leslieruf's blog

After the problems of the first attempt, I reread the feedback I received and here is my reworked version. 

First up, the starter.  It was looking good on the first refresh so I decided to stay with an all bread flour starter.  This means that that percentage of white flour in the dough is higher and and there is less whole wheat.   Secondly I started early in the day while the starter was fresh and bubbly. 

Soaker:  I mixed the 20 g rolled oats with 30 g milk and left for the duration of the autolyse.  I soaked 25 g cranberries in some hot water.  

The main dough:  I decided to do a short autolyse, something I haven’t done much lately.  I mixed 93 g bread flour + 93 g whole wheat (milled 27 January and stored in the refrigerator) + 133 g Emmer, added 188 g water and left for just 20 minutes.  It was a little on the dry side but I held off adding extra at this point.  I then added  196 g of the nice and bubbly starter and mixed.  It was a little hard to combine so I added another 10 g water, the rolled oats , the drained cranberries and  6.5 g salt.  I kept the mixing time short, shaped the dough into a ball and left to rest. 

40 minutes later I laminated the dough very gently and sprinkled over 20 g chopped pecans. 

40 minutes later I did a gentle coil fold and repeated this one more time. 

3 ¼ hours after mixing it had increased in size and was a little puffy.  Scared that it would over ferment again, I opted to turn dough out and preshape at this point.  After 20 minutes I did final shape.  I watched the dough very carefully and 2 hours later turned loaf out of banneton, slashed and baked for 17 mins at 240 degrees C covered and 19 minutes uncovered at 235 degrees C.  

It smelt amazing during the bake.  Definitely a better bake, and whilst not a huge oven spring, I am very happy with the outcome.  

The crumb is much better this time. 

So there are minor changes to the soaker, but the possible issue of insufficient gluten seems to have been resolved with the higher % of bread flour.  Maybe the whole wheat flour worked better because it had aged a bit,  Not sure if that is the total answer but next time I may be able to allow bulk ferment to go a bit further. 

Leslie

It's been a while since I posted but thought I would post this new bake.  Recipe from Emmanuel Hadjiandreou "Gutes Brot".  Not sure that I can print the recipe here.  I did scale his recipe down a little to give 1 x 700 gm loaf.

I didn't follow his methodology but rather just made the dough as I normally do.  Took a small amount of starter and refreshed 1:1:1 meaning to refresh again before bed.  I forgot so early yesterday morning I built it 1:3:3.

3:35 pm I mixed the dough using my Kenwood mixer then finished it off with 30 SLAFS.  I had added an extra 10 gm water as it felt a little stiff.  Hoping also that the amount of chilli flakes and the chopped parsley in the dough were not too overpowering.  Using chilli and cheese in a bread dough is an absolute first for me. 

4:20 pm laminated the dough

5:05 did a set of coil folds followed by a further 2 about 40 minutes apart. 

The dough was left to bulk ferment

9 pm Preshaped dough and left to rest for 20 minutes

9:20 pm shaped and left on bench for about 15 minutes before retarding over night.

This morning oven preheated to 240oC for 50 minutes.  Loaf was slashed, spritzed then placed in preheated DO.  Reduced temperature to 220oC and baked 17 minutes with lid on then 20 minutes lid off. 

The bread smelt really good as it was baking and it tastes wonderful with a nice little hit of heat from the chilli.  The chopped parsley doesn't show very much but I will definitely make this one again!!

While I was making this loaf I also made an everyday type loaf with 22% rye flour, 6% spelt and 72% bread flour.  Timings were as above.

All in all very happy with these bakes.

This has been a long time coming but a couple of weeks ago I finally got around to making a 50% Emmer loaf (thanks to Ted’s prompting 😊).  It’s been a crazy few weeks getting everything sorted for a much awaited trip back to Europe to visit family. so to bread…

Bread flour 210 g (49.5%)

Malted four 2 g (0.5%)

Emmer 212 g (50%)

water 305 g (72%)

salt 8 g (1.8%)

Levain refreshed and left over night to ripen - I used 133 g 100% hydration starter (part of total dough weights above)

13:30 pm mixed dough for 5 minutes added salt then mixed for a further 5 minutes. Turned out onto bench and then did 30 SLAFs just to finish dough. It was a firm dough and could probably taken more water but I decided to stick with the 72% hydration.  

14:25 pm turned dough out onto bench and gently stretched and laminated dough

15:15 pm coil folds ( repeated twice more at 45 minute intervals) then left to bulk ferment.

20:00 pm dough looked ready so preshaped and left to rest for 30 minutes

20:30 pm dough shaped and placed in banneton and left on bench for 45 minutes before being placed in fridge overnight.

Next morning

08:15 am dough removed from fridge to warm up on bench, oven turned on

09:00 am dough removed from banneton, scored, sprayed with water and placed in preheated DO.  Baked for 16 minutes at 240°C then 20 minutes with lid off.

I am really happy with the crumb on this bake, I thought it may have been a bit more dense than it turned out to be.  The only thing was a little bitterness in the crust when it was fresh.  After freezing I haven’t noticed this.  The flavour of the emmer is much more obvious than it was with the last bake which was about 30% Emmer flour. Maybe next time a slightly lighter bake on the crust .

Leslie

I had almost enough T65 flour for one last try.  

Starter was refreshed on Tuesday. I meant to feed it before going to bed but forgot! Wednesday morning I gave it 1:3:3 feed hoping to mix mid afternoon. It was cold that day and things slowed.  As I had to go out about 5 pm I put it in the fridge until yesterday morning. Pulled it out first thing and left it to warm up.   Baguettes were the 2nd dough to be mixed so it was late morning before I was ready.

10:45 am Autolyse - Mixed flour and water and left for 45 mins. I had to add a small amount of bread flour as I was short of T65 flour by. 20 g

11:30 am Added starter and yeast and mixed on low for 4 minutes, added salt and mixed for about another 2 minutes.  I tipped dough out onto bench and gave it 20 SLAFs - this just seems to line the gluten up. annd dough. looks much smoother and shinier.

12:20 pm  coil folds

13:10 pm coil folds then into fridge.

19:45 pm remove dough from fridge and allow to warm up, targeting 16°C dough temperature.

21:15 pm divide and pre shape

21:30 pm final shaping and left to proof. after an hour or so I popped bagguettes in fridge to hold whilst other bread finished baking and I could heat the lava stones up.  Final bake 21 minutes at 255°C - never baked at that temperature before! although I reduced temperature to 235°C about 3/4 way through as I thought it might burn.

I am reasonably happy with the  bake - the baguettes rose beautifully - by far my best effort with shaping and volume.  Still haven’t managed to get that lovely open crumb and scoring still needs work. 

Not sure when I will be able to source T65 flour again but will try again if I do.

Leslie

it’s been a while since I posted, I still check TFL from time to time.  Today’s visit showed some really interesting posts.  This bake was just a straight up 1:2:3 bake.

My starter was refreshed the day before and had a final feed in the morning. I was late getting home in the afternoon but as the starter was looking really good I went ahead.

4:20 pm Weigh flours and Mix dough

Flour mix:  58 g spelt+ 100 g rye (both milled about 2 weeks earlier and the surplus stored in the fridge) + 100 g whole grain Emmer (ex Australia) + 595 g bread flour & 5 g diastic malt

Added 500 g water and mixed in kenwood about 5 minutes before adding 15 g salt and mixing for about another 5 minutes.  Dough didn’t look smooth but I like to finish off with 50 SLAFs. dough looked smooth and was just tacky. 

4:40 pm Divide dough into 2 and leave covered.

5:15 pm Lamination followed by 3 sets of coil folds 40 minutes apart. It is winter here so heating was on and room temperature wax 22°C

7:20 pm dough left to rest after final coil fold.  

10:20 pm dough looked good so I preshaped and left to rest for 30 minutes.

10:50 pm shaped dough and left on bench for about 20 minutes before retarding over night.

Next morning when I turned the oven on to pre heat I removed 1 loaf from fridge to warm up a bit. After an hour on bench I slashed loaf, spritzed top and baked in preheated DO at 240°C for 16 minutes before removed lid and baking another 20 minutes. then turned oven down to 235°C and repeated with 2nd loaf. 

I am really happy with the bake.

crumb shot to follow - need to resize it and other photo! :(

Leslie

Hi everyone - hope everyone is doing well in these covid times.  I am still baking but not as much as I used to.  Recently I was able to purchase some french T65 flour and thought I would give it a go.  I don’t often make baguettes either and my efforts to date are average to say the least 🤣. Any way I am excited to try this flour out and after a quick look at past posts I have a c ouple of questions.

what proportion of T65 flour should I use?

what hydration do you suggest - the flour I use here in NZ is fine at about 73-75% but I eyeball the dough and adjust according to the flour mix I am using.

I will do a yeasted version for this even though I rarely make yeasted breads.

Leslie

I am helping my sister in law get started on her sourdough journey.  She has made yeasted breads over the years successfully. This is the second time (her second sourdough bake) that she has had this result - almost white top.  

She is baking in an enamelled roasting dish , but using a loaf tin.  Baking using fan (Bosch electric oven so 4D hot air setting)  at 235°C for 10 minutes after cold over night retard. Then 15-30 minutes without lid.  

I don’t know what to suggest as I have never had this problem.  I have suggested her next bake could be free form to see if it is the loaf tin causing the problem.

Any suggestions gratefully received

Leslie

PS Photo is too large to upload so sides and bottom are golden brown but top virtually white. There was some oven spring and crumb is close not particularly open.  It is approx 45% wholewheat.  

This is just a simple 1:2:3 bread with 30% of the flour being organic stoneground Australian Emmer flour.

Levain:  Thursday afternoon first refresh.  20 g refrigerated starter + 20 g water + 20 g bread flour

Thursday evening before bed 50 g first build + 50 g water + 50 g flour. leave over night on bench, room temperature dropped to about 19°C.  

Friday about 9 am refrigerated as I had to go out.

Friday midday remove levain from fridge

12:15 pm autolyse 113 g Emmer flour + 262 g bread flour + 250 g water

 mix on speed 1 until all incorporated about 2 minutes. cover and leave

13:00 pm:  Add 125 g levain and mix 2 minutes on speed 1.  Added 6.75 g salt and mixed another 2 minutes. Very soft dough but not too sticky.  So whilst I sprayed oil in bulk fermentation container I gave it another minute on speed 1.  I didn’t want to over mix, rather just enough and build the rest of strength with folds. 

13:15 pm Cover and rest 30 minutes

13:45 pm Coil folds.  This was repeated 3 more times with dough getting better each fold

I was heading out so at 17:05 pm I preshaped dough then at 17:20 pm final shape and into banneton and then the refrigerator.  A little concerned as I prefer to give the dough a little bench time before retarding.

This morning,preheated oven and DO to 240°C. Scored, then spritzed dough and popped it into the oven for 15 minutes with lid on then 16 minutes lid off.   Internal temperature 98°C (208° F).

So far looking good!  this dough was lovely to work with even though it was very soft.  I think hydration would be 71-72%.  

The big test is of course the crumb - will post later when cut.  will up the % of Emmer next time but doubt I will go to 100% because of cost and availability.

Leslie

I decided to just go with a 100% hydration dough  levain, more or less following the recipe but modified a little.  The brand of Semolina rimanciata is Caputo - it is hard to find this flour here so very happy to have some, even if it is expensive.

Bread flour 40%

Durum flour 60%

overall hydration 75%

Salt 2%

Toasted sesame seeds 5%

23/1/21 4 pm refresh starter 10+20+30

11 pm start of levain build 30+30+30

24/1/21 7 am build final levain (enough for 3 loaves) 70+150+150 

1:40 pm autolyse  Felt this was a bit dry so added another 10 gm water

2:15 pm Added toasted sesame seeds with the levain, Hand mixed minimally followed by 100 SLAFs, add salt then another 50 SLAFs. I felt there was enough dough development so stopped at this point.

3:15 pm first set of coil folds followed by 2 more sets at 45 minute intervals. Dough was lovely and smooth.

6:45 pm After 2 hour bulk ferment following the final coil fold, tipped dough out and preshaped. 

7:15 pm Final shape. Rolled in damp cloth then in sesame seeds. Dough was very easy to work with, soft but not excessively extensible.  Left dough on bench  for 45 minutes before retarding.  

25/1/21 Baked in DO at 235°C for 15 minutes lid on, 17 minutes lid off.

Happy so far, will post crumb once cut. This is a 600 gm loaf, the rest of the levain used for my next bake - kamut/durum bread. 

Leslie

Lately I have been concentrating on using up grains and flours stored in my freezer so for the last few weeks I have been making kibbled wheat, kibbled rye loaves. Still some kibbled wheat left but what else is there hiding in there.  Ah...

Ok, its been a while since I used that.  Starter was refreshed and levain built in two steps overnight and first thing in the morning.

10 am Mix soaker - 157 g 6 grain mix + 39 g barley flakes + 70 g near boiling water.  That isn't going to work, too dry. So I gradually added more water until just a little free water left (another 160 g) covered and left.

11:30 am Autolyse 589 g bread flour + 79 g home milled whole wheat + 242 g water + soaker.  I added water to the soaker then added to the flours.  It was still far too dry so I added another 130 g water.  I was working off a recipe I had for a loaf made several years ago but I didn't look up my method or notes.  I have done that this morning, and find that I made this as a porridge bread back then and yes I added extra water but nowhere near the amount I added this time.  Note to self:  update formula in file!

12:30 pm Tip out autolysed dough onto bench, spread 251 g levain (100% hydration) over, dimple in then fold and rollup dough.  100 slap & folds and levain is well mixed in.  Add 14 g salt and continue with another 80 slap and folds.  At this point I divided the dough and completed another 30 slap and folds on each portion.

4 sets of Coil folds were then done at 45 minute intervals and the dough was left to complete bulk fermentation.  I am now leaving BF until it looks about right, puffy and risen.  I am not good at judging % increase as the container I am using at the moment is bigger than dough but allows easy access for coil folds.

5:45 pm Preshaped dough and left covered for 30 minutes.

6:15 pm final shaping then left 30 minutes on bench then retarded overnight in fridge.

7 am Unmould dough, score and spritz with water. Baked in preheated DO at 235 deg C for 15 minutes then uncovered and baked another 17 minutes. 

Crumb shot

Good but not massive oven spring, crumb is soft - a really good texture for everyday sandwiches, crust is not too thick, all in all I am happy with this bake.  Looking back to the earlier bake in May 2018 which was done as a porridge bread, I think the crumb maybe a little better and possibly by using the hot water in the soaker, the effect was probably very similar.  

Let us all hope for a better 2021

Bake happy everyone

Leslie