the base returns

some weeks ago, the cloche's base self-destructed in the middle of a baking cycle.  i brought the pieces to judy who, after much research, produced a New and Improved base.

for the new base's first flight, a very multi-grain bread: white wheat, whole wheat, rye, rough rye, pearl barley, and bulghur, to be exact. it has a nice crust, a really, really great crumb, awesome flavour, though less oven spring than a less whole-grain-y bread. having toyed briefly with breads requiring minimal intervention and few bowls, i am now all the way at the other end of the spectrum. here is the bread:

this formula involves 2 small bowls, 1 large bowl, no kneading, and

• 520g all-purpose unbleached white flour
• 72g rye and rough rye flour
• 30g whole wheat pastry flour
• 100g mix of pearl barley and bulghur, about half each
• 360g water
• 216g 100% hydration starter
• 14g salt

you will have a baked loaf about 6 hours after when you begin mixing the final dough (but you may also retard the dough after shaping. so far, up to 12 hours has worked for me). 

8-12 hours before mixing final dough

• make your 100% hydration starter by mixing equal masses of flour and water with a bit of your sourdough starter and leaving at room temperature until the whole begins to bubble. i do this in a 4qt glass bowl with a cover.
• saturate the rye and whole wheat flours with 180g of cool water (the other 180g goes into the final dough); store in a covered bowl.
• saturate the 100g mixed grains with water to cover, and then a bit more. no need to measure this water, as you will drain it completely later.

making the final dough

• drain the 100g mixed grains in a sieve and press out as much free water as possible. i measure and use this water as part of the 180g of water in the final dough.
• combine the 216g starter, 520g A/P flour, 180g water (slightly warmed; part of this was drained out of the grains), and the water/rye/whole wheat mixture, then mix thoroughly. i use a big spoon for this. leave to sit for 30-60 minutes.
• after 30-60 minutes, sprinkle 14g salt over the dough and mix salt in thoroughly. the dough will be too wet to knead easily, so i stick with the big spoon.  
• cover again and leave to bulk ferment at room temperature (should be about 72F). fold every 45 minutes for 2.5 hours.

pre-shape, rest 20 minutes, final shape, then proof (covered) for another 2 hours (or, better yet, do one of the proofing tests). i bake at 450F, with steam for 8 minutes, then without steam for 21 minutes.

i have also had good results from retarding the shaped loaves for anywhere from 8-12 hours before baking.

[another guest post from vt]

rye

the cloche slays it again. after various experiments with long-retardation, i began to fool around with rough-milled rye and increasing the amount of starter in the dough (this is a formula from peter reinhardt, by way of wildyeast). this accelerates the first fermentation ("bulk fermentation") of the dough so that you could, if you wanted, have fresh bread in about 6 hours.

rye makes dough sticky beyond belief and appears to become workable by hand only after lots and lots of retardation in a nice cold refrigerator. i followed instructions for time and temperature (which did not include a long cold period), so did not benefit. if you choose to knead a rye-heavy dough by hand, here are some discoveries i have made.

1. dough on fingers dissolves most readily in warm water. hot water, apart from being uncomfortable, also cooks the dough onto you. 
2. answering the phone while kneading is not recommended.
3. wood toothpicks are best for getting dough out of the spaces between cellphone keys.
4. folding the dough is easier and more effective than kneading it. 

as a test, i split the dough into two batches of equal mass, one baked with the cloche and the other on a pizza stone with a steel mixing bowl over the top. the loaf you see below is from the cloche: mildly sour, lots of rye flavour, incredible oven spring, great crisp, caramelised crust, tender crumb with great aeration. 

this competent but much less delightful loaf is from the stone. still decent oven spring, nice-ish crust caramelisation, but the final rise in the oven was not as uniform, and the crumb is not as well aerated (no crumb shot though, sorry!):

[vt, yet again]

Deli Onion Rye

Another side-by-side test in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Continuum, this time a sourdough 'deli' rye, with onions. I won't put in a full formula, because it was many steps, but the basic idea was a rye sourdough starter, with sauteed onions, that fermented in the pot at room temperature for a few hours, then for about 24 hours in the refrigerator.

The final formula added yeast, AP flour and more rye, along with a little bit of sugar, molasses, oil, and caraway seeds. Baked at 400 for about 40 minutes. Both the inside and the outside loaf seemed to do well, although the outside would have been prettier if I'd egg washed it and scored it as directed, but it was late and I was falling asleep between rises.

Taste is outstanding, so if anyone actually wants the full formula, comment and I'll add it. Crumb is soft and gently dense, in a non-pejorative sense. It is as advertised, just a very good deli rye. The onions don't add a discernible onion taste, just a bit of depth. Maybe it's the Jew in me, but rye is just the star of the bread baking universe, it makes everything better. But I used to eat peanut butter and jelly on this kind of deli rye, so I may be an odd judge.

You asked for it, you got it. Here's the formula:

New York Deli Rye
Adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart 

Sponge:
1 cup sourdough starter/levain (any kind would probably do, mine is a stiffish rye mix)
1 cup white rye flour (I used whole rye)
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 medium onions, diced
2 Tblsp vegetable oil

Saute onions in oil, cool. Stir all ingredients together and let ferment at room temp until sponge is bubbly (3-4 hours--I left it about 6). Refrigerate overnight, or for 24 hours.

Final dough:
3.5 cups bread flour (used AP)
1 cup white rye flour (I used whole again)
2 Tblsp brown sugar (I used white and added a bit of molasses)
2.5 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp caraway seeds
2 Tblsp vegetable oil (I used one)
1 cup buttermilk or milk (I used buttermilk)
1/4-1/2 cup water, as needed


Mix everything together, knead for a short time, adding flour as needed. Dough won't be as elastic as a wheat dough...don't knead too long or it will get gummy. It should be tacky but not sticky. (I kneaded only lightly, and then did a fold about 40 minutes in). Let rise 1.5-2 hours. Shape as you please and proof for 1.5 hours. Reinhart suggests brushing with egg white, which I didn't do. It'll make it shiny.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, then rotate loaves or remove the cover, bake about 20 minutes longer until golden brown.

Pane Pugliese, Better Out

This bread, Pane Pugliese, was the first time that the side by side test was won handily by the open oven, which version surpassed the pot version (right) in looks and texture. This may not have all been the fault of the pot, though, as I had to bake the pot loaf under a large sheet of parchment paper that stuck to it after proofing, hence the flattened shape. 

Pane Pugliese is often described as ciabatta dough baked in a larger loaf. It is soft and (ideally) full of large holes. I stirred but didn't knead it, instead alternating 20 minute rests with 'French' folds with a dough scraper. I don't think I quite nailed this one, but would definitely try it again-it was soft and engaging, and Matt liked it.  The formula, adapted from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice:

10.8 oz (approx 2 cups) Biga (similar to Pate Fermentee)

10 oz (approx 2.25 cups) Flour (AP flour and a small amount of semolina)

.38 oz (1.5 tsp) kosher salt

approx 1.5 Tblsp potato starch (in lieu of the mashed potatoes Reinhart recommends

8-9 oz (1-1.125 cups) water

I mixed the very wet dough throughly and turned it out onto the counter. Over the course of about two hours, it went through several folds, in and out of the bowl. After about 2 hours, I lightly shaped the loaves and proofed them on parchment for a little over an hour. Heated oven, pot and baking stone to 500, baked at 450 with steam. Pot loaf was covered for 25 minutes, uncovered (parchment removed) and cooked for about 15 more. 

Pain de Campagne (ish)

Another recipe with a large percentage of prefermented dough. This was supposed to be a rustic style bread, but it came out unusually soft and even-crumbed. I think this often happens with kneaded, slightly drier doughs, in the baker. Good sandwich bread.

Formula: (Adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice)
1.5 cups pate fermentee
7/8 cups unbleached bread flour
1/6 cup whole-wheat or rye flour
3/8 tsp instant yeast
3/8 cup water, lukewarm

(the measures are a little approximated--I just got a scale and will soon be able to document down to the gram--very excited)

Just mixed it all together, kneaded, fermented for 2 hours, shaped into a ball, proofed for another hour and half, and baked in a 500 degree oven, turned down to 450 about ten minutes in, cover off after 30 minutes, baked about 20 minutes more.