Hamelman's Pain Rustique
Late last week my wife and I were invited to my step-son and fiance's new home for a 'get acquainted' Sunday dinner with her parents and grandparents, so I thought it might be a good idea to bring a loaf of something or other to contribute to the meal. We've met them all previously but not knowing their tastes I decided to go with a bread using poolish rather than a sour levain style bread, settling on Hamelman's Pain Rustique which uses 50% prefermented flour in the formula. The poolish was made on Saturday night and sat for almost 12 hours before being mixed with the other ingredients after a 30 minute autolyse, producing a very slack dough similar to Ciabatta. After 40 minutes of bulk ferment it needed some stretch and folds in the bowl before being able to develop it on the counter using the slap and fold technique. The dough had two stretch and folds over the course of the next hour with a small addition of flour to tighten it up to a point where it could hold a loose shape, then divided into 2 unmolded rectangular shaped loaves, placed seam side up on floured linen for a final rise of 30 minutes. I had a bit of difficulty flipping the first on to the peel and it deflated slightly, but the second loaf held it's shape during the transfer. The loaves were given a single slash and baked at 460F for 35-40 minutes with a spray or two of water during the first 5 minutes. It's been a while since I've baked an all wheat dough and I'd almost forgotten how wonderful it can smell while it's baking, especially when it has a good percentage of poolish in the mix. The first loaf came out the way I expected it would, looking worse for the poor handling during transfer, but the second made a nice loaf with a bit of an ear along the slash. Everybody seemed to enjoyed it for it's open airy crumb, chewy crust, and that it paired so well with the delicious saucy braised short ribs our future daughter in-law had made for the main course of the meal. I've been eating sour rye bread of one type or another since the beginning of the year so this was a welcome change for it's fresh wheaty flavour and light porous crumb, and one that I'll be making again in the months to come.
I'm afraid the crumb shots are a bit too yellow due to light conditions and the flash on my phone camera. The actual colour was a creamy off white.
Best Wishes,
Franko
Comments
Nice looking loaf and crumb. I've tried Hamelman's recipe on numerous occasions and I end up with loaves that have holes so big mice could nest. Just not a happy result. I'm wondering if adding additional stretch and folds would do the trick - Hamelman calls for just 2 folds, and for me that doesn't seem to develop sufficient strength/structure in the resulting loaf.
In all events - nice bake!
Larry
Hi Franko,
A simple, rustic, yet impreesive type of bread to take along. I'm sure it was very popular with everybody there!
Looks like a pretty high hydration dough to me; but I do like that 50+% figure of pre-fermented flour...wow!
Yes, I see what you mean about the odd colour, but it cannot hide such a superb crumb texture.
Eat...Lots of!
Best wishes
Andy
Thanks Andy,
Hamelman's formula calls for 69% overall hydration and I was just slightly higher than that with this dough. It's very much like a Ciabatta except with a higher ratio of preferment. I almost used bread flour in the mix but decided to use up the last of a bag of generic AP that I've had around for awhile, and I think it was the right choice for this particular bread.
Thanks for the kind words on the loaf Andy!
All the best,
Franko
Hi Larry,
I think the 72-73F bulk ferment the dough had, rather than the suggested 76F, contributed a lot to the size of crumb cell on this bread, along with the good workup it had in the early stages. Given how lively this dough was I was really expecting to see some mouse holes in it, but fortunately managed to avoid them. Doing this one in the heat of summer I think would be a different story altogether. Thanks Larry as always!
Franko
I'm sure these were a big hit. What a beautiful crumb!
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia,
It was a big hit with the father of the bride to be that's for sure! I think he ate more of it than I did. Thanks so much for the nice comment on the crumb, I just wish the photo colour had been a little better.
Franko
I'm another sourdough baker who never thinks much about the many wonderful alternatives. You provided an inspiring reminder.
David
Thanks David!
It's tough to beat a good sourdough but this one comes close. My impression on first tasting was that although it didn't have the tang that you and I enjoy from a sour, it wasn't lacking in lots of other flavours that made up for it.
I appreciate your comment David.
Franko
Hello Franko,
I think the crumb shot is beautiful...I'd swear your bread was made of durum :^)
What a wonderful bread you've baked, to share with family!
from breadsong
Thank you breadsong!
When I got the photo up on my computer screen and had a good look at it I thought it looked like a pale cornbread of some kind. Normally this IPhone cam is quite good, but out of the 4 shots I took with it this was the best one. Just the wrong kind of light at the time I guess.
Glad you like the bread, and thanks again!
Franko
Beautiful, Franko!
Thanks Khalid, much appreciated!
The crumbs are wonderful, Franko.
I tend to ignore Hamelman's yeasted bread section. Looking at your post, that section deserve much more attention.
Sue
http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com
Hi Sue,
Like you I've focused on the Levain section and of course the Rye breads, but I'm starting to think you could pick a recipe out of that book blindfolded and never hit one that didn't shine in some way.
Thanks for your nice comments about the crumb Sue!
Franko
Wonderful crumb, Franko. My daughter who is not a fan of sourdough will love your Pain Rustique, Or the good step up to get her into hard bread. Thank you, Franko!
Best wishes,
Akiko
Thank you very much Akiko, always a pleasure to hear from you!
I'm sure when your daughter gets a little older she'll thank you for teaching her what real bread should taste like. There are lots of 'real bread' alternatives to sour I'm sure she'd love.
All the best,
Franko
Beautiful bread, perfect crumb, I am sure they were all beyond impressed!
I've made that bread a couple of times, it is indeed delicious, and perfect for those strange people who dislike sourdough... :-)
Hi Sally,
Thanks so much for the compliments on the bread. This bread is what I'd call one...maybe two steps removed from an actual sourdough in terms of complex flavour characteristics. Hard to imagine not liking sourdough, but everyone deserves to eat good bread regardless of their quirks. :^)
All the best Sally,
Franko
Lovely crust and crumb, Franko. I haven't tried this recipe, yet but this is the second one I have seen on TFL recently. Nice bake and happy to hear that your in-laws liked it!
Syd
Thanks Syd!
Definately give this one a try Syd, you wont be dissapointed! Next to a sour it's one of the best tasting breads I've run across.
Franko
, Franko! I was interested in this recipe since I first read it, but I never tried to implement it. The concept of "wheaty flavor" escapes me :-) Does it have a good taste or does it require concentration?
Nico
Hi Nico,
Well I figured the concept of "wheaty" might be a hard sell for a rye aficionado like yourself, :^) but believe me it's got a great flavour right from the first bite. Having 50% of the flour as preferment should tell you a lot about what to expect in the flavour profile. Thanks for the compliment on the bread Nico!
Franko
Hamelman's Pain Rustique is one of my go-to favorites, and you've turned out a shining example of it. Not that you need any improvement to the results, but I wonder if the dough would have been more manageable if your process was closer to the instructions. It sounds like you added the poolish after the autolyse (Hamelman says before), and had a longer bulk fermentation (H. calls for folds at 25 and 50 minutes, then divide at 70).
It's just I've never had a problem with the consistency of this dough and I'm wondering why you had a bit of trouble. On the other hand, all's well that ends well, and your results look stellar!
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for the nice compliments on the loaf, and as well for your questions about the process I used.
First off let me apologize for the poor wording I used in describing the mixing process. I can see how it looks like I may have mixed the poolish after the autolyse, but this wasn't the case. It was "mixed with the other ingredients after a 30 minute autolyse. It should have read 'the remaining ingredients were mixed into the autolyse -poolish combination after 30 minutes.' A wordsmith I'm not.
I mixed this dough by hand so I tend to use a little more hydration than called for as I find it much easier to adjust the consistency of the dough by adding flour to a slack dough, rather than trying to incorporate water into a tight or stiffer dough.This is especially the case when I'm mixing an untried dough. Something I didn't mention in the writeup was that I used AP flour instead of the bread flour called for in the formula. The only reason for this was to use up the last of a bag I've had sitting around for too long. This was a generic AP and not a particularly strong flour, which also factored into my mixing considerations. By reading the hydration level in the formula I had a good idea of what the author intended the dough to feel like and ultimately achieve as a finished product. The folds were done at the time as much to control the dough temp as they were for strengthening it. Managing the dough to that consistency was never a major issue, but I can see that it may have appeared that way to some. The idea was to tell my particular experience with this particular mix, not to convey the idea this was it was a 'problem dough' by any means. Again, my apologies if that was the perception. Believe me, compared to working with a mid to high ratio rye bread, a high hydration all wheat dough is a walk in the park.
The shorter than indicated bulk ferment was simply a matter of taking the dough based on it's feel and appearance rather than relying on a prescribed time elapse. David Snyder often has a line in his process writeup that advises to "watch the dough, not the clock" which is good advice for any professional or home baker, or as one of my instructors in baking school used to say "dough can't tell time but it will tell you when it's time to be made into bread".
I'm not entirely sure if I ended up with what Mr. Hamelman intended this bread to look and taste like, but I'm fairly satisfied with the result for a first go at it.
Thanks again Ryan for your comments and allowing me the opportunity to give a little clarification to the points you raised.
All the best,
Franko