STUinlouisa's blog

This week's bake is a  continuation of my attempt to develop a pain de mie using a fair amount of egg with the added twist of using five grain (millet, barley, red fife, einkorn, and rye) sprouted flour in the mix. The remaining flour is a combo of fresh ground white wheat and KAF AP. There is also milk, butter and sorghum syrup in there. It is a hybrid loaf. The oops loaf is the result of mistakingly adding twice the liquid intended and having to double the rest of the ingredients. Oh well, something to freeze for future consumption.

I have been trying to make this loaf for a while but have had difficulties with the formulation. This time it worked. It was the first time since getting the pullman pan that I was happy with the results as far as shape.  A hybrid loaf with both commercial yeast (just a little) and starter it is 50% fresh ground whole grain with enrichments and baked in a 9 X 4 inch pan. The formula is:

Last couple of times I made bread there was little gluten development despite using a combo of french folds and stretch and folds. The doughs just collapsed  into an unstructured mass of glop. I tried baking in pans which was my original intent anyway since I was trying to make pain de mie but had no spring and a gummy interior. The doughs were naturally leavened so I thought it might either be my starter or maybe the kitchen had become infected by those insidious strings that mini oven has had trouble with.

This bread was the result of the above request.  I decided to concentrate on dried fruit since there was a couple packages almost empty. Finished off the cherries and blueberries while tossing in some dates and sunflower seeds.

This bread is the result of a coworker giving me a chunk of Asiago cheese and asking if I could make bread with it. A friends home brewed ale sounded like it would round out the flavors. It also has some agave syrup, and a little fresh ground pepper. 40% of the flour was in a sourdough preferment and 25% was sprouted multigrain along with AP and just a little WWW. It came out to 72% hydration with beer and water.

Lately I've been making fairly simple breads and so got the urge to get a little more complex. While doing the weekly shopping both dates and sunflower seed caught my eye and there was a lady demonstrating some locally made maple syrup, unusual for Iowa, which of course I had to try.

This week's bake is a side by side comparison of the two heirloom varieties of wheat Red Fife and Turkey Red. The procedure followed closely the epoxy method Peter Reinhart uses in Whole Grain Bread. A soaker was made of half the flour, water and salt which was left at room temperature.  The other half of the flour was mixed with starter and water then put in the fridge after sitting for an hour or so. All amounts, mixing techniques and temperature were exactly the same and both flours were freshly ground.

This bread is a 50% rye and whole wheat literally ground right into the mixing bowl. Autolysed 30 min then added starter from  the fridge, a little sorghum syrup and salt. 3 S&F 15 min apart and let ferment 3.5 hours. Shaped and let proof 2 hours. Baked in a DO.Taste is good but could have been improved with the addition of seeds or nuts.

Next on the agenda is a side by side bake of Red Fife and Turkey Red to see if there is a difference. Just got the grain  yesterday.

Stu

This bread was the last minute thought to accompany some left over vegetable, squid and bay scallop chowder that is a mainstay at Christmas Eve dinner. It also served as a means to use up some starter that needed refreshed and some cheese left over from the same meal. Since time was short it is a hybrid with 125g starter and a pinch ( too small to weigh with my 1g minimum scale) of commercial yeast. The flour,500g total, is 50% fresh ground white whole wheat and 50% AP.

This bread was made with 25% fresh ground rye, 25% sprouted multigrain flour, 25% fresh ground white wheat, and 25% AP at 72% hydration and naturally leavened. Used an overnight retard after shaping. One loaf is  destined for Christmas stuffing along with some cornbread to be made later from fresh ground organic corn. In the background is a sous vide machine that will be used to cook a lamb roast coated with the fresh ground spices in the bowl. The other loaf will be enjoyed with that along with some frozen garden peas and broccoli. 

Stu