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For the past few months, I have been baking breads with 40% home-milled mixed whole grain flours. I have been playing with various combinations of whole wheat, rye, kamut and spelt. The hydrations have been between 78 and 83%. I have found the flavors wonderful, but the crumb a bit dry, especially after freezing.

Last week, I returned to a bread with 30% whole grain flours and 81% hydration. The crumb was more open, and the crumb was cooler and less "dry" feeling. The flavor was subtly sweeter. I think my 40% whole grain breads need higher hydration, even than 83%. Stay tuned!

This is my first brioche attempt, using Hamelman's recipe with commercial yeast.  I'm quite proud of it, but I'm not sure what it's really supposed to be like.  I'm not sure how cakey vs. bready it's supposed to be.  It certainly looks and tastes great, but I'm wondering if it's cakier than I'd like.

  I usually only put seeds on the outside of my breads but I decided to try adding it to the porridge and see what happened.

Well, I was pleasantly surprises at how tasty this one came out and the seeds add a nice extra burst of flavor as well.

The crumb was nice and open and moist as well.  This one is worth trying for sure.

Here is a tasty straight dough bread that is as tasty as it is simple to make.

All of my other bread related obligations are done, so I can finally bake for the family. Cedar Mountain had posted a wonderful recipe that he called “Grass Bread”. This is an almost identical recipe with a few tweaks from me. Thank you, CM, for sharing that recipe.

Recipe:

Makes 3 loaves

Add-ins

25 g hulless oats and 75 g water

38 g wild rice and 114 g water

25 g barley flakes and 75 g water

63 g large flake oats and 125 g water

Dough

75 g rye berries

I’ve been playing with freshly ground heritage varieties lately, this is my latest foray into freshly ground wheat.

I bought 2 pounds of locally grown Frassinetto wheat berries at the farmers market last week. Since my wife has given up on trying to be gluten free, I’m now allowed to use our old Nutrimill. Yay!

 I built my levain from DABrownman’s NMNF starter, many thanks for that scheme! I used last week’s leftover RedFife flour and bran for the feedings.

PdC as a modern commercial product is based on modern commercial flours. It has more flavor than white bread, but mostly it does not interfere with the rest of the menu. For Thanksgiving, I took PdC of that school. I knew the first course would be herring – so it had to be a bread that would stand up, to the strong flavors of hearing, but would not overwhelm things like roast turkey and green bean casserole. There was also some white bread.

I have been fiddling with flour types and quantities for my regular weekly bake using 123 as the base formula with an overnight proof in the fridge (~4C).  I enjoy a mix of white and whole wheat, and recently added some rimacintata.  I am really pleased with the results I am getting with 61% white, 21% whole wheat and 18% De Cecco semola rimacinata - quite a delicate, tasty and moist, but not gummy, crumb.  The main pic was (slightly over-) baked this morning, the one inserted below is from mid-October.

I got 48 loaves done for my Xmas orders, and these are 12 extra loaves for those who missed out on the original ordering. I have a dear friend that owns a Fresh Fruit Bouquet place and she gave me space in her commercial freezer to store the loaves. These orders are being picked up there so she offered to do a mini Open House where a few of us will be selling pottery and a few other crafts. We have done a wee bit of advertising and so hopefully we will all sell some of our wares and make a few more people happy. I think I am crazy for having baked 60 loaves over a couple of weeks. 

I first baked proper, PROPER panettone last year, with sweet starter (lievito madre) fed every 4 hours - even getting up at 4am for it - and I have to say it's a serious project. Patience, hard work, at least some bread-making skills, standing mixer (can't really imagine without it), lots of leftover egg whites, a warm place for proving, a warmer place for growing the lievito, hanging apparatus - it's a mission.