Danni3ll3's blog

I am continuing my quest for a more open crumb and oven spring using some of Trevor Wilson and Dabrowman's methods. We got "lovely" weather (pouring rain till 3 am which then froze and turned into snow on top of the ice). That made travel rather treacherous so I decided to stay home and bake bread. New things that I tried this time:

1.  I decided to try 10% prefermented flour for the liquid (100%) levain. I usually use 13% preferment flour in an 80% levain. Actual practice ended up with 11% prefermented flour. The idea was to extend the retarded proof and be able to bake a bit later in the morning.

 2. I weighed out all of my whole grain flour first and then sifted out the bran for the levain builds (1:1:1, 1:2:2, 1:2:2).  I did the builds each 4-5 hours apart. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of rise since I was using mostly bran and discovered that it makes a very thick mix and doesn't really double (unless it doubled while I was sleeping and it was on its way down when I got up). Anyhow, I was going to refrigerate it but when I saw the weather, I decided to make dough that day.

3. This is the second time I have done folds right through the fermentation period. The first few sets were 30 minutes to 45 minutes apart, the last sets were 45-60 minutes apart, while being very gentle with the last two sets. I was surprised to find that the dough was ready in 3 hours and 45 minutes rather than my usual 5 hours, and this is with less levain than I usually use! The dough also seemed to leave the buckets a lot more cleanly.

4. Preshaping was done very gently but the final shaping was done a little bit more firmly to get nice tight boules. I didn't degas the dough by patting it as I do normally but I did the final shaping by folding the edges of the dough over itself, rolling it right side up and pulling the dough towards me with my hands rather than using the dough scraper the way Trevor does.

5. I retarded the loaves for 12.5 hours. I usually retard them for a maximum of 10-11 hours as I find the oven spring suffers if I go over 12. I was happy to see that using less levain allowed me to extend the time in the fridge. I will have to keep testing to see what the sweet spot is for this amount of levain.

Results: I got great oven spring and a reasonably open crumb. Not as open as my last loaf but there has been progress. I  probably compressed the crumb with my final shaping. I am going to have to find a balance there somehow. 

Here is the recipe:

(Note that I used all commercial flour in this trial. No freshly milled grains)

1. Weigh out 400 g of Roger's wholegrain wholewheat flour and 40 g of Brûlé Creek Dark Rye flour. Sift out the bran and use it for the levain builds: A. 3 g starter, 3 g water, 4 g bran. B. 10:20:20, C. 50:100:100. Reserve the rest of the flour for the dough.

2. Toast 25 g each of sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, millet and hemp hearts. Cool slightly.

3. Add the reserved whole grain flour to the toasted seeds, and add 660 g of Roger's unbleached no additives flour, 50 g freshly ground flax and 700 of water. Autolyse for one hour.

4. Mix in 22 g of sea salt, 40 g organic full fat yogurt and all of the levain. (I was going to use only 220 g of it but the whole thing slid out of the container so I just went with the flow. Ha ha!) I also added 50 g of water to loosen the dough. Use folding and pinching to integrate everything well. Do several folds once everything is integrated to enhance gluten development. 

5. Over the next several hours, do 5 sets of folds, the first few 30 minutes to 45 minutes apart and the last few 45 to 60 minutes apart. I did the last set 45 minutes before I divided the dough. I was quite surprised to feel the dough being so billowy and see bubbles under the surface after only 3 hours and 45 minutes. The dough rose maybe 30 percent but it was definitely ready. 

6. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions, do a very gentle shaping into boules and let rest 15-20 minutes. Then do a final shape into boules as per above and place into bannetons. Cover and place into fridge for 12 or so hours. 

5. Bake directly out of the fridge into preheated to 475F dutch ovens (lined with parchment paper rounds). Drop the temp to 450F and bake covered for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 22 minutes at 425F. Cool and enjoy!

The flavour of the toasted seeds, especially the sesame really came through. And yes, bread does taste better with freshly milled grains. If I had any doubts, this was the proof. It is good bread but not as tasty as when I include freshly milled grains.

Like others, I have been reading Trevor's book and hoping to improve the openness (is that a word?) of my crumb. So I worked on a few things while making this loaf. I probably should have changed only one thing at a time but impatience and all of that. So my changes were:

1. My levain builds: I went from 1:1:1, 1:0.6:0.6, 1:0.58:0.59, 1:1.4:1.76 to 1:1:1.2, 1:1.8:2.25, 1:2.5:3.19. Instead of tripling in 4-5 hours, it took 10-12 hours to slightly more than double. I am rethinking this way of doing things.

2. Bulk ferment: I usually do 3-4 sets of folds every half hour to 45 minutes during the beginning of the bulk ferment and then let the dough double. This time, I did folds every half hour to 45 minutes for the first 3 sets of folds and then did 2 more sets about an hour apart. It took the same amount of time as usual and I did really like how the dough felt when I took it out of the buckets for dividing.

3. Shaping: My normal procedure is to be fairly firm when preshaping and doing the final shaping. I pull the dough firmly and wrap it over itself. This time, I tried to be more gentle in order to keep as much of the gas as possible and instead of pulling the dough towards myself with my hands for the final rounding, I used the dough scraper to gently round it similar to what Trevor does in his videos. The dough felt like it had good tension but it wasn't as tight as when I do it with my hands. It definitely was not degassed as much as usual. 

4. My sweet spot for proofing in the fridge is 10-12 hours but this time, I let it go an extra 2 hours. I didn't feel like getting up at 4 am to preheat the oven for baking at 5 am. I like my bed too much. ;-) Note to self: Get up even if you don't feel like it.

So, long story short, I need to redo this recipe using my usual methods and see if I get a better looking loaf. I haven't cut into it yet to check out the crumb but the oven spring is definitely not what I would like. The loaves aren't totally flat but they sure could use a bit more lift.

Anyhow, here is the recipe:

1. Spout 75 g of buckwheat groats and 50 g of quinoa over 48 hours. Refrigerate until needed.

2. Toast in a dry frying pan 25 g of black sesame seeds.

3. Autolyse all above with 550 g of unbleached flour, 200 g of multigrain flour, 60 of freshly milled buckwheat flour, 142 g of Selkirk wheat flour, 50 freshly ground flax, and 725 g of water.

4. Mix in 22 g salt, 30 g organic full fat yogurt and 266 g of 80% hydration levain. Mix by hand until moderate gluten development.

5. Bulk ferment by doing 3 sets of folds 30-45 minutes apart then do two more sets an hour apart. The dough rose about 50% and felt nice and billowy.

6. Divide into ~770 g portion and pre-shape loosely. Let rest 10-15 minutes and then shape into boules. Place into bannetons and cover.

7. Proof in fridge overnight.

8. The next morning, bake right out of the fridge in a 475 F preheated oven in covered dutch ovens. Drop temp to 450F for 25 minutes and then bake for a further 20-22 minutes uncovered at 425 F. 

I will have a crumb shot once I cut one of the loaves open. 

I have been wanting to make a cinnamon raisin recipe but after my last experience with cinnamon (bread took forever to rise and I found out that cinnamon impedes the growth of yeast), I have been wary of it. I found a recipe here on TFL that seemed to account for the cinnamon’s action on yeast and it had a lot of good reviews. So here is my adapted version from that adapted version from the Bourke Street Bakery Spiced Fruit Sourdough Recipe.

Spiced Raising Sourdough Recipe 

adapted from MadAbout B8’s version of  Bourke Street Bakery: Ultimate Baking Companion

Makes 3 loaves

 INGREDIENTS

Unbleached flour 768 g

Freshly milled Red Fife flour 112 g

Water 620 g

Sourdough starter (100% hydration)465 g

Salt 22 g

Ground cinnamon 2.25 tsp

Mixed spices 3.5 tsp

(4 parts cinnamon to 1 part each of ginger, clove, nutmeg, and coriander.)

Golden raisins (sultana)  358 g

Yogurt35 g

Freshly Ground flax seed50 g

1. Add all the ingredients to the mixing bowl, except salt, raisins, cinnamon and mixed spices.  Mix until the ingredients are incorporated. Leave it to autolyze for one hour.  

2. Mix raisins with cinnamon, mixed spices and yogurt. Reserve. (I think that next time, I would soak the raisins for an hour or so, drain them, add the yogurt and the spices to them and then go on with the recipe)

3. Sprinkle salt over the dough surface and mix well. Fold until until a moderate gluten development is achieved. 

4. Let rest for a half hour to relax the gluten and then incorporate raisins, cinnamon powder and mixed spices into the dough until well combined. I did this by sprinkling some of the raisins, doing a fold, sprinkling more raisins, doing another fold until all the raisins were in the dough. Then I let the dough rest a bit and then did more folding to make sure the raisins and spices were evenly distributed. I did add a few grams of water here as I found the dough a tad dry. The water helped rehydrate and distribute the raisins. 

5. Leave the dough in a warm spot and cover the bowl. After one hour, do one set of stretch and folds. Let rise till doubled in size.

6. Divide the dough into three ~830 g portions. Pre-shape the doughs into rounds and let them rest for 15-20 minutes.

7. Shape the doughs into boules and place into bannetons and cover. Place the dough in the fridge overnight. The recipe says you can also proof at room temperature for 2 hours or until almost double in size.

8. I baked some batches right out of the fridge and found I got a better oven spring than when I followed the recipe which said to let the dough rise for an additional 60-90 minutes after it came out of the fridge. I followed my usual baking method which is to preheat the oven and the dutch ovens to 475 F, load the dough into the pots (parchment rounds in the bottom of the pots prevent sticking especially with the fruit in there), drop the temp to 450 F and bake covered for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 25 minutes at 425 F.

I just had a few pieces and I must say, the spices really give it a zing in your mouth. It is super tasty and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the crumb was as open as it is. I was expecting a much tighter crumb based on the weight of the loaf. 

I did do a quite a few things differently than I usually do based on Trevor’s book. I did a three stage levain build 1:1:1, 1:2:2 and 1:3:3. Using a 100% levain is different for me but I figured I better stick fairly closely to the recipe. I usually use ~80% hydration levain. Another thing is that I never include the levain in the autolyse; being faithful to the recipe again! I was also way more gentle at the shaping stages. I have been degassing my dough quite firmly and did not do that this time. I handled it with kid gloves. ;-)

This is a copycat version of Bread1965‘s loaf from his Blame CNN post. I enjoyed the loaf he gave so much that for this weekend, this was the loaf to make! I tweaked the method and the amount of Levain to what works for my schedule but I tried to be as faithful as possible to the ingredients. 

This makes 3 approximately 650g baked loaves. 

1. Toast 50 g of sunflowers seeds and 25 g each of flax and chia seeds in a dry frying pan. I put a lid on it to stop the seeds from jumping all over the place. The toasted seeds were super aromatic. I hadn’t used chia in breads before so this was a first!

2. Autolyse the toasted seeds with 60 g freshly milled Buckwheat flour, 140 g freshly milled rye flour, 140 g Arva Flour Mills whole-wheat flour (Thanks, Bread1965 for this!), 610 g unbleached flour, 50 g ground flax seeds, and 750 g water. Let sit for at least a couple of hours. 

3. Mix in 30 g yogurt, 21 g sea salt, 270 g 80% hydration young levain, and 30 g water. I do this by hand. I originally forgot to add in the yogurt so it got added right after the initial mixing. 

4. Do 4 sets of folds 30 or so minutes apart and let rise till double in a warm place (my oven with door cracked open and lights on). 

5. Divide into 745 g boules, shape loosely, let rest 15-20 minutes and then shape tightly. Place in covered bannetons and put to proof overnight in the fridge (12 hours or so). 

6. Preheat oven to 475F with pots inside. Bake loaves in covered pots at 450F for 25 minutes, remove lids and bake for a further 22 minutes at 425F. 

Let cool and enjoy!

I have had a number of breads that include onions bookmarked, but never got around to trying them. So this is my attempt at this.

1. Caramelize 3 diced onions in 1 tbsp each of butter and olive oil. Since I quadruple my recipes, this took me 3 hours! Normally, it takes 45 minutes to an hour. Set aside to cool. I prepared mine a few days ahead and put them in the fridge. I let them come back to room temperature before using them.

2. Autolyse 650 g unbleached flour, 50 g freshly milled buckwheat flour, 252 g freshly milled red fife flour, 50 g freshly ground flax seed, 1 tbsp and 1 tsp of dried Italian herbs (the plan was to use 2 tbsp but I didn't have enough), 50 g freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese and 700 g of water. I found putting in 600 g of water first, mixing and then adding the last 100 g to work really well in mixing the initial dough. Due to other things interfering, I let the dough autolyse for about 3 and half hours. Wow! I was very surprised at how supple the dough felt after this. I will have to not be afraid of autolysing for longer than a couple of hours.

3. Mix in 30 g plain full fat yogurt, 72 g of caramelized onions (or all that you got from step #1), 20 g salt and 275 g of 80% freshly fed levain. My levain is usually rye and unbleached flour but I have a bag of whole grain Rogers Whole Wheat flour that I need to use up so I am feeding my levain that instead of the rye. I find things are a bit slower but that is okay. I use my levain once it has tripled.

4. Do 3 sets of folds 20-30 minutes apart and leave to double. This took 5.5 to 6 hours. The wholewheat instead of the rye does slow things down. Or it just might be because it is much colder here... who knows. The dough will be ready when it is ready.

5. Divide into 729 g boules, pre-shape, let rest 15 minutes and do a tight final shape. I then put them in bannetons, covered them and then put into the fridge to proof for ~10 hours.

6. The next morning bake as usual in Dutch ovens for 25 minutes at 450F, uncover and then at 425F for 22 minutes. 

They smell fabulous! Unfortunately, they are all promised to other people, I even had to give away the loaf that I was saving for us so no crumb shot unless one of my friends sends one to me. 

Like Bread1965, I have been collecting the left over levain from my bakes because I just couldn’t justify throwing out perfectly good starter. I didn’t feel like making waffles or pancakes and I had done a bit of research on using Starter in bread dough without refreshing it. I also took a peek at FWSY for how much yeast to use in a hybrid dough. So armed with that info, I came up with a recipe.

Then in the middle of it, I read Bread1965’s post and had a mild heart attack when he said he threw his batch out because it was overly sour. I did taste the raw dough to make sure it wasn’t too sour. It actually had a very mild tang. I wonder if this was because I tend to use my Levain as soon as it tripled which it does in 3-4 hours. So the leftover Levain is still very young. 

Anyhow, it all turned out just fine. And it tastes more than fine too. We had some for dinner. Here is the recipe:

1. Autolyse 600 g unbleached flour, 302 g multigrain flour, 50 g ground flax with 600 g water. Let sit for an hour. 

2. Add 410 g unfed levain at 80% hydration, 30 g yogourt, 1/2 tsp yeast and 22 g salt. Mix well using pinch and fold. 

3. Ferment doing 4 sets of folds every half hour and then let rise till double. 

4. Divide into 3 small loaves, preshape, rest 15 minutes, shape tightly and place into bannetons. Cover bannetons and out to proof in the fridge for 12-14 hours. 

5. Preheat oven to 475 F with Dutch ovens inside. Drop loaves into pots lined with rounds of parchment paper. Bake covered  25 minutes at 450 F, uncover pots and bake a further 22 minutes at 425 F. 

I found that making only 3 loaves this weekend was a piece of cake when I usually make 12 (I took a break from baking for my friends).  Not having add-ins to fuss with was also kind of nice! I also know that I can collect my left over Levain and make bread with it that is quite tasty.  

Thanks to everyone's input, my second shot at this bake turned out much better. I might have underproofed the loaves a bit but at least, I got decent if not great oven spring. Here is the changed recipe:

1. Toast 100 g of buckwheat groats. Cover with hot water and let soak for an hour. Drain. Add 50 g of yogurt. 

2. Autolyse the above with 650 unbleached flour, 50 g of freshly milled buckwheat flour, 252 g of freshly milled Selkirk wheat, 50 g fresh ground flax seeds, 70 g of diced dried apples, 75 g of diced dried organic apricots, and 625 g of water. In the end, I think I could have added another 25 g of water but I was very conservative due to my previous disaster.

3. After a couple of hours, I added 266 g of 84% hydration 4-stage levain and 22 g of salt as well as 30 g of water. The dough felt much better. I did add a bit more water with my hand as I was pinching and folding.

4. I did four sets of folds about 30 minutes apart and then let rise until double.

5. Once doubled, I divided it into portions of 795 g and did a pre-shape. I let rest 15 minutes, did a final shape and put into the bannetons. The dough was easy to handle and didn't stick at all. My usual work surface is out for repairs/replacement so I used my granite counter. I must say that I almost preferred shaping on the granite rather than the maple butcher block island. 

6. The dough was placed into the fridge to proof. 10 hours later, I took it out of the fridge and noted that it could have risen a bit more but due to tight timelines, they went into the oven anyhow. 

7. I baked as usual in Dutch ovens... 25 minutes at 450 F and 25 minutes at 425 F. The second batch had about a half hour out of the fridge and ended up looking a bit better. What I  mean by that is that the crevasses on the second batch weren't as deep.

I will get a crumb shot when I cut into the loaf.

This is a repeat of last week’s bread without the cranberries or pumpkin seeds. Bread1965, have no fear, I made you one with the add-ins unless you prefer one without. Let me know. :-D

Here is the recipe again so you don’t have to go searching for it. 

1. Toast 125 g of large flake oats in a dry frying pan. When toasted add 25 g of oat bran to the oats.

2. Mix together 345 g of water and 75 g of organic plain yogurt. 

3. Pour 3/4 of the water/yogurt mixture into the oats and cook on medium heat until water is absorbed. Add the remainder of the water/yogurt mixture and cook on low heat until creamy. Cool until just warm.

4. In a large bowl, place 650 g of unbleached flour, 302 g of freshly milled spelt flour, 50 g of freshly ground flax seed, all of the oat porridge, 50 g of honey and 550 g of filtered water. Mix well and let the mixture sit for a couple of hours.

5. Add 22 g of sea salt and 266 g of 80% levain. Mine triples in less than 4 hours. Mix in well using folding and pinching until you see some gluten development which takes about 5 minutes.

6. Let rest 45 minutes and do a set of folds. Repeat two more times and then let sit in a warm place until it has doubled. 

7. Divide into portions of ~830 g and do a loose pre-shape. Let rest 10-15 minutes and then shape tightly into a boule. Place boules seam side down in rice/unbleached floured bannetons (sprinkle some raw oats flakes for decoration in bottom of bannetons before placing boules) and cover with a plastic shower cap or bowl cover. Place into fridge overnight (10-12 hours).

8. Heat oven and Dutch ovens to 475 F for at least 45 minutes. Place parchment rounds in the bottom of the pots and put the loaves seam side up directly out of the fridge into the pots. No need to score! Bake at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove lids, drop temperature to 425 F and bake a further 25 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

I am continuing my exploration of true porridge breads and for Canadian Thanksgiving, I decided to add pumpkin seeds and cranberries to the basic loaf. I did make one batch without the cranberries and pumpkin seeds to take to my brother's house tomorrow and it turned out wonderful so the cranberries and the pumpkin seeds are optional. You could actually add any type of add-in that doesn't require soaking or doesn't absorb too much moisture from the dough such as sprouts, sunflower seeds, nuts or dried fruit.

1. Toast 125 g of large flake oats. When toasted add 25 g of oat bran to the oats.

2. Mix together 345 g of water and 75 g of organic plain yogurt. 

3. Pour 3/4 of the water/yogurt mixture into the oats and cook on medium heat until water is absorbed. Add the remainder of the water/yogurt mixture and cook on low heat until creamy. Cool until just warm.

4. In a large bowl, place 650 g of unbleached flour, 302 g of freshly milled spelt flour, 50 g of freshly ground flax seed, 75 g of dried cranberries (optional), 75 g of pumpkin seeds (optional and these could be toasted as well), all of the oat porridge, 50 g of honey and 550 g of filtered water. Mix well and let the mixture sit for a couple of hours.

5. Add 22 g of sea salt and 266 g of 80% 4-stage levain. (My levain is all freshly milled rye for the first 3 stages and 1/4 rye and 3/4 unbleached flour for the last stage. The first 3 stages are about 12 hours apart and the last stage takes less than 4 hours to triple.) Mix in well using folding and pinching until you see some gluten development which takes about 5 minutes.

6. Let rest 45 minutes and do a set of folds. Repeat two more times and then let sit in a warm place until it has doubled. You can use the fridge to slow it down if needed.

7. Divide into portions of ~880 g and do a loose pre-shape. Let rest 10-15 minutes and then shape tightly into a boule. Place boules in rice/unbleached floured bannetons and cover with a plastic shower cap or bowl cover. Place into fridge overnight (10-12 hours).

8. Heat oven and Dutch ovens to 475 F for at least 45 minutes. Place parchment rounds in the bottom of the pots and put the loaves directly out of the fridge into the pots. Bake at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove lids, drop temperature to 425 F and bake a further 25 minutes.

9. Let cool completely before placing into a plastic bag for storage. I find that plastic seems to work best for me in keeping the crumb moist and the crust soft. I have family and friends that complain about a too crunchy crust (rolling my eyes here). 

The loaf below is one of the ones without the add-ins. The others with the add-ins are all for other people.

I must admit that there is something special about making “true“ porridge breads. The loaves sure seem to stay fresh longer and the crumb is incredibly soft. After making loaves using this method for a second week, I found that it isn’t too onerous if I do all the the porridge for my 12 loaves all at once. Then I divide the porridge by four to add it to the four batches I make (each batch makes 3 loaves). I am very pleased on how this turned out!

I forgot to toast the Kamut flakes but this is definitely an option if one wishes. 

1. Mix 345 g of water with 75 g plain yogurt. I use a local organic yogurt. Add 3/4 of this mixture to 150 g of Kamut flakes and cook until water mixture is absorbed. Remove from heat. Add remaining water mixture, and let sit until cooled. 

2. Autolyse the above with 650 g unbleached flour, 302 g freshly milled Kamut flour, 50 g freshl’y ground flax seeds, 50 g honey and 600 g water. Let sit for a couple of hours. 

3. Mix in 22 g sea salt and 266 g of 80% rye/unbleached flour levain. The levain is a 4 stage levain. I mix everything well by hand until everything is well integrated and I see some gluten development. 

4. Do 3 sets of folds about 30 minutes apart and let rise till double. This week again, the dough had to take a side trip to the fridge so I could get my daily walk in. When I got back, I took the dough out and let it finish rising till double. 

5. Divide into portions of about 840 g and preshape into a loose boule. Let rest for a bit and then shape tightly into a boule. Place into rice/unbleached floured bannetons seam side down and cover. 

6. Place in cold fridge to proof overnight. 10-12 hours seems to be the sweet spot for me. 

7. The next morning, preheat oven and pots to 475 F for at least 45 minutes. Put parchment paper rounds in bottom of pots and place loaves seam side up in hot pots. Bake covered at 450 F for 35 minutes, remove lids and bake a further 25 minutes at 435 F. 

Makes 3 fantastically tasting boules.