Barley Apple experiment

Well, I am excited. For the first time I created a recipe from scratch, not from a published recipe or modified from anyone else's recipe. I created it in a spreadsheet based on my own experience gained over the last year of intensive baking (knowledge of hydration, percentages, flour performance, etc.) and then went ahead and mixed. I only made one small change during mixing and the whole thing was a great success!

So here it is - The Lazy Loafer's Barley Apple bread:

Starter:

• Bread flour - 25 g (50%)
• Whole wheat flour - 25g (50%)
• Apple cider - 40g (80%)
• Kombucha - 10g (20%)
• Active dry yeast - about 1/8th tsp

Dough:

• Bread flour - 325g (81%)
• Barley flour - 75g (19%)
• Barley - 50g (13%)
• Apple cider - 150g (38%)
• Water - 270g (68%)
• Dried apples, chopped - 100g (25%)
• Honey - 30g (8%)
• Yeast - about 1/8th tsp per loaf
• Salt - 9g (2%)
• Starter - 100g (25%)

Method:

Prepare starter. Let ripen at room temperature overnight or until active and bubbly. Add barley and chopped apples to warm cider. Let sit overnight.

Mix starter, water, yeast and honey to soften starter. Add the flours; mix until well-blended and shaggy. Let rest (autolyze) for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add salt and soaked mix. Mix (by hand or stand mixer) until ingredients are incorporated and soft dough forms.

Put dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Stretch and fold. Let rest for 15 minutes, then repeat 2 more times. After last stretch & fold, let dough rise at room temperature for about another hour, then put in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Remove the dough from the fridge 1.5 to 2 hours before baking time. Shape & rise. Preheat oven with stones or iron pots to 475 degrees. Bake with steam – 5 minutes at 475, 15 min. at 425, turn and bake another 20 min. until internal temperature of 190 at least. Or in iron pots – 25 min. with lid on; another 20 with lid off.

I baked it last night, and cut a couple of slices this morning, having one with butter and the other one toasted, also just with butter. It has a lovely mild sweet taste. I was impressed how the apple cider aroma permeated the dough during all stages and came through in the final bread as well. Some of the apple bits and barley grains on the surface of the loaves were a bit crunchy but did not seem to detract from the flavour. Definitely a keeper!