Seeded Sourdough Multigrain Chacon

To use up the last of this super duper levain we ground up some more of our 8 multigrain mix of: wheat, buckwheat, oat, farro, rye, spelt, barley and Kamut.  We got an 85% extraction when we did the sifting this time and used the 15% hard nits to feed the levain.

Once again the levain was very active and we refrigerated it for 24 hours after it has risen 25% after the 3rd feeding to bring out the sour.   The whole grain equivalent of this batch ended up at 58% and we used a lot if different seeds in the mix.

The ground sesame and flax seeds and the chia seeds went at the initial mix.  The pumpkin and sunflower seeds went in at the first stretch and fold.  Since this was going to be a 20 hour retard we cut back the levain amount to 10% hoping the dough wouldn’t over proof in the fridge wit this hyper levain.

We mixed everything together and let it sit for 30 minutes before developing the gluten.  We really cut back on the slap and folds deciding on 3 sets of 4, 1, 1 minutes 15 minutes apart and only 2 sets of stretch and folds also 15 minute apart.

There was no ferment period as usual so, we went right into the design of the Chacon by lightly rice flouring the basket ans making a knotted roll for the center surrounded by pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  A 2 strand braid was then set on top of the seeds and 8 small balls were then distributed evenly around the braid and additional seeds wee placed in the spot between the balls o fill in the 8 gaps.

We then made really big bialy out of t e remaining dough and placed it hole side down over the design.  We hoped with the lower hydration and using  a small bit of flour for the design parts and not over proofing during retard the design would come through this time.

\We bagged it and put it in the fridge for20 hours and sure enough it nearly over proofed at 95% so we decided to bake it right out of the fridge with no warm up.  We fire up Big Old Betsy to 550 F and put the Mega Magma Steam in at 525 F.  15 minutes later the stream was billowing and the top and bottom stones had hit temperature.

We un-molded the dough onto parchment on a peel and slid the dough onto the bottom stone for 15 minutes of steam while turning the oven temperature down to 465 F.  After the steaming was done we turned the oven down to 425 F convection this time and baked another 20 minutes, 35 minutes total, until the bread hit 205 F on the inside.

It browned up beautiful and cracked enough to highlight the intended design with the seeds nearly matching the color of the crumb.  The bread came out quite fetching even though my Apprentice 2nd Class won’t go for any fetching.

The crumb came out a little Jess open than we expected but this bread is a higher percent whole grain with lots of add in bits.  We like the taste the best.  Plain or toasted with butter it was delicious.  Now we have to make some kind of lunch sandwich with it.  The crust stayed alittle crusty and the inside was soft and moist.  Not much blistering on teh outside or m open glossy holes in the inside.  But the the bread wasn't dense at all either as it did double in volume .  It's medium sour, more filling, hearty and healthy than the same bread without the interior bits and taste is better too. 

Formula.

The day starts better with a good Hot cross bun breakfast.

And don't forget the salad