75 Percent Sprouted 7 Grain Sourdough with Bran Levain and 86% Hydration

This was a crazy week and Lucy is about as happy as I have ever seen her.  There was so much new, interesting and good news fr where we live it was just amazing.  I have to admit that I am pretty well walking on clouds myself.

First off, what made Lucy happy was that robots are starting to design themselves now and the first new section of jobs they want to eliminate is – THE BOSS.  That’s right.  So many people have been replaced by robots in lower skilled repetitive jobs that there are very few of them left that aren’t either targeted to be replaced or being replaced already.

This made Lucy go nuts all week.  Just the idea that I would be replaced was like winning Powerball for the poor thing.  She kept looking at me like I was dead meat until I told her that she would never ever see it Baking Apprentices will be replace first.   Since I am an owner Boss not just the Boss, If I don’t buy the robot to replace me…… than I will still be around for as long as I wish to be - Yea for me!

Arizona was the first state this week to approve auto pilot, driverless cars anywhere in America.  We have been testing them and found out they drive better than humans.  Uber was so excited they gave everyone free rides this week.  That means that folks that drive for a living are toast – replaced by a robot.

We have been blessed to live in Gilbert AZ.  For years it has been at the top of the best places for families to raise their children, plenty of jibs, low housing costs, low food costs, great healthcare, low taxes – just one of the great places to live since it never ever snows, hardy ever rains and perfect for Snowbirds and retirees too.  This week we found out more good news.

Tortilla Soup

Arizona just took 5 of the top 7 high schools in America according to US News and World Report.  They are all branches of the same charter school called Basics.  They took the first 3 places plus 5th and 7th places.  The branches are from Scottsdale to Phoenix all the way to Tucson.  Arizona was the first to get into charter schools in 1994 and now it is paying off.  It is much harder to get into these schools than Harvard or Stanford but the graduates go to those Universities or any other of their choice easily.

Stuffed Pork Loin Roast

Great news for sure but not as important as this week’s bake.  This is week 4 of the bran levain, 7 sprouted grain sourdoughs with increasing hydration.  Lucy started at 30%, then 40% then 50% sprouted grains and this week she jumped up to 75%.   Can 100% be next?

Everything was the same as the last few weeks with the following changes.  This was a sprouted bran, no high extraction sprouted flour,  3 stage, 100% hydration, 14% pre-fermented flour levain that was retarded for 24 hours instead of being used right away.  We wanted that bran to be as wet and attacked by the acid for as long as possible.

 This should soften the bran as much as we could to get the most open crumb – we like light and airy whole grain breads.  The other major change was to bulk retard the dough for 4 hours because if we left it out on the counter till the next morning, it would have been way over fermented.

We also only did 1 set if slap and folds before switching to 5 sets of stretch and folds on 30 minute intervals followed by a 1 hour rest before retarding the dough overnight.  Less slapping and being more gentle should open the crumb too.  It fermented well in the cold – nearly doubling.  We let the dough sit for exactly 1 minute the next morning before pre-shaping it.  Then an hour later, we did the final shape into an oval after it had warmed up a bit but was still very cool.

An hour later we fired up the oven to 500 F with the Mega Steam dry  lava rocks in a pan in the boottom if the oven – no DO this week.  We also did a cornstarch glaze, alaDon Baggs, to begin the test of what effect it might have on blisters and cool dough.  The dough hit the heat at about 1 ½ hours after final shaping.

It looked over proofed by about a half an hour tome and was way too jiggly.   We slashed it straight down the middle batard style, and slid it onto the bottom stone and then poured 2 cups of heated water onto the lave ricks as we shut the door. As we turned the oven own to 460 F for 16 minutes of steam.  Once the Mega Steam came out (the pan was dry so it could have used more water), we turned the oven sown to 425 F convection for 14 minutes of dry heat when it browned up nicely. 

Rosemary Yukon Gold Potatoes pan caramelized in butter.  The first 8 minutes are under lid and steam so no browning takes place, photo below but poof, as soon as the lid comes off and 6 minutes later, they are brown from caramelizatioon since potatoes are plants and carbohydrates - Sugars linked together in long chains with protein bonds.  These potatoes are delicious!

We brushed the outside again with the cornstarch glaze to shine it up some more.  It looks OK the outside, nothing special – no blisters but we usually only get them with white breads and this isn’t one.  The bloom was minimal and spring just enough to dome the top a bit but we will have to see if the process we used helped the crumb as much as we hope it did - there is still hope for it.

30% sprouted grain crumb crumb above and 75% below

I don't like the taste of this crust with the corn starch glaze on it.  It tastes burnt to me.  You can see from the photo above that the 30% was way more open than the 75% as was the 40% and 50% but the 75% is pretty open for this kind of bread it was a bit over proofed and wet.  it was very soft and moist too and tasty as all get out .......so we are pleased with it for sure.

Formula

Levain - 14% pre-fermented 7 sprouted grain, bran, 3 stage 100% hydration levain retarded for 24 after doubling.  Use when taken out of the fridge after stirring down and it rises 25% again.

Dough

61% -  7 sprouted grain High Extraction flour – spelt, oat, barley, rye, Kamut, red and white wheat

Enough water to bring the over all mix to 86%

2% Pink Himalayan sea salt

 Here is the Rose Levy Beranbaum’s take on brushing on a crust

Type of Glazes and Toppings
A crisp crust: Water (brushed or spritzed)
A powdery, rustic chewy crust: Flour (dusted)
A soft velvety crust: Melted butter, preferably clarified (1/2 tablespoon per average loaf)
A crisp light brown crust: 1 egg white (2 tablespoons) and 1/2 teaspoon water, lightly beaten and strained (the ideal sticky glaze for attaching seeds)
A medium shiny golden crust: 2 tablespoons egg (lightly beaten to measure) and 1 teaspoon water, lightly beaten
A shiny deep golden brown crust: 1 egg yolk (1 tablespoon) and 1 teaspoon heavy
cream, lightly beaten
A shiny medium golden brown crust: 1 egg yolk (1 tablespoon) and 1 teaspoon milk, lightly beaten
A very shiny hard crust: 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch and 6 tablespoons water: whisk the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the water. Bring the remaining 1/4 cup
water to a boil and whisk the cornstarch mixture into it; simmer for about 30 seconds,
or until thickened and translucent. Cool to room temperature, then brush on the bread
before baking and again as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Note: When using an egg glaze, it goes on most smoothly if strained. I like to add a pinch of salt to make it more liquid and easier to pass through the strainer.  An egg glaze will lose its shine if using steam during the baking process.  My preference is to use Safest Choice pasteurized eggs.