dabrownman's blog

In keeping with Lucy’s recent bread theme of ‘all things sprouted’, we continued with another variation of a multigrain bread  with sprouted  spelt, rye and WW.  The sprouted grains were 25% of the mix this time but there were other changes too – aren’t there always?

The autolyse with the scald

My wife and daughter, who are off to NYC on Tuesday for Spring break, asked me to make a gift bread for cousin Jay.  He is on his way to selling his place there and has already bought a place in Phoenix so is between old and new homes but currently in NY.

The levain goes in

We only had 3 days to make this loaf instead of our usual 4 so something had to go.  We kept the sprouts, scald and 3 stage, 12 hour levain build with the 12 hour retard.  So the long, cold,  12 hour, bulk or shaped retard had to go.  We thought if we had enough time we could get in at least an hour or 2 of shaped retard right before baking to see if we could get some blisters and make the scoring a bit easier.

Getting ready to proof

Another change we made was making the baked scald twice as large buy adding in 30 g of cracked flax seeds and another 30 g of water making for 120 g total instead of 60 g.  It still has the 22 g of sprouted 65% extraction grain and 4 g each of red and white malts.

We upped the hydration a bit to 72.5% but the dough felt like it was at least 75%.  We did out usual 3 sets of slap and folds on 8.1.1 minutes and 3sets of stretch and folds but then let the dough rest for 2 hours of bulk ferment before pre-shaping and shaping into a boule for 4 hours of proofing in a rice floured basket before we tossed it into the fridge to firm up.

We decided to bake this in a DO after our last boule had some explosive spring and bloom when it was a touch under proofed.  We couldn’t decide how to slash this one and finally ended up with a double T-Rex slash.

The bread was baked at 460 F with the lid on for 18 minutes and then 425 F with the lid off for 5 minutes when we got the brad off the bottom of the combo cooker and put it on the stone to finish baking.  15 minutes after the lid came off the bread hit 208 F and we left it on the stone with the oven off and door ajar to crisp up the crust.

When it hit 210 F we removed it from the oven and placed it on the cooling rack.  It sprang and bloomed very well under steam and browned up to the fine mahogany color we love so much.  We will have to wait on the crumb till later – we are hoping Cousin Jay doesn’t mind having his bread partially sliced for him..  The crumb came out open, soft and moist...... it smelled great too.   I think Cousin jay is in for a treat tomorrow

St. Paddy's day is just around the corner and we celebrated yesterday with corned beef, cabbage. carrots and potatoes but only had a pix of the corned beef.,  For left over tonight my daughter and I made Irish Pot Stickers  - Wow!

Don't forget to have a fine salad with that sunset

True to her word, Lucy took last week’s baguette bake and tried to improve it seve4ral ways.  She cut the cold time in the fridge from 19 hours to 13 hoping to the keep the dough from over proofing to get better spring, bloom and maybe ears.

She increased the sprouted whole grains for 19% to 29% - more than a 50% increase which help the flavor but probably hurt the possibility of a more open crumb.  She also subbed barley for last week’s Kamut for one of the 5 whole grains.

She increased the size of the bake to include a baguette and a boule instead of 2 baguettes while keeping the baked scald the same size – so the % of baked scaled is smaller this time around which should hurt the flavor some.

To really mix things up, Lucy changed some of the methods the methods too. Instead of a long, cold, shaped proof she went with the shorter bulk ferment in the fridge with shaping the net day after a 1 hour warm up on the counter.  The final proof was 1 ½ hours long when the shaped dough was placed in the fridge to firm up.

Here is crumb of the baguette.  For the rest of the methods of levain build, autolyse and dough development, see last weeks post here

 Lucy’s 5 Grain Sprouted Practice Sourdough Slash Bags with Scald

 After an hour in the fridge, we fired up BO Betsy (BOB), to bake the baguette straight out of the fridge using 1/2 Mega Steam (lava rocks pan only – no Sylvia’s steaming towel pan this time).   The boule was taken out of the fridge when the baguette went into the oven to warm up a bit before hitting a hot DO.  Baking was done at 450 F under steam and 425 F convection - with the steam removed.

Boule crumb above.  The baguette came out much better than last week’s version – better browning, bloom and spring with some ears and the boule came out even better.  It’s a shame we can’t bake a baguette in a DO!  We will have to check out the crumb of these two identical ingredient breads that look so different...... later.   The crumb was very soft.s open as last week with the boule more open and very moist.  The taste is top notch for 30% whole grain bread,  We love what bakes scalds and sprouted grains do for developing a complex, deep, earthy flavor.

 Baguette crumb left with the boule crumb right,

Lucy reminds me to load up on the salad  and i remind her there is always room for desert.

When you make baguettes once or twice a year, they can only be considered a way to practice shaping and slashing or as Lucy calls them – Practice Slash Bags.   This version also has 20%  5 whole sprouted grains in the mix consisting of: wheat, emmer, spelt, rye and Kamut in keeping with Lucy’s love of all things sprouted and multigrain when it comes to bread.

We also included a 140 F, 30 g baked / scald of sprouted MG flour with a bit of red and white malts as has been Lucy’s recent addiction.  The idea was to increase the flavor, sweetness and the moisture, texture and softness of the crumb.  The water was topped up at the end of the 2 hour bake to make the scald 60 g total before it was added to the autolyse.

We usually like to use the lowest protein AP flour available, in the 10 -11% range in keeping with the French traditional flour used but we ran across some AP unbleached flour in Sprouts bins that is supposedly 12% protein and decided to use this flour and see how it worked for baguettes instead.

We also like to make baguettes because, with a little wine, cheese and charcuterie, we can transplant ourselves back to any outdoor cafe in Paris for a fine afternoon by the pool - if not actually along the Seine.   As an added bonus, we also get to use our favorite double baggie bamboo form for the long, cold proof in the fridge.

The first thing on the list to get done was the sprouting of the whole grains which was started early Tuesday morning by soaking the grains in water for 4 hours before putting them in the sprouter for another 24 hours.  Wednesday morning, we dried the sprouts in the dehydrator at 105 F and ground them in the Nutrimill.

Once the whole grains were turned into flour, we used them to feed 6 g of our 6 week retarded rye starter to make the levain over (3) 4 hours stages.  After the total 12 hour levain build we retarded the levain for 24 hours in the fridge.  Thursday morning we started the baked / scald which took 2 hours in the mini oven

The only whole grain flour in the dough were the sprouted ones in the baked/ scald which were now completely hydrated at 100%.   Thursday, in the late afternoon,  the autolyse of dough flour, water and baked scald was started and completed in 1 hour.   We sprinkled the Pink Himalayan sea salt on top of the autolyse so we wouldn't forget it.

After dinner, once the levain warmed up on the heating pad during the autolyse, we added the levain to the mix.  We did 8 minutes of slap and folds and then 2 more sets at 12 slaps and folds each before 3 sets of stretch and folds from the compass points were done.  All of the gluten development was done on 20 minute intervals and finished in 2 ¼ hours

Once finished the dough was rested before being pre-shaped, rested, final shaped, loaded into the cloth and rice floured lined bamboo mold, bagged in a used trsah can liner and immediately placed into the fridge for a 21 hour retard.   

Once removed from the fridge the next day, the dough was allowed to warm up for an hour before BO Betsy was fired up for her 550 F preheating.   45 minutes later the Mega Steam went in and, 15 minutes later, the dough was un-molded onto parchment on a peel, slashed and loaded into the bottom stone as the oven heat was reduced to 480 F.

After 10 minutes of steam, the Mega Steam was removed and the temperature reduced to 425 F with the convection fan on this time.  10 minutes later the baguettes looked and tested 208 F and considered done.  They were left on the stone, oven off with the door ajar to further crisp the skin.

They sprang and bloomed poorly under steam but blistered and browned up nicely once the steam came out.   The ears never formed for some reason.... and that reason was because the dough was over proofed .  21 hours was about 9 hours too long I’m guessing.

Since this is the first time we have used sprouted whole grain flour and a baked scald in baguettes, we can’t wait for these to cool so we can taste them.  Expectations of a more healthy, better tasting and aromatic baguette are running  pretty  high…..The crust was thin and crisp and,as time went on, a bit chewy.  The crumb wasn't as open as we would like but 20% whole sprouted grains with a 21 hour cold retard was too much and the the  bread was over proofed.  Still, it is the best tasting SD baguette I have ever had - nothing even close!  I will give up the holes for a fine tasting baguette like this one every time.  Next time we up the sprouted grain to 25% and cut the cold proof to 12 - 14  hours and get it in the oven before the dough over proofs.  Hopefully, the taste will hang around and the holes get a bit larger.  i haven't even put butter on this bread yet - and might not :-)

When puff paste is used for the top of an apple pie the pretty decorated edge disappears in the puff   

Lucy says not to forget the salad 

We tried to bake a 100% whole grain spelt SD with spelt sprouts at 100% hydration in September 2012.  The bread was a success on the inside for flavor and crumb but the outside was a disaster.... a flattish boule, commonly known as a Rustic Frisbee to be kind.  The half good, half bad bake from 2012 can be found here: 100% Whole Spelt Sourdough at 100% Hydration

The finished baked scald after 3 hours at 140 F in the mini oven

Lucy, even back then, thought her supposed master was a bit of a baking twerk before twerking became fashionable and commonplace just about everywhere.  She just reminded me that she thought I was a barking t, not a baking twerk, but now thinks that baking twerk is closer to the truth now a days.  I think it is great to be hip at my age if you ask me.

The autolyse with the dough flour. dough liquid and the baked scald.

To try to bring this old sprout recipe forward, in both time and to be more in step with Lucy’s current, totally faddish, modern formulations and to get the bread to look better on the outside - while not killing off the old inside we liked so much, Lucy made the following changes for better or worse.

Spelt starter hits the mix.

First she lowered the hydration down to a more sane 83 % overall.  This doesn't sound too bad until you feel the dough and find it to be a sloppy mess compared to whole wheat and check to find out that many 100% whole grain, spelt bread recipes tend to be in the 67% to 72% hydration range - if you want them to not look like a brick of Rustic Frisbee.

Lucy also included a baked scald, at 140 F consisting of: spelt flour, spelt sprouts, as well as white and red malts.  This should pump up the flavor of the bread substantially and put it on a spelt plateau not seen since rye was discovered growing as a grass in the far north hinterlands.   She also increased the scald bake time another 30 minutes to 3 hours hoping for more browning.

Unlike last time when one 20 minute set of slap and folds were done before the stretch and folds, we went to our standard 8, 1 and 1 minute sets before the stretch and folds began.  We also used our now standard 3 stage levain build using a bit of 5 week retarded rye starter to begin the levain and we used the hard bits sifted from the non sprouted and sprouted, whole spelt to feed the levain.

Stainless Steel Mega Steam for Gabe

The sprouted spelt flour this time equaled half the flour in the mix when the previous 100% whole spelt bake only had whole sprouted spelt berries mixed in.  With all of these changes Lucy didn't leave much alone if you ask me but I just make the bread and leave the figuring of the formula and process to her small but powerful brain.

That way I can’t get blamed for anything going wrong, even if I was the problem,.  I can also take all the credit for it later if it works out well, a win – win for one of is.   Plus, by not having to put in the time and mental effort to figure out this stuff gives me way more time to watch the recorded 1st year of Naked Ancient Alien Swamp Zombies Behaving Badly. 

The one thing Lucy does worry about with wet, high percent, spelt mixes is that it can get away from you very quickly during ferment and proof.  Next thing yow know, you have given birth to a Naked Alien Swamp Zombie that thinks you are its undead Mommy who needs to be real dead.real quick instead.  For one thing the dough sure felt better than the last time due to the hydration being better suited for bread than pancakes.

So to keep the mix from evolving into a scientific oddity, Lucy cut back on the wet, upped the levain to a bit less than 15% and cut the bulk ferment to zero.  She did keep the shaped retarded proof to 12 hours though.   I told her it probably wouldn't work since spelt has a mind of its own and 12 hours was too long but she gave me that undead look of hers and I felt the need to cut the discussion shorter than usual.

Lucy decide t ocome up with a new shape she calls a long, thin, non knobby end batard using a seldom used basket lined with a rice floured towel and covered with the bottom  of the MagnaLite WagnerWare Turkey Roaster while baking for steam.  It’s the perfect cloche cover for short non knobby ended batard baking.  Sadly, the batard was too long after proofing for the turkey roaster so ......we resorted to 2 pans of Mega Steam. 

We let the shaped skinny batard warm up on the counter for 90 minutes before firing up Big Old Bob at the set 500 F preheat.  We un-molded the bread and sliced it 4 times to teach it a lesson and make sure it doesn't just bust out wherever it wants to.  We steamed for 12 minutes at 450 F.

Once the steam came out we baked it for another 15 minutes on the bottom stone until the middle read 205 F on the inside.  The oven was turned off as the bread was left on the stone with the door close until it hit 208 F, a higher temperature for sprouted grain breads which took another 5 minutes.  Total time in the oven  32 minutes with 5 minutes off.

The bread sprang well, bloomed, blistered a small sized bit and looked like it had some promise crumb wise.    No flat rustic boule this time!  It finally browned up to that mahogany color we love so much.  We will have to wait and see what the crumb looks like after lunch once it is cool enough to cut.  The crumb came out soft, glossy and fairly open for 100% whole grain bread with spouts as add ins.  It tastes uniquely different and the sprouted flour really comes through.  If you want to try a whole grain bread, other than wheat, then this one, emmer  or Kamut is one to consider. It is delicious! 

 And Lucy reminds us to not forget the salad.

4 Grain Sprouted Sourdough with Altus, Scald, Toadies & Porter - Going Darker

 Taking last week’s bake to the Darker Side seemed right up Lucy’s alley.  We doubled the whole grains to 61% and upped the hydration to 83%.  So, I’m happy it was twice as healthy!  This weeks scald/bake was a half hour longer and included Toadies too so it should be darker.

Mis en place for the scalded bake - clockwise from the top, Pumpernickel altus, 4 whole grains (Kamut, rye, spelt and wheat), flour also from the 4 whole grains, red malt, white malt and Toadies..

It had been so long since we had used Toadies in a formula I had almost forgotten what was in them and was glad I found some in the freezer so I didn’t have to make some more and have figure out what it was.  The 4 whole and sprouted grains were: Kamut, wheat, spelt and rye in equal amounts – one of our favorite mixes.

Lucy specified a dark porter for the dough liquid, one we especially like from  Colorado Springs called New Belgium Portage.  I guess Lucy was serious about going darker which is good since it pays to get serious if you want to do anything worth doing.

This darker version has twice as much sprouted grain as last week with half the whole grains being sprouted.  All of the hard bits from the dried sprouted and whole grain 15% extraction were fed to the levain first as per our usual.  The levain was retarded for 24 hours after being built over (3) 4 hour stages and it made up a bit less than 15% of the total flour.

We upped the autolyse from 1 to 2 hours - no salt no levain., did our usual 3 sets of slap and folds of 8.1 and 1 minute and the 3 sets of stretch and folds from the compass points - all on 20 minute intervals.  The dough was pre-shaped and then shaped, placed ina rice floured basket, bagged and retarded for 24 hours.

Lucy decided to bake this one in a DO.  Once the dough had warmed up for 90 minutes we fired up BOB for a preheating too 500 F with the baking rack between the 2 stones.  We un-molded the boule onto parchment on a peel, slashed it T- Rex style and slid it onto the bottom of the combo cooker.

Once the bread hit the heat we turned the oven down to 450 F for 20 minutes of steam and once the lid came off, we baked it another 20 minutes at 425 F convection until; it read 205 F.

The bread sprang, bloomed and browned in its usual DO way with small blisters that are associated with high percent whole grain bread.  That wonderful mahogany crust color we love so much really came through with this bold bake.   We left then bread on the stone, oven off until it ht 208 F, our new preferred temperature for sprouted grain bread, to crisp up the skin some more.  Total baking time with oven on was 40 minutes - half steam.

We will have to wait on the crumb shots until after lunch.  The one bad thing about DO baking is that you can’t smell the bread bake until the lid comes off L  The crumb came out soft,moist,glossy and open but the taste was every bit as good as we expected too.  Just delicious!  Deep,earthy, hearty and complex flavor is there in spades.  We have made a load of different breads but no other bread came out like this one.  It was worth the 4 day schedule of events and all the associated work to make it happen.  You won't find this bread for sale at any bakery anywhere even though you might one day.  So to taste this one right now,you will just have to make it.  You wonlt be sorry!

With retarded starter, levain and dough, malts and Toadies in the scald, 4 different grains, dark beer for the dough liquid, half sprouted grains,  60% whole grains total….. this bread has about every flavor enhancing technique that Lucy has learned here at TFL……. except her beloved Low and slow DaPumperizing baking process  of course.  How far can that be behind this bake?

Lucy reminds us not to forget that salad

It was my wife's birthday this week so she got a green and brown cake with purple sprinkles and white roses  with pinkish centers

This Friday’s bake was an unusual one even for Lucy.  It combined the low slow 2 hour baked scald of a Westphalia rye with a mainly white wheat and sprouted SD bread and bit of rye and spelt thrown in for some kind of effect only a Baking Apprentice 2nd class could understand.

The 140 F bake/scald is the part that makes this bread different.  We found some boldly baked old bread in the freezer, sliced off the crust and then toasted it to dry it out.  Then we crushed it, added in some fresh milled rye and spelt flour and a bit of home made red and white multigrain malts.

I added up the weight of the dry ingredients and added twice that weight in water to the mix, stirred it up and put it in the mini oven t bake at 140 F for two hours.  This low temperature will not kill off the enzymes of the white malt but it will create a Mallard reaction that turns the whole mess a dark chocolaty brown that smells amazing.   I did have to add some more water twice and stir the mix as it baked.

The bread had whole wheat rye and spent fed to the 3 week retarded, rye starter in the levain and had sprouted wheat in the dough flour.   The levain was 16% of the dough flour and the hydration listed of 72% is a bit misleading since the water in the baked scald was not included.  It felt like a 78% hydration with 25% whole grains…so it was a bit sloppy at the start of the slap and folds.

We strayed from our usual norm by doing a one dump and run single stage levain build but did keep our 12 hour total and 24 levain retard for it.  We also kept our 1 hour autolyse and 3 sets of slap and folds and 3 sets of stretch and folds on 20 minute intervals. 

We pre-shaped and then shaped the dough into a boule,  placed it into a rice floured basket, bagged it and retarded the dough for 12 hours in the fridge.  It seemed to proof nicely so we started up BOB for a 500 F preheat after the dough had warmed up on the counter the next morning for 1 1/4 hours.  We chucked the Lodge Combo Cooker in the oven from the beginning.

We un-molded the dough onto parchment, slashed it in a square and put it in the cooker lid on and put it in the oven on the middle rack between the two stones.  After 2 minutes we turned the oven down to 450 F and continued to steam for 20 minutes.

Once the lid came off, we turned the oven down to 425 F -convection, and continued to bake the bread to 208 F when the oven was turned off and the bread left in the oven until it hit 210 F when it was removed to a cooling rack.

This bread bloomed sprang and browned up well enough.  It smelled terrific once the lid came off because of the scald no doubt about it.  We will have to wait until after lunch to see how the crumb came though the baking process.

 This bread is delicious!  The crumb came out very soft, moist and glossy.  If you could only take one bead to a deserted island, This would be the one.  We make many great tasting breads since we discovered so many of the tricks used bring out the vast and deep flavor of grain and sourdough.  It is harder and harder to pick a favorite but, right now, this is it..

And Lucy reminds us not to forget that great salad 

I know you are thinking the same thing I am when Lucy came up with this one.  What is wrong with her?  No whole grains, no sourdough, no add ins – No Nothing Bread!

I was quickly reminded that we had company coming over for Valentines Day with one not even out of high school and they might nit like those other kinds of wonderful breads we like so much.

Plus it has been a long time since we baked with our yeast water, now apple and about forever since we baked with it alone without at least some SD in there somewhere!  Lucy thought about using some bread flour or some light colored beer or whey or even enriching this dough with cream cheese, egg and butter but thought I was way too lazy to follow through with it. 

She might be right but this bread was just Sprouts binned unbleached white AP flour at 12% protein, water, YW and salt.  She really made it easy using one of her favorite fool proof, except for me of course, 1_2 3  concoctions so no formula required for this post.

We starter with 60 g of YW and flour each making a 120 g , 1 stage levain that we retarded for 48 hours after it doubled in volume - which took 12 hours as the YW had been stored for months with no maintenance.

We did autolyse the dough flour and water for 1 hour as the YW levain warmed up on the counter with the salt sprinkled on top.  Once the levain hit the mix, we did 3 sets of slap and folds of 7, 1 and 1 minute each and 3 sets of stretch and folds from the compass points all on 20 minute intervals. 

We then pre-shaped and shapes the dough into a squat oval, put it in a rice floured basket, bagged it and retarded it for 13 hours.  The dough didn’t proof enough during the retard so we let it warm up on the counter for 3 hours before firing up BOB to 500 F with Mega Steam in place.

We un-molded the dough and slashed it in a decorative way, at least for us, hoping the long middle slash would get an ear and that this bread would blister and brown well.  We slid the dough on the bottom stone and turned the oven down to 450 F for a 15 minute steam bath.

Once the steam came out, we turned the oven down to 425 F, convection this time, and baked it for another 10 minutes until the internal temperature was 208 F.  We then turned off the oven and let it sit on the stone until the internal temperature hit 210 F when the bread was removed to the cooling rack.

While waiting for that YW levain to double a prickly pear margarita hits the spot..

Sure enough it sprang and bloomed well with an ear in the middle, large blisters pretty much everywhere and a nicely browned cover too.   Lucy loves it when everything on the outside comes out as planned but ….. we will have to wait on the inside until it cools down  and we can slice it for lunch turkey pastrami sandwich.  Right now it looks like it has some promise.

Lucy came up with a versatile 50% whole grain Kamut recipe that can be used to make any number of different breads by adding in what ever is handy or even left overs.

The basic recipe was crafted at 80% hydration and not too high for this much whole grain.  The levain was 15% of the total flour, 100% hydration and retarded for 24 hours after the 3 stage build.  The sifted out hard bits from the whole Kamut were used to feed the levain and get them as wet for as long as possible.

We did a 1 hour autolyse with the dough flour and water with the salt sprinkled on top as the retarded levain warmed up on a heating pad.  Once the autolyse came together with the levain we did 3 sets of slap and folds of 7, 1 1and 1 minute - all 15 minutes apart.

We did these 2 breads separately, but…. you could double the amounts listed for the non add ins and this would be the point where you would separate the dough in 2 pieces for the different breads.

We then did 3 sets of stretch and folds from the compass points on 20 minute intervals.  We incorporated the add ins on the first set of stretch and folds.  One got prunes and seeds and the other got left over Malbec Kamut risotto for the previous dinner that was unique and tasty all on its own.

The dough was then pre-shaped, shaped, placed in proofing baskets, bagged and retarded in the fridge for 12 hours.  The next morning the dough was rested for 1 &1/2 hours on the counter to warm up before hitting the heat together that Big Old Betsy was putting out at 500 F with Mega Steam installed and billowing.

After 15 minutes the steam was removed and the bread continued to bake for another 20 minutes when it hit 205 F and was removed to a cooling rack.  The both sprang and bloomed OK with the prune bread and seeds coloring up and browning much better than the risotto bread - probably due to the sugar in the prunes.

On the crumb side, the risotto bread was much more open then the seeded prune bread for some reason but it was not as open as the 100% Whole Kamut bake even though is was only 50% whole grain.  How these things happen is a mystery to  Lucy but so is her food bowl and squeaky  toys.

Happily both of these breads tasted totally different but delicious in the their own way   The prune and seed bread was more sweet, hearty and nutty while the risotto bread was just plain unique and first time we have had a grain risotto with a red wine in any bread.  Both breads are worth making and everyone was impressed with how different they were.

More than 2 years ago Lucy and I baked out first 100% Kamut Bread that was at 102% hydration.  Back then we weren't using straight rice flour in out baskets and the dough stuck causing a nasty disfigurement here:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/30081/100-hydration-100-whole-grain-kamut-flat-boule-yw-and-sd-combo-starter

 The bread tasted fine and the crumb was fairly open due to the YW and SD combo levain we used.  We also ground the whole berries in a Krup’s coffee grinder since we didn’t have a grain mill till much later.  We thought we would give it another go to try to fix some of these earlier problems.

Lucy decide to add a small amount of whole grain Kamut sprouted flour to the mix this time and to only use a Kamut SD levain  leaving the YW out which I thought would be a mistake since YW really opens up the crumb of whole grain breads so well.   She didn’t want the YW to cancel at the sour as it does when mixed in the SD levain.

The sprouted Kamut was soaked  for 4 hours then drained and sprouted for 24 hours in a sprouter before being paper towel dried and then air dried in the Arizona sun over 4 hours to make sure the enzymes we released were not harmed by high heat.

We did our usual 3 stage levain build where we used the 15% extracted hard bits of the milled Kamut to get the levain up to speed.  We did not use any sprouted flour hard bits for the levain but we did put the sprouted flour into the autolyse with the 85% extraction of the non sprouted Kamut.

Since the sprouted grain went into the autolyse we limited it to 1/2 hour so it wouldn’t spike the autolyse into enzymatic overload.   Then the levain and the salt were added before a short mix with a spoon and 8 minutes of slap and folds.  During the slap and folds we adjusted the final dough water with small additions to fit the final mix feel as it was slapped around without learning a lesson.

We ended up at around 90% hydration which was 12% lower than the bake 2 years ago.  We think the sprouted flour was the difference plus we wanted a less wet mix since we planned on an 18 hour retard instead of 12 hours. After a 30 minute rest we did 3 sets of stretch and folds from the compass points on 30 minute intervals to finish off the gluten development.  

This got us to the 2 hour mark since mixing and we let the dough rest for 10 minutes before shaping into a squat oval, putting it a basket, bagging it and putting it in the fridge for long cold retard.

18 hours later it had proof sufficiently to warm up on the counter as Big Old Betsy was heated to ramming speed of 550 F when the Mega Steam went in for 15 minutes before the dough was un-molded onto parchment on a peel, slashed and slid onto the bottom stone for 15 minutes of steam.  Once the steam came out the oven was turned down to 425 F or another 10 minutes of baking until the inside hit 210 F – our new standard temperature for sprouted flour bread.

The thing to remember about Kamut is that it has a pretty good protein percent but it is very extensible and not very elastic.  The protein gluten isn’t the kind one would normally pick for bread that wasn’t going to be panned up when over 80% hydration like this one at 87.5%.   This dough was slack but it didn’t stick to the basket this time.

 We expected it to spread after it was un-molded due to the grain used and the sprouts too.  but it did try to puff itself up some in the heat of the oven and did bloom a bit.  The crust came out that beautiful orange tinged color that a durum derivative grain is so famous for.  It came out of the oven crispy but it went soft as it cooled.

 The yellow crumb also associated with durum was the other striking feature.  The crumb was open for 100% whole grain bread. It was soft and very moist due to the sprouts.  The best part was the taste though.  Nothing tastes as sweet as Kamut and the sprouts made is taste like it has a bit of sweet cornbread in it – maybe that was the color affecting my tongueJ

 This is one fine bread and if you want it to look like a majestic tall loaf, just pan it up instead but….you will miss the higher percent of tasty crust with a boule.

After making some Mexican influenced bialy’s last year and rightly catching heck from the onion and poppy seed bialy purists that the Mexican creation really can’t be called bialy’s, joyfulbaker came up with a new name for them – bialotta’s since they carry on Lucy’s penchant for mega topping and add ins.  Lucy added the Da in front and now they are called DaBialotta’s.  The original Dabialotta’s can be found here: Herbed Bialy's – Multigrain, Caramelized Onion, Chorizo and 4 Cheeses

For Valentine’s Day in the past, we have made pink buns using beets found here: Sourdough Pink Valentine Hamburger Buns.  So Lucy though she would combine the pink with the DaBialotta’s and make this year’s Valentine’s Day Bake one to remember for being really pink and weird at the same time.  We love balking twofers around here more than just about anything except possibly Megafers.

In the past the Dabialotta’s were made with yeast water but this year, since we were going pink we made them with rye SD starter only.  We also put a mix of some home milled ancient grain sprouted flour, consisting of emmer, spelt einkorn and Desert Durum and some Ramona Farms Pima Club and Sonoran White that the Pima Indians are trying to bring back from the dead on their reservation .

 My 2nd class apprentice still managed to mess up the method when she forgot to add the chopped roasted beets in during the first set of stretch and folds.   We did our usual 3 stage levain build and retarded it for 24 hours and the 1 hour autolyse as the levain warmed up on the heating pad the next day.  We also did the usual 3 stets of slap and folds on 8,1,and 1 minute before doing the 3 sets of stretch and folds.  All the dough development was on 20 minute intervals.

We4 then bulk retarded the dough in an oiled bowl for 12 hours.  The next morning, without letting the dough warm up we did 2 sets of additional stretch and folds to incorporate the chopped roasted beets.  Don’t let the 75% hydration fool you.  The beets really made for a sticky mess once they were incorporated and the dough felt like 80% hydration with not enough whole grains to soak up the excess water.

We divided the dough into 8 pieces and folded them into balls and placed them on a baking sheet covered with parchment and semolina flour.  Every half hour we used a spoon to hollow out the ‘bialy’ hole.  After and hour and a half we started to fill the cavity starting with fresh oregano on the bottom followed by a piece of pecorino then the home made chorizo and caramelized onion followed by the other cheeses including: aged smoked gouda, Rembrandt, aged white sharp cheddar and pepper jack.

We fired up Big Old Betsy and once she hit 500 F we put in the Mega Steam which was billowing 15 minutes later.  We slid the baking sheet onto the middle rack between the two baking stones for 10 minutes of steam while turning the oven down to 450 F.  Once the steam came out we turned th oven down to 425 F convection this time and baking them for another 10 minutes until they read 210 F on the inside.

Yea! The pink stayed put as we hoped and they smelled great while baking.  They did blister but didn’t brown up as much as usual because of the shorter baking time than usual.  Can’t wait till they cool down so we can put some fresh cilantro on top and slice them open to see the crumb and have a taste.  Lucy says they sure look Valentineyish to her.

.The perfect breakfast egg DaBaily with home made raspberry jam.- yummy!  Then there was that not so good looking Indian lamb curry that tasted fantastic!

The crumb came out pinky, fairly open even with the extra manipulation of forgetting to put the beets in, moist and glossy.  The taste is unique with the beets lending a sweet note to the sour dough.  The oregano is subtle with the spicy home made chorizo shining next to the various cheeses.  We loved this near sammy for a lunch today.  Very tasty indeed.   

There were ribs for the Super Bowl and my wife made me a great home made chocolate ganache covered chocolate birthday cake and Lucy says ...........

Don't forget the salad!  Happy Valentines Day to all!