Pain de campagne hydration...
Hi guys, as some of you may know from my previous posts, Im currently working in a bakery that is now converting over to "arrisan" methods to produce the majority of there products, along with introducing some new bread lines. I have been given the task of developing these new breads, experimenting on a daily basis. Yesterday's bake was a naturally leveaned pain de campagne, whicy turned out looking pretty nice considering I'd never attempted them before, although I wasn't overly happy with the crumb. What I was looking for was a slight sour taste, with a slightly open texture. I achieved the taste, but not the texture. Anyway here is my method, followed by a couple of pictures;
16 hour levain; (35% prefermented flour)
1400g strong white
840g water
80g ripe culture (50% light rye 50% white, 100% hydration)
Final dough;
Levain from above
400g light rye flour (10%)
400g wholemeal flour (10%)
1800g strong white
72g salt (1.8%)
1720g blood warm water (65% overall hydration)
Bulk fermentation 2 hours with two s/f within first hour.
Divided into 900g peices and preshaped gently round, rested for 10 minutes.
Shaped into boules and placed in floured bannetons.
proofed 3 hours at room temperature, followed by 1 hour in the proofer.
baked at 430f (top heat 4, bottom heat 5) for 40 minutes with steam
you could cut the whole grains down to 15% instead of 20%, make a smaller preferment say 25% so it will ferment longer, do a 1 hour autolyse for the dough flour and liquid and up the hydration to 72% but I think I would keep the whole grains in there and see if some combination of the other changes makes the bread you want.
Happy Experimenting
Thanks for the advice, I was thinking that the hydration needed to be increased, but allowing a longer fermentation sounds a step in the right direction. It would be difficult to allow time for an autolyse as much as I'd like to, trying to fit everything into a tight schedule. Does my proofing time sound a lot, considering I had 35% leavening in the dough? Matt
and sometimes lack of a huge amount of refrigeration can really put a damper on fine SD bread making and why so many professionals use some instant yeast in their dough to speed things up, make bigger holes while trying to get some sour flavor to come through. I figured that was why you were using 35% levain - less time ....more sour results. My experience tells me this leads to smaller holes. Those lucky bakers in the Northwest can do everything at room temperature and get a fine product and those in the England should be able to do the same thing I would think.
Your loaf doesn't look over proofed so I would say the time you use for 35% levain is pretty much spot on. One thing you might consider if you have low bakery temperatures or refrigeration is to do a formula or schedule like they use at Tartine. Another option is do a no knead SD bread if the temperatures are right like Sullivan Street Bakery. This always produces nice flavor and holes without any muss or fuss at all if you have the space to let time take its course and do its thing. Both Tartine and no knead require longer times of 18 - 24 hours which means more space and changing the baker's schedules which isn't always an option.
During AZ summers, I have to use less than 10% levain to keep shaped dough from over proofing in a 36 F fridge in 10-12 hours after a 18- 24 hour bulk ferment in the fridge and could never leave it shaped or bulk on the counter overnight without it turning to goo. I'm thinking there is some schedule and method that will work for you to get the work flow right and the bread the way you want it but it might require a IY booster.
I remember Phil (PiPs), in Brosbane, had a one 10-12 day schedule start to finish if you discout the levain build, for a 20% whole wheat SD that he posted and I made a couple of years ago. I will look for that and let you know where to find it,
Good Luck and Happy Baking.
No that one was a 40% whole wheat
Here is one from anandaa (Andy) a pro baker in the UK for a Chmpagne type bread
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/30992/new-breads-old-favourite-flours Andy has a lot of formulas and methods for these kinds of in his blog,
I agree with Dabrownman about how to approach making changes. I would also encourage you to maybe not decrease the whole grains just yet, because they're so tasty in there, and I've had the impression that pain de campagne should have at least a good dose of whole wheat in it.
Cutting back on the leavening and increasing the time of the bulk fermentation sounds like a good start. I'd suggest changing to a 3 hour bulk fermention with 2 folds after an hour. That is, if your dough comes out of the mixer at 1:00, fold at 2:00 and 3:00, divide at 4:00, for example. I think a longer bulk ferment and continuing to make sure that you handle the dough gently when dividing and shaping should help.
I'm not sure what to suggest for cutting back on leaving, though Da's 25% suggestion sounds good; you might even want to experiment with 20% at some point, too.
Keep an eye on your final proof, too. It's possible that changing the leavening and bulk times might affect your final proof, as well.
When you say keeping an eye on the final proof, how do you mean? Matt
I simply mean that if you change the bulk fermentation and amount of levain, your final proof might take more or less time than it currently does. So, you might want to check on it earlier than usual, in case it's ready faster, but keep checking on it if it's not ready.