The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

100% whole wheat, in a small graniteware roaster

justkeepswimming's picture
justkeepswimming

100% whole wheat, in a small graniteware roaster

Today's bake - 100% whole wheat SD, baked in a small graniteware roaster.

Hard white spring wheat (home milled) 450 gm

Water 405 gm

Starter (100% hydration) 130 gm

Salt 9 gm

Bulk proof 7 hours (might been a tad too long)

Final proof in banetton 45 min. 

The kitchen went from 68F this morning to 75F by early afternoon, and I wasn't watching closely enough how rapidly the proofing accelerated. Spring weather in AZ, lol. 

I have been enjoying playing with different techniques, both in working with the dough and trying different baking containers. This was the first time I tried my hand at coil folds, and they really seemed to strengthen the dough better than the stretch and folds have done for me in the past. 

I baked it in a mini graniteware roaster I discovered at a local thrift store. (The yardstick is for photo scale purposes only.) It worked pretty well! 450F for 25 min with the lid on, then 15 min lid off. I attempted to bake without a sheet pan on the shelf below, that was a mistake. I knew better, this oven only heats from the elements on the bottom. The bottom burned a bit, hopefully I will be able to just cut that part of the crust off if needed.

 Edited to add crumb shot:

I'm so happy with this, it's my best loaf yet. Really good with some hummus and the salad we had for lunch. 

This is the most open crumb I have ever achieved. I think the 2 bigger bubbles on the sides are an artifact of my shaping more than anything, there weren't a lot of those. It has a very thin crust, and the bottom didn't taste burned, as I had feared. The crumb is so soft, and it feels like I am slicing a pillow.

The aliquot had risen about 50% during BF, and the dough was quite jiggly before shaping. It was a little wetter and stickier than some I have made. The final proof was going so fast I was afraid I may have let it go too long, but that's not the case.

I'm amazed to have this result with 100% whole wheat. Thinking about it, in the past I had used hard red winter wheat. This hard spring white wheat seems to do much better. I'll have to whittle down my winter wheat, experiment with coil folds with that as well, and consider using this wheat more often. So many ideas to pursue... ☺️

Comments

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

A very nice looking loaf.  That bottom crust will just be added flavor by this morning.  ?. Looking forward to seeing the end result!

I have a 100% WW in my weekend plans.  How often did you do the coil folds?

justkeepswimming's picture
justkeepswimming

I did 1 stretch and fold, and then remembered I wanted to try coil folds, did 3 of those roughly 45 min. apart. That's a gap in my understanding: how often to do S&F or coil folds, and when during BF is optimal. Or does the "when" really matter, as long as you do them and the dough still has time to react afterwards. I suspect you don't do coil folds right before shaping, but maybe? I am going to copy this and post it as a question.....

Meanwhile, this is the process I have been following. She mentions using store bought WW also works well for this.

Hope your weekend bake goes well!

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

Thank you for the info and the crumb looks great!

Benito's picture
Benito

JKS, very very nice bake of a 100% whole grain.  The burnt bottom isn’t the end of the world, nor are the larger alveoli on the sides.  These don’t detract from the very nice crumb, crust, ear and bloom.  Well done.

Benny

headupinclouds's picture
headupinclouds

> I baked it in a mini graniteware roaster I discovered at a local thrift store

I recall some baking comparisons where graniteware seems to work just as well as the more expensive bakers out there.  It seems anything that will trap steam will do.  I'm curious if these metal bakers might actually seal better than the clay baker I'm using.

> This hard spring white wheat seems to do much better.

This has been my experience as well, at least in the two HWSW varieties I've tested.  By definition white wheat is a modern strain, so I think it will tend to have pretty good performance by design.  I haven't yet tried a modern HRSW for comparison, since there are so many interesting heritage reds to choose from.