Potato Rye Bread
Finally... I've done it again. I must confess that I didn't get to baking very often in the last couple weeks. Of course I tried to bake every now and then, but most of the times just well known formulae like my potato-walnut-bread, or a simple white bread such as Hamelman's rustic bread, or something comparable.
I found it rather hard to fit the baking into my schedule, as my days differ considerably and I always find myself busy when I'd like to bake.
But yesterday I realized that baking, even in the time expensive way I like and enjoy, can fit into my schedule. No miracles, it's rather simple: Sourdough in the morning, mixing in the early evening, first fermentation, shaping in the later evening and final proof in my not so cold fridge and then baking in the next morning before I head to the uni. (it was probably slightly to much proofed, but it didn't matter to much and now I know that I'd simply have to lower the fridge temperature for the next time and it should be perfect!)
The result is very pleasing! (excuse the not so good picture quality, my camera broke some time ago and as I'm not at home I can't borrow my sister's camera. Thus, the pictures are somewhat blurry and pale in colour)
The bread is pleasantly sour, due to the potatoes very "humid" and chewy. I was surprised to find out that it tastes pretty much like the bread I always wanted to copy from my favourite baker but I never managed to get such a moist crumb!As I'm not very familiar with my new oven yet, it charred on the bottom somewhat and I had to scrape some black off, but I really liked this smoky note in combination with the sourness!
Potatoe - rye bread
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Sourdough:
100 g whole rye flour
100 g water
35 g mature culture
final dough:
all of the sourdough
280 g boiled and peeled potatoes, cooled (I boiled them while I mixed the sourdough)
150 g whole wheat flour
200 g bread flour
200 g water
12 g vital wheat gluten
10 g salt
1 tsp (somewhat less) instant yeast
1. prepare the sourdough in the morning
2. in the evening: mix the sourdough, the mashed potatoes, all of the flour, vwgluten and the water and knead until everything is smooth.
3. autolyse for some time, approx. 30 min.
4. add salt and yeast, knead until smooth and well developed.
5. proove until doubled in size (I put the dough on the balcony (12°C) while I left the house and brought it back inside after I returned to let it double fully, it took me about four hours, I think)
6. shape (I divided the dough into two pieces and made boules out of them)
7. place them in a well floured linnen inside of a bowl (or proofing basket, If you got one) and let the boules ferment over night in the fridge
8. preheat the oven the next morning to full temperature, slash the boules, steam well, turn down to 230°C and bake for approx. 35 min.
9. let cool and enjoy!
i hope you all are doing fine. Even if I didn't write, I've checked in here regularily and followed your baking!
Salome
Comments
David
Very nice looking loaf. Good shape and crumb.
Eric
Great loaf, Salome, and good to have you posting here again :)
Do you have your own kitchen or do you share it with other students? Artisan baking doesn't strike me as something that occurs frequently in most student kitchens...
thank you all for your kind comments!
I live in a flat share with three room mates, so yes, I do share a kitchen. Artesan baking is more challenging here for sure - just to start with the equipment problem. I'm doing all the kneading by hand as I haven't got even a simple dough machine. Therefore no extremely wet doughs anylonger. Furthermore, I'm missing my mill. And thirdly, I haven't got the variety of grains I used to bake with because of the missing mill.
But one good thing is that my roommates haven't seen a "close to perfect" loaf yet, so they even enjoy less well made bread a lot ;-)
Salome
First time making your recipe. The boule follows it more faithfully, adding the yeast but omitting the gluten and reversing the amounts of WWF and white unbleached flour (bc my WWF is higher protein). I made that one a day after mixing up the pan loaf, which is all WWF and only rye starter, i.e. no instant yeast. It rose fine just with the starter alone, and I let it stands a whole 48 hours in the fridge as the boule rested only overnight. Overall, they smell great and though both doughs were a little moist, they turned out well. Thanks.
Probably by now you found solutions to overdone bottom crusts. If you've a cast iron Dutch oven, you'll see spikes on the underside of the cover. Well, I discovered their purpose after I baked my bread on a piece of foil, over the spikes by simply inverting the Dutch oven! Works great and the bottom crusts never burned again because the spikes prevent full contact with the cast iron surface.