The Fresh Loaf

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Open Sesame!

nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

Open Sesame!

Did not intend to bake this weekend, but decided that since I had no plans for outings, that I may as well take advantage of the convenience of being home. A couple of months ago, I tried baking tahini bread that sounded yummy. And it was, but the sesame flavor was mild, and my preference was for more. So, that's where I went, and adapted the 3-2-1 basic formula and the result is SD Sprouted Wheat Sesame Bread.

Method included a 30 minute autolyse of:

  • 150 g BF
  • 125 g Sprouted WW
  • 30 g WW (to supplement a shortage of sprouted flour)
  • 220 g water

While the flours hydrated, I measured and prepared:

  • 125 g SD starter @ 100199% hydration
  • 7 g Kosher salt
  • 25 g tahini
  • ~3 Tbsp. sesame seed - toasted

Added the starter, salt and tahini and mixed by hand, then performed slap and folds for a single round of maybe 6 minutes, followed by 3 sets of stretch and folds at 15 minute intervals, adding the sesame seeds with the second stretch. The dough was smooth, elastic and only tacky to the touch. It has been a while since I made a wheat-only loaf, so I noted a bit of a treat to not battle stickiness or flowing, slack dough. This one could have taken more water, but I'm pleased with the crumb as it turned out.

A bit anxious about the lightning fermentation speed of sprouted flour, plus the house is warm due to our mid-80's temps in So Cal this week, I pre-shaped without a bulk rise, then shaped a boule and placed it into a basket sprinkled with brown rice flour and more sesame seed, covered and bagged it, then popped it into the refrigerator overnight (14 hours).

I pulled it out to the counter for about 1.5 hours, and heated the oven to 500F, flipped the loaf onto parchment, slashed it (finally broke out the double-edged razor blades I bought - sharp tools - nice!), turned the oven down to 450F, slid it onto the stone and covered it with the hot cloche lid to steam-bake for 15 minutes, then removed the lid and turned the oven down to 425F for another 25 minutes.

You can see that one side bulged out - imperfect, but one of the few times I've actually underproofed, so Yea! Crispy crust, but no blistering (must keep working on it), 50% whole grain (of which 80% was sprouted). And the crumb looks pretty good, fairly open and glossy. And wonderful wheat-y sesame flavor - not intense, but definite.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's posts this week!

Cathy

 

Comments

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

Try as I might I always get that bulge. Don't know how to prevent it. Must be shaping but I have followed instructions exactly and no matter how much I roll the dough while cupping my hands, dragging the dough towards me creating a taut skin, incorporating two shaping's with a bench rest, trying different methods of creating the boule.... there is always a bulge to one side. Dough always looks good coming out of the banneton though. Lovely and even until it bakes.

Looks really nice. That crust with the sesame seeds looks delicious.

Enjoy!

nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

Thanks, Abe,

It seldom happens that I underproof... but I think that's what happened here. I'm always looking for open crumb, so tend to wait it out a bit too long. Several things contributed, I think, warm weather, a roaringly active starter and sprouted flour all had me worrying about overproofing, so I pulled the trigger a bit sooner than typically. My scores were a bit shallow and the dough took the easy way out via the deepest score. While I would have been happier if it had bulged evenly all around, I was glad to see it, as it helps me learn to recognize when enough is enough.

Still learning and always will be... at least with baking, we can eat both the winners and losers (most of them, anyway)!

Bake on!

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

I too under proofed my last bake a bit and the spring was explosive too!  lucy jumoed for joy!  Love this bread.  have used sesame seeds forever but never tahini in bread.  Now i'm wondering if Liucy will work on some humus bread with so much chick pea flour just sitting in the freezer:-)

You bread really looks great, it a bit lopsided, and it has to taste great.  Well done and

Happy Baking