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]

Sweet Potato Rosemary Bread, In and Out

This time, I finally made enough dough to do an inside/outside test, one loaf baked in the baker, one out on the baking stone. The test was a little unfair because in order to get the best out of the baker, I baked the loaf at a slightly higher temperature than would have been ideal for it. Both came out well, but for this loaf at least, the pot-baked loaf was much prettier. Because the pot protected it, the inside loaf showcased the beautiful color of the sweet potatoes much more. I haven't checked for difference in the crumb yet--this is meant to be a fairly fine-grained, soft bread, but I'll update when I do. Pot or no pot, this is a really nice bread. It's made with a pate fermentee, which is really just a piece of yesterday's dough, but you can find instructions for making some here.

Formula: (adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart)
1.5 (about) cups Pate Fermentee
3 cups plus 2 Tblsp A/P flour
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper (I may have used more)
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
1 Tblsp olive oil
1 Tblsp crushed dried rosemary (this is really to taste, the recipe recommended 2 Tblsp fresh but i didn't have any, it probably would have been even better)
3/4 cup to one cup water

Cut pate fermentee into small pieces. Mix all ingredients, knead, adding flour or water as needed.
1st rise: two hours at room temp plus 4 hours in the refrigerator (not necessary, scheduling related)
Shape.
Proof: 1-2 hours, until doubled.
Baked at 450, turned down to 400 later in, for about 45 minutes. Uncovered baker after about 20 mins.