbling. But I was super-impatient with the dough: a somewhat more wholegrain version of Hamelman's Swiss Farmhouse formula. (I changed the recipe to 70% bread flour/10% rye/10% spelt/10% malted khorosan because I figured that no self-respecting Swiss farmhouse baker would make a 90% white flour loaf. A white bread is a city bread.)

I made a new rye starter and was surprised how relaxed the process was now that I know a tiny bit about sourdough. It had a few pin-sized holes from leuconostoc bacteria on the first day. By day 2, it had way more pinholes and started smelling like a combo of soggy grain and a pile of overused sweaty running shoes. Over a week of 1x a day discard and feeding, it acidified nicely. By day 10, it was rising and falling regularly, had small and medium sized holes, and was smelling sprightly and tangy. So I made my first bread with it:

I’ve been feeling uneasy these days, and, perhaps in solidarity, my starter has, too. For a few months now, it’s been highly acidic which has cut down on its ability to promote yeast growth. For my usual deli rye – 45% whole rye/10% whole spelt/45% bread flour -- I mixed the levain and, after 12 hours on the counter, it was clear that it had not progressed in the right direction. It felt and looked dead -- just a non-responsive grey lump.

this is my attempt to bake the 'hop miche' from the perfect loaf site.

caveats:

-- as I couldn't find a scale when I started prepping the bread, I eyeballed the measurements for the levain and tangzhong and I think I made everything way way way too wet. 

adapted from theryebaker: pinzgauer bauernbrot

I made it 50% whole rye | 10% whole spelt | 40% bread flour 

Here's how to cure my depression: 45% whole rye, 10% whole spelt, 45% bread flour, 1% caraway, 1% salt.

I have to say, it was particularly tasty: nicely crisp and caramelized crust, wonderfully moist and light interior, just enough caraway to add zest without obscuring the flavor of the grains. My niece said it reminded her of bread her grandmother ate in rural Switzerland.

10% rye / 45% whole wheat / 45% bread flour, with toasted caraway and coriander seed -- from Tartine 3.

'life is good when the rye bread is good'

Rob/Bor

another one from 'the "who kidnapped Rob?" cookbook.'

Adapted from Sarah Owens. I changed the recipe to whole wheat (basically because I wanted to use up some of what I have in my cabinet.) I subbed in violife faux-butter, soy milk, and a flax seed faux-egg for the animal equivalents.

Results:

a fun experiment, but -- 

The extraordinary heat and humidity of the past few weeks in NYC has meant that I haven't been baking.