May the Flas be with you...
As you can read, I prepared the 'flas' of this bake using a mix of two malts and also a backslop from my 4-day-old previous batch sleeping in the fridge. Kept for 40 hours at 42-45C|108-113F undisturbed.
Flas Formula
75 cracked rye malt
75 cracked spelt malt
50 backslop
450 water
Bread Formula
200 flour (bread 13-14%)
90 water
60 flas
1.6 instant dry yeast
4 salt
+
20 wheat bran (soaked in the fridge ~24 hours and strained just before use)
Timeline
0000 Mix all ingredients together using stand mixer for 4-6 min (start of bulk - DDT 28C|82F)
0030 Laminate
0100 Roll&Fold (no excessive streching required) in basin where dough rests
0130 Shape and place in Banneton (start of proof - Brod&Taylor setting 35C|95F no humidity disk as in bulk)
0230 Bake (covered - 10 min at 250C|482F for spring, then at 200C|392F for 50 min)
A quick recap: This 'torpedo funny-looking' loaf is 60% whole wheat (due to the bran added) and it was prepared in two and a half hours on a whim (no prescheduling). Next time I'll be more pedantic with my shaping :(
No Ib starter can beat 'flas' when it comes to:
- Speed of deliverance
- Flexibility
- Stability and Reproducibility
- Quality
- Time and Money Saving
Can we call it something else other than FLAS like malt extract?? :):):) So you incorporated some of the previously brewed solution to brew a new mash? What is the set temp of your Brod and Taylor proofer to get the mash to 110-degree F?
Hello 'Ming' and thx for the interest you show for this technique.
As far as the name is concerned I really couldn't care less. What I do care is the effect it has in bread making. Feel free to throw in some names (maybe one of those will be more catchy than flas). I' m totally free of affiliations of any kind (just me and my love for homemade bread).
Now your question about B&T temperature setting during brewing could not be more pensive. Indeed I use one of those infrared thermometers to check the temperature of the flas-container from the outside (without disturbing the mash) every so often. Doing this I have found that B&T at 37-39C|99-102F results in the desired temp for the mash. I have also realised that this is very dependant on the temperature of the enviroment where you keep the proofer. So you must check this for your enviroment. Good point.
And once you've gone into this level of detail, another thing I do (and have not mentioned before) is that 2-3 times during brewing I pump some air out. The LABs in the malt seem to create a fiz which I extract with the pump.
All these (except the temperature control) together with the backslop are not mandatory but they seem to help.
May the 'malt extract' be with you......!
Haha, great feedback. From playing around with different temps of my B&T proofer, I think I have to set it around 98-degree F to get the mash to around 110-degree F, and my house is around 70-degree right now. I used a jar of water next to the mash to gauge the temp but it turned out the mash temp was much higher than the water was so I don't think I can rely on the water temp anymore. After 2 days of mashing undisturbed, mine still had a little bit of vacuum left in container but I only pumped it a few times before mashing. I will experiment with different vacuum levels to see what will work best. So far I think I like this approach better than SD to have LABs in the bread. Thanks for all the info you have provided here.
You 're right not to rely on plain water temp. The brewing itself raises the temperature, there are some creatures working hard in there while we sleep!
I had suspected that the B&T would have that weakness; the lack of insulation has to result in significant temperature gradients in a cool room. I think a well insulated cooler with the sensing attached to the container and heat from below the container is likely to produce the most stable temperatures.
I wish there was a magical way of monitoring the temp inside the isolated mash in real-time. That would be useful for other applications as well. If you come up with a good setup please share.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67858/immersible-bluetooth-thermometer
In the post linked above, you'll find my solution; a tiny cheap bluetooth thermometer in a plastic suit.
Interesting. Have you double-checked its readings in case the sealing affects them?
It compares well with my ThermaPen, the sensor on my controller, and my cheap thermocouple thermometer. Of course, you lose the humidity measurement function because it is sealed in the suit.
It practically has to. The thin plastic layer might slow its response a bit but in the steady state the temperature has to equalize.
Thx 'GaryBishop' I'll put it in my list-to-try. Amazon I looked says 'unavailable' for the time being.
I show the GoVee Hygrometer Thermometer available for next day delivery at $14.99
I have not done any precise temp measurement of my B&T but I can't seem to feel the warm when I put my hands around the outside walls but as soon as I open the lid that 110-degree F hit me right away. I think the insulation of the B&T might be a lot better than most people assume it to be.
I've never seen one so I'm only guessing...
Your experience that you have to set the control with a considerable offset from the desired temperature tells me that you must have a large temperature gradient.
Another approach to temperature management is (I think) a water bath. The thermal transfer is going to be so much greater that the container almost has to be the same temperature as the water.
As soon as my new controller arrives this afternoon, I'm going to float my BT thermometer in a jar of water sitting in a water bath in one of our crockpots. I plan to put the controller probe in the water bath surrounding the jar.
I theorize that the inside temperature should accurately track that of the bath.
Now, if heat is being generated inside the jar by biological action that could make it hotter than the bath. The only solution for that is going to be putting the probe inside the mash. I think I could do that with the BT themometer in a feedback loop but that seems like overkill.
The original German argument just puts the mash in a thermos bottle...
That is not a bad idea but ultimately the temp in the mash is what counts.
After filtering out the mash solution, I put the fermented malt back into the container and added some water and put it back into the proofer so I could monitor the temp with a hand probe since I did not care the mash solution this time. After about 1 day worth of temp measurements (every a few hours) that is how I came up with a 98-degree F set temp for my proofer to get my mash to around 110-degree F.
I believe the water bath should moderate any heat output from the mash—heat transfer should work both ways.
Yes, good observation. I might be able to see that by looking at the cycle time of the temperature variations. Assuming relatively constant room temperature, if the mash starts generating heat, the off-on times should grow longer.
I'm going to bake with my starter today! Yesterday was filled with children and grandchildren.
I'm eager to go after lunch.
Hi,
In refreshing the flas, does backslop refer to
a) liquid portion of flas
or b) the sediments (coarse or fine) of the flas?
Do you think that clas can take the place of the backslop?
Thanks!