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It's been a while since my last post. The day job has been keeping me quite busy and I haven't had the bandwidth to bake bread as much as I would like. I'm baking every third weekend to keep the bread box full and the freezer stocked.

Was doing weekly grocery shopping and noticed some steel cut oats at a very reasonable price and since I was deciding what bread to make this weekend it was a natural.

150g steelcut oats

75g quinoa

200g milk

230g water

20g agave nectar

300g fresh ground white wheat flour 95% extraction

80g fresh ground spelt flour 95% extraction

20g amaranth

100g 100% hydration starter fed and active

10g salt

additional water

This is my BAGET ...

Recipe:

- 450 gr APF

- 50 gr Whole WF

- 325 gr Water  (%65 Bakery percentage)

-100 gr Starter (%100 Hydration)

- 10 gr Salt

trying out my first loaf from hamelman's bread - whole wheat levain. Made some variations as I dont have a decent mixer and did 4 sets of stretch and folds within 2 hours and 15 minutes bulk rise. Added an autolyse of 1 hour too.

I based this loaf on Ken Forkish's 50% whole wheat bread with biga. Instead of 50% whole wheat I made this 40% whole wheat and 10% rye. The hydration is 80%. 

I am very pleased with the result. A nice open crumb and light texture considering the high percentage of whole grain flours. I also love the deep color of the crust, which is shatteringly crisp. 

Thanks to David for posting his take on this loaf. An amazing bread indeed. I happen to have a lot of durum flour so I did incorporate some into the formula David posted. I actually used it in 2 ways. My starter is fed only with durum and I added durum flour for 1/2 of the WW that David used. I also only had 9" pans. I was concerned as the bread volume didn't rise above the pans during the 4 hour rise...but whoa did it ever rise in the oven. I baked at 400 for 38 min to 205.

I've been lurking on this website for awhile, and decided it was finally time to woman-up and try some of the techniques that I've seen.

No, not a chilly winter, at least not here in Florida where it remains delightful through the winter months.  But rather a chilly twist to my proofing stage.  My kitchen runs warmer than many, and proving my baguettes can be a bit of a coin toss at times.  Anywho, a few bakes ago, when I split my Field Blend #2 dough into a DO boule and two gros baguettes, I decided to retard the shaped baguettes in the refrigerator for the proofing step.  Mr. Forkish suggests baking this dough, albeit as a DO boule, right out of the refrigerator, so who am I to disagree?

This is my Tartine "Basic Country Bread" with original recipe...

Recipe:

- 450 gr APF

- 50 gr Whole WF

- 375 gr Water  (%75 Bakery percentage)

-100 gr Starter (%100 Hydration)

- 10 gr Salt

Whole water  percentage is %77.2.. That is original recipe from the "Tartine Book"...

Last week it was so cold I spent a lot of time making kefir cheeses and web surfing.  Found a site that used kefir as a sourdough starter so I decided to give it a try.  Followed the starter directions and looked for a recipe online to make a loaf.  Found a blog site that had pictures so I followed it.  I produced two loaves - boules - that had some flavor but the texture was extremely lacking.  I decided to pursue an actual sourdough starter and basic sourdough bread so I hit the library.  I have a culture in progress and needed something to do while it mature