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So my rye starter from almost 2 years ago is going strong. I did a 1:2:2 feeding and it doubled in 6 hours so I decided to bake a 1-2-3 loaf with it. The dough was super sticky, like octopus sticky (https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/60884/sticky-shaping-sticky-dough-or-when-it-too-sticky). I first tried wetting my hands, but that only worked a little bit, so then I had to just use flour, about 1/4 of a cup and it still stuck (like chewing gum, #3 on the link) to my Silpat. I suspect my starter may have run out of food (or I didn't let it rise the second time enough) since my rolls didn't rise very high, they stayed pretty squat. They tasted fine with a bit of a zing from rye flour. My youngest said it was too salty and my oldest smeared peanut butter on top and loved it.

My measurements were this:

50g starter (all rye, it was a 1:2:2)

100g Water

125g AP Flour

25g Rye Flour

25g Malted Milk Powder

1/2 T olive oil

4g Salt (I was going for 3g, but it poured out a bit fast and it's hard to pick out salt from flour.)

And melted butter for brushing right before going into a 375F oven for 15 minutes.

i did a few stretch and folds, did a letter fold a few times, and more stretch and folds over the course of a few hours. Then popped it in the refrigerator over night. Hardly any gluten development, if any. I did not see any strands, just big blobs of chewing gum. So I'm not sure why it was like this. I am a beginner when it comes to dough, but I've had better luck the commercial yeast no-knead bread. I want to to try Trevor's loaf bread next, the one where he uses bread flour, rye and spelt. He has a good video I've watched a few times, so I guess I'll go feed my starter and hope for the best for next time. Here's a link to his loaf: http://www.breadwerx.com/make-sourdough-pan-bread-video/ I wish I could make bread that pretty and take pictures that well.

TFL'er Wish List bake #6...  Followed this one pretty close with a couple small deviations and one addition.

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/68285/wild-blend-rice-sourdough-onions

I used a RYW and SD culture combination for the initial levain and then RYW instead of water in the 2nd levain build.  Other than that, the only change I made was adding some Vegemite.  Gave the bread kind of a French Onion soup smell while it was baking.

Like Danni3ll3, my final mix turned out really sticky and the dough was slack.  I had no free water in the rice in the morning, so I'm wondering if the high humidity we had this weekend has made my flours a little less thirsty.  I dropped the target hydration to 68% from 70% (excluding water in the rice), but that wasn't enough.  I ended up at 65% with the 25g of extra flour added.  Firm enough to work with, but I wasn't confident enough to make it a free standing loaf.  I think it would have puddled.  It turned out great as a pan loaf using my Pullman without a lid and baked in my large turkey roaster with steam for the first 18 minutes.

I rubbed the Vegemite into the flour similar to rubbing in butter.

Crumb turned out nice and moist.  Definitely on the custardy side, but not chewy.

Made a couple of sandwich breads this week. I'm quite new to this style (mostly or all white flour with light enrichment with milk, a little butter and sugar). It seemed like an easy style to figure out, but interestingly both breads came out with (rather minor, but still) defects.

Made one following the recipe from here: https://www.bakewithpaws.com/2019/05/soft-sourdough-bread-with-yudane-method.html - with yudane, and also some whole wheat flour in there. It was nice, but somehow I felt too much acidity coming through (that must be the whole grain?), and the flavour of brown sugar was a little unbalanced, maybe I would use honey instead next time. Also, it got torn a bit on the sides on top - wonder what that means? Was it a little underproofed?

Then I followed Benny's formula - except when mixing the dough I realized we were out of eggs! So I just used extra 50 g milk instead, and another splash for good measure to hydrate the flour. I didn't do any fancy colours this time, but sure liked the look of the black sesame/matcha combo, and might try that next time. Since I didn't plan it properly, I made the levain in the morning and mixed the dough in the evening, let it proof up a little, and then put in the fridge overnight. Then in the morning let it rise a lot more. It certainly doubled in volume, if not more.

Annoyingly, when baked it formed a weird tunnel/cavern just below the top crust. I think I've seen similar pictures before, but it never happened to me (I almost never made wheat breads in a tin) - does it mean it was overproofed?

Despite the hole, I really like the flavour: tasted more balanced than the previous one, and I preferred the texture too I think. Just had one PBJ sandwich, was really enjoyable.

So, was the first one a little under- and the second a little overproofed?

Also, this is the first time, I think, that I am making bread with a single rise. Overall it works really well, but I think the crumb structure cold benefit from two rises... It's hard to see in the picture, but the density of the crumb is a little uneven throughout the slice somehow, with some denser areas, and probably letting it rise and then knocking down and shaping would redistribute the dough a bit to avoid that. Does anyone know what I mean? Am I making this up?

This recipe is from Jon (Golgi70). I changed the quantities to make 3 loaves and added honey upon his suggestion as well as my usual bit of yogurt to tenderize the crust. Original recipe is here: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/35320/farmers-market-week-17-raisin-levain

I changed a few things in the method and those are noted. 

ETA: I probably should have left things alone when it came to bulk proofing. I over fermented them again. Lately, I’m really struggling when it comes to loaves with dried fruit in them. 

Rye levain: 6-8 hours

254 g freshly milled Rye Flour

254  filtered water

78 g Starter

Raisin Soak:

156 g  Raisins

156 g  hot water

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

Dough:

780 g  Strong Bakers Unbleached Flour

98 g  Freshly Milled Red Fife Wheat

4 g Cinnamon

404 g  filtered water

50 g honey

30g whole milk yogurt 

23 g pink Himalayan Salt

Afternoon before:

1)Take 6 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 12 g each of filtered water and rye flour. 

Night before:

1)Feed the levain 24 g each filtered water and rye flour. 

2)Put the flours in a tub and set aside. 

Early on dough making day:

1)  Make the Rye levain and let sit in a warm spot for 6-8 hours. 

    - In the meantime, soak raisins with hot water and vanilla. Cover and let sit.

2)  One hour before the levain is ready, drain raisins and save the raisin water. 

3) When levain is ready, in a stand mixer’s bowl, add the levain, water, raisin water, dough flour, honey, yogurt, and cinnamon. Mix until combined. Let rest for one hour. 

4)  Add salt to bowl and mix on speed one to combine well (3 minutes)

     -Turn to speed 2 and continue mixing for 5 minutes.

     -Add raisins and mix on low until well dispersed, about 2 minutes. 

Note: After the first batch was climbing the hook, I added the raisins in with the salt, did 3 minutes on speed 1 and 5 minutes on speed 2. This seemed to help with the climbing dough issue. 

5)  Bulk ferment at room temperature (77F) for 4 hours with coil folds at 45 and 90 minutes. 

Note: After the first coil fold, the doughs felt cool and were stiffer than I liked so I popped it into the oven with the light on (~82F)to finish bulk. I also added 30 minutes to the bulk so the dough would reach 50% rise. In retrospect, this whole thing was a mistake. 

6)  Divide into 3 equal portions oh 760 g and preshape.  Let rest on the counter for 20 minutes.  (Dough felt off so I didn’t let it test very long on the counter). 

   -Then do a final shape, place into bannetons and into the fridge for the night. 

Baking day:

• Set the oven to 475F and heat the Dutch ovens for an hour. 

   - Bake straight from the fridge at 450 F covered for 25 minutes, then uncovered at 425 F for 22 minutes more.

 I need to get my act together when it comes to loaves with dried fruit in them. The dough just feels so heavy while doing the coils folds that I let it bulk for longer than I would normally. Any hints out there? Should the dough feel that heavy?

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

Thanks to CLAS (and Rus ), making this decadent dessert bread is truly a piece of . It is a fancy and thoughtful gift that will definitely wow your friends! Let the results speak for themselves.  

OR = original recipe %, and our procedures differ.

Pre-dough

(mix in KitchenAid and bulk in it's bowl and your hands will thank you)

10% whole rye CLAS

90% fresh, unsifted rye flour ground by Vitamix

(OR: white rye/medium rye 50/50)

50% full-fat homemade yogurt (OR: milk, of which I ran out)

34% water (OR: 28.6%)

0.15% dry yeast (OR recalculated: 0.37%)

dough temp 30C/86F -ish

30C/86F x 240 mins

Dough

pre-dough

3% water (Yippee +)

salt 1.8%

26% raisins, soaked with rum and water  (OR: 20% raisins, syrup 3.9%)

12% candied orange (OR: 5%)

38% toasted pecan (Yippee +)

1.8% orange zest (OR recalculated)

Total dough weight ~1500g

Bulk

30C/86F x 60 mins

Shape

9"x2" round pan

Proof 

30C/86F x 75 mins

Bake

glaze (3.8% honey + 1.9% warm water)

220C/430F x 10 mins

200C/390F x 50 mins

glaze again, let dry overnight

 Top

 Bottom

I saw a post that Maurizio made on his IG feed about basil pesto knots that he made, this was my inspiration for these sun dried pesto knots.  I used his recipe for the dough, although I had to decrease the hydration because his hydrations are always higher than I can do for my flours and conditions especially now that the high humidity is back in Toronto.  Also, as I have been doing lately, I am developing all my dough, even the enriched ones by hand rather than using the stand mixer in order to extend the life of my KA mixer.

The sun dried tomato pesto recipe is a favorite that I make on a relatively regular basis and use it for pasta, this is the first time trying it in a sourdough knot.  Let’s hope it turns out well.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

1 8.5 oz jar sun-dried tomato in oil

1 cup fresh basil leaves packed

3 garlic cloves

1 small shallot peeled

2 tablespoon almonds

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

½ tsp red pepper flakes

150-200 g of a salty dry cheese such as Grana Padano, pecorino Romano or parmigiana reggiano 

½ tsp oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

Process all of the ingredients in a food processor 

For the dough

Ingredients

• 66 grams unsalted butter 
• 236 grams water (reduced by 5% from original)
• 146 grams ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration)
• 376 grams bread flour, plus 66 g to mix with butter
• 1 large egg (about 53 grams)
• 9 grams fine sea salt
• 18 grams extra-virgin olive oil

Egg Wash

1 lg egg

1 tbsp whole milk

Overnight levain - need 146 g

9 g starter + 70 g water + 70 g bread flour (1:7:7)

Cut the butter into small pats and place on a plate to sit out at room temperature and soften overnight.

Directions

Mix the dough (9:00 a.m.)

Mix butter with 66 g of bread flour.  In the microwave, heat the water to about 76°F (24°C). Warming the water will help increase the final dough temperature at the end of mixing to ensure strong fermentation activity.

In a medium bowl first mix the sourdough starter, egg, salt, and warm water until well mixed.  Then add flour and mix until no dry bit of flour remain.  Rest 5-10 mins, then slap and fold dough until well developed.

Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes in the bowl.

Add the oil to the dough in the bowl. Massage the oil into the dough then slap and fold until all the oil is absorbed.  Add the butter, smearing it on the dough.  Stretch and fold to combine, then slap and fold until well combined and gluten fully developed. The dough will be smooth, homogeneous and moderately elastic (strong) at the end of mixing, but still sticky.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with reusable plastic or a silicone lid, and bulk ferment.

Bulk ferment the dough (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)

Let the dough rise at warm room temperature (76°F/24°C) for a total of 3 hours. During this time, you’ll give the dough three sets of coil folds to give it additional strength. The first set is performed 30 minutes after the start of bulk fermentation.  After the third set, let the dough rest, covered, for the remaining time in bulk fermentation.

Chill the dough (12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., or up to 24 hours later)

Grease a muffin pan with butter, or line a cookie tray with parchment.  Alternatively butter ramekins or circular metal round molds.

After bulk fermentation, place the covered bowl in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 24. This time in the fridge will chill the dough, making it easier to roll out, cut, and twist into knots.

Roll out the dough, spread the pesto, cut, and shape the knots (1:30 p.m.).

Remove the bowl from the fridge, uncover, and liberally flour the top of the dough and a work surface. Using a plastic or silicone bowl scraper, gently scrape the dough onto the floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a rough 10x14-inch rectangle so the long sides are at your left and right. Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the pesto onto the dough from edge to edge.

Next, fold the top of the dough farthest from you down toward your body, overlapping about two-thirds of the dough-rectangle. Repeat for the bottom edge of the dough, folding it up over the dough so it completely overlaps and makes a three-layered rectangle in front of you, with short sides to your left and right—imagine folding up a letter you’re sending to your pen pal (is that still a thing?). Using a sharp chef’s knife, cut the rectangle into 9 (1-inch) strips.

Starting with one strip, cut into three narrower strips leaving a small amount at one end uncut.  Next plait the three strips, then starting with the uncut end roll tightly into a knot.  Place with knot with the ends of the braid side down in the muffin tin.  Repeat with the remaining strips.

Proof the shaped knots (2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

Cover the knots with a large, airtight bag and let the dough proof on the counter at room temperature for 2½ hours. Be sure to heat the oven 15 to 30 minutes before the full 2½-hour proof time.  The knots should pass the poke test at the time of baking

Bake the knots (preheat oven at 4:00 p.m.; bake at 4:30 p.m.)

Place a rack in the middle of the oven; heat to 400°F (200°C).

In a small bowl, whisk the egg and milk until frothy. Remove the knots from the bag. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the egg wash onto each knot in a thin, uniform layer.

Bake the knots for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the tops are golden. Avoid over-baking to ensure the knots are only slightly crunchy on the outside but have a soft interior.

Remove the pan from the oven. Lightly brush with the oil.  Let the knots cool for a few minutes, then remove from the muffin pan enjoy. They’re wonderful while still warm.

Once cooled, the knots can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for several days. Reheat in the microwave or a warm oven before serving.

i apologize I missed taking photos of a couple of steps to show folding them dough As a letterfold after applying the pesto. 

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So I still do not have my new pH meter but I’m calibrating my old cheap one now since I have the pH solution.  Based on my last bake I know that I have been way overproofing in recent weeks while trying to push fermentation and have allowed the pH to get too low resulting in proteolysis.  I measured rise by aliquot jar and any comments on rise refer to the aliquot jar not actual main dough rise.  So as not to damage the aliquot jar dough or the main dough, I create a second aliquot jar that I use to measure the pH from.  The dough started with a pH of around 5.74.  Bulk fermentation was done in a proofing box at 80ºF. 

For this bake I shaped when the pH was 4.57 and 60% rise.  Then the dough in banneton returned to the proofing box at 80ºF and allowed a final proof until the pH dropped to 4.27 and a rise of 90%.  Then the dough was placed in a 3ºC fridge for 18.5 hours.  I then baked the as per my usual procedures which I’ve written up many times before in my blog.

In order to compensate for the pH variation due to temperature, I warmed a small amount of water and added some of the aliquot dough to it to bring it up to a temperature of 80ºF and the pH of that dough was 4.15.  So assuming that my cheap pH meter is accurate enough, I could have pushed bulk a bit further.  I wasn’t sure how much further the pH would drop in the fridge but next time I might give the dough longer in the warm final proof and cold retard once the pH gets to 4.2 or so which might be a rise of closer to 95-100%.

Anyhow, based on how the bread baked up, this is much better than my recent bakes.  I think going forward I will continue to use both the aliquot jar to assess rise and pH as I think both are super useful.

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Almost any bread flour, from white to whole wheat will do.

Here's where I got my inspiration, but exact measurements/weights are not given: https://madhurasrecipe.com/breads/how-to-make-chapati

For a variation, see: https://madhurasrecipe.com/breads/plain-paratha-marathi-recipe

(Chapati / paratha, to-may-to / to-mah-to.) There is a video in each one too.

Here are some formulas I've worked up:

Bob's Red Mill WW (red wheat): 2% salt(3), 68% H2O, 2% oil(1).

50% AP, 50% Bread flour: 2% salt, 55.8% H2O, 2% oil(1).

Stone ground whole grain durum: 2% salt, 66.7% H2O, 3% oil after 2 hours(2)(4).

Sher Fiber Wala durum: 2% salt, 74-75% H2O, 1-2% oil(1). Let rest at least one hour after adding oil for best results.

Golden Temple durum, white/red bag: 2% salt, 62-63% H2O, 2% oil(1).

Swad durum semolina (the gritty stuff): 2% salt, 57% H2O, 2% oil after 30 minutes(4).

Regular durum semolina is low bran (it has some) so it doesn't take much water.  Also, because you have to let chapati  dough rest a while, the grittiness eventually goes away. 

Note (1): mix/knead to a homogenous dough before adding oil. I like the flour to be hydrated first, then get to the oil.

Note (2): this particular flour takes a long time to hydrate, so give it at least two hours before adding oil.

Note (3): In all these, salt can be reduced or eliminated if the chapati is to be served with a salty/savory dish.

Note (4): In the cases where you have to let the dough rest at least 30 minutes before adding oil, let it rest at least 15 minutes after adding oil.

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Important: You must let the dough rest at least 30 minutes after mixing before rolling out. If using all white flour, you can rest it for less time, but at least 15 minutes.

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The uncooked dough can keep a day or two in the fridge. I use a plastic bag with the air squeezed out.

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Tortillas/chapatis are as much about rolling technique and cooking technique as they are about the ratio of ingredients.  

For instance, rolling out, wiping on a little oil and flour, foldng, and rolling again, gives a layered chapati. But this is optional.

Use a sprinkle, maybe 1/8 tsp of white flour per side, to keep the chapati from sticking when you roll it out.  This should also keep it from sticking on the griddle. White (refined) flour is best for this step as it absorbs into the surface quickly.

Coarsely ground flour at this point will not have time to soften. So use store-bought white flour for dusting at this point, if using home-milled flour for the chapati.

You want the surface of the chapati to be dry enough to not stick, but the inside of the chapati needs moisture that will eventually soften the chapati as it cools after cooking.  

I like about 30 grams of _flour_ per chapati, so for the BRM-WW above that would be 30*1.72 = 51.6 grams of dough.   

I roll these out to about 7" diameter.

These are cooked on a dry flat griddle or pan/skillet on the stove top. The video in the above Madhura's recipe shows how.

There are two ways to go when cooking: lower heat (electric burner setting 2 to 3 out of 10) for 2-3 min per side, or medium (electric burner setting 4 to 5 out of 10) for 45-60 seconds per side.

I give 30 seconds to the first side, flip, then give it 60 seconds checking to see where brown spots are, pressing down with spatula or paper towel where needed, flip again, and give it 30 seconds, checking and pressing where needed.

You can let it puff up, using a spatula to help it along, or poke the bubbles to keep it flat.  I like keeping it flat.  See Madhura's chapati video (1st link above) for how to roll it and cook it to get it completely puffed up.

You want to cook each side until you get brown spots, but don't make the surface crispy, or it won't soften after cooking. 

After cooking, it needs to be enclosed in something so that the moisture equalizes, and the surface softens.  I give mine 15 minutes. More or less might work too.

I use a "tortilla keeper" like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-1065-Tortilla-Keeper/dp/B000PB30BU?tag=froglallabout-20

This is the tricky part, but you have to cook it just right in the first place so that the inside is cooked to "done" and at the same time enough moisture is left to soften the whole thing. So you also have to get the dough to the sweet spot in terms of hydration too.

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If you are going to re-cook the chapatis as part of a recipe, such as a quesadilla or as a base for a pizza, then you could undercook one side (no spots), the side that will be exposed to the hot surface in your quesadilla/pizza.

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Tip: Chapatis are like pancakes, in that I usually mess up the first one in a batch. ;-)

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Enjoy!

06/01/2021.

Mix flours. Autolyse/soak, bulk ferment.  Proof overnight.

• 470 g Patel brand stone-ground whole grain durum. https://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/469299#comment-469299

• 470 g Bob's Red Mill whole wheat (red).
• 65 g Arrowhead Mills organic all purpose.
• 62 g King Arthur bread flour.
• 39 g King Arthur bread flour in levain.
• 1106 g total flour.
• 917 g water, counting the water in levain, but not counting the chia's water. 83% hydration.
• 22 g salt.

Add-ins:

• 16 g whole dry chia seed soaked in 64 g water.
• 67 g roasted (in oil) sunflower seeds.

Total weight: 917 + 1106 + 22 + 80 + 67 = 2192 g. (Less whatever stuck to bowls, utensils, and hands.)

06/02/2021.

Bake.

(will fill in more details later.)

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I've been working on getting a more consistent crumb and this is my latest attempt. Would you say it is consistent crumb or do I still have a way to go? Thanks!