The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Some Weekend Home Bread Baking and the College "Equality and Diversity Competition" Entry from a student Bakery Group.

ananda's picture
ananda

Some Weekend Home Bread Baking and the College "Equality and Diversity Competition" Entry from a student Bakery Group.

 

Equality and Diversity Competition

My Level 2 Bakery students are very competitive.   Following on from Faye's Nettle Bread, and their determined, difficult yet successful adventures into Practical Exams, the group came up with a theme for their own entry into the College's Annual Competition:

"Breads of the World Arise"

See if you can name some of the breads, and where they come from?

Picture2Picture5Picture4Picture3Picture7Picture8Picture9Picture10

We then worked together to produce a lovely basket and Cornucopia to house the finished loaves.

Picture12Picture13Picture14Picture16Picture15Picture17

This was to ensure we made it through to represent our School in the College-wide competition....which we did!!   Some people in this group won the competition outright last year; they seem to be equally determined to repeat their previous success!   Let's wish them well.

And, here's some recent home bread making.DSCF1778

1. Pain de Siègle

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Rye Sour

 

 

Dark Rye

16.67

150

Water

27.78

250

TOTAL

44.45

400

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Rye Sour [from above]

44.45

400

Strong White Flour

83.33

750

Salt

1.8

16

Water

40.22

362

TOTAL

169.8

1528

% pre-fermented flour

16.67

-

% overall hydration

68

-

Method:

  • Build the sourdough from stock over 2 refreshments and 36 hours
  • Combine sour with flour and water and autolyse 45 minutes
  • Continue the mixing cycle by developing the dough and adding the salt to form a strong dough.
  • Ferment in bulk for 2 hours, with 1 S&F after 1 hour
  • Shape and proof in a banneton for 3 hours prior to baking
  • Cut the loaf top and bake with steam for 50 minutes to 1 hour DSCF1771> DSCF1772
  • DSCF1774

2. White Leavened BreadDSCF1775

Chewy and moist Sandwich bread made with a natural leaven and a retarded fermentation process

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Wheat Levain

 

 

Strong White Flour

29.4

250

Water

17.6

150

TOTAL

47

400

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Levain [from above]

47

400

Strong White Flour

70.6

600

Salt

1.65

14

Water

50.4

428

TOTAL

169.65

1442

% pre-fermented flour

29.4

-

% overall hydration

68

-

Method:

  • Build and mix as above
  • Bulk ferment for 2 hours, then shape loosely and retard overnight in the chiller
  • Shape and proceed to final fermentation and baking, as above.DSCF1780DSCF1781
  • DSCF1786

 

Both of these are really tasty breads for our daily sandwiches whilst at work!

Best wishes to all

Andy

Comments

Postal Grunt's picture
Postal Grunt

I can't help but admire the results you got on your loaves. I'm still working on getting crusts as good as yours. However, I can't follow how you built your rye sour and levain. I don't see any  sourdough starter or other source for yeast. Are your flours so copious in natural yeast spoor that the sour and levain are up and running overnight or did I miss something in your procedures? It appears that you get great results with less work and I'd like to know how that's done.

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi postalgrunt,

Thank you for commenting and asking this question.

I haven't been finding time to record each refreshment regime as I bake at home.   So, the totals in the leavens above are for both flour and water as found in the fresh addition plus that used from stock.

I keep both a rye sourdough and a wheat leaven in stock in the fridge in lidded plastic containers.   Approx 80g of stiff wheat levain [50g flour and 30g water].   Approx 80g Liquid Rye Sour [30g flour and 50g water]

Generally I build over 2 refreshment cycles.   These can be complex, as they take into account numerous factors, such as baking schedule, current weather conditions and the state of the cultures drawn from stock.

However, on this occasion I fed the wheat leaven as follows:

 

Leaven Refreshment Cycle March 2011

Day & Time

Materials

Weight [g]

Constituent parts

Saturday am

Stock Leaven

32

20g flour, 12g water

Let down to a liquid

Strong White Flour

68

 

leaven to promote

Water

68

 

wild yeast activity

TOTAL

168

88g flour, 80g water

 

 

 

 

Sunday am

Leaven [above]

168

88g flour, 80g water

Balance flour and

Strong White Flour

162

 

water to return

Water

70

 

to 100:60 ratio

TOTAL

400

250g flour, 150g water

 

I then used 320g of this leaven to make the dough on Sunday evening.   I fermented this for 2 hours, then retarded overnight in the chiller.   I then baked it off on Monday afternoon.

For the rye sour, I was a little short of rye flour, and thought I would try to just use a single refreshment, on Saturday am as follows:

Material

Weight [g]

 

Rye Sour from stock

80

30 flour, 50 water

Dark Rye Flour

150

 

Water

250

 

TOTAL

480

180 flour, 300 water

 

 

400g then used in the bread dough, and 80 held back for stock

 

I used this on Sunday am to make the Pain de Siègle dough

 Sorry, you can see how much work I put in here.   There is no easier procedures giving the desired results.   But, yes, my leavens are good and active once I've fed them up properly.

Thanks

Andy

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Andy,
Congratulations to your students and it is so nice to see those 'breads of the world', and those cornucopias with such even weaving.
I love the crumb on your pain de siegle and your white leavened bread looks very pretty with that rich dark crust and scoring.
I've admired your pain de siegle loaves you've posted about previously.
I was curious as to how you built up and refreshed your rye sour too but was shy to ask; I looked back in your blog and saw your post about 'leaven refreshment' and wondered if I could use the rye sour percentages as you list there as a starting point.
Thanks Andy for your post, with all of these beautiful loaves.
from breadsong

 

 

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi,

I've given refreshment details above for postal grunt.   Hope this answers your question too.   I still wish I'd split the rye refreshment into 2 feeds.   It would have given me a stronger leaven.

Yes, the student loaves are great.   The fruited loaf is not, as Franko suspects!   It is in fact the Elizabeth David version of Bara Brith as you posted on recently.   However, I worked with the student concerned to add in the use of a ferment like we do for most of the doughs I teach here in College.   Sadly, we didn't keep the calculations.   I had intended to e-mail you with it...now there's an admission!

All good wishes

Andy

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Thanks for the providing the information re: leaven.

I appreciate also your thought re: re-working Bara Brith to employ a pre-ferment & it's a good idea I should try next time.
Along with the Bara Brith I took note of a 'quarter-sponge' method Ms. David wrote about in her book which looks interesting...I tried to distill the very large quantities written into baker's percentages...may try it out as a pan loaf. But I think I'd like to try making your beautiful Pain de Siegle first!

Thanks for providing the names and details regarding all of those breads.
I quite like the Pane a Pasta Dura...and found an Italian video on shaping...hope you don't mind if I post the link here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZmVUc46yag

Thanks so much,
from breadsong

 

ananda's picture
ananda

 Hi Breadsong,

I thought you might find some of the text below of interest.   I've edited it a bit, as it comes from personal mail with another TFL member.   Please make allowances for this context.

I liked the video on You Tube, thanks for adding the link.

Text below:

Best wishes

Andy

E-mail 1

I don't tend to use the term "seed" myself, but I am familiar with what you are trying to get to understand.

So, we are talking about the amount of flour in what I think of as "stock" sourdough, held in the chiller, and used to elaborate the culture to be used to leaven the final dough/paste?

5% is really no problem, given a good feeding regime and an established and active sour culture.   Jeffrey Hamelman is particularly expert in this, and I would refer you to his section on "Detmolder" for further reading and understanding here.

Let me try and illustrate this with how we made our Russian Rye "Rossisky" when I worked at Village Bakery back in the 1990s. 

ROSSISKY 

MATERIAL

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [kg]

1. Rye Sourdough

 

 

Stock/Seed

-

2.4 [900g flour, 1.5kg water]

Dark Rye Flour

33.3

20

Water

55.5

33.3

TOTAL

88.8

55.7

Back to stock

 

2.4

2. Final Paste

 

 

Rye Sour [from above]

88.8

53.3

Dark Rye Flour

66.7

40

Salt

1.67

1.0

Water

29.5

17.7

TOTAL

186.67

112

Percentage figures are shown in the middle column, but the recipe is of most interest.

The stock/seed amounted to nothing more than the scrapings inside the tub which contained the sourdough.   We held at least 10 of these containers fully stocked at any one time! [That's half a tonne]

The newly refreshed tub of sour had a combined temperature of 30°C, and was left to ferment through for 16 hours.   So, 900g of flour in the seed was sufficient to inoculate 20kg of flour in the elaborated culture.   That is 0.9kg/20.9kg x 100 = 4.3%   Because we had a constant refreshment regime combined with a proper fermentation system, there were rarely any problems.   When problems arose, it was either due to excess production pressure, or, poor quality flour [that's a side issue here]

From there, we made up the final paste 16 hours later with the addition of 40kg more fresh flour, but with a tiny portion held back for the next refreshment.   So, approximately, 900g of flour produced a final sour with 20kg of flour, then 40kg more flour to the final paste.   0.9/60 x 100 = 1.5% flour!!

I write to demonstrate the utmost extreme.   But we made 000s of these loaves per week.   Hamelman writes as a production baker, with a sour dough I believe he says is over 30 years old.   VB sour came from Russia and was 150 years old.   Reinhart is assuming a home audience, I believe.

I think you need to work through the following.

  • Rye is eminently fermentable, especially given continuous production
  • home production should involve a good elaboration of at least 2 feeds; that way a target of 5% flour in your seed is quite manageable
  • Temperature and flour ratio to water are significant
  • As with all sour dough work; the balance of wild yeast, lactic and acetic bacteria is critical. In rye paste, the acid content is more significant than ever. BUT, the fermentability will help you here. That is why you should start with low "seed" amounts.

 

E-mail 2

Clarification on VB Rye feeding regime: 2.4kg "seed" [contains 900g flour, 1500g water] is feed with 20kg of flour and 33kg of water.

Yes, you did read that correctly!!

Now for the qualifier: we had 16 bins of rye sour on the go at any one time, and each of the bins contained in excess of 50kg as described above.   We made over 1000 loaves each day of Rossisky and Borodinsky combined.   So; lots and lots of bread production, producing extremely vigorous culture.

I think you may struggle to really appreciate the volumes involved here.

Then I note you want to keep your cultures ambient rather than stored in the fridge.   I keep both my rye and wheat leaven at home in the fridge.   Then, I use a proper feeding regime to bring them to full activity before I use them to make bread.   Such as the Detmolder method described by Hamelman.   I've never really been one for the ratios, although I can see their intention.   Main key to me is to achieve the fundamental balance Jeffrey Hamelman describes so well.   NATURAL [wild] YEAST, ACETIC and LACTIC BACTERIA.   You need them all!   So in an 18hour ferment of the size and consistency I describe for the VB production, these conditions were a given.   In the home environment, this is not quite the case.   Nonetheless, rye is eminently fermentable, especially wholegrain.   So, a couple of feeds, over a 2 day period, and you won't be wide of the mark.

Final word; I don't retard rye paste; unlike a recent thread advocates.   It just hasn't worked for me for all-rye breads.

 

 

E-mail 3

stick with the ratios if it works for you.

I'm a total stickler for wanting to know the precise amount of pre-fermented flour used in the formula, and the hydration.   I never, ever guess anything...unless forced to by the circumstances [ie a rare occasion when no digital scales are available.

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Andy, I really appreciate you going through your mail archive on my behalf and pulling out this very useful information. It's fascinating to read about the quantities involved in a production bakery, and thanks for the advice regarding the process as it would apply to home production.
I will go back and re-read Mr. Hamelman's writing on Detmolder.
...and I'm glad you liked the video.  :^)
Thanks so much, from breadsong

Franko's picture
Franko

I think # 5 might...maybe be an Occhi di Santa Lucia from a Pane di Siciliano dough, but a guess at best. #6 looks like it could be a Tartine Country Rye, and #7 looks to be a Panettone.

The cornucopia weaving is excellent with the dual strand running from end to end , giving a very nice look to the overall presentation. Your students work looks lovely, and all of them should be very proud of what they've achieved. Quite a testament to the level of training they're receiving from you Andy. Well done on all accounts!

 
Both of your own breads look marvelous, particularly the Pain de Siegle with it's beautiful open celled crumb and rich brown crust. I'm sure you're looking forward to firing your WFO in the not too distant future now that things are warming up. Hey! Spring is just about here my friend.

Best Wishes,

Franko

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Franko,

Here's the list, left to right

Top Row: Olive Baton, final proof, then baked, Irish Soda Farls baking in the oven

Middle Row: Pane a Pasta Dura*, Pane Siciliano, Hadrian Bread**

Bottom Row: Baguette Traditional, Bara Brith [see note to Breadsong]

My contribution to the piece was the Borodinsky loaf from the previous blog post.   Only half of it ended up in the Cornucopia, as the students continuously snacked on it through the morning session!

* Giuseppe is from Sicily.   He tells me this is the "generic" name for this bread.   It is quite unusual to us, but, I guess is easy to relate to when we think of the rusk so common in the hot Southern Mediterranean areas.   The dough has just a short bulk proof.   Then it is rolled out thinly several times, and folded, then rolled up very tight.   This creates a lovely seashell type pattern on the finished loaf.   It is baked out very fully, on a low heat to intentionally dry out the close-textured crumb.   Locally Giuseppe says in the South, in Catania it is called "Panuzzu".   In Genova it is called "Biove" and in the North in  Treviso, it is called "Pan Trevisan"

**Hadrian Bread: this is made using Spelt flour and an idea borrowed from my time at Village Bakery when Andrew Whitley created a sour dough loaf using Spelt flour...way back in the late 1990s, just as Spelt was at the very beginning of its resurgence.   There is a Raisin "must" in the formula to provide sweetness to balance the bitterness sometimes found in Spelt.   We used Spelt flour from our local organic mill Gilchesters...entirely appropriate given it is just a few miles from Hadrian's Wall!   But this loaf was designed by Katie, who has become a champion of Beer Balm, using bottled traditional stout from the wild outer regions of Northumberland.   Winner!

Had to add an erratum to this post.   Time to take a look at your work on the Spreadsheet methinks!!!

Wonderful to hear from you, as always

Andy

Franko's picture
Franko

Getting 1 out of 8 pretty much describes my luck in the lotteries to a T, so not a big surprise to me.

Good to hear from you as well Andy.

Franko

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Your Pupils are as determined as you are Andy! Lovely Work, especially that hand weaving of pain de morte..

Your pain de seigle, however, is wondrous to look at! The light and camera do not do them justice... you are better off without flash, as it imparts a yellowish cast which hides the true texture of your breads..

 

 

 

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Khalid,

Thank you for your kind words.

Your photographic advice is much appreciated.   Sadly it is very gloomy here in the UK just now.   Additionally, the bread has been coming out of the oven as darkness starts to fall.   I'm not sure I'd get away without flash but I can give it a try

Best wishes

Andy

ananda's picture
ananda

 

My apologies, this is the correctly balanced formula here.   I forgot that I held back 80g of leaven as my stock for next time! Doh!

White Leavened Bread

Chewy and moist Sandwich bread made with a natural leaven and a retarded fermentation process

Material

Formula [% of flour]

Recipe [grams]

1. Wheat Levain

 

 

Strong White Flour

25

200

Water

15

120

TOTAL

40

320

 

 

 

2. Final Dough

 

 

Levain [from above]

40

320

Strong White Flour

75

600

Salt

1.75

14

Water

53

424

TOTAL

169.75

1358

% pre-fermented flour

25

-

% overall hydration

68

-

 

Many thanks

Andy