dabrownman's blog

I am always amazed what Lucy manages to come with in her spare time when no dreaming up bread recipes.  This week she has developed a new piece of software that turns an existing piece of hardware into something truly unique and transformative for all bread bakers.

As we well know, Lucy loves Pumpernickel bread and she thinks every other kind of bread is inferior and almost woossie like.  Every time she takes a bite of another kind of bread, she wishes it tasted like pumpernickel.  Now she thinks she has fixed that problem once and for all.

The green tinge of yogurt whey is unmistakable.

She took a pair of Bluetooth headphones and reprogrammed them not only to deliver sound waves to your ears, but also the taste of Pumpernickel bread.  Now she claims she can listen to her favorite tunes and TV shows but when she bites into any kind of bread it tastes like this Pumpernickel – her mist recent favorite  Really Dark Old School Sprouted Pumpernickel – In memory of Barbra

So to test out her new invention, she came up with one of her most white sourdough recipes at a bit less than 19% whole sprouted 4 grain.  She thought  that if this bread, which is nearly as bland as she gets, could end up tasting like her most powerful and complex tasting bread of all time, then she is one step closer to her dream of being the first Billionaire Baking Apprentice 2nd Class .

This white SD bread isn’t as tame flavor wise as one would thinks though.  She subbed yogurt whey for the dough liquid, used the 15 week retarded rye sour starter, retarded the levain for 24 hours after the 3rd stage doubling and retarded the dough for 40 hours of bulk ferment after the gluten development.  This bread is really retarded!

We did our usual sifting of the sprouted grain flour, after it was sprouted, dried and milled and fed the 14% hard bits and some of the 86% extraction to the starter to make the levain and in the fridge it went.  The gluten development was also our recent 3 sets of 30 slap and folds, this time on 20 minute intervals (10 minutes less each), and 2 sets of 4 slap and folds on 30 minute intervals (15 minutes less each).

This reduced our normal gluten development phase in the 88 F summer kitchen heat by a full hour.  This was Lucy’s plan since she wanted a 40 hour bulk retard instead of the usual 21 hour one.   The levain pre-fermented flour amount was a low 10.6% so she thought this would work out as an even trade of time.

When the dough finally came out of the fridge this morning, we immediately did a quick pre-shape into a boule and placed it back in the plastic covered  oiled bowl for a one hour warm up before the final shaping and placing the boule in the rice floured basket seam side up for a quick 30 minute high temp proof out side where it was 102 F.

Had to plug the hole in the Chinese clay pot with some aluminum foil to keep the steam in.

Once the half hour was up we left we brought the boule inside but left it to proof on the counter as we heated up Big Old Betsy to 435 F with our pre-soaked Chinese Sand Clay Pot inside.

It has been while since we baked any bread in it but my wife got an other glazed clay pot bread baker (no lid) from a co worker that was made by Ayers Pottery in Hannibal MO, just down the river from my wife’s hometown of St Louis.  The pot is small but might hold a half a tin of dough – around 500 g.  The pot came with a brochure that lists 101 ways to use the pot and #65 was - fill it with Easter candy.

Once the temperature hit the 435 F mark, I left the pot in the oven for another 15 minutes so the clay could catch up to the oven temperature.  After upending the dough out of the basket onto parchment on a peel, it was slashed T-Rex style and slid into the clay pot then lidded for 20 minutes of steam.

Once the lid came off we turned BOB down to 425 F convection to brown and dry the crust.  5 Minutes later we took it out of the clay pot to finish browning on the bottom stone.  It looked done but didn’t thump done on the bottom so we left it in another 5 minutes before removing it to the cooling rack.

My daughter did make a fabulous avocado chicken salad with walnuts and pepitas with this bread for lunch - delicious!

It did blister, bloom, spring and brown up pretty well but we won’t know what the crumb looks like till after lunch but I really can’t wait to taste the bread wearing Lucy’s headphones and listening to Led Zeppelin or maybe some Neon Trees.  I did get out a frozen hunk of her favorite pumpernickel to compare it too.  She wants me to do a blind taste test to verify it really works.

Lucy's favorite pumpernickel for comparison and the test for her new headphone app.

This week was our anniversary #29 and we celebrated by going with our daughter to the Barrio Queen Restaurant in downtown  Gilbert for their happy hour appetizers, tacos and margaritas.  Their Carnitas en Chili Verde appetizer is killer, the barrio Pollo Con Chorizo tacos were the best of all we sampled - we sampled quite a few and the margaritas were strong and tasty if a bit small.

Pork carnitas fajita quesadillas this time.

In keeping with the Mexican anniversary theme, I made a classic Mexican Pepitas Cake with Mexican chocolate, vanilla and tequila for dessert at home with a cute doily powdered sugar stencil with some French Silk ice cream and whipped cream sides.  This cake is one of my favorites, a good fit for special occasions and healthier than some others.  The crumb came out soft and moist and nit as open as i would have thought but it also wasn't overly sour either. A different sour taste for sure because of the yogurt whey but civil' my daughter loved this bread and knows which side hers is buttered on!

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 All gussied up Pepitas Cake and don't forget that salad

With our daughter being home from AP rotation for the next couple of weeks it is all about making her favorite foods including bread.  On the bread front it is all about what can’t be in the bread rather than what can be in it.

This exasperates Lucy to no end since she usually has free reign to come up with what ever suits her fancy but this week it can’t have figs, olives, cranberries or anything fruity in it.  This is fine with me since the last two week’s Friday bakes had all of those things in them.  Prior planning has its own rewards.

Seeds are still on the list and Lucy hasn’t done a seeded bread in some time and never a whitish one with sprouted multi-grain flour, 2 levains and potato water for the liquid.  So Lucy made this one with 30% whole sprouted grains of wheat, rye spelt and Kamut - our recent favorite blend of sprouts in various amounts of each.

My daughter wanted to know if this concoction would turn out to be decent bread to eat since she hasn’t seen this bread in any store or bakery and being odd doesn’t mean it will be good.  That really ticked off Lucy who is more spunky since she started feeling better and sort of like asking Trump if he hates women more than being dead broke.

Lucy found 60 g of Flax, sesame, poppy and chia seeds which she ground up since flax seeds can’t be digested well otherwise.  The she found 75 G of pepetas and sunflower seeds.  The seeds came out to a bit more than 25% of the flour weight,

Lucy devised 2 levains for this bread.  One was a white one made from our retarded rye starter and AP flour and the other was made from the same starter but fed the sifted out hard bits of the sprouted whole grains making it dark.  Both were built over 3 stages over 10 hours and then retarded for 24 hours.  The white one came out sweet and fruity and dark one very sour and earthy

While the levains were warming up on the counter we autolysed the dough flour and potato water with the salt sprinkled on top for 2 hours on the counter.  Once the levains hit the mix we did 4 sets of slap and folds of 30 slaps each on 30 minute intervals and 2 sets of stretch and folds of 8 stretches each on 45 minutes each.

The dough felt about right hydration wise before the seeds went in on the first set of stretch and folds but tightened up afterwards.  We forgot to soak the ground seeds so they sucked some of the moisture out of the dough.  Next time we will soak them in 60 g of water for an hour.

Once the gluten development was done we placed the dough in a an oiled bowl covered in plastic wrap and placed in the fridge for an 18 hour retard   When the dough came out it was gently pre-shaped into a boule and put back in the bowl for a 1 hour warm up on the counter.  The dough was then shaped into a batard because we are on a batard kick of late and let to final proof for about an hour outside in the + 100 F heat at the time,  Nothing like a hot proof to bring out the sour..

After slashing it went into the oven on the bottom stone and covered with the bottom of  a heavy aluminum turkey roaster.  After 20 minutes of steam the lid came off and the bread finished baking under convection to dry it out.  It browned, bloomed and sprang well enough but we will have to wait for lunch on the crumb shot.

The crumb came out soft, moist, tangy and open enough for this kind of bread.  It tasted complex in an assertive, seedy kind of way you can only imagine if you don't make this bread

My daughter had the first slice and she liked it ....apparently not as much some other breads she has tasted over the years. Lucy says my daughter is an amateur critic, not to be trusted........ who doesn't like seedy bread as much as thought she would. Sadly, I have to agree with both of them:-)

My daughter loves Thai / Indian curries, Grilled Chicken Fajita Quesadillas and salad with blue cheese.

The No Muss Mo Fuss rye starter is getting up there in age.  This week it was stored 14 weeks and smelled very sour.  Lucy decided to try out some new things just for fun and because she is just that way.  There is nothing she hates more than doing the same thing over and over.  Once is enough for her most always and she has no fear.  She does seem to do a lot more different things than most that way.

Instead of our normal 3 stage build of 2.3.a d3 hours for the summer she decided to toss all the builds into one and just stir the mix at the 2 and 5 hour marks.  It didn’t seem to matter to the levain and it doubled 3 hours after the 2nd stirring.   Lucy wants to make a horror movie about a vigorous SD starter that takes over the world titled ‘The 2nd Stirring’ but that project is on hold for the moment mainly due to a lack of sanity and willingness to waste more time than usual.

The starter was fed the 25% extraction of the 4 sprouted whole grains that was 40% wheat, 40% Kamut, 10% rye and 10% spelt which is an unusual mix for us with equal amounts of the sprouted whole grains the norm.  Since there wasn’t any bread flour or un-sprouted whole grains in this mix, we decided o cut the hydration a bit to compensate. We were less than 79% and normally for dough that has 50% whole grains we would be around 82.5%.

We retard the built levain for 24 hours and, while it warmed up on the counter, we autolysed the dough flour and water for an hour with the salt sprinkled on top so we wouldn’t forget it.  You don’t have to autolyse AP flour or sprouted 75% extraction flour as long as whole grain flour so an hour seems enough. 

We did 3 sets of slap and folds of 30 slaps each and 2 sets of slap and folds of 4 slaps each.  All manipulations were done on 30 minute intervals except the last 2 which were done on 45 minute intervals.   This is new procedure that we have started to use for long bulk retarded dough – in this case 21 hours at 36 F.  The re-hydrated cranberries, with the juice squeezed out, and the pecan pieces were added on the 4 th set of slaps. 

The dough went into the fridge immediately after the 5th set of slap and folds with no counter bulk ferment.  Too hot here for a bulk ferment at 88 F.  The dough had easily doubled during the retard.   Once the dough came out of fridge we immediately pre-shaped it into a boule and let it on the counter for an hour to warm up.  The we shaped it into a squat oval, placed it in a rice floured basket  and let it proof for 45 minutes.

We upended the dough onto parchment on a peel, slashed it and placing it on the bottom stone covered with a MagnaWare turkey roaster bottom used as a cloche for 20 minutes of steam at 450 F.  Once the lid came off we turned the oven down to 425 F convection and let it brown up well over the next 12 minutes.

The bread sprang and bloomed well enough, but we will have to wait on the inside looks until lunch time.  The bread turned out soft and moist on the inside with no large holes. Still it was airy enough and the taste was complex, fruity and a bit nuts.  This makes for a fine SD bread that really doesn't need much else to make a hearty, healthy meal.  Today's lunch was just the perfect backdrop for this bread.  Yummy!

 Lucy loves to sun herself in the 108 F heat but I love the monsoon sunsets

Lucy was going to  come up with a sprouted ciabatta sandwich thins this week but after a shopping trip to Sprouts where she got some dried figs and olives, that ciabatta went in the trash like a stinky pair of old slippers.

She thought she would hit most of the taste buds with this one; something salty, something sour, something sweet all rolled into one flavorful taste bag.  At least that was the plan but sometimes Lucy’s plans can go awry like a cart with a wheel gone missing.

She has been stuck on the long retarded rye starter, double low extraction fed levains, short slap and fold sessions, long 21 hour bulk retards and short final proof method for the past few bakes too. 

This time the rye starter had spent 13 weeks in the fridge and one 3 stage levain was much larger than the other and was fed the 23% extraction of the sprouted 9 grains and the much smaller one was fed the 23% extraction of whole wheat.

After 21 hours of bulk retard.

The two levains were mixed together before the 3rd feeding so they could get to know each other.   If you want to increase the sour of your bread this is the one thong you can easily do to make the LAB crank out the acid .  The combined levain was retarded for 12 hours in the fridge.

Pre-shaped as a boule.

We did a 1 hour autolyse of the dough flour and water with the salt sprinkled on top.  Once the levain was mixed in with a spoon, we did 30 slap and folds 4 times on 30 minute intervals. The figs were cut in quarters, re-hydrated and the excess water squeezed put.  The Kalamata olives were cut in half and the large green ones cut in quarters.

Shaped as a squat batard, fully proofed, slashed and ready for the Mega Steam.

The figs and olives went in with the first of 2 sets of stretch and folds from the compass points.  The stretch and folds were done on 45 minute intervals.  Once all the folding was done the dough was shaped into a boule , placed in a oiled SS bowl and bulk retarded for 21 hours.

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Once it came out of the fridge the next day it was gently pre-shaped into a boule and left to warm up on the counter for 1 hour.  The dough was then gently final shaped into a squat batard and placed into a rice floured basket seam side up for 45 minutes of final proof before being un-molded, slashed and peeled onto the bottom stone for 15 minutes of  Mega Steam..

We turned the oven down to 425 F an continued to bake for another 20 minutes until the bread thumped done on the bottom and was removed to the cooling rack.

The bread bloomed and sprang well under steam, blistered and browned up nicely once it came out.  Can’t wait to taste this one to see if it tastes as good as it looks but we will have to wait for lunch for that. This bread is very tasty.and just as complex. .One bite is salty olive the next is sweet fig followed by one that has both and then one that has neither where the sour and sprouted grains really shine.  it made a fine sandwich for lunch and will be great for toast too,  We like this one very much but look forward to a ciabatta sandwich thin sometime in our future,

 The Monsoon has arrived for some fine sunsets again!  Don;t forget that salad with those ribs

Yes this is the - Willing to work hard and sacrifice much sprouted sourdough bread.  This week Lucy and I have been talking about why things are the way they are in the universe and why that it is so important for success in all things....including bread making.

The rules and laws of the universe can be hand written down on a single page of paper.  Most of these are numbers as constants and equations like General Relativity. These few things  explain the standard model of the universe as we know it to be right now.  It is completely amazing to me that this tiny bit of information can describe the complex universe and everything in it.

Most all the things invented by man require pages and pages of rules to explain.  Have you seen the rules of golf or baseball?  What man does most always is to take the simple and small rules of the universe and complicate them to no end..... for everything we do - sometimes to the point that they can no longer be understood by any person alive.

After 21 hours of retard.

Just think of the millions of pages of rules and regulations of any government on this planet.  Who could possibly understand them all....or even a small portion of them?  The odd thing about rules is that no matter how many there are for any given thing..... none can predict the outcome of anything.

After boule pre-shape and belore 1 hour rest.

The rules of hockey can’t tell you what team will win any more than government laws can predict who will break them and go to prison, who will break them and get off Scott free and who will not break them but still go to prison for supposedly breaking them.   The outcomes are infinite no matter how many rules there are but, the rules are very specific and unyielding for good reason.

Final shape of the batard.

In basketball,the rules say that when a player scores a goal from the field from inside the 3 point line the team gets 2 points.  A free throw gets one point and from beyond the arc, 3 points.  The game would be much different if each time the ball went through the hoop the scoring could range between minus 25 and plus 50.....depending on what number turned up on the wheel that was spun after each goal.Very cool - score a 3 pointer and you get minus 22 points - hit a free throw and poof....you might get 45 points.

After final proof of 1 hour.

The rules of bread baking say that if you put flour, water ,salt and yeast together, develop the gluten, do a bulk ferment, shape and let the dough rise before putting it into the oven at 450 F, you should get out a loaf of bread...... after about 30 minutes or so.

Slashed and ready for the heat..

The rules can’t predict what you will get exactly but it should look something like a loaf of bread - if you aren’t Lucy.   You won’t and shouldn’t expect to get a mango and blueberry fruit smoothie at -10 F out of the not oven instead.

Mega Steam.

Oddly indeed, what makes this relevant to this week’s bake (in case you were wondering), is that the rules of the universe can change all the time based on what the science of today can prove or disprove about yesterday's science.    Current physics says that there is a chance that there are an infinite number of universes where all things,an infinite number of them,  are possible in one of them.  If it turns out to be true, there is a universe where you can put a loaf in the oven at 450 F and get a fruit smoothie at -10 F out of it and that weird basketball game really exists.

The paradox and real meaning of this for us simple bread bakers , even when it comes to bread making, isn’t apparent at all - but profound if true.  Well, Lucy got it but it certainly evaded my thought processes.  If true, than this universe is just one of an infinite number of them where every possibility is lived out and the one we live in one,  as our reality, is really predetermined.  The thought that we have free will to determine the outcome of our own fate is a myth - we really have no choice at all other than to live our lives as already predetermined for this particular universe..

We are doing nothing more than living out destiny as it was pre-determined., no matter how much we think our free will and personal choices determine our outcome – it is just the fate of this particular universe and nothing more – there is nothing special about it or us in any way since every possibility has a slightly different universe that governs everything that happens to everything, everywhere.

It is always good to start off bake day with a good breakfast. 

I, for one, hope that this idea of infinite universes turns out to be wrong so that Lucy can take credit for modifying David Snyder’s San Joaquin recipe to better fit our wants and needs and that my life has been completely determined by the choices I have made, the opportunities I grasped and the character attributes I chose to hold dear and the one I forswore.

If not, then it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about anything.  So, to be safe, if I were you, I would work hard and be willing to sacrifice to become a better ans successful bread baker, if that is what you want.  Lucy says she hopes she is in the universe that allows one to move from one universe to another so that she can be the Empress of All the Universes!  Now it is on to this week’s bake.

Lucy decided to take David Snyder’s San Joaquin recipe and tweak it to make it be a bit healthier for us diabetics.  The changes are: Using a double levain that was combined on the 3rd feeding using the hard bit extraction for levain flour,  upping the whole grains to 40%, making half sprouted, changing the first 3 sets of 30 stretch and folds each to 30 slap and folds each instead and baking the bread with Mega Steam.  We turned the oven down to 460 F when the bread went in and then down to 435 F convection when the steam came out at 12 minutes.

Lucy kept the hydration the same since sprouted grain flour isn’t s thirsty even though there is more of it as whole grains in the mix.  To find out everything else you need to know go to San Joaquin Sourdough to see some of the very best bread one could ever hope to bake if one can actually control their break baking outcomes in this universe.

We had to mess with our usual schedule to accommodate the 21 hour retard instead of our usual 12 hour one which meant we had to move up the start of the bulk retard by 9 hours which moved everything that happened before it up 9 hours too.  The new schedule for sprouting grains on Monday still worked out for a Friday bake at 10 AM.

The other change we made was to do one 900 G batard proofed in a cloth lined basket and slashed it cross hatch.  The bread sprang, bloomed and browned beautifully under steam with some blistering.  18 minutes of dry heat finished it off nicely for a total bale tome of 30 minutes.  it smelled lovely when baking but we will have to see how it looks on the inside and how it tastes when we slice it for lunch.  This turned out to be one of the best looking and best tasting white breads we have ever made.  The crumb was open, soft and moist.   The crust stayed crunchy and we liked those ears.  The taste was as good as one could possibly expect.  The flavor of the sprouted grains with the whole grain mix really came through.  White bread never had it so good and neither have we:-)

Lucy says not to forget that salad

It has been some time since josh posted one of his loaves but of them from long ago was a double levain loaf that has a dark starter and an white starter mix into the dough.  Lucy was taken by this and she put it away for a rainy day but those are few and far between in the 110 F days of summer when the monsoon is far away.

We have built Detmolder and Desem levain and starter when different hydration and temperatures can be used at various stages to bring out certain characteristic in the dough.  Josh was using different flours to do the same thing.  Lucy thought she would put them all together to some degree and see what happens.

Once again the KA bread flour on the left is the whitest of the flours used.  Top right is the 80% extraction 5 sprouted grain and the below left is the Winco unbleached AP..

We really didn’t do anything close to how you start a Desem starter though. http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=desemstarter  but that process is slightly aligned with Mini Oven’s Ancient Starter method of burying a dough ball in flour for 7 days. Ancient But Not Mini Oven's No Muss No Fuss 'Leave me Alone' Starter - 8 Days Later. The Detmolder levain process can be found here http://germanfood.about.com/od/germanfoodglossary/a/Detmolder-Three-Phase-Sourdough-Method.htm 

It didn’t do much for me seeming like to much work but, like Lucy, maybe these methods will get you thinking about what is going on in starters and levains and help you to bring out additional flavors in your SD bread whether you want them or not..

We made 2 separate levains for this bread.  One made with the 30% hard bit extraction of sprouted 5 grains consisting of: spelt, wheat, buckwheat, oat and Kamut. Notice there is no rye since we are still out of rye berries but the starter seed was from our 100% whole rye 11 week retarded No Muss No Fuss starter.

This one was a 3 stage build where the first stage was liquid at 100% hydration , the 2nd stage was stiff at 66% hydration and the 3rd stage got the levain back to 100% hydration and art each stage doubled the amount of flour used starting with 10 g of seed rye sour starter.  The stages were 2, 3 and 3 hours and done at 80 F.

After the starter had doubled after the 3rd stage we took out 2g and refrigerated the rest for 24 hours.  We took the 2 g and used that to make a smaller AP white flour starter following the same time and hydration schedules but upping the temperature to 90 F.  After it had doubled we retarded it for 16 hours.

I usually don’t question Lucy’s bread recipes that much but this was a lot of work for a loaf of bread.   After her latest fiasco with the app that inactivates all the other apps on any device it is loaded on until you pay her to fix your device and a run in with the FBI I am getting more discriminating about her potentially insane thoughts and deeds.

Instead of warming up the levains on the counter the next morning for 2 hours as the dough flour was autolysed with the water and the salt sprinkled on top like usual we left the levains in the fridge so they were 36 F when they hit the mix.  This was probably a good thing since the kitchen was high 80’s and low 90’s yesterday.

An nice breakfast is essential on bake day.  This one has a blueberry pancake lurking underneath.

Once everything came together we did 3 sets of slap and folds of 8,1 and 1 minutes followed by 3 sets of gentle stretch and folds – all on 30 minute intervals.  It felt a little slack at the end so next time I will cut the hydration a couple of percent.

This bread made a fine lunch sandwich of Swiss cheese and smoked beef sausage with the usual fixings.

,Sprouted whole grains, where the majority are low gluten to begin with, don’t take up water like whole wheat.  The dough was placed in an olive oil coated bowl covered in plastic wrap and bulk retarded for 10 hours.  We let the cold dough warm up for 1 ½ hours this morning and then shaped it gently into a boule and let it proof for another 1 ½ hours at 88 F before firing up Big Old Betsy to 450 F.  This pre heat is 50 F less than normal.

The reason is because we plan to bake this bread in a DO at 425 F under stream instead of out usual 450 F after Dough.doc posted the Larraburu baking process earlier this week.  The lower temperatures may make for a better rising loaf and a thinner crust.  I can’t abide or side with the supposed 105 F (4) hour final proof though.  I would have goo in one hour every time.

After un-molding, slashing it T-Rex style and 20 minutes of steam,  the lid came off and we baked the bread for anther 20 minutes at 425 F convection until it looked and thumped done .  The bread bloomed and browned fairly well. That mahogany color really came through.  It spread a bit too because the hydration was a bit too high.  It smell great coming out of the oven.  We will have to wait n the crumb shot.    The crumb came out very soft but resilient  The crust was very thin and it went soft as it cooled.  The taste we fantastic. Tangy and sour - and the whole sprouted grains really came through.  Perhaps the holes could have been larger but we always go for taste instead anyway.

Lucy says not to forget the salad

If .and it is a big if, Bing Translator works …it means Brownman’s sprouted several grain sourdough bread ……( with a yeast water kicker – which isn’t in the name)

I really didn’t think that I could tear Lucy away from her computer this week to come up with a loaf of bread for this Fridays bake. She has been working diligently for a whole week programming something ever since I showed her how to program.

She had a great idea for an app, which surprisingly I hadn’t thought of before, mainly because if I wrote it, I would be in jail but…… there aren’t jails for Doxi Dogs who think they are Dobermans - except for the kennel I keep for my Baking Apprentice 2nd Class in…. when she upchucks on my toes or does something her master doesn’t like..

Lucy decided to write and app that inactivated all the other apps on the device it was loaded onto and she plans on making money by having people pay her to reactivate their other apps.  I told her we call that extortion and her reply is that it is better than stealing other people’s identities and ruining their lives…. which of course is not really true.

We put extortionists in prison for a long time but you can come into the country illegally, steal someone’s identity and SS number to work and, the next thing you know, you are moved to the front of the line to become a citizen.  No worries, no harm done and welcome.   The reasoning must be that you deserve citizenship more than most of the native born folks who no longer have their own identities and can no longer prove it like you can. 

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So be warned.  If you see an app that says something like - Lucy’s SD (Super Duper) App For Everything - steer clear, keep calm and carry on…. knowing that you were forewarned and kept safe from extortion and who knows what else.  Now, on to this week’s bake.

Lucy had forgotten all about yeast water even after I fed it some cherries recently to give it that beautiful summer color we love so much.  We have been doing so much making SD starter from scratch for the weekly bake it was time to go back to a combo leaven by using a dual YW and SD starter.

Stir fry is always a great dinner.

We saved half of last week’s pumpernickel SD starter for this week but didn’t use it to build a small SD levain.  We used 15 grams of our 10 week retarded rye starter instead and whipped up a YW one too.  Both were single stage builds.

When you have cherry yeast water that looks this good you just have too use it.

We used the 25% extracted hard bits that were sifted from sprouted and whole grains in the levains first – so they would be wettest the longest.  Once the levains had doubled, we retarded them for 24 hours.  The grains were a mix of spelt, emmer (farro), Kamut and wheat (no rye since we ran out).

We even put some cherry YW in the blueberry pie crust.

Lucy thought we should do a white bread since we were out of that too.  Plus, with smoked meats for the 4th of July a must, you need some white bread.   This one only has 38% whole grains with half being sprouted which makes it solidly, pretty much a wheat white bread.  She also kept the hydration to a reasonable level.  We wanted to do a chacon to celebrate, in a special way, that Cousin Jay was coming over for 4th of July dinner of smoked turkey and pork ribs with the usual fixings.

A weekly favorite is grilled chicken and potatoes with steamed veggies and a salad - very healthy fare.

When chacons get too wet, they tend not to crack where designed.  They just spread out and meld together at the seams - a bad state of affairs when chacons have affairs.  We did a bit different process with only 1 set of slap and folds for 8 minutes and then did 4 sets of stretch and folds all on 20 minute intervals.,

When you don't use YW very often you forget that gives the most irregular holes to be had ans crumb that is unmatched in being moist and soft.

We then did a very shot bulk ferment of 30 minutes before doing a bulk retard of 10 hours.  The next day, after the design of 2 knots, 2 balls and a braid went into the bottom of the basket, we shaped the rest of the dough into a flat boule and placed it on top.  We let it final proof on the counter for one and quarter hours before preheating Big Old Betsy to 500 F with the combo cooker inside.

When the bread went in we turned the oven down to 450 F for 18 minutes of steam and then continued to bake for 15 more minutes at 425 F convection when the lid came off.  We removed the chacon from the bottom of the combo cooker 5 minutes after the lid came off so it could finish baking on the stone without burning the bottom

It bloomed and sprang half decent and had some blisters showing on the outside too.  The design for the cracks came through nicely – yea!  We will have to wait ans see how the inside came out later.  The verdict is in.  This is on fine, good looking bread inside and out..  It was a big hit for lunch and dinner.

Cousin Jay went home with a chunk, some prune, walnut pumpkin and sunflower seed pumpernickel a uarter of plain pumpernickel to go with some smoked turkey breast, pork ribs and my wife's fine brownies

And don't forget the salad to round out any meal..

 Lucy hopes you all had a great 4th of July with family and friends.

2015 Dabrownman’s TFL Blog Index

1/1/2015 - New Years Eve Pizza

1/2/2015 - 50 % Whole Grain Sprouted 8 Grain SD/YW with Japanese Black Rice & Seeds

1/9/2015 - 50 Percent Whole Sprouted 16 Grain SD with Lake Havasu Desert Magic IPA

1/16/2015 - Sprouted Sourdough White Bread - A New Style SFSD

1/23/2015 - Lucy Takes Another Shot at Not So Tzitzel Like Sprouted Rye

1/30/2015 - Tête du Désert Vide de Lucie Sud-ouest Germées 5 Pain au Levain

2/6/2015 - Sprouted Ancient Grain Valentine’s Day DaBialotta’s

2/12/2015 - 100 % Whole Grain Kamut With 14 % Sprouted

2/12/2015 - 50 % Whole Grain Kamut 2 Ways with Malbec Kamut Risotto or Seeds & Prunes

2/12/2015 - Nothing Bread - 100% Unbleached Yeast Water White Bread

2/13/2015 - SD Sprouted Wheat Bread with Weird Scald

2/20/2015 - 4 Grain Sprouted Sourdough with Altus, Scald, Toadies & Porter - Going Darker

2/27/2015 - 100% Whole Spelt SD w/ 50% Sprouted Flour, Spelt Sprouts & Baked Scald

3/6/2015 - Lucy’s 5 Grain Sprouted Practice Sourdough Slash Bags with Scald

3/13/2015 - Lucy’s Practice Sprouted and Scalded Slash Bag - Take 2 - with a Boule too

3/16/10`5 - Cousin Jay’s Sprouted, Multigrain Sourdough with Flax Seed Scald

3/20/2015 - Sprouted Whole Multigrain Sourdough Bread with Malted scald & Pizza Kicker

3/27/2015 - Whole Sprouted 9 Grain Sourdough Bread with Walnuts and Sage

4/3.2015 - Sprouted 3 Grain Sourdough with Pecans, Cranberries and Malts

4/3/2015 - 3 Sprouted Grain Poolish Hot Cross Buns

4/10/2015 - Sprouted 4 Grain, Cheese, Jalapeno, Polenta and Baked Scald Sourdough

4/10 2015 - Yeast Water Hot Dog Buns

4/17/2015 - Sorta Altamura Style Sprouted 4 Grain with Desert Durum, Seeds and Baked Scald

4/24/2015 - Sprouted 4 Grain Sourdough with Baked Scald and Guinness

5/1/2015 - 3 Day Old Rye Starter Makes a fine Sourdough the Old School Way

5/2/2015 - Old School Dark Sprouted Pumpernickel Sourdough – 2 ways

5/8/2015 - Sprouted Wheat and Rye Sourdough The Almost 1.2.3 Way

5/15/2015 - Real Bread Week - Spreading 40% Sprouted Whole 4 Grain Bread with Sprouts

5/22/2015 - A Request for Bread

5/29/2015 - Fig, Anise Sprouted 10 Grain Sourdough

6/5/2015 - Sprouted 4 Grain Sourdough - 60% Whole Grain

6/12/2015 - Sprouted 4 Grain Sourdough - 100 % Whole Grain

6/15/2015 - Yeast Buns with Rosemary, Sun Dried Tomato, Caramelized Onion & Mushrooms

6/19/2015 - Sprouted Kamut Sourdough - 75 % Whole Grain

6/27/2015 - Really Dark Old School Sprouted Pumpernickel – In memory of Barbra

2014 Dabrownman’s TFL Blog Index

 /1/2014 - New Year’s Panettone - 2014

1/3/2014 - YW SD Spelt and White Whole Wheat Miche

1/5/2014 -  Saturday Night Pizza - 1/4/2014

1/7/2014 - YW SD ADY Poolish, Tang Zhong Rosemary, Sun Dried Tomato & Parmesan Buns

1/10/2014 - 28 % Whole Multigrain Sourdough with Corn, Potato, Farina and Oat.

1/12/2014 - Saturday Night Calzones – or are they Stromboli’s?

1/17/2014 - Go Tang Zhong Sour Cream, Seeded, Aromatic Sourdough Buns

1/18/2014 - Toady Tang Zhong Multigrain Sourdough Boule

1/23/2014 - Yeast Water and Poolish 42 Percent Whole Multigrain Walnut and Pistachio Bread

1/24/2014 - 50 Percent Whole Multi-grain Sourdough

1/31/2014 - 60 Percent Whole Multigrain Sourdough with Sprouts, Seeds & Yogurt Whey

2/1/2014 - 16 % Whole Multigrain SD with Sesame, Flax and Chia Seeds

2/7/2014 - Dark Russian Jewish Rye Bread with Porter, Prunes, Nuts and Aromatic Seeds

2/14/2014 - Lucy’s Take on Josh’s Version of Pane Maggiore On Valentines Day - 2 Ways

2/20/2014 - Lucy’s Take on Adri’s Westphalian Rye

2/28/2014 - Un-Smoked Spelt Sprouter with Turkish Figs, Seeds, Aromatics & Some Nuts

3/5/2014 - Poolish Calzones and Yeast Water Italian Bread

3/7/2014 - White SD Bread

3/14/2014 - St Paddy’s Day Challenge YW Shamrock on a !00% Whole Wheat SD Chacon

3/21/2014 - Too Pooped To Pop - 56.5 Percent Whole Multigrain Sourdough

3/26/2014- 107% Whole Grain 8 Grain Sourdough

4/4/2014 - 50 Percent Whole Grain 10 Grain Sourdough – One with Cranberries and Seeds

4/6/2014 - Poolish Naan

4/11/2014 - Plotziade Sourdough Chacon

4/13/2014 - Yeast Water Poolish Pizza

4/15/2014 - Lucy’s Take On Wolfgang Puck’s Passover Gefilta Fish

4/17/2014 - Banana Bread

4/18/2014 - Sourdough Hot Cross Buns - 50% Whole Grain

4/19/2014 - Pizza Civitavecchia

4/20/2014 - Last of the Easter Sourdough Bakes Turns Ugly in a Tasty Way

4/21/2014 - Re-Do of the Last Easter Sourdough Bake for BBQ

4/22/2014 - Sacaduros - 46 Percent Whole Grains

4/23/2014 - Half Whole Grain SD Garlic Naan, Onion and Cilantro

4/25/2014 - Seeded Sourdough Multigrain Chacon

5/2/2014 - Everyday 7 Grain Sourdough

5/6/2014 - Cinco de Mayo - 2014

5/9/2014 - Getting Ready for Ploetziade 2

5/16/2014 - Boule and Pumpernickel for Plotziade 2

5/23/2014 - 10 Grain 50 Percent Whole Grain Sourdough - Back To The Old Sourdough Ways

5/26/2014 - Memorial Weekend Pizza - 2014

5/30/2014 - 67% Whole 10 Grain Baguettes

6/6/2014 - Spelt, Farro, Rye and Wheat Sourdough – 50% Whole Grain

6/9/2014 - Italian Yeast Water Buns

6/11/2014 - Italian Style YW Pizza

6/13/2014 - No……. Not Those Pharaohs

6/17/2014 - Calzones and Triple Levain Madness

6/20/2014 - Götz von Berlichingen Ancient Age Sourdough Bread

6/23/2014 - Yeast Water Whole Grain Breakfast Rolls w/ Snockered Fruit and Dark Chocolate

6/27/2014 - Lucy’s Take on Einstein’s Swabian Potato Bread - Schwäbisches Kartoffelbrot

7/4/2014 - 4th of July – 15 Grain Independence Sourdough Challenge Bake

7/11/2014 - 3 Sprouted Grain SD with One No Sprout

7/14/2014 - Lemon and Corn Pie - Old Southern Favorite - Chess Pie

7/18/2014 - Sprouted Multigrain Potato Sourdough with Spelt, Rye, Emmer and Wheat

7/23/2014 - Pesto and Sun Dried Tomato Multigrain Pizza Focaccia

7/25/2014 - 6 Grain Fennel and Fig Sourdough

8/1/2014 - Sprouted Pa de Pagès Català Sourdough

8/8/2014 - Sprouted 4 Grain Sourdough Chacon with Whey, Walnuts and Sage

8/15/2014 - Lucy’s Sorta Tzitzel Like Sprouted Sourdough

8/22/2014 - No Knead Sprouted Spelt, Barley & Potato Sourdough

8/25/2014 - Poolish Pizza Without Daughter

8/20/2014 - Sprouted Spelt, Barley, Rye and Wheat Sourdough with 5 Seeds and Brazil Nuts

9/11/014 - Spelt and Wheat Sourdough with Figs, Pistachios, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds

9/18/2014 - 20% Multi - Whole Grain Sourdough - Lucy's 44 Hour Fat Bags

9/19/2014 - Lucy's Fruit Stupid -Version 2

9/23/2014 - Knishes

9/25/2014 - Porter, Prune & Walnut Multigrain SD Bread with a No Fruit No Nut Potato Water Version

9/28/2014 - Pie Parade

10/1/2014 - Cherry Yeast Water Buns.

10/3/2014 - Cherry Yeast Water Sourdough Italian Bread with Apricots, Seeds and Nuts

10/10/2014 -Cherry YW Sourdough Italian Boule with Apricots, Seeds and Nuts - Version 2

10/16/2014 - Yeast Water and Poolish Pizza

10/16/2014 -11 Grain, YW / Sourdough Enriched Buns

10/17/2014 - 11 Grain, YW / Sourdough Chacon with Apricots, Seeds and Nuts - Version 3

10/23/2014 - Lucy’s YW & SD Holiday Fruitcake

10/30/2014 - Multigrain SD Sprouted 2 Ways

11/7/2014 - Sprouted Multi Farro SD

11/26/2014 - Thanksgiving Sourdough Bread for Stuffing

12/5/2014 - Multigrain Sourdough Sprouter

12/12/2014 - Ancient Grain Sprouted Sourdough

12/19/2014 - 50 Percent Whole Grain 25 Percent Sprouted Porter SD

12/26/2014 - 50 Percent Whole Grain 25 Percent Sprouted 9 Grain SD with Whey

2013 The Fresh Loaf Dabrownman’s Blog

1/4/2013 - Panettone - The Last Bake of 2012

1/4/2013 - New Year's Day Pizza and Banana Bread Cupcakes

1/5/2012 - Hanseata’s Sausage Filled Puff Pastry with Cheese

1/7/2013 - Multi-grain Cream Cheese Sourdough with Multi-grain Scalded Soaker

1/11/2013 - Multi-grain Sourdough Chacon with Olives, Sun Dried Tomato, Garlic, Rosemary and 2 Cheeses

1/16/2013 - Multi-grain Sourdough with Sprouts, Scald, Seeds, Nuts and Prunes

1/17/2013 - Multigrain Yeast Water Bread with Sprouts, Scald, Seeds, Nuts and Prunes

1/23/2013 - White Whole Wheat with Combo YW, Poolish, SD Starter, Water Roux and Wheat Berry Scald

1/25/2013 - SD, YW, Biga, Rye, Spelt, Tang Zhong Bread with Scald, Seeds and Nuts

1/30/2013 - Practice YW Slash Bag

1/31/2013 - Origami Sourdough and Yeast Water Panettone

1/31/2013 - Another Batch of kjknits English Muffins – 12.5 % Whole Wheat

2/1/2013 - Fun With Short Crust and Puff Paste

2/1/2013 - Phil’s Savory Pumpkin and Feta Pie

2/2/2013 - A Born Loser Tells a Tale of Too Many Two’s and the Evil Twin

2/3/2013 - Superbowl Pizza – Great Pizza For a Lights Out, No longer a Blow Out Game

2/3/2013 - It's Been Exactly a Year Since Our First TFL Post - The Index

2/5/2013 - Multigrain SD/YW Brown Bread with Aromatic Seeds and Multi-Grain Scald

2/7/2013 - Big Combo Levain Whole Wheat Bread with Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds

2/11/2013 - Not So Pink Valentine Vienna Chocolate Rose

2/13/2013 - Sourdough Pink Valentine Hamburger Buns

2/15/2013 - Yeast Water Cinnamon Rolls

2/18/2013 - Multigrain SD Altamura - Not The Priest's Hat

2/21/2013 - Banana Bread

2/26/2013 - Old Dough VS Levain Multigrain SD With Bulgar and Flax Seed Scald

2/28/2013 - 100 % Whole Grain Rye and Spelt YW SD with Scald and Seeds - The Altus Test

3/5/2013 - SD YW Durum, Ricotta Bread with Pistachio Nuts, Pumpkin & Millet Seeds

3/12/2013 - http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/32637/more-you-want-know-about-labs-and-yeast%26favtitle=More%20than%20you%20want%20to%20know%20about%20Labs%20and%20Yeast

3/13/2013 - SD YW multi-grain Bagels

3/17/2013 - Enchanted Irish Lemon Curd Fairy Cakes

3/18/2013 - St. Paddy’s Day Feast, Sort of Ballymaloe 100% WW Brown Bread and Irish Ruben’s

3/20/2013 - If Ballymaloe Baked Sourdough Brown Bread with WW Scald & Guinness in a DO

3/23/2013 - WW SD YW Multi-Grain Pumpernickel

3/25/2013 - 50% Whole Wheat Matzoh

3/30/2013 - Hot Cross Buns - 25 % Whole Grain

3/31/2013 - Poolish & Y W Chocolate Walnut Easter Babka with Streusel & Snockered Fruits

4/2/2013 - 100 Percent Whole Multi-Grain Aroma Bread with 2 Soakers & 11 Seeds

4/4/2013 - Whole Grain DaPumpernickel Aroma Bread

4/8/2013 - Two Way 75% White Bread - DaPumperized with Scald and Seeds

4/12/2013 - Italian Tang Zhong, Fig, Hazelnut & Ricotta Cheese Sourdough Chacons

4/14/2013 - Dinner for 2 from the Pots

4/19/2013 - Fig Water, Multigrain, Apricot, Walnut, Whole Wheat Sprouter

4/24/2013 - Tang Zhong, Ricotta, Scalded Multigrain with and without, Cranberries & Pecans

4/30/2013 - They Call Me Mellow Yellow

5/3/.2013 - I Got the No White Bread Blues

5/5/2013 - Happy Cinco de Mayo - Breakfast Lunch and Dinner

5/7/2013 - Lucy's Jewish Deli Rye - Take 1

5/15/2013 - Dark Russian Jewish Deli Rye with Porter, Onion, Sprouts and Aromatic Seeds.

5/16/2013 - Whole Wheat and Spelt Sourdough with Sprouts and Seeds

 5/17/2013 - Friday Pizza Night

5/21/2013 - SD and YW Emperor Franz Joseph Buns with Same Dough Challah

5/24/2013 - Multigrain SD with Japanese Black Rice, Seeds, Prunes & Dried Edamame

5/24/2013 - YW & Poolish Hot Dog Buns

5/30/2013 - Ezekiel's Chacon

6/6/2013 - Multigrain Sourdough with Scald, Seeds and 3 Nuts

6/10/2013 - White Hamburger Buns Turned Dark

6/14/2013 - Multigrain Combo Levain with Seeds & Sprouts

6/18/2013 - It all started out simple enough

6/21/2013 - Everyday Multigrain Sourdough with Scald

6/25/2013 - Yeast Water, Tang Zhong Hot Dog Buns

6/28/2013 - Buttermilk and Greek Yogurt Multigrain SD with Seeds and Sprouts

7/5/2013 - Snails with Tails

7/8/2013 - Yeast Water and ADY Hot Dog Buns

7/12/2013 - Multigrain Caramelized Pickled Veggies, Parmesan, Flax & Sesame Seeds, Barley Boil & Toadish Sourdough

7/19/2013 - Whole Multigrain Sourdough Loaf

7/21/2013 - Saturday Night Pizza

7/26/2013 - 75% Extraction Mulit-grain Sourdough

8/2/2013 - Prince George's Chacon

8/9/2013 - Sourdough Tzitzel

8/12/2013 - Yeast Water 70% Whole Grain English Muffins

8/14/2013 - 100 % Whole Multi Grain, Yeast Water & Sourdough Bagels

8/16/2013 - 99.89% Whole Grain Sesame & Flax Seed Sourdough with Whey

8/22/2013 - Too Fast - Poolish Cream Butter Buns

8/23/2013 - Multi-grain Sourdough with Figs, Walnuts, Whey and 4 Seeds

8/26/2013 - Lucy’s Fruit Stupid - Nutella, Peach, Plum and Plantain Pizza and No Fruit Bagels

8/28/2013 - Lucy’s Take on Cleo’s and Ian’s Hamburger Buns

8/30/2013 - Multigrain Sourdough with Sesame and Flax Seeds Toadies and Malts

8/31/2013 - Three Levain Friday Night Pizza Night - With a Surpise Ending

9/4/2013 - Happy Rosh Hashanah – A Holiday Challah

9/6/2013 - Tzitzel – Take 3 with Triple Levain

9/6/2013 - For those who wanted "Aunt Beverly’s Sweet and Hot Brisket'

9/7/2013 - Meat Week

9/11/2013 - Yeast Water 35% Whole Wheat Hamburger Thins and HD Buns

9/13/2013 - Pistachio, Prune and Pumpkin Seed Multigrain Sourdough with Malty Toads

9/20/2013 - Hanseata Multigrain SD YW and Sunflower Seed Challenge Bread

9/27/2013 - The 100% Whole Grain, Multigrain - Mashed by Melon Test - 3 Ways

10/4/2013 - Whole Multigrain SD Bread with Scald, Seeds and More Aromatic Seeds

10/7/2013 - Multigrain Old Sourdough Makes 2 Retarded Pizzas

10/11/2013 - B…..B….B…. Babka - the Yeast Water Way to Gugelhuph Land

10/11/2013 - Prunish Multigrain Sourdough with Scald and Seeds

10/14/2013 - Poolish Buns the Girls Actually Like and Smoked Brisket Sandwiches

10/17/2013 - Mice Guarding the Punkin

10/18/2013 - 20% Whole Grain 9 Grain Sourdough

10/18/2013 - Pumpkin Nutella Swirl Bars

10/25/2013 - Lucy is Runner Up with Her Mice Guarding the Pumpkin Entry

10/25/2013 - Same Dough Two Ways with a Pizza Crust Later

10/27/2013 - Saturday Night 6 P’s SD Focaccia Romana Pizza

10/29/2013 - YW Primer

11/1/2013 - Owlloween White Buns made with a Poolish & SD Levain

11/1/2013 - 38 % Whole Grain Multi Grain SD with Sprouts, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds

11/6/2013 - What is the Best Thing You Can Put On Pumpernickel?

11/9/2013 - 15 % Whole Grain SD and YW Orange, Cranberry Walnut Bread

11/15/2013 - Almost Twin White Breads - One YW / SD and One SD

11/15/2013 - YW & SD 50% Rye with Scald, Onions & Young’s Double Chocolate Stout

11/17/2013 - Lucy’s YW White Bread for Thanksgiving Croutons

11/22/2013 - Mini's 100% Hydration Rye, Walnut and Seed Bread with Soaker Water & Dopplebock

11/22/2013 - CeciC’s Crackers with Added Yeast Water.

11/25/2013 - Two Thanksgiving Pies and the Blog Index

11/30/2013 - Josh’s Thanksgiving and Hanukkah Stollen

12/6/2013 - Big Levain Multigrain Sourdough with Figs, Seeds, Potato & Poolish

12/7/2023 - Sinclair’s Bakery Potato Rolls - Made With Poolish

12/12/2013 - Half Whole Multi-Grain Sourdough with Fax & Sesame Seeds

12/12/2013 - Christmas Chocolate Chunk Cherry Chacon

12/12/2013 - Holiday Puff Paste Heath Bar and Chocolate Chip Rugelach

12/17/2013 - Not So Stollen – Christmas 2013

12/19/2013 - 3 Christmas Fruit Cakes - One For Everyone

12/21/2013 - Friday Night SD YW Pretty Plain Pizza

12/22/2013 - Panettone Forced English Muffins

12/23/2013 - White SD YW Bread with Walnuts for Christmas Turkey Stuffing

12/25/2013 - Christmas Fruit Cake – SD YW Gold Rush Take 2

12/26/2013 - Arizona Christmas Tree and Blog Index

2012 The Fresh Loaf Dabrownman’s Blog

2/3/2012 - My first bread after joining TFL - DSnyder's San Joaquin

2/3/2012 - Brachflachen Mehrere Vollkombrot

2/3/2012 - Loaded Pizza

2/3/2012 - Pierre Nury meets DSnyders SFSD

2/3/2012 - Putting the Rye in Pierre Nury's rustic Light Rye

2/3/2012 - Too Many Red Pears and Blueberries

2/3/2012 - Make your own Greek yogurt

2/4/2012 - Minneola / Apple Yeast Water Semolina Bread

2/4/2012 - Raspberry SD Pancakes

2/4/2012- 1930's Magnalite Wagner Ware Roaster Used As Cloche for Multi-grain SD Challah

2/5/2014 - Sourdough English Muffins

2/5/2012 - Southwest Hummus Anyone?

2/5/2012 - I have some miscellaneous baking and foodie

2/7/2012 - Brachflachen Mehrere Vollkombrot - Version 4

2/7/2012 - Baked off PiPs (Phil's) new post on 40% Sourdough Rye w/ Caraway today

2/9/2012 - The Chellos - that don't play music.

2/9/2012 - PiP's 40% Rye w/ Caraway Meets Hanseata's Seeds and a Restless dabrownman

2/9/2012 - Whole Wheat Crusted Apple Caramel Galette w/ fresh ginger and assorted bourbon dried fruits.

2/9/2012 - Blueberry SD pancakes this time,

2/10/2012 - How to Make Yogurt - 'So Your Muffins Taste Betta'

2/10/2012 - isand66's SD Avocado Bread Meets Its Sunflower Seeded Guacamole Heart

2/11/2012- I Confess My Deepest Darkest Baking Secret

2/13/2012 - isand66's Bacon, SD, Potato, Onion with Cheddar Bread Meets Pork Jowls, Aged White Cheddar, Potato Flakes and Caramelized Onion

2/13/2012 - Shiao-Ping's Orange Turmeric Pain au Levain with Yeast Water

2/14/2012 - Happy Valentine Cupcakes w/ Strawberry Hearts

2/16/2012 - PiPs Walnut and Sage 100% Whole Wheat.

2/17/2012 - Let's Make Some Fresh Cheese

2/17/2012 - Birthday Chocolate Crusted Orange Cheese Cake with Ganache, Truffles and Chocolate Shavings

2/18/2012 - David Snyders' SD Pugliesi Capriccioso With Some WW and Rye

2/22/2012 - teketeke's Japanese Yeast Water White Sandwich Bread - 'This Bread Is Not Your Slimy Old White Slice'

2/23/2012 - Pips Vollkornbrot - Nearly 100% Rye with A Tiny Bit of Spelt

2/24/2012 - teketeke Bread

2/27/2012 - Rustique Pain Comté de San Francisco

3/1/2012 - Chad Robertson's Country SD - Modified

3/1/2012 - I've been working on a new home made Gas Regeneration BBQ /Smoker

3/3/2012 - Miscellaneous stuff at the end of the week

3/5/2012 - Pain Rustique au Levain du Sud-ouest

3/6/2012 - Pain Rustique au Levain du Sud-ouest - Retarded

3/7/2012 - Yeast Water, Rye, WW, Garlic Chive, Onion, Cheese and Chorizo Bialy’s

3/12/2012 - Tartine Everyday Rustic Country Sourdough

3/14/2012 - St Paddy's Day Dutch Oven Sourdough - Tartine Method

3/14/2012 - Corned Beef and Cabbage - 2 ways - possibly more

3/15/2012 - Just look at the pictures my new old camera takes!!

3/17/2012 - Yeast Water, Glazed, Spiced, Walnut, Bourbon Fruit, Chocolate Chip, Almond Granola Streusel Polish Babka

3/23/2012 - Making Red Rye Malt

3/24/2012 - Gingered, Tres Apple, Almond, Vanilla Granola Crisp with Bourbon Dried Fruit

3/29/2012 - A Blend of Seigle d’Auvergne and Borodinski

3/29/2012 - Jam and Bread Crust and Crumb Color

3/31/2012 - Revising isand66's Bacon, Potato, Onion with Cheddar Sourdough Bread

4/1/2012 - Getting Ready for Tomorrow's Sweetbird Buckwheat Apple SD Bake with Buckwheat SD Pancakes Today

4/2/2012 - Dabrownman Butchers Sweetbird’s Lovely Buckwheat, Apple and Apple Cider, Buckwheat Groat Bread with Insane Thoughts and Deeds

4/9/2012 - Super-grain Challah w/ Whey Water, Sprouts, Potato, Lentil, Sunflower Seeds and 2 Starters - SD and YW

4/10/2012 - Retarded Super-Grain Challah

4/14/2012 - Lemon Curd and Cream Cheese Puff Paste

4/14/2012 - Italian Corner - Cellos with Squash Lasagna and David Snyder's Pulgliese Capriosso

4/15/2012 - 20% Rye and WWW Potato SD Baggies Meet the Same Made with YW

4/15/2012 - Weekday Springtime Yeast Water Breakfast at Dabrownman's

4/17/2012 - Apple and Pear, Bourbon Dried Fruit, Ginger with Apple Jam Cream Cheese Puff Sleds

4/19/2012 - Sweetbird's Apple, Buckwheat with Groats, Insanely Modified, Makes for a Fine Toast or Lunch

4/20/2012 - SD Hemp Bags - txfarmer method with Hanseata's Seeds

4/20/2012 - Tired Monday's - YW 20% Whole Grain Bag Lunch

4/30/2012 - 50% Multigrain SD W/ Rye Scald, Rye Sprouts, Borodinski Altus and Pepitas, Caraway and Flax Seeds

5/2/2012 - Yeast Water Fake Pretzel Rolls

5/4/2012 - With Cinco de Mayo Yesterday - Hope You Had a Happy One! Cinco Sunset, Moon Rise and Dinner

5/8/2012 - Multi-grain SD w/ Multi Sprouts 2 Nuts and Seeds Somewhere

5/9/2012 - Yeast Water Hamburger Buns with Cinnamon Roll Same Dough Kicker

5/11/2012 - 1 - Day Multi-Grain Bread, Soft White Wheat, Spelt, Scald and Seeded with SD and YW Combo Starter

5/12/2012 - Banana Bread Cake

5/14/2012 - Mothers Day YW Apple, Pecan Buckwheat Pancakes with a Nice Chicken and Brie Sandwich for Lunch

5/15/2012 - Altamura Shaped Semolina Multi-Grain SD with Seeds and Sprouts

5/16/2012 - Having the daughter

5/18/2012 - Semolina, Rye, WWW Ciabatta w/ Chia Seeds, Herbs and Sun Dried Tomato

5/20/2012 - Apple Strawberry Ginger Crisp, Teriyaki and Lunch for Two

5/22/2012 - txfarmer's Croissant and Dainish Converted over to SD and YW - 3 Ways with Chia Seeds

5/24/2012 - Pretzel Roll P&J and Grilled Chicken Lunch with Pickles

5/25/2012 - Hanseata’s Wild Rice SD w/ Yeast Water, Multi Seeds, Prunes, Beer and Sprouts

5/26/2012 - Brown Plate Special with a Little Green, Brown Ale and Brown Bread

5/28/2012 - T-Rex Meets Floyd’s Sweet Potato Bread & Brownman’s SD & YW Combo Starter

5/29/2012 - Bread Baskets - A Serious Illness Revealed

5/31/2012 - Recent Breads for Lunch, Last Jacaranda Bloom and Desert

6/1/2012 - 40% Whole Multi-grain SD and YW Altamura Style Chacon

6/1/2012 - 24 Hours of Not Baking Bread

6/8/2012 - The SD / YW Chacon Revisited – 90% Whole Grain, Multigrain Sprouts, Walnut and Sage Paste, Pumpkin Seeds and Whey Water

6/9/2012 - Friday night P & P - Pizza and Pide

6/12/2012 - Let's Have Some Lunch and Other Stuff

6/15/2012 - Jasmine Tea, 50% Whole Multi-Grain SD & YW Durum Atta Bread with Wheat Germ, Flax and Chia Seeds

6/19/2012 - Buckwheat 60% Multi-grain YW / SD Bread with Walnuts, Sage, Flax, Wheat Germ, Apples, Prunes and Groats

6/21/2012 - Sourdough Durum Atta Bread – Pharaoh’s Mastaba Style

6/24/2-12 - Twisted Sisters Chacon : 67% Whole Rye & Wheat with Sprouts & Seeds.

6/28/2012 - Franko finally got to the top of the list

6/29/2012 - English Muffins - kjknits Converted to YW and SD Combo levain

6/29/2012 - Without Cheesecake For Desert - There May Be No Need for Bread

6/30/2012 - SD and YW Semolina Cheese Bread and Pizza with Sun Dried Tomato, Rosemary, Mojo de Ajo and Garlic

7/4/2012 - SD and YW Multigrain Bagels - The Stan Ginsberg Method

7/4/2012 - Catching up on some lunches and other stuff

7/4/2012 - Lunches and Other Stuff Continued - Happy Birthday America!

7/5/2012 - YW Naan with Paneer, Green Onion, Cilantro, Garam Masala and Garlic - Plus a Loaf - Added Lunch Shot

7/6/2012 - Joe Ortiz Pain de Champagne with Rye and WW Sprouts

7/10/2012 - Dinner in Houston

7/15/2012 - AZ Monsoon and Breakfast

7/17/2012 - Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches.

7/20/2012 - What To Eat With That Rustic French Country Sourdough Bread -Smoked Etouffee!

7/22/2012 - SD YW English Muffins - Some Fried As Donuts Per gmabaking With Apricot, Nectarine Ginger Glaze

7/24/2012 - Herbed Bialy's – Multigrain, Caramelized Onion, Chorizo and 4 Cheeses

7/27/2012 - 50% Rye SD Knotted Rolls With Wheat Germ, Barley Scald, Caraway and Sunflower Seeds

7/27/2012 - hanseata's Wild Rice Bread Revisited - 'The Wild One' - w/ Beer, Sprouts, Seeds and Prunes

7/30/2012 - Parade of Sandwiches and Other Stuff

8/5/2012 - YW vs Desem SD - Caramelized Onion, Basil, Bacon, Parmesan Rolls

8/7/2012 - 15% Whole Wheat Bagels with YW and SD Desem Combo Starter

8/11/2012 -YW / SD Olive Bread with Rosemary and Bulgar Scald

8/17/2012 - 100% Whole Grain Rye with Rye Sprouts – YW & SD Combo Starter

7/19/2012 - 25% Whole Wheat English Muffins Revisited - Over and Over Again - kjknits

8/22/2012 - Chacon Catastrophes Moka - Ian’s Mocha Disaster Chacon

8/24/2012 - Multi-Grain SD & YW Combo with Chicken Stock, Soaker & Seeds

8/27/2012 - 35% Whole Grain YW & SD Semolina, Durum Atta White Bread with Soaker

8/29/2012 - Rewind - YW & SD Semolina, Durum Atta, W. Germ, Malts & Honey - Deja Vue

9/2/2012 - Spelt, Rye and Whole Wheat Soudough Boule with Flax Seed, Honey and Malts - A Simple but Tasty Bread

9/5/2012 - 100% Hydration, 100% Whole Grain Kamut Flat Boule with YW and SD Combo Starter

9/7/2012 - Andy’s Roasted Brazil Nut and Prune Bread - Sourdough Variation with WW Scald

9/9/2012 - 8 Hour SD YW Saturday Night Pizza and Friday Shrimp Kabobs

9/14/2012 - 100% Whole Spelt Sourdough at 100% Hydration

9/15/2012 - Happy Rosh Hashanah!

9/20/2012 - 17% Whole Multi-Grain SD / YW Bagels – The Stan Ginsberg Method

9/21/2012 - 57% Whole Grain Multi-grain SD with 20% Seeds and Whey

9/25/2012 -15% Multi-grain Bread With YW and SD Combo Levain

9/28/2012 - 15% WWW Fat Bag with Desem SD Starter ala Ian and Phil

9/28/2012 - English Muffins- YW and SD Levains - 16% Whole Wheat

9/28/2012 - Banana Nut Bread with Seeds, Chocolate and Bourbon Dried Fruits

10/2/2012 - Judy's 45 % Whole Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread

10/6/2012 - 16 % Whole Multi-grain SD Baguettes – txfarmer’s Method only 40 Hours

10/9/2012 - Name Change - Gussied Up Franz Joseph's Emperor Rolls With Seeds

10/13/2012 - Parade of Sandwiches and Other Stuff - Partola Uno

10/14/2012 - Parade de sandwichs et d'autres choses - partie 2

10/14/2012 - Parade of Sandwiches Continues - Part 3

10/15/2012 - Desfile de Sandwiches - Parte 4

10/15/2012 - Parade der Sandwiches - Teil 5

10/17/2012 - World Bread Day - SD Multigrain with Figs, Anise, Pistachios and Sprouts

10/18/2012 - Pierre Nury's Rustic Light Rye with Whole Grain Multi-grain YW / SD Levains and Coffee

10/24/2012 -Tuesday Pizza Night - Crust 3 Ways with 25% Whole Grains

10/25/2012 - San Franciso Sourdough - 15% Whole Grain

10/27/2012 - Extended - SD Starter Experiment - 24 hour Countertop SFSD and a Seeded, Fig and Pistacio

10/30/2012 - Two DO Chacons Couldn’t Be Any Different

11/2/2012 - Two Weeks of Food for Thought - Week one

11/2/2012 - Two Weeks of Food for Thought - Week Two

11/2/2012 - 26% Whole Grain YW / SD Bagels with Sprouts

11/5/2012 - 24 hour 10% Whole Grain SFSD & SD Seeded Fig Bread with Pistachios - 1 g of Starter - No Levain

11/9/2012 - 60% Whole Grain SD / YW Bread With Caraway, Rye Chops, Coffee and Cocoa

11/9/2012 - Prune & Brazil Nut Sourdough with Bulgar Scald, Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds

11/14/2012 - Not So Stollen

11/16/2012 - Thanksgiving Multi-Grain Marble Chacon

11/20/2012 - SD Stuffing Bread

11/21/2012 - Poolish Stuffing Bread

11/23/2012 - Not So Stollen - Thanksgiving Take

11/23/2012 - Daughter Does French Slap and Folds for Her Poolish Thanksgiving Rolls

11/27/2012 - A Chacon for Eric

12/7/2012 - 75% Whole Grain YW / SD Caramelized Onion, Wild Rice, Sprouts & Baltika Porter Bread

12/14/2012 - Multigrain SD / YW Porter Bread with Roasted Onions, Sprouts, Malts and Seeds

12/17/2012 - Puff Paste Experiments

12/18/2012 - Puffy So Not Rugelach

12/21/2012 - Christmas Sourdough Chacon - Figs, Pistachios and Seeds

12/25/2012 - Christmas Bi-Color Rose - 30% Whole Grain, Pesto and Sun Dried Tomato

12/25/2012 - Not So Stollen - 6 Weeks later

12/29/2012 - 25% Whole Grain Multi-grain Bagels

This has been such a weird week.  My wife is off to visit our daughter in Texas and eatng great food off of food trucks in Austin without me…… while I am eating curries, stir fries and smoked meats.  I’m not sure who got the best of that.  But the really odd thing was the turn that Lucy took.

Being an astute follower of the current counter culture to keep her recipes fresh and new, she couldn’t help noticing that just about anything goes today and is tolerated by society.  Still, I was sort of relieved when Lucy told me she doesn’t want to be a female Doxie dog anymore and feels like she relates much more to being a male Doberman Pincher instead.

Altus chopped fine with very liquid SD starter.

The relief came in because I thought for sure she was going to tell me that she didn’t want to be a Bread Baking Apprentice 2nd Class anymore and wanted to be something else less taxing mentally and physically…. like an astronaut or brain surgeon.    Being a libertarian on most things, I really couldn’t care less that Lucy wants to change herself into what ever she prefers - so long as it doesn’t negatively affect me or make me pay for it.

Wet starter and dough flour.  

So, I was relieved that she still wants to work with her master to make a loaf, or two like this week, of bread each week but I am hoping that she doesn’t somehow get the Dobies; longer legs, teeth and disposition so that she can get at my throat with a killer vengeance instead of just nibbling my ankles when she is upset with me.

Black and brown caraway seeds.

Sadly yesterday, we got word that the oldest of the 3GMA’s has passed.  So this bake is dedicated to her – a fine baker and even better sister and matriarch of her family.  There is a permanent hole in so many lives now.  A hole that can’t be filled.  But she would have wanted us to bake on ….so we will…thinking of her.

2/3 rds of the remaining seeds, nuts and prunes go in.

This week we have another rendition of pumpernickel based on this one:  Old School Dark Sprouted Pumpernickel Sourdough – 2 ways only this time we were determined to get a really dark pumpernickel.  A few changes were in order.

The dough hits the baskets.

First we added a dopplebock beer (at 9.6% alcohol) and then a bit of red malt, some cocoa, some instant coffee and pumpernickel altus.   If that didn’t do it dark then Lucy said she would prefer to be a kitty cat from now on.

after 4 hours of proofing.

We did the same method as last time using roughly 25% less levain since it is summer now and fermenting things really take off when the kitchen temperature is 86 F.   The other major change was to only make 1 kind of bread instead of 2 by spreading the add ins over both loaves instead of leaving one plain.

The T-Rex slash.

We liked the loaf with add ins much better than the ‘plain’ loaf last timeso a plain one was not in the cards this time.  We slashed it and baked it exactly like last time.  For some reason this one smelled better when baking.

This batch sprang and bloomed pretty much like the last batch even though these were not over proofed for once in a long time.  No long retarded proof to blame either.  Waiting for this kind of bread to redistribute the remaining moisture is the hardest part but we did wait overnight – about 15 hours instead of the much longer time recommended.

The crumb was nicely open, soft and moist – darker than last time – yea!  The taste was much more complex and deep.  A better bread taste wise for sure, maybe not as open but the last one was the best bread we have baked this year. This one is a bit better.  Barbra would have loved it even though she was a more of a Tartine white bread tyoe of bread baker.

Lucy is ecstatic about becoming a Doberman instead of a  Doxie dog.  I was thrilled with the way the Father's Day ribs turned out.

It had been almost 3 years since we did any serious Kamut bread baking.  It was June, 2012 when we did a 100% Whole Kamut at slightly more than 100% hydration.  Perhaps it was a little hopeful but the bread spread set in and it stuck to the basket too making for a really bad looking Fisbee.  Oddly the crumb was very open for a 100% whole grain bread.

This time Lucy thought she would tame it down some to better match herb perception of my current baking talents while getting a load of sprouted Kamut in the mix since it seems that every bread we have baked of late has sprouted grains in it.

This time she shot for 75% whole Kamut, all freshly milled at home and half being sprouted the day before.  The rest of the flour was half LaFama AP and half KA bread flour wit the 2 % salt and totaling 80% hydration.

Sice the sprouted Kamut was naturally tempered, we got a 28% hard but extraction abd since we didn’t temper the whole un-sprouted Kamut we only got an 18% hard bit extraction.  The starter we used was an unusual one in that 5 g of our ryes sour was mixed with 25 g the 2 week old held back starter from the Friday bake 2 weeks ago.  So it was a mix of white and rye .

We added up the sifted out, hard bit extractions for the Kamut sprouted and un-sprouted millings and divided it by 7 which gave us the amount for the first of 3 progressively larger levain feedings.  The un-sprouted hard bits were used first to get the we the longest followed by the larger amounts of the sprouted hard bits.

The levain feeding stages were 2, 3 and 4 hours with the levain doubling after the 3rd feeding.  One the levain had doubled we retarded it Iin the fridge for 24 hours which has now become a standard procedure.

Once the levain came out of the fridge the next day we held back 25 g of it for net weeks bake let the remainder warm upon the counter while we and autolysed the dough flour with the dough water - holding back 20 g of it from the autolyse.  We sprinkled the salt on top and added the remaining water to the bowl after the autolyse was mixed.

This was essentially a double hydration method that gets the salt into the mix easier.  The levain was mixed in and we began the first of 3 slap and fold sessions to develop the gluten.  After 8, 1 and 1 minute of slapping the dough around, we did 3 more sets of 4 slaps each – all on 15 minute intervals.  No stretch and folds this time.

After the gluten development was done we immediately pre-shaped and then shaped the dough into an Altumura shape and placed it into a rice floured basket for a 12 hour retard.  Normally this shape would be for dough of about 65% hydration but, and this is the important part, we don’t care in the leastJ

Sadly, the retard ended up being 15 hours and this dough had to be the most over proofed loaf we have done in some time, Kamut like all durum varieties is very fast and this was likely ready for the oven at the 8 hour mark – Next time!

This is our favorite sprouted bread so far this year.  Even when frozen for 6 weeks it makes a great lunch sandwich - Old School Dark Sprouted Pumpernickel Sourdough – 2 ways

 When the dough came out of the fridge the next morning, we un-molded it and slid it into  a 500 F preheated oven un-slashed and steamed it for 15 minutes at 450 F with Mega Steam - in this case…. 2 lava rock pans.  Once the steam came out we turned the oven down to 425 F – convection to finish the baking.  The bread sprang and bloomed a bit more than a smidgen but browned nicely to that beautiful Durum color you can only get by using a lot of it in the bread mix.

We will have to see how the crumb came out later but don’t expect it to be as open as the 100% hydration 100% whole Kamut variety found here – but you never know…… 100% Hydration, 100% Whole Grain Kamut Flat Boule with YW and SD Combo Starter

The crumb came out fairly open, soft and moist.  it has that Durum yellow color and taste too with more than a hint of tang.  A nice bread for sandwiches for sure.  The crust also stayed nice a crisp and crunchy too - another treat.

With fresh sweet corn in season, it has to go an the salad!