Dave's SFBI Miche (Almost)
Well with David's strong suggestion to make this loaf after talking of the Miche in "Bread" I had to see. I was mostly interested how this amazing loaf was mostly comprised of white flour. I had to see. I made 2 loaves @ 2 KG each. I went with the original formula David mentions with just a couple small changes. First Change was I made the Levain with all Central Milling T85 opposed to a mix of White/Wheat. I decreased the toasted wheat germ to 2% (because I had this much on hand). Finally I prepped a bit shy on levain so I proceeded with 11% pre-fermented flour opposed to 13% and made it up in the final dough.
A few changes I made were adding a short 30 minute autolyse with the levain included. I mixed using the pincer method.Then I decreased the folds down to only 2 folds @ 1 hour intervals because the dough had good strength and was lively after the second fold. The total bulk was 3 1/2 hours
I always like to bake my cold retarded loaves from the fridge and never proof them post retarding. The less hydration doughs do require or benefit from a 30-60 minute rest out of fridge to soften the cold skin. I did so with these but still got a bit too much spring. I think next time I'll let these proof for an hour or so at room temp prior to retarding and hopefully that'll hit the perfect mark.
The toasted wheat germ is the key to this loaf. It brings so much to this relatively simple dough. I've just cut it after about 10 hours (couldn't resist) You can see I shoulda waited til tommorrow based on the slightly moist base. Both loaves temped at 210 out of the oven after an hour and ten minute bake. They lost 15% water weight through the bake. When I did the Miche from "Bread" the loss was around 10%.
Tasting: Well at first bit this bread is sweet like dessert and has a wonderful chew that brings some nice mellow lactic notes. I'm imagining this will be fun to taste through the next few days.
Cheers
Josh
Comments
These are the sort of breads you never find while out and about. No doubt they are in a league by themselves.
I have made this bread with CM's T85 flour and with half T85 and half AP as well as with all AP (except for the little bit of rye in the levain). I haven't yet found a flour combo that makes bad bread.
This bread's formula is similar to several others I've baked, yet none taste quite as wonderful. I am convinced that there is something happening with very large loves - over 1.5kg, at least - that is different from what happens with smaller loaves. This is also true of high-percentage rye breads. It's not just the wheat germ.
Anyway, I'm really glad you got around to making this, Josh. Your loaves look delicious. I really like your scoring on both miches. I agree that the diamond-scored one suggests under-proofing. I usually give this bread about 2 hours at room temperature before baking. And the 30 minutes in a vented oven after the bake helps set the crumb and dry the crust.
David
I didn't like the overload of spring in the oven as I feel a miche should have a lower profile. i may just proof these seams up on a flour coche next time and see how that works. I considered just hydrating the dough more to loosen it up and/or decrease to just 1 fold but since the crumb was so wonderful and taste so damn good I think I'll do the same but alter my shaping apparatus. I'll be making this again soon.
Josh
So how does the taste compare to the Pain de Maggiore?. I suppose they are so different that it is hard to compare them. I've made this bread at half the size and it is great and I'm wondering if the extra size makes a big difference ? David might be on to something. The PDM is hard to beat taste wise . Love the scoring too. Well done and happy baking!
But, in the meantime, I would say the miche is closer in flavor to the Pugliese Capriccioso with which you are familiar. The biggest difference is that the miche has a wonderful crunchy crust. (I much prefer it to the PC, personally, being a crusty type of guy.)
David
This is of the best breads I've eaten. It keeps gettin better. As the days go by I don't want to change anything. Well I think i want to try proofing a touch before retarding but just to get the proof right.
Thanks for nudging me into this one. It's good enough to be at my "Last Supper" so to speak.
Josh
It is truly an amazing bread.
David
Well compared to the PDM. One thing they both have in common is perfect balance of flavor. The PDM is a lovely balance of heavy sour with a really crunchy/cake sweet crust and a creamy texture.
David's Miche, is a different beast all together. First off it goes through more of a shift of flavor over time. The miche. it is so large it retains its freshness for us to taste it through a longer :"curing" process. I mean the PDM stays soft and is prettty darn good just left on the cutting board for 3-4 days. But it's staling by day 3 I would say. It's flavor shifts the most from fresh to day old and then maintains. The Miche after 12 hours was sweet, really sweet and so delicious I had a few big ole slices with no adornments at all. After 24 hours its come alive with some serious sourness with a crunchy sweet chewy crust (this is a similarity but a reach i suppose) It's addictive and again with no more than just a touch of butter. The spongy crumb of the miche is so fantastic. I'm in love. I'd put this up with the PDM but in the long run the PDM wins because its got much more whole grain and I'm a sucker for anything boosted with Rye.