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I love miso if you haven’t noticed from some of my posts including my most recent Miso 100% WW Sourdough.  Not running out of miso requires advanced planning for a couple of reasons.  First it takes about a year to ferment the rich red miso that I love and having the koji rice on hand to make the miso.  We have a sake maker here in Toronto in the Distillery District which is a good walk from where I live and that is where I have purchased the frozen koji rice.

Making miso is actually quite simple the Aspergillus oryzae does most of the work albeit slowly.  For those unfamiliar Aspergillus oryzae is a type of mold that is really important in Japanese cuisine.  It is needed to ferment the soybeans to make miso and also to make good soy sauce.

Rather than post the recipe I followed again I’ll just link to my previous post which has all the details.

Homemade miso recipe.

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Koji rice and salt

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Cooked soybeans in food processor

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processed soybeans

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I have had another crack at the Red Wheat adjusting the yeast and also the water using part of the allocation to assist in the liquidisation of the sprouted Red Wheat. as it turned out i added 40g more water during the mix! The yeast came down to just 3g which is 0.77% of the formula and was more than adequate and the dough had a BF of 2.5 hours. i did do an Autolyse where the flour and water was brought together and then allowed to sit for 45 minutes prior to the remaining ingredients being added and the dough was mixed for 15 minutes in my Noddle dough machine. Red wheat fresh milled wholemeal flour 286g ; Millers single origin white flour 104g ; salt 8g ; Saunders liquid malt 8g ; butter 8g ; dried yeast 3g ; Red wheat sprouts liquidised 78g ; water 253g + added 40g during the mix :Bulk fermentation time 2.5 hours Bench rest 20 minutes Final proof 30minutesBaking time 15 minutes in the Romantoph lid on @ 250C 35 minutes lid off at 220C I get the impression that this dough will handle a hotter baking temperature and or a sign that the natural sugars have been consumed during fermentation. something to incorporate in my net bake of this bread. i shall take it to a small family gathering tomorrow to celebrate my 71 st birthday, hopefully get a couple of pictures of the inside then!Couldn't wait HAPPY BAKER! 

Rolled out of the Banetton into the clay baker

The baked loaf

 a picture of the interior

Using my home fermented miso I decided to try using it with a 100% whole wheat sourdough bread which I hadn’t tried before.  

If you’re interested in making homemade miso here is the post where I started a new batch most recently with a link to the detailed post outlining how to make it from scratch.

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Notes 9% miso, homemade miso 4.9% sodium 

Sift all flour for final dough.  Scald bran with double its weight in boiled filtered water, allow to cool and hydrate overnight.

Build stiff levain, ferment at 74°F for 10 hours overnight.

In the morning, add miso and salt to the water and dissolve.  Then add the levain and break down the levain as well as you can.  Add all the sifted flour and mix well until no dry bits are left. After 10 mins of rest start gluten development with slap and folds then gradually add the hold back water in several aliquots using Rubaud to fully incorporate the water well.  Then do additional slap and folds until good gluten development.  Add the scalded cooled bran through a series of stretch and folds, may do Rubaud and slap and fold kneading until the bran is well incorporated.  Bench letterfold, remove aliquots and measure pH. Then at 30 mins intervals do coil folds until good structure is achieved.

Once the pH has dropped by 1.0 then shape the dough into a batard and then start final proofed shaped and resting in a banneton.

Once the pH has dropped by a further 0.3 it will be time for baking.  Place the dough in the freezer when the pH drops by 0.25 and then pre-heat oven at 500°F with cast iron skillet in the oven and set up for open steam baking.  30 mins prior to baking, pour 1 L of boiling water into metal loaf pan with Sylvia towel and place on baking steel on the lowest rack of the oven.

Once oven reaches 500ºF turn dough out of banneton, brush excess rice flour off, score and then brush with water.  Transfer to oven.  Pour 250 mL of boiling water into the cast iron skillet on a high shelf, high enough that the dough have fully bloom.  Drop temperature to 450ºF and bake with steam for 25 mins.  Then vent oven and remove all steaming gear and drop temperature to 425ºF.  Bake for another 25-30 mins rotating as needed.

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Sweet Rye Bread for Bread Machines

Version 2.0.3
3 February 2022
(by troglodyte)

Introduction

This rye bread recipe is designed to yield a quick and easy Jewish deli style rye sandwich bread from a two-pound bread machine, such as the dual-paddle Zojirushi models. This recipe may be used with the delay timer if you follow the instructions. You can bake it in loaf pans in the oven, too.

Ingredients

First Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1-1/4 cups water
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon vitamin C crystals (powder)

Dry Ingredients:

2-7/8 cups bread flour ≈ 4.70 + 4.70 + 4.00 ounces by weight
1/3 cup white (light) rye flour ≈ 1.70 ounces by weight 
2 Tablespoons (1/8 cup) gluten ≈ 0.60 ounces by weight
2-1/2 Tablespoons caraway seeds = 2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon + 1/2 teaspoon

Last Ingredients:

1-1/4 teaspoons Red Star brand active dry yeast
Optional: 1-1/2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon powdered dry milk (See Important Notes, below)
3/4 teaspoon soy lecithin granules

Instructions

1. Measure the extra virgin olive oil. Dip your fingers in the measuring spoon and lightly coat the sides of the pan. Put any remaining oil in the pan.
2. Add the remaining First Ingredients in the bread pan in the order listed.
3. Weigh and gently add the Dry Ingredients so they “float” on top.
4. Make depressions in the top of the dry ingredients. 
5. Put the yeast and (optional) dry milk in the depressions to keep them dry until the bread machine starts.
6. Sprinkle the soy lecithin on top. (Saved for last. It can make measuring spoons sticky.)
7. Put the bread pan in the bread machine. If desired, set the delay timer. Select the Basic Bread cycle with a medium crust (the default settings) and press Start.
8. When the bake cycle is finished, skip the "keep warm" cycle and remove the bread pan from the machine immediately. Give the loaf 15-20 minutes to cool, then remove the loaf and place on a cooling rack. Give the loaf time to set (Preferred: 2 hours or more) before slicing with a bread knife.

Important Notes: 

• Weigh the flour ingredients. This recipe is based on 1 cup flour = ~4.70 ounces by weight. 
• Use real gluten, sometimes called vital wheat gluten. (Gluten flour is not the same.)
• The dry milk helps the crust brown. The Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus (BB-PDC20BA) has a heating element in the lid that helps brown the crust. For that machine, you may want to cut the dry milk in half (1-1/2 teaspoons) or omit the dry milk altogether.
• Buy caraway seeds in bulk. The small spice jars are too expensive. A few stores may have bulk bins, but you can also find caraway seeds on the internet.
• Specialty ingredients can be found at Sprouts, Whole Foods, health food stores, or the internet.

Additional Notes (added for The Fresh Loaf, not in my recipe file):

This bread is a family favorite and I make it often. It is designed to make right-size, right-shaped, good tasting rye bread that fits in the toaster or a fold-top sandwich bag. It does not yield "artisanal" bread. This is a recipe of convenience - once the ingredients are loaded in the proper order in the bread machine, there are no further interruptions until it is time to remove the bread pan.

I started working on this recipe in 1998. The original basis was an older bread recipe of mine, which has its own long story. I still keep notes and adjust the recipe, testing variations and updating the file accordingly. 

I weigh flour ingredients at 1 cup = 4.70 ounces (= 133 grams). It a personal standard that I chose a long time ago. There were no common flour weight measuring standards long ago. There does not appear to be a common standard today, either.)

I store the following ingredients in the freezer: Rye Flour, Gluten, Active Dry Yeast, and Soy Lecithin.
-> I take the container out of the freezer just long enough to measure what I need, then put it back in the freezer immediately. 

I use Red Star brand active dry yeast because that is what my mother and uncle used. It appears to keep indefinitely in the freezer. For this recipe, I add it dry so that the bread machine delay timer may be used. 

Blogs are my favourite part of The Fresh Loaf. I'm delighted to participate in a community of knowledgeable bakers who inspire me. However, writing blogs is challenging because I need to think about "usability" from the readers' perspective. "Usability" means how easily an intended audience can process information to achieve their desired purpose. That purpose might be entertainment, education, or completing a procedure such as a recipe. We run into usability issues all the time when we're confused, lost, or frustrated by writing (or interfaces, or diagrams, etc.). For the interest of our bloggers, I've provided a few brief tips I've learned about to improve usability by tweaking content, style and formatting.

Four Content Tips 

When you're thinking about your bakes, you rely on your own knowledge, experience, nose, tastebuds, and eyes. However, your readers have only your words and images. Consider providing more information to help readers catch up to you and follow along with your baking adventure.

1. Provide a brief intro. A brief statement of your inspiration, challenge, problem, etc. helps situate the reader immediately and hooks them into the purpose of your post. 
2. Define terms and sources. Don't assume your readers understand the terms or concepts you are relying on. Define key terms and short forms (ADY, IDY, YW, CY etc.) and link to your sources and inspirations the first time you refer to them so we can quickly get up to speed.
3. Provide key images. A final result image helps the reader quickly see the point of your post. In the baking world, final result includes the outside and a cross-section of the inside.
4. Describe aroma, taste and texture. If you're baking, you're making food. Help your readers experience that food virtually by providing a few notes for each of the senses.

Three Style Tips

Some disciplines encourage the use of a passive, disembodied "God Voice" to provide the illusion of authoritative and objective prose. However, you can improve the clarity and liveliness of writing by using small paragraphs written in a more active, targetted style.

1. Try small paragraphs. Small paragraphs are less intimidating and easier to skim, and help your readers using a tablet or phone with a small screen. Generally speaking, use a brief paragraph for each idea. 
2. Try "active voice."  Brief statements in the active voice make it clear who is doing the action, and provide a more energetic prose. For instance "I folded the dough" is clear and active, compared to "the dough was folded," which is more vague and passive. 
3. Try to choose perspective based on your goals. Perspective means the viewpoint of the writing, which may be yourself (first person), your reader (second person), or some other party (third person). For instance, "I folded the dough" is first person and makes sense when you are describing anything that you did. "Fold the dough" is second person, and makes sense when you are telling your reader what to do, such as steps in a recipe. "The dough was folded" is third person and it's not clear who is doing it or whether you are providing instructions. 

Three Formatting Tips

The blog interface includes a tool bar at the top of the text entry window. Consider using some of the formatting functions to produce more usable text, particularly for small, mobile devices. Ask yourself how easily a reader could follow your recipe when they're tired and under pressure in the kitchen.

1. Try bolded headings. Headings help you organize your work more logically. Headings orient readers to the point of each paragraph, and allow readers to come back later and find the point they want to see again. 
2. Try bullets. Bullets make lists (such as ingredients) more skimmable and usable in the moment -- for instance when someone is trying to use your recipe. Provide only one point per bullet so readers don't miss anything.
3. Try numbered lists. Numbered lists make following a procedure (such as a recipe) much easier. Provide only one step per numbered item. Many recipes fail to do that-- which makes it more likely that readers will miss or misinterpret one of the steps clumped together.

More baking with the red wheat this time i milled the wheat with my kenwood and the intention was to make it 50% with millers single origin white flour which is rated at 12% protein. i had already soaked and sprouted some of the red wheat a couple of days earlier to the Chit stage and it was my intention to add this to the mix too that was a 20% addition. i put the sprouts through the liquidiser, i did need to add a bit of water to ensure the sprouts kept falling to the blades as initially they were getting hung up on the sides of the container. i mixed the dough in the noodle mixer for 15 minutes and a nice moist dough was attained i proofed it in my usual tupperware container. Well this dough kicked like a mule it raced through its bulk fermentation in an hour flat, definately reduce the yeast next time. i do believe though that the live grain mash contributes to the accelerated fermentation. the dough was meant to be 750 g but with the extra water that was required for the liquidising and a little extra flour i ended up with 800g. No matter The dough felt great and after handing up was allowed 15 minutes bench rest, i then shaped the dough to go into a Banneton that i floured with some of the bran that i sieved off of the milled red wheat. the dough was placed into a plastic bag and deposited into the fridge to slow it down a bit and to firm it up a little more . The dough was ready after an hour and was tipped out into a casserole pan that i had as it was bigger than my clay baker. it was scored and into a very hot oven with the cover on for the first 15 minutes and then the cover removed. the loaf was baked for 45 minutes. i was again pleased with the performance of the flours and the resulting loaf. freshly milled red winter wheat (ACCROC) 195g 50% ; Millers single origin white flour 195g 50% ; salt 8g 2%; malt extract 8g 2%; butter 8g 2% ; dried yeast 8g 2% ; sprouted red wheat liquidised 78g 20%; water 253g 65% ; dough weight should have been 753g but was actually 800 with the samll addition of water and subsequent flour. The loaf was very aromatic the crumb was excellent and nice and soft and the crust was chrisp and enhanced with the rolling in the red wheat bran and flour. i shall do another bake using only the red milled wheat flour, but my grinder is much coarser than Lachies so it should be interesting. I still have enough sprouts in the fridge to incorporate 20% again. yeast will be halved or even quartered i think

dough after mixing

rapid bulk fermentation

out on the bench resting

slightly to much dough (50g) for Bannetton but good rise

dough rolled into roaster

loaf out and cooling

Bread being evaluated  with a nice Margret River Rose and some pate

Rus Brot's Ukrainian Palyanitsa recipe

When I couldn't use my oven because it was baking German bread all day, I used the air fryer to make crusty bread for the first time. It turned out great and was fun too! 

It was similar to cold-oven baking using a graniteware roaster. I used a baking pan (1400 ml) and a pizza pan to cover the dough, both made specifically for air fryers. For 500g of dough (~63% hydration), 400F x 30 minutes, then invert the pans and air fry for another 25 minutes @ 400F.

P.S.

No preheat

400F x 35 mins

Flip

400F x 10-15 mins

bake longer if needed

That's it! Super easy!

P.S. The dough was fully-mixed and fermented in the Zojirushi bread machine. You may be able to reduce the baking time - I wasn't checking the loaf as it baked. I just followed the baking time that I normally use in cold-oven baking. 

See here for another air fryer bake

Also see here for one more bake.

I buy organic whole hard red winter wheat, temper it with 2% water for 2 days, and stone grind with 3 passes through my electric mill. I add 2% fresh milled rye flour and 2% fresh milled fava bean flour. (The rye and fava flours do make a difference.)

I use a 6-liter, 4" deep plastic tub with a good lid as my dough trough.

In one end, I put 2.2% (baker's percentage) of salt in one end.

In the middle, I put my flour.

In the end away from the salt, I put sourdough starter at 20%, dry active yeast at 0.01 baker's percentage, and 0.02 baker's percentage malted barley.

I add room temp. water at 69% of the weight of the dry flour,  and stir yeast, malt, starter, and some of flour together until there is a thin slurry. The rest of the dry flour forms a dam between the yeast/leaven and the salt.  Let sit 20 minutes. Mix the rest of the flour into slurry to form a dough, picking up the salt, and knead until smooth. I find just kneading by hand to be easier than using the mixer.  

At 30 minute intervals, do 3 stretch and folds. 

Bulk ferment on kitchen counter (~ 65F) for about 18 hours. Shape into loaves, put in banneton, and do a final rise on the kitchen counter (~67F). 

I bake in an electric oven with a preheated stone at 420F. There is water in the dough, the dough hits the stone and makes steam. Period. If I am baking a BIG loaf, I will bake it at 450F and turn the oven down after 20 minutes.

This dough also can be cooked on the griddle to make very nice pita. 

I think garbanzo bean flour is as good, but now I am working my way  through a bin of fava beans, so for the next few weeks the recipe is fava bean flour. Take notice, some people are allergic to fava beans.  This is a Lent recipe, in a few weeks, the kitchen will be warmer, and I will have to cool the dough in the fridge. 

Should have made this one sooner. Benny has hit on something really lovely here with 100% WW Hokkaido milk breads, and the recipe is simply superb.

This bake was done by following his 2.0 version of the recipe as his later versions seemed to show that a small amount vital wheat gluten was a good thing.

As always there are some deviations. Obviously my flour was different. I used a 'sprouted' hard-white wholemeal flour for this bread. Normally that flour is a little bland and doesn't make much of a crust, but it actually was perfect for this recipe and is actually the locally grown flour with the highest protein that I can find.

Another thing is that my usual sourdough starter seems to be a little bit of a delayed bloomer sometimes on sugary doughs. When I looked at the sweet stiff levain there was growth after 12 or 13 hours, but nothing like Benny showed in his pics:

So, I got a little nervous that this one would just take forever and did substitute 10g of the full-cream milk with some yeast water to act as insurance (taken from the sediment at the bottom of the jar, which I believe to be more potent). I did also keep back 20g of the milk as per the recommendation. I do think that culturing a sweet stiff levain for a few days before the next bake might be prudent for getting a starter that is already acclimatized to enriched doughs.

The other thing is that most of the common loaf pans in my part of the world are broad and flat rather than the classical "Pullman" shape. I do have a Zenker pan which is a little like the Pullman, but that is one huge pan! So, I opted for one of my medium sized pans that is a little broader and fatter - 24cm X 7cm X 13cm, just a touch smaller in volume than Benny's recipe, but I didn't scale down the recipe and kept it the same.

The new video from Benny with the shaping is what finally planted the idea in my mind that I need to make the bread. Shaping was fun, although I did struggle to make 4 identical rolls, as usual could get 3 the same, but the 4th, well, there is always one. And maybe with some experience I'll eventually be able to roll them up so that the centres of the rolls don't stick out on the ends. But the rolls were super tight and strong and could feel that they were ready to give good oven spring when they went into the pan.

When it came to the final proof, I did find that the bread was looking quite ready for baking at about 4 hours after shaping, judging by the aliquot jar:

I could have gone an extra hour (to 5 hours), as the aliquot jar after baking looked like this after baking, but was worried about overflowing the pan spectacularly and still got great oven spring:

There's a chance that the YW gave this a speedier ferment, also, I think using a sprouted flour might have given some boost.

The amazing thing about this bread is I couldn't believe it was 100% whole grain, it is super soft and doesn't have that astringent whole wheat taste that you can sometimes get. Using a hard white flour was a good choice, it turned out, although I probably will throw in some red wheat next time, or try another wholewheat altogether just to see the difference. The smell after baking was particularly intoxicating and the kids and I just hovered near the kitchen waiting long enough for it to cool down to taste. Super bread and super recipe, highly recommended.

-Jon

I’ve never made hot cross buns before and have only had supermarket ones that I never liked. Having a new appreciation for candied peel I decided that I would try my hand at developing a formula for a sourdough 100% whole wheat version. This is my 1.0 version and first try at them.

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For 9 buns in a 9 x 9” square pan

Add zest of one large orange or lemon to dough

Overnight Stiff Sweet Levain fermented at 76-78°F
14 g starter + 14 g brown sugar + 19 g water + 42 g whole wheat flour

Tangzhong prepared the night before and refrigerated
25 g whole wheat flour + 123 g milk (skim to whole)
Take butter out in the morning.

Final Dough
120 g milk (could hold back 10-15 g of the milk) + 100 g eggs (2 large eggs) + all Tangzhong + all levain + 1.65 g diastatic malt (optional) + 4.82 g salt + 21 g sugar + 285 g whole wheat flour + 70 g butter

Egg-milk wash
Mix 1 egg + 1 tbsp of milk

Lemon Icing
1 tbsp lemon juice + ½ cup icing sugar

Instructions
Levain
Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth.
Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.
At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak. For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak. The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.
Tangzhong
In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl. Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature. You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

Dough
Prepare the dried fruit (currants, raisins or blueberries) mist them with water then microwave for 15 secs. This will quickly plump them up without them later adding more hydration to your dough.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar, diastatic malt, zest and levain. Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces. Next add the flour and vital wheat gluten. I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas. Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes. Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins. You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing. Next drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add room temperature butter one pat at a time. Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter. Once all the butter has been added and incorporated add mixed peel and currants and continue to mix until well incorporated. Increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins. You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane. You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 hours at 82ºF. There may be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape. Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer. Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pan by greasing it or line with parchment paper. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and using a bowl scraper remove the dough from the bowl placing it on the counter. Next divide the dough into 9 equal pieces and shape each into a tight boule. Place each boule into the prepared 9” x 9” pan. Cover and start final proof at 82°F for 5-7 hours, the dough will start to almost fill the pan when final proof is complete and will pass the finger poke test.

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Bake

Preheat your oven, with a rack in the lower half, to 350°F (175°C). You should aim to start preheating your oven about 30-40 mins prior to the dough being full proofed. Once your oven is preheated, remove your pan from its bag, slide it into the oven, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

The rolls are finished baking when the tops are well-colored and the internal temperature is around 195°F (90°C). Remove the rolls from the oven and let the rolls cool completely before piping on the lemon icing crosses otherwise the icing will melt.

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