Boule and Pumpernickel for Plotziade 2

For the 2nd round of the Bread Olympics we had to use either ancient grains or those that have been lost and replaced by modern hybrid grains but are being brought back by local farmers and millers across the world.  Both are welcomed and noble actions for us bread bakers so it is only logical that we would want to celebrate them both.

Organic growing is also a plus in my book as well.  We were lucky enough to find einkorn and a variety of farro from Europe at Whole Foods.  Whole Foods also has a locally sourced program to support local growers and producers with space on their shelves.  It was there I also found locally grown in Arizona, Desert Durum and farro as well - both milled at the resurgent and revived Hayden Mills in Tempe..

The real plus for me and Lucy is to find Ramona of Ramona Farms who is a Pima Indian.  Her grandfather and father were both Papago Tohono O’Odham grain growers on their ancestral 10 acre plot ascribed to them on the Tohono O’Odham Pima Indian reservation.  Today Ramona grows 3 different grains on her 10 acre plot and on several other plots that  she is given access to by the tribal folks who have given her permission to farm them.

I got some Pima Club and Sonoran White Wheat in whole berries from Ramona Farms.  Both are soft white wheat used to make the best tortillas around but considered too weak in gluten to make a decent loaf of Pale Face bread.  Lucy set out to convert the unbelievers and make a couple of different loaves using the same recipe for the dough and sourdough levain but utilizing different methods to make a ‘Night and Day’ version of this dough.

Lucy decided right off to only use these grains and to only use 100% whole grains in both breads with the grains home milled with the exception of the Desert Durham which was 100% whole grains ground at Hayden Mills.  We did sift out the 11% of the hard bits to use to feed the levain in order to get them as wet for as long as possible.

We also took a mix of these 6 grains and did 5 things with them.  First we sprouted 100 g  for 4 days to make white and then red malt.  Then we sprouted 200g to make sprouts for the boule version.  Then we scalded 200 g with 20 g of the red malt to put in the pumpernickel loaf version.   Then we ground the berries to make the flour.

Lucy wants to pumpernickel everything anyway and this was her chance to bring her German heritage to the Plotziade Olympics.  Few realize that you can DaPumperize any bread and make it taste …..oh so much better!

We built the levain on Tuesday and then refrigerated it for 48 hours 1 hour after the 3rd feeding.  It doubled 3 hours after the 1st feeding and doubled 1 hour after the 2nd feeding and then doubled again after being in the fridge. 

We autolysed the dough flour for 2 hours as the levain warmed up on the counter.  The dough was divided in half with the soaker water liquid for the sprouts used in the boule and the excess scald water with the red malt was reserved for the pumpernickel.  So this was the only difference between the two breads with the exception of differing baking methods.

It's not often that the bottom of the loaf looks better then the top!

Both went through the same slap and folds of 5, 1 and 1 minute on 15 minute intervals and the 3 sets of stretch and folds, from the compass points only on 15 minute intervals.   The add ins for each bread; the sprouts for the boule and the scald for the pumpernickel were added in during the first set of stretch and folds.

Breakfast with the boule

As soon as the S&F‘s were done we pre-shaped and shaped each for the rice floured   basket nsd sprayed tin, bagged and chucked into the fridge for a 12 hour retard.  We have been waiting for more than 2 years to get a thin long tin at Goodwill and, sure enough, last week one presented itself on dollar Thursday! It is like they knew Lucy needed one for the Plotziade Olympics…..Who ever they are …..

When we got up in the morning the Fridge Dough Gremlin had struck Again.  A Minneola had fallen from on high and landed on the pumpernickel smashing one end flat as a pancake.  The last time it was honeydew that did the mashing.  Oh well, that is the price Lucy pays for the life she leads.  Thankfully it landed at one end rather than the middle so most or the loaf was un-phased so it was time to steam the heck put of it.

We baked the boule first in out usual way with Mega Steam and an oven preheat to 550 F.  The boule was un-molded from the basket onto parchment and peel straight from the fridge.  It was slashed and put into the oven for 15 minutes of steam while turning the oven down to 475 F.  Once the steam came out we turned the oven down to 525 F - convection this time.  15 minutes later it was done reading 205 F on the inside.

The boule sprang ok for a 100% whole grain bread with a ton of seeds and it browned nicely too.  It came out kind of rustic an craggy looking which Lucy seems to like very much.  We will have to wait for the crumb shot until the pumpernickel is ready to cut  tomorrow for lunch.

Plotziade lunch with pate, tasso, cheese, fruits, melons, pineapple and half an minneola.

The pumpernickel version went into the mini oven tented with foil at 375 F when the pre-heat started for the boule.  After 30 minutes, we turned it down to 350 F for another 30 minutes and after 30 minutes we turned it down to 325 F for 30 minutes more.  By this time the boule was done so we transferred the pumpernickel to Big Old Betsy to finish up the long falling temperature bake per the attached schedule.

Seems every week we have a a special Mexican Dinner with homemade; burrito, sauce, pico, beans, rice and salad. 

375 F - 30 minutes

350 F - 30 minutes

325 F - 30 minutes

300 F – 30 minutes

275 F - 30 minutes

250 F - 1 hour

225 F - 1 hour

200 F - 1 hour

Turn oven off and leave the bread in the oven until morning or 8 hours.

The boule turned out an open crumb that was soft and moist.  But, it is also a very fine tasting whole grain bread.... one of the best I have ever had.  The pumpernickel was easy to cut in 1/4" slices. Open and moist describes it well and the taste is good but not as good as the boule which proves that Lucy's want to pumpernickel everything can be far off the mark.

Home grown heirloom tomatoes are perfect on top of a lamb and brie burger with last Friday's SD bread for a bun.

Say happy birthday to Lucy;.  She turned 10 on Tuesday as 2we grinding the grain for this bread and is now, for the first time, older than me in more than 1 way:-) And don't forget that salad. 

And thanks to Mr Lutz at Plotzbog.de for hosting thses great events.  Here is a link http://www.ploetzblog.de/2014/04/21/2-ploetziade-saat-gut-brot/