It was more or less a "freestyle" recipe, a spontaneous decision to bake with flaxseeds.
80% white flour
5% spelt flour
15% whole wheat flour
25% whole rye sourdough
100% hydration
15% flaxseeds (soaked in the water the night before)
The flaxseeds are pretty "thirsty", the dough felt more like 70%-75% hydration
Didn't build too much structure in the dough. I wanted an irregular crumb structure. The crumb was very airy and light, just not as irregular as I wanted. The flaxseeds give generally a nice light nutty taste, the ones in the crust a slight roasted flavour. We liked it a lot!
- sparkfan's Blog
- Log in or register to post comments
Gotta love this one!
TomP
Lovely! Adding it to my list of things to try...
-Jon
That's some beautiful bread, sparkfan~
Paul
Delicious and nutritious. I read that flax seed needs to be ground to be absorbed in the gut but I like to believe that soaking it till it gels up helps with digestion. Seeing that beautiful crumb makes me miss having a rye starter for mostly white flour country loaves like that.
Don
Thank you all for your comments!
Yes, whole flax seeds are not really digested. They get out as they get in 😃 Not sure about soaked and cooked/baked seeds.
I use whole flaxseeds because I prefer the way they look (in the crumb and in the crust). In the past, I have baked similar recipes with ground flaxseeds. Especially with darker flours, you can hardly see them in the crumb anymore.
Besides, I don't know whether the superfood properties of flaxseeds still remain after baking, given the high temperatures.
Regarding the rye starter - technically speaking my starter probably doesn't qualify as rye starter. I'm actually maintaining only my lievito madre. Because I neglected it in the last few days I decided to do a refreshment with whole rye just to boost the activity a bit faster. I used the opportunity and did an additional refreshment with the ratio 1:8:8 (starter : whole rye : water) at ca. 23ºC and used it for this bake. It was a "single shot". I'm pretty sure an "older" rye starter would have a totally different microorganism populations, acidity profile, etc.
beautiful bake!
Jay
I just today picked up a bag of ground flax seed. I am thinking to include it as part of the flour percentage. I while using the same method as in my Last bake. Keeping the white flour in the levian, at approx 12% of the total flour. What % of ground flax would you recommend? Thanks. Once again that bread looks amazing. I think my carb allotment went over just looking at it!
In this particular recipe I used 15% whole flax seeds. In the past, when I baked with ground flax seed I also used 15% (baker's percentage based on the amount of flour in the main recipe). You can go up to 20%. Above 20% and I assume that taste and crumb structure will change too much (compared to the recipe without flax seeds), depending on expectations and desired result.
I wouldn't go below 5%. Imo you almost won't notice the flax seeds.
Just keep in mind to adjust the hydration and soak the seeds in water in advance. At least a few hours before mixing.
Generally I add twice the amount of water to the amount of flax seeds (in g) compared to the original recipe without flax seeds. At least with the flaxseeds I'm using. Depending on how the dough looks like I might do a bassinage later and add more water. It's nature, it can vary. If you want to stay on the safe side, add only 1.5x and then add more water later with bassinage.
EDIT: Many recipes I found in internet contain only 5-10% flax seeds. We like flaxseeds so much that I absolutely have to increase the amount.
As far as smoking the seeds, that only goes for whole seeds I would think? I wonder how using the 15% ground flax in a Tangzhong would effect the nutrients? Hmmm, these are hard questions, I will retire to my lodge smoke the pipe and think. Ha, thanks for your help.
That’s a great looking bake!
Crumb looks perfect.
Happy baking!
Ian
Thank you for your comments! Appreciate!
Great loaf sparkfan. Flaxseeds go really well with this kind of loaf.
I have one of my favourite stabilized bread recipes which is 75% white spelt, 5% flaxseeds soaked in boiling water, using a 50% SD crumble biga that comes out always great and super tasting. Always great oven spring, like yours.
Flaxseed soaker is a great way to increase the fiber content of a white bread as the soluble fibre which comes out on the water and makes it like a gel adds to any fibre already in the flour and makes a very filling bread.
I was going to suggest a bread like yours here or mine to Will aka Roadside Pie King as a way to replace some crabs without having to only eat WW bread in his superfood thread.
There is a post on soaker hydration I will post on case it helps you manage the dough hydration better, although it seems your rule of thumb is spot on from the photos.