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100% Whole Wheat Kamut with Raisin Yeast Water

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This is my first venture into baking with Kamut in a while. In the past, I have found this flour challenging, as the gluten needs a lot of time to hydrate, and once hydrated it's a bit weak and very extensible. I adapted this recipe from AnnieT's Semolina Bread recipe here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20044/semolina-bread#comment-138273

I am delighted with this bread: it has a very thin, very crisp, delicate crust, a moist, tender interior, and a nice clean gentle wheat flavor.

Today’s red fife loaf (2)

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WW flour 900 gr

water 700 gr

levain 150 gr

salt 18 gr

2 hr salt soak ( flour, water, salt) 

5 hr bulk fermented 

1.5 hr proof after shaping into 2 batards

baked at 450F for 35 min

one loaf cut right away. That’s why the crumb is wet in picture. 

malty-wheaty flavor. Soft texture. Crust is crispy 

The accidental miche

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I'm baking away from home with different flours, but I decided to just try and make something using 60% whole grains (a hodgepodge mix of rye, white whole wheat, and einkorn). I used 1000g of flour total and about 85% hydration, adding turmeric and sautéed onions. I made one loaf on the slightly smaller side and then the other loaf ended up weighing 1.3kg!! I didn't have a lame, or a sharp knife, so I tried to let the loaves open on their own. The smaller one opened nicely, but the "miche" rose but didn't crack. I think I overproofed these. 

Stiff Levain Experiment

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Hey all my name is Scott and I’ve been baking for a few years. Really enjoying it. Baking combines my interest in cooking, chemistry, microbiology, and working with my hands. 

So I too have been reading about stiff levains and decided to try an experiment. I split my starter a week ago and fed both side by side 2x/day. One at 100% hydration and one at 60%. Mixed up two levains at the same hydration ratios and made doughs of my standard country loaf to see any differences. 

In the pic above left is the liquid levain and right is the stiff. 

 

After an 8 year bread baking hiatus...

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I think I've still got it!

Wisconsin's safer at home order has got me baking up a storm! Huge thanks to dabrownman for his NMNF starter method. 

I won't share the first loaf...we'll call that tasty (but ugly) practice.

My whole wheat w/ flax meal was an experiment very loosely based on a recipe from Tartine No. 3. It was my first whole wheat loaf and was a nightmare to shape, but it turned out great!

This month's breads

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A TFL member sent me  a kind inquiry as to my welfare, since I hadn't posted any recent baking. Well, I am fine, thank you, except for some cabin fever. I feel great and not particularly vulnerable, considering my .... seniority. My hyper-prudent spouse is suppressing my daily urges to expose myself to nasty bugs, no doubt a good thing. <sigh>

I have been baking - probably a little more than usual, in fact. And I have tried a couple of new things. The photos are all from the past 3 weeks' baking.

Overnight sourdough with sprouted wheat

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Thanks to quarantine, I decided to get out my crusty (but trusty!) 7 years dormant starter and bake some sourdough bread again.  I was really excited to find that there are a number of overnight, mostly no-knead sourdough recipes available now and after trying out a couple of them, I finally settled on my own variation of High Hydration Sourdough from the book Artisan Sourdough Made Simple.