The Fresh Loaf

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Spelt and Wheat Sourdough with Figs, Pistachios, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Spelt and Wheat Sourdough with Figs, Pistachios, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds

We were out of town for a few days and came back to a 100 year floods.  The normal rout we take to our house was closed so we had to go around and come in the back way.  The reason the road was flooded was the 5’ of rain we got in one day when we only get 7” a year.

 

There was no place for all this water to go since we don’t have storm sewers, no need for them except every 100 years, except into the lake. The lake community we live in saw one end of the lake overflow onto the road at one end.  The road has been closed since Monday and will remain closed until the lake goes down enough to clear it – that could take awhile.

 

Back to bread ….even though we refreshed some of our stiff rye starter 2 weeks ago for future use, Lucy still had a couple of weeks worth of the old one that has been in the fridge 14 weeks.  We are trying to see how long it will last in the fridge before it gives up the ghost.  Well…. it made it to week 14 but it was a real struggle for the poor tired wee beasties. .

 

Normally we feed the starter 3 times with the sifted out hard bits of the whole grains we mill for that week bake in order to get it up to bread speed.  But this time, the starter was fed some old farina and white spelt that Lucy found hiding out in her secret pantry – who knows how long it had been there?  The weak starter didn’t like it much.

 

Usually our levain will double in 4 hours after the 2nd build but this one showed no movement after the 3rd build and a total of 12 hours after the first feeding.   I thought it was dead but left it on the counter overnight for another 12 hours.  Low and behold it managed to rise 50%.  My usual rule is to toss the 2nd feeding if it can’t double in 4 hours and repeat it.  But since it had no movement at all we were in new territory.

 

To be honest, I should have tossed half of the poorly risen levain the next morning and fed it again and see if it could double in 4 hours.   But instead I just tossed the levain into the dough white spelt and bread flour and water that had been autolysing for 1 hour with the salt sprinkled on top.

 

Had I been thinking more clearly or had a better apprentice, I would have not put the salt on top of the autolyse and would added it later, after the levain had a chance to work on the dough for an hour or two - uninhibited by the restrictive salt.  But instead, we mixed everything together and did 3 sets of slap and folds of 7.1.and 1 minute and 3 sets of stretch and folds all on 20 minute intervals.

 

Even though the dough was 72.5% hydration it was stiff compared to our normal more slack dough.  We considered getting it up to 75% hydration but didn’t do it.  I hindsight 75% hydration would have been much better so, if you make this bread, take it up to 75% so the slapping stretching and folding will be much better and the crumb will be more open too.

 

We love udon for lunch as much as a good sandwich with fruit and veggies!  Or...blazing hot chicken thighs with  twice baked potato, salad and steamed veg.

The huge amount of addins including; pistachios, 2 kinds of dried figs, sunflower and pumpkin seeds were added during the first stretch and folds an were thoroughly distributed by the end of the third one.

 

Once the gluten development was finished we skipped the bulk ferment and went right to shaping, placing it in the rice floured basket seam side down so we could bake it seam side up with no slashing.  The basket was bagged and placed into the fridge for a nice cold 16 hour retard.

 

It didn’t do anything while in the fridge which was sort of expected since the levain was so weak and there was no counter bulk ferment.  We took it out of the fridge the next morning and not knowing how long it would take to proof we just checked it every hour after the first two hours on the counter.

 

 In 6 hours we un-molded the dough onto parchment on a peel and slid it onto the bottom stone for 15 minutes of steam using decreasing temperatures to 475 F for the last 11 minutes of steam.  Big Old Betsy has been preheated to 550 F and David’s Lava Rock Steaming Pan went in when it hit the preheat temperature.  15 minutes later the steam was billowing and ready for the bread.

 

After the steam came out, we wanted to turn the bread down to 425 F convection but somehow managed to turn it up to 525 F instead.  We discovered our mistake after 10 minutes when the loaf, top and bottom, looked well done but the inside was only 133 F.  We covered the top with foil to keep it from being totally burned and turned the oven down to 425 F and later to 400 F.

 

When it finally hit 200 F on the inside I shut the oven off and when it 203 F on the inside I took it out.  The crust was so hard I don’t think you could break it with a hammer.  I’m was pretty sure that it is to be a total loss since there was no spring and no cracking of the crust at the seam.   Burt we will have to see the inside once it cools down to call it a total loss.  Well it is far from a loss - yeah!  It taste great,  The crust didn't go soft but it wasn't as crusty as when it came out of the oven.  .  The crumb was not very open, but it was packed with all those generous goodies , it was moist and soft and about as tasty as one would ever want.  We really love spelt and this bread really does it justice.

Formula

Spelt and Farina Levain Build

Build 1

Build 2

 Build 3

Total

%

14 Week Retarded Rye Starter

15

0

0

15

3.53%

Farina

15

12

0

27

6.35%

White Spelt

0

8

40

48

11.29%

Water

15

20

40

75

17.65%

Total

45

40

80

165

38.82%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Levain Totals

 

%

 

 

 

Flour

82.5

19.41%

 

 

 

Water

82.5

19.41%

 

 

 

Levain Hydration

100.00%

 

 

 

 

Levain % of Total Flour

16.26%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dough Flour

 

%

 

 

 

White spelt

125

29.41%

 

 

 

Bread Flour

300

70.59%

 

 

 

Total Dough Flour

425

100.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salt

10

1.97%

 

 

 

Water

285

67.06%

 

 

 

Dried Figs

107

25.18%

 

 

 

Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds

85

20.00%

 

 

 

Pistachios

85

20.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dough Hydration

67.06%

 

 

 

 

Total Flour w/ Starter

507.5

 

 

 

 

Water w/ Starter

367.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hydration with Starter

72.41%

 

 

 

 

Total Weight

1,162

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spelt

34.09%

 

 

 

 

 

Lucy says not to forget a fine salad withlunch and dinner 

Comments

bakingbadly's picture
bakingbadly

Looks like we're not the only ones with a monsoon season!! Hopefully, none of your property is in complete ruins. That would be a darn shame.

Also, great lookin', nutritious bread. You always impress me with your super-duper, healthy breads. I should start emulating you and sell them to my health conscious customers. Of course, there's a few major limitations but that I won't stop me from trying!

Jolly bakings, Dab!

Zita

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

doesn't have any whole grain flour but tons of add ins. make sure to get the hydration up to 75%.  This bread would have been better if it was a little more wet - and not baked too hot after the steam came out:-)  Still, it is delicious and I can't wait to have it as toast for breakfast with some butter and Minneola Marmalade.  We have another hurricane supposed to come in from the Baja on Monday so Monsoon isnl't over yet!

Glad you liked the bread Zita  - and keep those health conscience customers happy! 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Especially when off by only 1!

Looja like a meal in every heavenly slice! good looking salad too. 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

There were so many odd things happening with this particular bake it is amazing the bread turned out as well as it did.  I'm always amazed how hard it is to make a bad loaf of bread:-)  Despite its faults, it is tasty!

Happy baking David 

Kiseger's picture
Kiseger

Loved this post, always learn something from you and this just  shows what a pro you are.... impressed.  Great result, just looks delicious!  Lucy looks like she's getting a well deserved rest and glorious sunset on the lake.  Hope that  all is ok despite the flooding.  

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

every way possible, several times, you have a shot of recovering just about any senior moment bread baking mishap that occurs:-) But to recover from; a weak starter, too low hydration, under proofing and way too high a temperature for way too long requires a superior German Baking Apprentice 2nd Class to pull it off. Without Lucy, the birds would be eating this bread instead of us. No wonder she was resting - something she only gets 16 - 20 hours a day to do. All is well on the flooding part and the road will open today. No houses on the lake were flooded - just the ring road around the lake was flooded in one area. Glad you liked the post and

Happy Baking

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

dabrownman:  Love all the goodies inside. Sorry about all the rain. I have seen some frightening photos on Facebook that my Arizona friends have posted. I sure hope we get some rain in California, as we really need it. Our lake is down by at least four feet. We are in the UK now and haven't seen rain yet! I am confident that this will change soon.  I have revived my sourdough and am baking today.  I am making a number of breads for family and friends. You have me thinking about seeds and nuts In bread.  Kiseger suggested a UK web site, and I have ordered and received excellent seeds and other baking supplies I could not find in the store, so I am all set.

Love the photo of Lucy and all the great food. Totally agree with Lucy on salad with dinner. Thanks for sharing. Best, Phyllis

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

now down more than 150' and the largest man made lake in the USA that provides much of the water for CA, NV and AZ and you lake down 4' is indeed worrisome.  Hope you get some rain like we did - your lake would fill up in no time.   I don't know how many times i have been in the UK but it has been a lot and not one time did it ever rain.  I always told people that I was bringing AZ and Saudi Arabia weather with me and they were always glad to see me coming!

You will have a fun time making these kinds of breads with your new ingredient hoard.  This is a very tasty one and, if made right , would look a lot better inside and out too:-)  Glad you like the post and

Happy baking in the rain Phyllis

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

Thanks, dabrownman.  My husband actually misses the rain, so I am sure he will enjoy it when it comes in the next few days. I am baking today with no rain....a bit of a disaster, however, as the dough stuck to the basket.  I will try to recover, as you did with your bread. Keep up the wonderful posts.  Best,  Phyllis

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

and enjoy all your pictures and write-up.  Always do!  You make me soooo hungry!

Austria is about to be dumped on and the ground is already saturated.  While there I emptied all my rain barrels, stopped the intake and turned the lids upside down for extra dryness.  Never seen the willows (or the weeds) so vigorous!  

Weather patterns seem to be so crazy!  Stay healthy and out of the mud.  

Mini

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

take more!    Even though we broke all the Mini Oven rules for this one, it turned out well enough to eat and enjoy. I keep thinking what it could have been though.  It is very tasty - just plain delicious - has to be the spelt! glad you liked the post Mini,  Happy Travels and Happy Baking MO.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Nice bake even if it is a little darker than usual.

I think you meant you had 5" of rain and not 5'.  If you had 5' I think you would be on the ark floating half way to NY by now or you would be visiting Atlantis :).

As always your food selection is amazing and Lucy looks pooped watching you cook and bake.

Hi from Lexie, Max and the gang.  The wife is visiting NC for a wedding and I stayed home with the gang.

Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

would have been the end of poor Lucy with those short legs.  i remember when I was in the Navy and waiting in Subic Bay Philippines transit barracks for my new ship, the Kitty Hawk CV63, to come into port from its 90 day stint on Yankee Station.  It was August and the  height of the real monsoon they have over there. The tranit barrack was an old Quonset hut made with tin.  It rained for 30 days straight, over 3 foot of rain n a month. way more than we got in Nam.  It sounded like machine gun fire on the roof and wuld wake up thinking I was back in Nam:-)  Talk about biblical rain!  You should have seen the Olongapo River - instant death if you got out in it.

We like this bread and was surprised at how good it turned out.    Glad you like the post and food too.   Lucy says HI t her canine and feline buddies.  Have a good weekend Ian adn

Happy baking

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

at Subic?  

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

 September 1971 to September 1973.  Loved that bus ride from Subic to Clark AFB.  It was way more dangerous than Nam:-)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

from July 73 to July 75.   Wonder if we ever crossed paths...  Rabbit bus, the only way to goOOOOoo!