Formula Development III - The Return of the Tribbles

 It was 1967 when the classic Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" was first broadcast.  As I mentioned before, it was a different time and I was not yet the worldly sophisticate that I am today.  "Quadrotriticale" seemed like a wonderful, fictional, impossible grain of the future.

When I discovered that triticale (trit ih KAY lee) was indeed a real grain, it immediately became my "favorite" for no other reason than it reminded me that the "impossible" could become real.

Unfortunately, according to the University of Wisconsin, its desirability for bread making is less than that of wheat (but more than that of rye!) and my own first experience with it bore that out.

But it remains my favorite and after my long baking/milling hiatus this panned bread project seemed like the ideal time to resume my obsession with this grain.  How, exactly, to use it was the question.

So I put my tiny mind to work bringing together bits and pieces of what I learned in the past year.  Given that the gluten quality in triticale is low and given that a pre ferment (particularly a firm pre ferment) can be used to help increase gluten strength, it seemed that I should use triticale in the pre ferment. So after coming home from work (which involves things like full body scans) I fired up the mighty Diamant. I did a three pass grind to produce sufficient whole grain triticale flour to pre ferment 10% of the total flour.  Why 10%?  No reason except that I had liked the 5% pre ferment bread and was determined to push it just a little bit more.  I decided to stay with a levain based pre ferment (as it had survived last week's elimination round) and to reduce the yeast very slightly to make up for a higher percentage of flour pre fermented.

Triticale handles like rye, but more so.  The 60% hydration pre ferment felt and acted like modeling clay.  After 10 hours it did not appear to be mature, but when I poked it around a little, it had expanded slightly and showed pockets of air.  If it had been wheat or if I were counting on the pre ferment for all the leavening in the bread, I would have been alarmed, but I was just doing this for taste and perhaps a little increase in strength, so I went ahead and mixed the dough.  It was tacky, not sticky and in general was a lovely dough to work with.

My feverish formula fussing had caused me to slightly increase the amount of total flour from the original recipe, but once shaped and put into pans, I realized that the pan sizes that served me well up until now were no match for this version.  It rose like gangbusters, both during proofing and in the oven.

So here is a picture of the loaf and the crumb, revealing tragic shaping flaws, the results of too small a pan, and a fine grained crumb (as I told you - brown loaf - fine crumb.) I do admire those folks with the presence of mind to take pictures during the process, but even when faced down with a scary pre ferment I still lack the verve it takes to document it pictorially.

It was - delicious.  I always sample my loaves, but frankly I'm baking a lot of different types of things these days (I am working on other things besides this panned bread) and if I let myself just eat what I wanted, well, I would be twice the person I am now and I'm not sure that would be good.  But this stuff was too good to not eat.  It is a very soft bread perfect for those (deadly, I am told) soft bread sandwiches, but also very tasty just plain and extra good toasted.

The formula: (All of last week's warnings apply...)

Combine the two types of oats, boiling water, milk powder and shortening.  Allow to cool to lukewarm. 

Add the salt, molasses, yeast, levain, and flour.  Mix 5 minutes on the single speed of the spiral mixer. Or use your preferred method of mixing.

Let rise until doubled - 2 hours at 78-80F.  Fold.  Let rise again - about 2 hours 78-80F.  (Note the change - this one really needed the warmth to get it going!)

Shape and place in greased pans.  Proof (1 hour) and bake at 375F for 40 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool on a rack.

In a previous life I studied with a costume designer (actually, quite a famous one) who once told me that you keep adding until you think you have added enough and then - add one more thing.  So I am now faced with a decision about the direction of my experimenting.  Not only is triticale my favorite grain, but it really added a dimension to this bread.  Do I push the percentage ever higher?  Or do I call enough, enough and start tweaking other aspects of the formula?  Life is pretty good when those are the kind of decisions you get to make. Stay tuned.