The Fresh Loaf

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Vermont Sourdough / Maple Spelt and Barley Sourdough

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

Vermont Sourdough / Maple Spelt and Barley Sourdough

I have been working on a new starter, and you can find details on that in my forum post.  Yesterday's bake was the second bake using it, and so far so good!

Vermont Sourdough with a Cracked Rye Soaker

The first bake was two loaves of Vermont Sourdough with a cracked rye soaker added to it.  The only variation is the levain.  I did not use an overnight levain build per Hamelman's method.  Instead, I used the same amount of prefermented flour but out of a starter refresh at 140% hydration.  Loaves turned out great!  Completed bulk in 4 hours (50-75% rise at 76 deg F) and final proof in 1 hour.  No crumb shot for these as they were both spoken for by friends.

 

Maple Spelt and Barley

This loaf was an experiment.  I picked up a 10" round banneton and haven't made a loaf with it yet.  This loaf was a porridge bread that used farro, hulled barley, maple sugar, and whole milk for the porridge.  The loaf also had spelt and barley flours.

The porridge was made by cooking the farro and hulled barley with water only and low heat until fully hydrated and soft (~2 hours).  The fully hydrated grain was pureed in a food processor before returning to the pot where the milk and maple sugar was added.  Cook on low heat and stirring regularly until the porridge is creamy.

Again, I used the new starter at 140% hydration after a 9 hour refresh.  I didn't know where to go with hydration as this used spelt, had a significant amount of low gluten flour with the barley, and had a creamy porridge.  It was on the wet side after final mix.  Thought about adding a little more flour, but I wanted to see if the flour would take it.  It was close, but the loaf spread a little more than I wanted.  This bread proceeded very similar to the VSD.  Bulk was nominally 50-75% rise and was done in just under 4 hours.  Final proof was also an hour for this dough.

The loaf spread more than I wanted, but I attribute that to the moist dough and the spelt.  I couldn't quite get the strength in the dough that I wanted.  However, the crumb was excellent with this bread!  I split it with my neighbor, so I had to cut it a little early (~ 5 hours after baking).  It was still curing, but very happy with it! 

All three of these loaves were baked at the same time using the new baking steel.

Comments

Benito's picture
Benito

Troy, a bit of work to make that porridge, 2 hours +.  I’m sure that flavour is excellent in that loaf and the crumb looks wonderful as well.  Now your Vermont Sourdoughs look picture perfect!  What great ovens pring they achieved, well done.

Benny

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

Thank you on the VSD's, Benny.

A bit of work is an understatement.  At the 90 minute mark (and third water addition (started at 225% and kept adding until tender)), I decided that I need a mill if I'm ever going to attempt this again.  I like the flavor combination, but that took WAY too long.  Need to crack the grain before trying that again.

Benito's picture
Benito

I get confused for a second when reading various acronyms people use, when I saw you write VSD I immediately thought Ventricular Septal Defect. LOL.

 

justkeepswimming's picture
justkeepswimming

Guess I'm truly retired - that one never entered my mind, lol. My  first thought was Abe's VSSD (very simple sourdough) recipe. 

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

Nice!  🤣

In hindsight, maybe not such a good title for a blog post. 🤔

justkeepswimming's picture
justkeepswimming

That looks and sounds wonderful!!

A random thought about the porridge.... If you have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, perhaps doing the porridge initial cooking in there would streamline that part of the process? It might be less babysitting until it's fully hydrated and ready for the food processor. 🤔

Mary

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

That might work.  But…. I think I’m going to use this as the excuse I need to buy a mill. 😉

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I suggest using cracked, rolled or flaked grains only in your porridge.  Instead of adding the milk after using water I use milk as the liquid and add a little at a time until it’s all absorbed and nice and creamy.

Happy baking.

Ian

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

Thank you Ian.  Agree 100% on the cracked grains.  This was my first time trying whole grains.  Knew it would take longer than rolled oats, but was not expecting that! 

Will try using only milk the next time.  Can see how that would make it really creamy.