whole wheat with grains and seeds
I just saw Benjamin's pictures of his beautiful seed bread, and once again, I vowed to follow a master like Hamelman instead of winging it. But in my heart of hearts, I know it's not going to happen. At least not very frequently. I swear it's not arrogance - I just want to get to that stage when I can produce a satisfactory loaf without directions. This week, I too baked a sourdough seed bread. If you want to read about all the fumbling and the improvisation, it's on my blog http://dragonspalate.blogspot.com/2010/07/whole-wheat-with-grains-and-seeds.html.
It's a whole wheat loaf with buckwheat groats, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and wheat berries. I love the chewiness of the wheat berries. Tasted very good. But look at the difference in oven spring between mine and Benjamin's. Or rather, the lack of it in mine. I've got steam issues that I'm trying to solve. Still, it was not a brick.
But it sounds like you might have OVER proofed a little. The 500 degrees is, I am given to understand, a good idea in that case -- give that old dough a bit of extra push.
the second loaf proofed proofed 40 minutes longer and it had a better oven spring. Dunno.
mm... looks fine to me reddragon. love your crumb pic. In my opinion, No bread is a fail, it only tastes different.
Khalid
I have to say that the taste didn't disappoint me. But the crust is another story.
Murvet
Hi reddragon, wonderful looking bread. I like Khalid's "no bread is a fail" and second that. I whince when I read that sometimes folks feel their efforts are so bad, they end up throwing bread away. Your crust, crumb and other aspects of this bread look great. I wonder how long refrigerated buckwheat groats can be kept? Ray
I didn't even know buckwheat groats had to be refrigerated. This was the first time I saw them or used them. I had bought a small amount (bulk, at Whole Foods) to experiment with, so I didn't worry too much about storage. I'm baking again today, and I used up the last of it.
I have to say, though, that I can't detect the difference it makes in taste or texture. Maybe because I used too little? Do you bake with buckwheat groats?
Thanks for your comment. I'm determined not to stress out about baking bread, but I'd love to be able to predict the outcome relatively reliably. When the taste is good, though, as it was this time, there isn't much disappointment.
Murvet
I bought them quite sometime ago, and stuck the pkg. in the fridge thinking they would last longer that way, but it's been so long, I don't think it matters.
I can't remember the taste, or if, i ever used them, but the texture should have been nice. I seem to remember the texture, but in what?
Re. baking, I always predict the outcome, however inacurately. My expectations are often frustrated. Ray
I want it on a t-shirt.
Murvet
Great idea, it's right up there with E=MC.... well mabey that's going too far. Thanks, Ray
The crust has nice coloring all the way around.
The holes are a variety just like the scattering of seeds and berries.
The direction of the bubbles indicate an even rise during proofing and baking.
The crumb doesn't show any stress.
And in zooming in (yes, I did) the crumb has a translucent quality with just the right amount of moisture.
I'd say, "Well done!"
Mini
Hi reddragon -- Your original post directed us to your blog: "it's on my blog http://dragonspalate.blogspot.com/2010/07/whole-wheat-with-grains-and-seeds.html." When I clicked on the URL, I got a "not-found". Closer inspection shows that my browser (Firefox) parsed the sentence-ending period as part of the URL, which creates the error. Just a suggestion -- when you end a sentence with a URL, put a space before the period to prevent this!
Thanks for the link to your blog.
cheers, jerry
I appreciate it.
Murvet
This bread looks spectacular to me! Can't wait to try it myself.
Mary