The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

While I wait for my porridge bread

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

While I wait for my porridge bread

Built a levain for a Broa de Milho I've really gotten to love and at the same time was joining in a forum topic about a recipe and decided to make that instead. But half way through this recipe I decided to push ahead with my original plan so had two on the go. What we have here is a recipe from the KA website http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/artisan-sourdough-bread-made-with-a-stiff-starter-recipe

A 50% hydration starter with some wholegrain and a long final proof in the fridge. Makes a lovely loaf which tastes like a very flavoursome biga bread and with a nice after tang. 

Almost had a disaster getting it out of the banneton which reminds me I must get some rice flour. On the plus side I've managed to find a way to do a loaf free standing and effectively bake with steam so don't have to rely on the silicone pouch as a second best to a dutch oven. I prefer it this way as it didn't have the great effect of the Dutch oven and it did compromise on the crumb. But with trial and error I hit upon this idea. 

P.s. if you try this recipe I added in an autolyse with the starter and only added the salt after the 30 minutes initial rest. It makes sense to add the starter into the water at the beginning as since it's 50% hydration it makes it easier to break up. After 30 minutes I sprinkled the salt over the dough and incorporated it by folding, squeezing and kneading the dough for 5 minutes. The 30 minutes rest is in the actual recipe it just included both the starter and salt. I saw this as a chance to add in an autolyse. I think it also benefitted from the 5 minute knead after adding the salt. 

Elsasquerino's picture
Elsasquerino

That looks delicious, and a porridge loaf on the way too! Nice to have a choice in stock isn't it.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Not sure how I'm going to be able to eat through it all though. I may have to freeze some. I'll freeze half of each loaf and have a slice of each at a time. 

gillpugh's picture
gillpugh

That looks great. Wish my crumb looked like that. 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

and many different ideas to get a crumb like this. My main issue was in the baking itself. 

Thank you Gillpugh

hreik's picture
hreik

I'd be over in a flash.  That looks amazing and the crumb is just perfection!! So jealous, in the best possible way....

hester

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

You have an open invitation :) 

Try the recipe. It was enjoyable. The only change is made is to add the salt after the initial 30 minutes rest. 

hreik's picture
hreik

so you did a 30 minute auto-lyse.  Good to know

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

It makes sense to add it in the beginning and break it up in the water. So couldn't get a true autolyse minus the salt and starter. But it's an autolyse nevertheless and it's done often this way. When looking through the recipe I saw a chance to get an autolyse in which is always beneficial. Other then that the recipe is quite accurate. Really suited the long final proof in the fridge. 

Enjoy! 

hreik's picture
hreik

It's next on my list.  ty for posting it.

hester

bread1965's picture
bread1965

It's remarkable to think you're making bread like that in a small urban kitchen.. could you imagine what would happen if you let loose with a wood burning oven? .. it's truly an inspiration!

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

It is a bit of an uphill struggle to find the best way in a small table top oven. I'd love to try a WFO. 

Thank you. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Beautiful crumb.

Regards,

Ian

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

It was an enjoyable bake and I do love the way it's turned out. The Broa de Milho has also turned out just fine. I even tried the traditional way of shaping. 

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

and a great looking loaf.... well done.  How about the porridge loaf, how has that turned out?

Leslie

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

One of my better crumbs. Even surprised myself. The porridge bread turned out very well and I'm writing up a post now.

P.s. it is a cornbread so don't expect the same crumb :) 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Love the sour.  I have always wanted to learn how to do a free standing loaf with no support but every time I do the high hydration dough just pancakes out.  I need to get the hydration down and give it a go.  Nice bread Abe

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Not sure what the hydration of this loaf is. I'll have to get the calculator out. Anything Tartine hydration level I have issues getting it out of the banneton and when it comes to baking I invariably end up with a Ciabatta bread which I just convince myself that's what I was aiming for in the first place.

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

my belief that your "signature" is the result of your handling and timing - and not the use of the silicon pouch-thing that you have often used ;-)

That is a lovely loaf, and your write-up and notes of what you did to improve the recipe are really helpful.  I like your idea of giving the dough a bit of a soak before the salt goes in (and would be tempted to drop the percentage of prefermented flour just to be able to get away with a longer soak and longer fermentation). 

You've apparently been bitten by the same bug that got Leslie and I recently, where you have to give in to the temptation to bake more than you need - just for the pure fun of it!  It's a good thing we have freezers - and friends ;-)

Off to ooh and aah over your "planned" bake now...

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

something about my handling and timing produces this crumb.

...and that's a good idea in order to get in a true autolyse. Something to try next. So many ideas to try and that's where the bug comes from. I want to try them all!

Thank you Laurie.

HansB's picture
HansB

Beautiful loaf Abe. Can you deliver a few slices to me at Stansted? :)

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

You're in Stansted? If I could I would!

Off on your travels? Where are they taking you?

HansB's picture
HansB

Arrived yesterday evening, back home tomorrow morning. Just enough time for lunch at the Horse and Coach in Bishop's Stortford. Your breads sure are looking good! Cheers!

hreik's picture
hreik

Can you tell me what the hydration in the final dough is, if you include the stiff starter?  I ask b/c I'm planning to do this recipe this weekend and am using my T65 (which is about to run out, sigh) and that flour cannot handle high hydration.... so perhaps I should just use KA AP..... Thanks in advance

hester

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

This is a 73% 68% hydration dough. Not sure on the hydration capabilities of the T65 flour but also keep in mind there is some wholegrain too. 

Edit: Oops I forgot it was a 50% hydration starter 

hreik's picture
hreik

Not sure what I'll do.  That's awfully high for T65.  Maybe I'll just use AP and the some wheat and rye as the 113 gram additional flour (instead of all whole wheat addition).  Have to think about this.  T65 absorbs water very well and quickly and the dough comes together beautifully.  I might use it and then back off the hydration.
Thanks again, so much.

hester

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

I forgot the low hydration starter and corrected. I used a European flour and it seemed okay. You can build the starter from the lower hydration flour and throw in some stronger into the main dough. Just an idea.

hreik's picture
hreik

are saying. I  did read your edit.  My plan is to follow the instructions precisely until I get to the dough making stage.  At that point I'm going to divide the whole grain portion between whole wheat and Rye.  And then have a bit of extra flour around to add in case the dough doesn't come together.  I will autolyse b/f adding salt as you suggest.

thanks again. 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Adding some whole rye sounds like a good idea and will probably add even more depth of flavour. 

hyojongyi's picture
hyojongyi

I had made soup with onions and tomato  in the evening .Exactly,  I needed that bread right there.*_^ 

lovely, lovely crumb. I never try rice flour.  next I'll do.^^

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

I really enjoyed this bread and one to make again. The rice flour is very good for the banneton and helps the dough to not stick. I've been finding it difficult to get the dough out of the banneton especially if its high hydration. So using a mix of bread flour and rice flour (don't use the gelatinous one as there are two kinds) helps when you're flouring the banneton.

hyojongyi's picture
hyojongyi

Ah ! I see. I'm a beginner and I do not know much about it. thank you for telling.

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Did you use the fraisage (they call it 'smearing the dough with the heel of your hand') technique for this one? I've used it for pastry, but not for bread, and it works a treat. I might try this bread as it looks like a good candidate for that technique.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

I've never heard of this technique. What is it and how does it benefit the bread? 

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

It's a technique usually used for sweet dough or short pastry, to incorporate the butter. For an example, see this video. However, I've seen it used with bread dough as well. Check out this video on Youtube. I haven't watched the whole thing, but he's doing essentially that near the beginning (first minute or two) of the video.

I would think it would be useful to fully incorporate the stiff starter into the dough at the beginning, while probably also increasing the strength and aligning the gluten network, no? I do mean to try it someday, anyway.

As they say in the recipe link you provided:

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and smear the dough with the heel of your hand, so that all the flour hydrates and the starter begins to break down.