The Fresh Loaf

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Farmer's Market Week 28 (Pain de Campagne)

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

Farmer's Market Week 28 (Pain de Campagne)

A good friend of mine got a chance to work with a very reputable baker and brought me this formula for PDC as he called it.  It was his favorite of the loaves there and I had to give it a go.  Let's start with the fact that I misread my formula and came up short 600 g of H20.  I noticed the dough could take some more hydro and got 200 g in at the mix time but after re-reading the formula I noticed my botch.  So the dough should have been 82% hydration but ended at 73% which is a ways off the mark.  

Of course it didn't matter how the loaf came out.  At this point for me I failed even if a good loaf prevailed.  And based on the feel, action, and smell of the dough I knew it would be a fine loaf even with the error.  It did in the end turn out just fine.  In fact my friend said it wasn't very far off at all from the actual loaf.  Now it's on my to-do list to make it with proper hydration.  The finished loaf was pleasantly sour but not overly so with a very nutty whole grain profile and a soft tight crumb screaming for some PB&J.  

An odd thing with this recipe for me was the feed of the levain.   It's roughly 2 parts levain to 1 part flour.  I believe this was due to filtered water constrictions (they did not have warm filtered only cold) but wanted a levain that peaked in 6-8 hours and was fed 3 times daily.  Just for giggles I did 2 builds at this ratio to stay on target(D'oh).  This starter, 100% whole wheat, peaked in 3 hours for me as I guess the cold water I used wasn't cold enough.  It did have some serious sour notes to it and was vigorous.  In the end a good everyday hearth sandwich loaf. 

Pain De Campagne

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Levain should be fed at least twice @ 80% hydration where the seed is equal to 1/2 the total weight.                          It's pretty close to 2 parts seed 1 part flour if that makes this easier.  And the levain is 100% Whole Wheat.

Pre fermented flour = 19 %

43% Whole Wheat, 5% Whole Rye, 5% Whole Spelt, and 47% AP or equivalent.  

82% Hydration (My loaf here is @ 73%)

2%  Salt

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Autolyse 1 hour (hold back 5% of H20 to incorporate levain and salt)

Add levain with 1/2 of held back h20 until incorporated

Add salt with remaining water and mix until salt is well distributed and moderate gluten is formed.

Bulk Ferment 2 1/2 Hours with 2 SF @ 50 minutes

Divide, Pre-shape, Rest 30 minutes

Shape and Retard 12-18 hours

Bake @ 500 with steam for 15.  Finish @ 460 rotating as needed for 25-30 more.  

 

Got some local tuna, local ground lamb (soon to be kofte), leeks, shitakes, farm fresh eggs, greens, Herb starts (parsley, thyme, chives), paid back some barters owed, and sold a couple loaves to others.  

Cheers

Josh

Comments

Syd's picture
Syd

Those are beauties Josh.  I especially like the crust color on the boule.  I bet it tastes great.  Excellent scoring all round.  I have been experimenting with my own version of this loaf the past two weeks but am still not satisfied, yet.  The final loaf has been coming out too sour for my liking.  It is not that I dislike sour per se, but too much of it masks the other flavors.    I think I might have got closer to my goal with yesterday's bake but will only know for certain when I cut it today.  It seems that whenever I use whole wheat in my levain it gets really sour.  So for yesterday's bake, instead of feeding it at a 1:2 ratio, I fed it at a 1:3 ratio.  Another critical factor is how long you let it ferment for.  I always aim to use my levain when it is just peaking (i.e. hasn't started to recede yet).  It seems sweetest at this stage.  It all boils down to finding the right feeding ratio and the right length of fermentation time for your ambient temperature.  These also have to be adjusted as the seasons change.  I include 10% rye in my final dough and this also accelerates the fermentation time.  Yesterday I let it autolyse for 30 minutes and bulk ferment for 1 and a half hours and it was done.  

Nice barters!

Syd

golgi70's picture
golgi70 (not verified)

Levains made entirely with Whole Wheat get more sour than that of a white levain.  If you seek less sour I think you went the wrong way with your feeding.  Feeding it less will give it more time to peak and increase the sourness.  You might consider doing the opposite and going 1:1 on the final build to keep it short and keep it liquid opposed to stiff.  Alternately you could make a white starter and get the wheat in the final dough portion.  

The easiest way to decrease sour is to increase your daily feedings to at least 3x a day and after a couple days you'll notice the strong sourness replaced by a sweet buttery twang.  Much milder.  My liking to sour depends on the place its in.  Sometimes its just perfect (Pane Maggiore) and sometimes its too much (my previous jobs SFSD).  It can improve and diminish flavor profiles depending on the formula.  Example I've yet to find a sour baguette that is better than a sweet baguette.  

Thanks for the comments and i look forward to seeing your results

Josh

Syd's picture
Syd

Thanks for the advice on feeding Josh.  My reason for feeding the levain less was precisely so that I could give it more time to peak.  I have being trying to time it so that my levain peaks in 12 hours.  This means I can feed the levain in the early evening and start the bread the following morning.  My white levain is usually ready in 4 hours and so I always feed that on the morning of the bake. However, that means the whole process is four hours longer.  I was trying to shorten the time spent by allowing the levain to do its work while I slept.  I didn't realize this would make it more sour.  I will have to rethink my strategy.  I hadn't thought this would make it sourer.

I add all the whole wheat to the levain because I feel the final loaf tastes better that way.  I've done it both ways and I seem to get more of a wheaty, nutty flavor when all the whole wheat is in the levain.  

Will definitely take your comments into consideration when planning my next bake.

Best,

Syd

golgi70's picture
golgi70 (not verified)

Maintaining a mellower sour takes an extra step.  maybe a blend of white and wheat would hit your profile?

josh

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

for being so dry.  The outside looks great and the scoring top notch. Well done Josh.   So how did it taste compared to the PVM?

Happy baking

golgi70's picture
golgi70 (not verified)

Compared to PVM?  Ha.  Not as good.  But maybe with the added hydration a quality loaf when you seek something soft.  It's also much less sweet and has a bit more nutty bite to it.  Really good with cashew butter and super fruit spread. 

Josh

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

Josh:  Looks so good. I will have to try it. Great crumb and crust.  I think I chicken out some times and don't finish properly to have the kind of bold crust you have on the first one. You have set the example!  Best,  Phyllis

golgi70's picture
golgi70 (not verified)

Rule of Thumb when you think its done it needs 5-10 more minutes.  

Thanks and I can't wait to see your results.  Highly recommend increasing hydration. 

Josh

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The formula is not terribly different from the "PVM." I'm curious what you think after you make it at 83% hydration.

I love the concept of going shopping with bread to spend.

David

golgi70's picture
golgi70 (not verified)

And bring home the bacon (sometimes literally).  It is quite fun and the farmer's seem to enjoy it too.  They get some fresh bread for the week and I get some seasonal eats for the week.  Win Win. 

It isn't terrible diff from PVM at first glance but the wheat is boosted up by double (more so if you wanna call spelt wheat) and Rye cut down to a bit more than a 1/4.  It's a much more Wheaty than PVM.  But the true test has yet to come.  I'd like to try your Finish Rye before I come back to this one though.  I've decided I may sprout the flax which should increase it's overall health benefits I think.  

Cheers

Josh

MisterTT's picture
MisterTT

with the lower hydration! The flour mix reminds me somewhat of Tom's (Toad.de.b) improvisation of Rubaud's mix, though there's a bit more whole grains here.

Always love a good pain de campagne.

golgi70's picture
golgi70 (not verified)

Albeit I was disappointed but mostly because I didn't make the proper loaf I intended, the bread is pretty good.  I've not read about Tom's Rubaud mix.  I'll look into that.  

As for P de C.  It's sort of a mystery to me.  There doesn't seem to be much guideline to this dough with such infamy.  The only common factor I've seen is it generally has Whole Wheat as a portion of the mix (I've seen it range from 10-50%) and many like a small incorporation of Rye (2-10%).  I've seen it made with stiff starter, liquid levain, biga, poolish.  And the versions I've purchased from bakeries have been dominantly white bread.  This one got me excited for a few reasons.  It's loaded with whole grain, the source of the formula, and my good friend/colleague's strong recommendation.  

Cheers

Josh