Finally Some Decent Bread

I suppose that I know I am jaded.  I got some half decent bread at City Market in Houston for 5 weeks.  It said it was sourdough and it looked OK on the outside but it wasn’t like any sourdough that Lucy and I make at home.  It didn’t look the same on the inside.  But it wasn’t 25% sprouted 6 grains using a 10% bran levain made from a NMNF rye starter either.

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It also wasn’t even close when it came to smell or taste either ….and that is where the City Market SD really fell short - not even close.  It wasn’t nearly as sour and the 1% red rye malt, that Lucy chucked into the mix, makes a huge difference when it comes to the smell and taste.  It was also 4 times more expensive too at $4 a loaf instead of the $1 Lucy’s set us back.

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But Lucy and I fell way short when it came to the rest of the City Market grocery shopping and food experience no matter how nice the T-Rex slash, blistered and bold baked exterior of our SD loaf.  We can’t get that fantastic Spanish Manzanilla Olive oil to dip our bread in or spread that great butter on like they have for tasting at CM.  It is worth going to Texas just to shop at City Market and a good enough reason to move there too.

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I had refreshed the NMNF starter the week before we left for Houston but had forgotten to do the stage 3 build to stiffen it up to 66% from the 2 stage 100% hydration after it had doubled.  It was fine 6 weeks later but it did take 20 hours to double a new bran levain for this bread in my 68 F kitchen.  After taking out 15 G for this levain I refreshed the NMNF rye starter again and it is back in the fridge at 66% hydration for another half a year of no muss no fuss solitude.

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The 25% of 6 sprouted grains were: red and white wheat, rye, spelt, oat and Kamut.  The 75% dough flour was LaFama AP, the salt 2% pink Himalayan sea salt and the overall hydration was 75%.  We did a 1 hour autolyse. 3 sets of slap and folds of 40, 10 and 6 slaps and 1 set of 4 stretch and folds - all on 40 minute intervals.  We then let the dough bulk ferment for and hour before gently shaping with folds and pulls before dripping it into a rice floured basket for 1.5 hours of proofing.

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We unmolded it onto parchment on a peel, slashed it and put it into a 50 F Combo Cooker for 18 minutes of lid on steam at 450 F.  We then baked it at lid off for 20 minutes at 425 F till it reached 208 F.  The bread sprang and bloomed, blistered and browned well enough.  The crumb was moderately open, soft and moist but the smell and taste were just plain wonderful.

Formula

10% pre-fermented 6 sprouted grain flour using all the bran. 100% hydration using 15 g of 6 week old 100% hydration NMNF rye starter

Dough

75% Lafama AP, 1% red rye malt and 2% PH sea salt

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Got to love the Purple Hybiscus