From the number of recent postings about sourdough starters, it appears that many have taken up bread baking. This seemed a good opportunity to illustrate various steps during my preparation of Country Rye from the Tartine book. I always benefit from seeing what something is supposed to look like, which is why I have included so many photos.
This is such a fun bread to make, and in contrast to loaves that weigh a pound or two, this one weighed in at 1886 grams (~ 4.16 pounds). It is from The Bread Baker's Apprentice (by Reinhart), and for those who have the book you will likely recognize the loaf as the one in the cover photo.
After reading about this recipe, I decided to go for it, especially because I had never tried a 100% spelt loaf before and I like black treacle. For the initial mixing I included sixty-five slap-and-folds because the dough felt reasonably strong, and that seemed to be fine. Although I did try the letter fold technique for the first S&F, the dough stuck to my counter a lot, and I opted to leave the dough in my 6-quart Cambro tub for the second S&F and did the usual reach-under-and-lift-up.
Inspired by the Community Bake a month or so ago, I decided to take a stab at Hamelman's Five-Grain Levain recipe. This turned out to be a really delicious bread, which my wife likes a lot too, and there will be more loaves baked in the future.
This is a simple bread to make and for rising involves only instant dry yeast (i.e., no sourdough starter). My reasons for posting this in such detail are threefold. First, perhaps a new baker might like to see what each step looks like. (My bias I suppose -- photos helped me see whether I was on track when I was new to this craft.) Second, experienced bakers who want a break from sourdough starter breads might be interested. Third, this is a tasty bread and is very fast to make. (For those used to long periods of waiting for sourdough stages to pass, thi
A few weeks ago, someone posted about a rye bread, and David Snyder referenced a recipe for Hansjoakim's 70% Sourdough Rye. Having dabbled a bit with whole rye flour (as in Field Blend #2 from FWSY), but never having plunged deeply into that area, I decided to give it a go. Especially because the recipe sounded relatively simple and straightforward.
If you are looking for a bread with a nice rye flavor and texture, try this one. Thanks, David!
A week or so ago Ru posted her seeded sourdough, and I felt inspired to give the recipe a try.
The recipe is unusual for me in that with the sole exception of nine grams of salt there are no additional ingredients on the second day. No more flour. Not even any new water.
