Blog posts

I have been struggling for months with batards, scoring and getting proper bloom. Well, I have had success two bakes in a row now as a result in two new procedures. I would like to do a shout out to alphonso for the video he posted a while back. Thanks alan, your video has been most helpful to me!

The two small changes were to put the loaf into the fridge for the last 10 minutes of proofing and dipping my lame in water prior to scoring. Ear on the first bake at 200 grams and a half ear on this one at 370 grams. I will call this loaf VanGogh as it only has a half an ear.

My dad is now a septuagenarian! He just turned 70, thank God! We're truly blessed! I've been busy this past two days preparing for and celebrating my dad's birthday.

This week as i was looking for a loaf to try for BBD #83 [http://www.kochtopf.me/bbd-83-brot-spezialmehl-bread-special-flour] a lovely looking polenta sourdough recipe caught my eye.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/38493/polenta-pepita-sourdough

My formula:

This loaf has sprouted flour that consists of Millet, Eincorn, Buckwheat, and Barley as well as a soaker of left over bolted rye flour from last week's bake and some fresh milled corn meal. Most of the hydration comes from YW and there is a small amount of starter added as well as some AP and VWG. The vital wheat gluten was added because last time such a mix was attempted there was not enough structure to the dough, we don't keep bread flour on hand and had to dig the VWG out of the freezer where it  had been languishing for over a year maybe two..

todays bake was my favourite multigrain sourdough (3 righthand loves). Looking at my notes it must have been at least 12 months since I last made this one. I winged it a bit but really happy with the result.  crumb shot

Whole Wheat Sourdough

5/21/2016

This bread is a first trial of a mostly whole wheat sourdough bread leavened with my standard liquid levain rather than the one prescribed by Forkish or Hamelman, or Suas for their versions of a pain au levain with a high percentage of whole grains.

So, I tried this recipe from Teresa Greenway's e-book "Discovering Sourdough Part III-A". It's a lower hydration dough at 61% using a stiff starter that has been fermenting for 3 days in the fridge; a warm bulk ferment (80-90 degrees F.), and a 12 to 15 hour retard. The flavor and texture is very reminiscent of my memories of the San Francisco sourdoughs of my youth. I'm quite excited about it!

Here is a crumb shot:

I go hiking almost every Saturday, and when I do, I have a tradition of baking a snack to take along the Friday night before. I've recently been especially dabbling in steaming breads, and this was my most recent experiment.

I started to make this from Bread but then looked at my  notes and saw an old post from another TFLer who  cited Shiao Ping's version. Since her adaptation fits with my usual procedures I decided to carry on with her ideas. Everyone comments on how wet this formula is. I always have my levain at approx 80-100% hydration. Again I carried on. I used equal parts Red Fife and Kamut and finished with organic bread flour.