Semolina [Durum] Bread and Sourdough Seed Bread

Hi Larry,

Thank you for your comments on the breads posted.   I can't help you with the yeast levels in baguettes.   It may be worth consulting Michel Suas' text on that; he's very detailed on baguette formulae.

With regard to autolyse:  I first started experimenting with this with the bulk fermented wholemeal breads I've used as a base for basic bread classes for years.   Sure, I'd read about it in the Calvel text, and others besides, notably Hamelman.   I moved from a large handcrafted bakery using spiral mixers over to a plant-based bakery using Werner and Pfleiderer obligue low friction mixers back in 1999; before I'd heard of Calvel.   I noticed the intensely white pigment in the dough, but soon learnt of the need for intensive mixing as a means of getting the dough through the plant without it all sticking and causing a logjam: not much fun!

Anyway, my preference for autolyse came out of working out that it was a great way to encourage the flour to take up maximum hydration.   For instance, if you are to mix a wholemeal dough straight, then at the beginning of the mixing cycle the contents resemble a pudding.   Ten or fifteen minutes later, as the dough comes off the machine, that pudding has changed beyond recognition.   After one hour in bulk, you may find yourself wishing you'd dare to put that last little bit of water in the dough which you'd held back for ease of handling off the mixer.   Bran takes ages to absorb water; inevitable surely, as it's so dry and fibrous.   So I applied the same logic to semolina.

It works a treat I promise.   One of my students recently gained a distinction in his bread practical exam; one of his chosen products was a bulk fermented wholemeal loaf.   It was fantastic, given he had a 5 hour practical to make this, plus some baguettes, plus some laminated pastries.   He used a half hour autolyse and a one hour bulk.   His hydration was 72%.   Now, I do have some exceptional wholemeal flour, but to achieve that level and make perfect tinned loaves was very pleasing to see.

On the subject of semolina; David, thank you for your very kind words, and for your more than useful references.   Yes, the biga was definitely a better option for me.    But can you guys tell me more about what you think of as "semolina"?   From my reading of the 2 recipes in Hamelman, and from an essay which, I think, appears in Daniel Leader's wonderful book on European Breads, discussing durum, semolina appears to be pasta flour [durum]; although I'm unsure as to what the extraction rate would be for this.

My interpretation is quite different to this.   I've had access to stone-milled flour for years and years, from local mills.   When I first started in business with the Workers' Co-operative in 1987, our bakery used only flour from a local watermill, over the Pennines in Cumbria.   They remain, to this day, friends and colleagues of mine, and still mill only English wheat, all organic, and largely Bio-dynamic.   In the late 1980s they finally decided to mill white flour, and bought and installed the necessary sieving equipment to do this.   They had resisted for years, arguing they had no market for the by-products from making the unbleached white flour.   The by-products are as follows: bran, semolina, middlings and white flour.   They came up with a new brand of flour called Miller's Magic, as a means of incorporating the relatively higher protein of the "middlings" with their rye flour.

But this is what I understand by semolina.   Now I'm buying flour from Gilchesters, very near to the College.   As I say, it is great to be able to buy their very fine pizza/ciabatta flour, and also buy the semolina, knowing that one of the otherwise wasted by-products is getting put to good use.

I'd be interested in yours' or, anyone else reading this, thoughts on what constitutes semolina, as understood.

Best wishes

Andy

Hi Bee,

I'm going to delve a little more into semolina later on.   I think David saying it is an "Italian" word is very revealing.   Durum is the hard wheat, the dominant wheat crop in S. Italy, used principally for pasta production, but also cous cous, bulgar wheat and semolina will be derived from durum.   Interestingly the local breads of the region also use durum to a greater or lesser extent, and semolina of some grade or other is an intrinsic part.   I'm thinking of Pane Altamura, which is one of the showcase recipes in the excellent book,

Leader, D. and Chattman, L. [2007] "Local Breads Sourdough and WholeGrain Recipes from Europes Best Artisan Bakers: Sourdough and Whole Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers"   New York; Norton

I think David is onto something, semolina is derived from the milling of durum wheat; historically that would have been done exactly how my semolina is produced, that is, as a by-product when milling the durum to the finest grade of white flour possible at the time.   So, the only difference then becomes the type of wheat used.   Andrew Wilkinson, of Gilchesters Organics grows only one strain of wheat on his farm in Northumberland.   He sourced it from Switzerland, and deliberately chose it as a strain which has not been subjected to human scientific manipulation techniques for breeding purposes; so it is untainted.   It grows to about chest height in the fields, as all wheat used to back in the day!   Like durum, his wheat is actually reasonably high in protein, though not as high as durum, and the grain certainly won't be so hard - do you know anything about the climate in the North of England?!   However, durum is not known for fantastic glutenous properties, although there are many proponents of its use in breadmaking.   I've used Gilchesters flour to make bread successfully, although many commercial bakers would hold their hands up in despair, and throw the dough out in abject failure.   A shame, as we could be making some really interesting varieties of local breads, in a sympathetic and proud regional manner, somewhat like Altamura!

Onto baguettes.   Yes, Im very fond of rye sour, and tend to use that wherever possible, rather than adding rye as flour.   However in this instance, I'm deliberately not doing that.   Have you read Professor Calvel's work  "Le Goût Du Pain"?   Highly recommended, if you haven't.   From this book I primarily picked up that some experts laid claims that the best bread could be produced not only using complex multi stage fermentations with bigas/poolish and natural leavens and sourdoughs, but also from straight doughs.   The proviso was that the period of bulk fermentation needed to be long.   Hence the use of very small amounts of yeast and the development of long, cold fermentation processes.   My reading of Don's current favourite technique, is that he is using David Synder's method, slightly adapted.   This is definitely a straight dough and is based on Peter Reinhart's concept for Pain a l'Ancienne in the Bread Baker's Apprentice.   That said, I think David prefers to be more faithful to the original Gosselin instruction to Reinhart.   Given my background in professional baking has concentrated on the more complex multi stage dough production, this is an area where I am very keen to extend both my knowledge and skill base.   It's a difficult system to use, commercially, unless the bakery has extensive refrigeration facilities, but it should suit home methods well; a good refrigerator being the only essential additional tool.

Anyway, I've done the 12 hour autolyse, mixed the dough by adding the extra water, salt and yeast, and the dough is now proving on the bench.   It's had 1 S&F, and is about half way through the anticipated 3 hours at room temperature...it's currently a very pleasant 20*C in our kitchen as I write this!!!   I've followed Don's flour mix with 6% Dark Rye, and have used some fantastic French flour T65 farine de tradition from Moulins-Waast in N France.   See my post here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17118/competing-louis-lesaffre-cup and here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16151/working-french-flour    I've taken photos and recorded all the production details.   It goes back in the fridge overnight, then process ready for baking tomorrow morning.   I will try and post the results after the weekend as a next blog posting.   Watch this space.

Great to read you are following similar ventures; let me know how they progress

Best wishes

Andy