Questions on Hamelman's Flaxseed Rye
Hello all, been away for a few years now, just coming back into a lot of things now that I wasn't able to do over the last stretch of time, and making up for lost time in baking.
I love Hamelman's flaxseed rye. Just a couple questions - probably very obvious, but appreciate the thoughts.
Firstly, I'm using increasingly old miche as the old bread soaker - quite dry. I've always cut the crust away before cubing the bread into 1/4" cubes, and then mixing with the water and flaxseeds. Question would be, do you all shave the crust away? Would you, if using "older" older bread?
Secondly, I've had no issue with the cubes mixing in and failing to mix fully, to dissipate in my dough. The finished dough is uniform.
That said, I've seen it suggested by some, when using an old bread soaker, that they in effect create a porridgey-slurry like consistency, before mixing the soaker into the dough. The thought has occurred to me - simply make bread crumbs in the Cuisinart, and add these with the water and flaxseeds, then soak overnight. I can't see a downside - thoughts?
Finally, on seeding the loaf surface itself. I was confused by Hamelman's instructions to leave the bread to proof seeded side up, in the banneton. Does this mean, the loaf is rolled in seeds, and then it is placed seam-side down into the banneton, with the seeded side facing the baker, and on baking, one will in essence flip the loaf twice, loading the loaf on a peel?
So far, it's worked out well just to roll the loaf in seeds, and upend it into the banneton, as I would normally do, seam side up and facing me. The only downside is the finished loaf comes out of the oven with excess flour over the seeds and though I brush the loaf diligently to get the excess flour off the seeds, much of the (caramelized, anyway) flour remains behind.
Thanks very much for your thoughts, all.
started searching around for answers. If I'm correct, the "old bread soaker" you're referring to is also known as "altus" and there are a lot of articles here in TFL as well as on the internet at large. Interestingly, it seems as though both approaches exist - leaving the crust on, and cutting it off. I've always left it on, and never had a problem with it incorporating into the dough. However, the recipe that I use it in calls for the slices of bread to be soaked then squeezed, then they're dropped into the rye sour and run in the mixer with the paddle until incorporated. I get kind of forceful when I squeeze, which breaks them down a little, plus the hydration of the sour helps them "dissolve."
If you're turning them into crumbs with the Cuisinart before you get them wet, I agree with you that it should be easy to mix, but how do you control the hydration? Do you just add enough water to make it a certain % hydration, or do you press the excess water out after you've let it sit overnight?
Interested to see what else you find out about this.
--Mike
Hey Mike, sorry for the late reply - heading up north for the holidays and crazy getting ready. Breads came out well. Cool technique on your altus, have seen a similar one somewhere on the web and it would be fun to try it. I ended up shaving the crust off and cuisinarted to crumbs, which may or may not have been necessary. I don't know if you have Hamelman's book but I really like how it's laid out - gives hydration totals, as well as at each step. I have my own spreadsheet calculator I made up but to be honest, I'm just so content to replicate his recipes I don't bother much with improvising on them.
In terms of adding in this soaker and hydration, you just add the whole thing in, and consequently use less in the final build. What I do is 1/10 of his professional recipes - so for instance, use 300 g water in the soaker. It pushes my KA mixer a bit, but seems to be OK, after many years now.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your technique, will be nice to try it out (actually makes me think of milk for some reason - and what it would be like to play with that as a hydration component). Helping the fam to pack and then off early am. Happy holidays, Mike.
to you too!
If you use milk in your bread, the crumb should be a little softer. Would be an interesting experiment.