The other day, while looking for rye flour at my local Whole Foods, I came across spelt flour, made by the same company, Farmer Ground http://www.farmergroundflour.com/. I used their organic rye flour before, and while I am still very new to baking a good, mostly rye loaf, I liked the taste the rye flour gave to my wheat loaves when it was added in moderation.
So, like an Icarus who flew too high too fast, long before he learned how to build an airplane, last weekend I got too cocky thinking that I could do variations of my own, without having to research proper recipes. The result was two utterly lifeless loaves, which, albeit still edible, definitely wished they have never been baked at all.
Well, Passover is over, and leavened bread is back, with the vengeance. :-) Today's creation: sourdough multi-grain bread with seeds. I wish Internet had the ability to transmit the emotion which crunchy crust elicits while one tastes a slice with good salted Irish butter.
In a never-ending quest to improve, for the next couple of loaves I decided to make some changes. The loaf above had the water upped just a bit to 73.5%, because I wanted to try making an even more airy crumb. I also had a mix of flours 50/50 of KA bread flour and Wegmans unbleached all-purpose, simply because I ran out of BF. :-)
So, my scale finally arrived, and I got a banneton for proofing as well. I've been experimenting a bit, and I think I finally got it. Since all the folks here were so helpful, I figured I could contribute by sharing my results. Would really love to hear your comments too! You can see the final product in the photo above.
The recipe:
In the morning, take starter from the fridge and feed it 1:1:1, i.e. equal amounts of starter, water, and flour. Cover and let it sit in a warm place for 6-8 hrs.
